Cooking One on One

by John T. Ash

You love good food. You prefer fresh ingredients, you appreciate lively flavors, you try to eat healthy. So what's keeping you out of the kitchen? Fear? Boredom with making the same old things? In this book, renowned cooking teacher and innovative California chef John Ash says, "Let's get back in there."

Those lucky enough to have learned in the classroom alongside John Ash know that he is an extraordinarily gifted teacher who empowers beginning cooks and kitchen veterans alike to reach new culinary heights. In his celebrated classes, Ash takes the fear out of creative cooking by demonstrating the basics, then encouraging students to dive right in and experiment with the endless possibilities. Now, home cooks can reap the benefits of a private course with John Ash in this enlightening guide to cooking essentials and beyond.

John Cooking One on One features lessons that focus on specific techniques, ingredients, or flavor-makers--vinaigrettes, pestos, and other building blocks that turn ordinary dishes into something special. With each lesson, Ash presents a handful of recipes--variations on a theme that start simply, then progress to reveal more complex combinations. With clear-cut instructions and a dash of charm, Ash helps cooks build confidence in the kitchen and proves that any dish, no matter how intricate, is based on a handful of simple techniques and troubleshooting know-how.

This unique new collection of recipes--his first since the IACP Cookbook of the Year From the Earth to the Table --offers savory soups, satisfying main course salads, comforting vegetarian and nonvegetarian entrées, and delectable desserts for every occasion. Pan-Seared Sea Bass with Pineapple Melon Salsa. Mojo-Marinated Skewered Beef. Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon, Apple Cider Dressing, and Oven-Dried Grapes. Mushroom-Ginger Soup with Roasted Garlic Custards. Orange Ricotta Cake with Strawberries. Discover an irresistible assortment of extraordinary recipes prepared with global accents and a light touch. As one of the guiding forces behind California cuisine, Ash uses fats judiciously and encourages cooking with seasonal produce. His final lesson, an introduction to wine, rounds out this groundbreaking cookbook.

An unprecedented blend of instruction and inspiration, John Cooking One on One swings open the kitchen door, stocks the pantry, and invites cooks of all skill levels to dish up fresh, flavorful food at home.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Culinary, Reference

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 2004

Reviews

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

There isn't much new or trendy in this book -- in fact, it has an oddly dated* feel, and I was surprised that it was published as recently as was the case. I guess Ash's style was set quite a while ago. However, his instructions are pretty solid and don't require too many hard to find ingredients or weird techniques or tools, so this is fairly accessible for someone with moderate cooking ability who wants to move to a bit higher-end dishes.

Many of the descriptions sound oddly fruity, but I've eaten at Ash's restaurant and the food was usually good, at least when he was there cooking or overseeing the preparation himself. And when he stuck to more European dishes. The times I recklessly tried Asian-inspired food there it was awful, like instant noodles drenched in mae ploy.


*Remember when alternative salsas were so cool?

[Lonnye Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this cookbook! Ash covers everything from soup to nuts...sauces to desserts...and takes away any fear the reader might have. Good, basic strategies and pretty easy recipes. I love that he allows tweaking, too.

[Esuominim]

This book really lives up to it's claims of being an intimate booking class within a binding. The whole book flows smoothly from start to finish and could be read for leisure as well as to cook by. I have only tried a few of the recipes included in the book but those which I did turned out amazingly. There is quite a lot of text so this would be a poor choice for anyone looking for a quick and easy recipe book to get dinner out on the table by.

[Sébastien · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learn how to cook with this book. No nonsense.