From Emeril's Kitchens: Favorite Recipes from Emeril's Restaurants

by Emeril Lagasse

What's the next best thing to eating at one of Emeril's restaurants? Making your favorite Emeril dishes at home! And now you can with Emeril's new book, From Emeril's Kitchens.

Emeril Lagasse, America's favorite chef, has gathered 150 of the most popular, most requested recipes from six of his restaurants, and has included two dozen new personal favorites as well. If you are one of the many fans who have enjoyed a memorable meal at one of Emeril's restaurants or tuned into his television cooking shows, and want to share that extraordinary experience with friends and family,From Emeril's Kitchens is the book for you.

From Emeril's New Orleans, try your hand at the Home-Smoked Salmon Cheesecake or the Barbecued Shrimp with Rosemary Biscuits. NOLA in the French Quarter is known for the Cedar-Planked Fish with Citrus Horseradish Crust and Citrus Butter Sauce and the over-the-top dessert Chicory Coffee Crème Brûlées with Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies. Entertain at weekend brunch as they do at Emeril's Delmonico and make the elegant Poached Eggs Erato or Souffléd Spinachand Brie Crêpes. Explore the tropics with dishes from Emeril's Orlando such as the Poached Grouper with Mango Salsa, Smashed Avocado, Coconut-CilantroRice Pilaf, Black Bean Sauce, and Tortilla Chips.

Looking for a true steak house experience? The Seared Beef Tournedos with Herb-Roasted Potatoes and Sauce au Poivre from Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas are just the ticket. Seafood lovers can dig into Poached Oysters in Herbsaint Cream or the Spiny Lobster-Tomato Saffron Stew with Shaved Artichoke and Olive Salad from Emeril's New Orleans Fish House.

So, spread the food of love and kick up your kitchen another notch with From Emeril's Kitchens!

Emeril Lagasse is donating a portion of his proceeds from the book to The Emeril Lagasse Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to support and encourage programs that create developmental and educational opportunities for children.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference, Foodie

352 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Emeril John Lagasse is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, and cookbook author. A regional James Beard Award winner, he is perhaps most notable for his Food Network shows Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril as well as catchphrases such as "kick it up a notch" and "BAM!" He is a 1978 graduate of Johnson & Wales University's College of Culinary Arts. The "Emeril Empire" of media, products and restaurants generates an estimated USD$150 million annually in revenue.

Reviews

[Anna Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so torn here because I absolutely love Chef Emeril Lagasse as a TV personality and his food looks so darn DELICIOUS. And I know it's delicious, because otherwise he wouldn't be one of the most recognizable culinary personages in the world. New Orleans is also one of my favorite US cities and definitely my favorite US food capital. I was so excited to order this cookbook, and then... was ultimately disappointed. This book is definitely geared more towards a very experienced cook or even someone who has chosen the culinary arts as an actual career, rather than a beginner home cook like me. The steps are many and complicated. The ingredients are also many and complicated, and I'd have to be willing to spend huge amounts of money to be able to afford everything I'd need to make even one meal in this book (I'm a teacher, so nope). I have to give it 3 stars because I'm sure the food is good!! - I just can't cook any of it. It's a pretty coffee table book on my shelf now.

[Jennifer Rinehart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never watched an episode of Emeril's show. I'm not a big fan of watching cooking shows, they always seem a bit false, the way everything is super organized and neat. The tiny ingredient saucers, the matching pots and pans, the super sharp chef's knives and spotless aprons, not only do they intimidate me, I can't imagine myself ever being able to recreate that level of perfection in my grubby little kitchen with it's cracked countertop and my blackened cookie sheets.

But the easy to replicate recipes in this cookbook are so great, so detailed, I feel like I can do anything, even a souffle, if I just had Emeril to carefully lay out each step. This is the real gem in this cookbook, the way he words the directionss and breaks even difficult recipes into smaller parts, it's like taking a one-on-one cooking class from Emeril.

The problem, of course, with most cookbooks (and the only reason I don't have shelves of them) is that no matter how great the book is, I usually only end up making a tiny fraction of the recipes (I promise myself I'm going to make practically everything, but I'm usually just being crazy and trying to justify the addition to my overstuffed shelves). Some I don't make because they sound grody, root vegetable pate, headcheese risotto, etc. Who eats that stuff? So, some books have just one recipe I like (I'm looking at you Nigella Lawson) and for the price of a new cookbook, it just isn't worth it.

But this book has seven recipes that I have made multiple times. I know, your thinking SEVEN? That's it? But truly, when you really think about it and if you took a look at some of your own cook books, I think you'd find that very few have seven recipes that you have added into your family's menu on a regular basis.

Here are some of the recipes that really stand out for me; Shrimp Bisque, salmon, mashed sweet potatoes (I added this to my Christmas Day meal this year) plus all the great spice mixes that he regularly uses to season stuff, I make them in bulk now. Better than the specific recipes have been the methods that he's introduced me to in making things like gravy (I don't know why, but gravy has always seemed super hard to make) using the french method of a roux for thickening sauces, making broth (I save shrimp shells and fish heads for seafood soups now) and pan searing meats. I've come a long way from my mother's lessons on tuna mac casserole and chicken-rice-with-mushroom soup.

If I can make these foods you can too.
Comment

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was not a recipe in this book that my family would eat and most of the ingredients are hard to find in my area or I did not even know what they were. Sold it.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've followed my cookbook reviews at all, you already know I'm a huge fan of Emeril's recipes and cookbooks. I found this gem for $2 at a library book sale just a few months ago, and it's a perfect addition to my growing cookbook collection.
At first glance, this one is intimidating, more so than even some of his other still complex cookbooks. Instead of individual recipes, each title is that of a complete dish which takes from 2 to 6 individual recipes to make before plating. For example from the seafood section, "Salmon Paillards with Lump Crabmeat, Corn Maque Choux, and Citrus-Tomato Marmalade", takes 4 individual recipes to make the one listed, fully plated dish. Or consider this salad, "Kentucky Limestone Bibb Lettuce with Warm Sweet Potato-Bourbon Dressing, Candied Pecans, and Bacon", which takes 3 separate recipes to make. I feel like a lot of people would take once glance and put this quickly back on the shelf. But not so fast! The beauty of this cookbook is that each recipe for each part of the dish is listed as a complete recipe separately along with notes and suggestions on how to use it individually. You don't have to wade through a 50 point ingredient list and figure it out in the instructions. It allows cooks like me to pick and choose parts of the recipes to make and master before diving all the way in. For example, I didn't make the complete "Smoked Mushrooms and Tasso over Angel Hair" pasta dish, but using suggestions found in the cookbook, I made the Smoked Mushrooms which my husband now LOVES with steak. The complete dish sounds great, but I can't get Tasso (a special kind of ham) where I live. I made the full "Root Beer Glazed Pork Chops with Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Caramelized Onions". While we thought the pork chops were pretty good, the amazingly delicious highlight was the Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potato recipe. I've now made it with several dishes and am even making it tonight to go with some grilled fish. Delicious! So...don't let the initial glance keep you from trying this cookbook. There are many great recipes which can be used in a variety of ways separate (and with written suggestions) from the originally intended dish. The "Scalloped Potatoes" alone were worth the $2 cookbook price and much more.
The place where this cookbook truly shines is the dessert section. I made a lot of the desserts. The "Lemon Pudding Cakes" (easy and delicious) and the "Banana Boston Cream Pie" were both winners. Every single dessert I made was an absolute do over. One note - a decade or more ago, I found Emeril's "Chicory Coffee Crème Brule" recipe online, and I've made it every year as it's what my husband always requests on his birthday. The recipe I have is similar but has several distinct differences with the one in here. I prefer the online version which uses all heavy cream instead of half cream half milk along with a few other small changes, but the one in this cookbook is easier to make.
I enjoyed this cookbook and plan to use it frequently in the future. There are still many recipes I want to try, especially from the brunch section. Yet, it isn't a 5 star cookbook. There is a color photography section in the middle, but overall, photos of the recipes are limited. There are many recipes in here I'll never make due to ingredient sourcing (rabbit, duck, etc.) or the use of tools/cookware I'm not going to buy for a single recipe.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have most of Emeril’s cookbooks and have watched most of his cooking TV shows. I’ve even been to some of his restaurants. A big fan. Everything I have ever made from his recipes turned out wonderfully well. This cookbook is so far the best collection of his recipes I have seen. Not as many photographs to entice as most current cookbooks have - and I do love food photographs, but that is its only fault. Can’t wait to start cooking.

[Herc · Rating 5 out of 5]

If its Emeril, you know it's going to be amazing! My Dad was his biggest fan, I'm fairly certain I inherited a near-full collection of Emeril cookbooks because so. Thanks, Dad! 😄💙

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently Emeril has Eight (8) different "kitchens", all but two have his name, but they are his none-the-less.

Here we go again: Presentation, all of the photos (16 double sided pages) are in the middle of the book, so if you see something that looks appetizing that you want to make, you have to hunt for the page of the corresponding recipe, which in my opinion, makes for a pain. In some cases the main recipe is on one page, but the companion to it is on the next page, which meant it took me a bit to locate the recipe (Brown sugar shortbread cookies) I specifically wanted.

The print is easy to read, the directions seem pretty clear to me, but I'm thinking, maybe I'm not going to take the time and might take "short-cuts". So it won't taste the same, but I'm never going to know the difference, and neither will anyone else who has never tasted the original dish made by Emeril himself.

[Catherine Woodman]

If you love Emeril's restaurants--the New Orleans one especially, then this is the best Emeril cookbook to own--it acurately reflects the cuisine that you can order, and allows you to bring the food into your own home--Emeril is very good about making sure that his recipes translate well to the home kitchen.

[Elizabeth Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything from basics like stock to specialties made famous in Emeril's restaurants, all clearly spelled out and easy to reproduce in home kitchens, seasoned with just the right amount of anecdote. I thought I'd give this cookbook a quick browse and be done, but it earns a place next to my "Joy of Cooking", "Fannie Farmer" and other go-to reference cookbooks.

[Aspasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emeril Lagasse is my favorite chef on the Food Network. These recipes are featured in his restaurants and look yummy but take too much prep work for a mother of a young toddler. Gourmet wannabe-cooks should enjoy it though.

[Robert Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recipes here are fantastic, but not adapted for the home cook, so may be difficult to find ingredients. But, if you are wanting to make authentic restaurant dishes, (and you can find the ingredients) this book is for you. Not for beginners, but most foodies will have no trouble.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yummy!

[Cheryl Schibley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good cookbook to have on hand.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes but these are from the restaurants which means they are often very involved - hence this isn't a book you can use on an everyday basis.

[Joseph]

I think there are some really good recipes in this book.

[Deanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome cookbook. Love changing meal recipes. I love cooking. This is right up there with the best recipe's that
I have ever read.