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The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant: member book reviews

(7 reviews)

This is a beautiful cookbook that is very different from my other cookbooks. The recipes are very detailed and contain a lot of useful advice, but are not simple to make. I would consider this project cooking, for when I want to spend some time in the kitchen or prepare something special.

(edited 12th March 2012) report

This is a beautiful cookbook that reads like you are cooking with an old friend. I love what this cookbook tells us about shopping, about learning about your ingredients, and about basic cooking techniques. My advice is to treat this cookbook like a set of cooking lessons.

After preparing 35 of the recipes in this book, I have to say that the recipes are somewhat uneven. Some of the recipes are outstaning (the biscotti and mock porchetta come to mind). However some of the recipes do not work, at least for me. These include the roasted polenta and ricotta gnocchi.

I think nearly all cookbooks have some recipes that do not work for everyone. With cookbooker to help guide you to the best recipes, and help you with the ones that are problematic, this cookbook can truly help make you into a better, and more thoughtful, cook.

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I placed this book on my wish list after a friend told me it was one of her husband's favorite cookbooks. I was thrilled with I got it from Paper Back Swap. I looked through it at the time then it got put on the shelf and i pretty much forgot about it..... Until cookbooker.com picked it as a challenge book. I pulled it back off the shelf for another look. I then begin reading and choosing recipes to cook.

I've learned some new ideas about some inventive ways to use some ingredients. Such as vinegar with eggs, kale on toast, eggs baked on leftovers and gizzards in pasta sauce. This book not only contains interesting and sometimes different recipes but also teaches you techniques such as how to remove a chicken breast from a whole bird, how to make perfect mayonnaise and risotto among other things.

When you start reading one of the recipes it's like Judy takes you by the hand and leads you in the right direction as you begin the cooking process. Even if you're a seasoned cook you'll find many useful tips and instructions in this book.

There are only two things that I don't like about this book. One is that not all recipes give serving sizes. The other is that there are ingredients used in several of the recipe that are hard for me to find. People who live in other areas might not have that problem. The other recipes more than make up for the few with hard to find ingredients though.

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The Zuni Cafe Cookbook is an excellent resource for the accomplished cook. I enjoy reading this book, not only for its enticing recipes, but also for the compendium-like manner in which it proffers advice.

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Not really a book for beginners, but if you have been cooking for a few years and want practical and inspirational tips to cook better, this is the one for you.

Lots of advice on the details that matter - such as when to salt your food (early), what salt to use (it depends) and why. She tells you when to taste and what to look for when you do. She will also tell you which things are not that important. It also is unintimidating. She will tell you not to try recipes that are too unfamiliar, she helps you with tasting your food.

And it's fun to just read it, even the recipes themselves.

(edited 23rd June 2010) report

This is a visually beautiful book -- glorious really. It celebrates not only the pleasures of the table but also the pleasure involved in creating those great meals. The introduction could motivate just about anyone to want to be a better, more thoughtful cook ... and the recipes give the results that show that the effort to do so pays off on the plate. I love this cookbook.

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We loved the restaurant and bought the cookbook.

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