Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen
Book Review: Just Like an Italian Restaurant
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of my favorite cookbooks. When I got this book, my knowledge of cooking Italian food was pretty much limited to: boil the pasta, then pour some sauce out of a bottle. No longer! Lidia's recipes are easy to make and taste excellent.I've made several scallopini dishes and loved them all. Also, I was induced to try her recipe for Eggplant Parmesan even though I've never liked eggplant, and it's now one of my favorites.
Most of the dishes are easily scaled down when cooking for one or two people. For instance, I halved the Eggplant Parmesan recipe and cooked it in a 9" square pan instead of a 9"X13" one, and it came out great.
The only things that seem disappointing are the vegetable side dishes - but maybe that's because I haven't tried any. None of them cry out for me to try them, but perhaps they will surprise me and be as good as the rest of the dishes in this book.
Overall, this is an excellent cookbook for the beginning Italian cook.
Book Review: Lots of good recipes, but unfortunately no pictures.
Summary: 3 Stars
I know it may sound childish, but I really wish this book has color photos of some of the dishes. I've been a fan of Lidia's PBS TV show and there are plenty of good recipes and info in the cookbook, but part of making a cookbook interesting is to show how beautiful recipes can be. Because of that i'm only giving it 3 stars. Hopefully her new cookbook will include more color.Book Review: not what I expected, or rather, not what I had hoped.
Summary: 3 Stars
Lidia is an excellent chef, there's no disputing that. But I was rather dissapointed with this book. I bought "Lidia's Italian Table" which gave easy instructions on how to make absolutely 4-star gourmet food -- the likes of which I was not familiar. This book, however, is filled with familiar recipes. I'm sure Lidia gives a few helpful pointers here and there due to her infinite abilities as a cook, but I frankly don't think the cookbook is all that useful if you already know how to make a good meat sauce. Good if you don't though, she'll lay out all the basics for you.Book Review: One of my favorites
Summary: 5 Stars
These are good, unfussy recipes that reliably recreate the "taste memory" of Italian-American classics. My favorites are poached seafood salad, penne alla vodka and the various scallopine recipes. The book contains excellent illustrations. I especially appreciated the very easy to follow step-by-step instructions for cleaning squid. My only quibble is that Lydia sometimes forgets to say what to do with some ingredients. Lydia, oh what, oh what do I do with the lemon juice that you had me squeeze and reserve for the scallopine piccata?Book Review: A Culinary Treasure
Summary: 5 Stars
I just can't say enough about this book and how much it's changed my cooking style. To anyone familiar with Lidia's PBS show, you know already that she is a culinary treasure. But for those of you who are not familiar with Lidia and just want a wonderful cookbook devoid of hard-to-find and rarely used ingredients, look no more.One of Lidia's basic concepts is that cooking be an inspiring experience and that you enjoy what you are doing and appreciate the simple ingredients that make delicious meals. I have found that after following several recipes, I have become a better, more thoughtful cook, no matter what I'm making. And that is what she truly wants (I met her at a booksigning a year ago and had the honor of speaking with her about this).
One suggestion: Purchase one of those plexi-glass cookbook holder/protectors, because trust me - you will be using this quite a lot.