Product Description

Rose and Strand demonstrate how to throw sma ll parties for up to six people with simple and exciting men us. Stressing simplicity in both flavour and preparation, th ey also offer tips on cooking ahead of time and cocktails fo r different dishes. '

Product Details

• Published on: 1998-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 132 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The first effort by bookseller Rose (founder of Cook's Library in L.A.) and journalist Strand partially succeeds as it offers a dozen menus (three per season, one each for parties of two, four and six people). Although the authors promise that the cook "won't be a slave" to the kitchen and provide a "menu manager" to organize each meal's prep time, some menus give the chef little chance to relax with guests. If one starts preparing Antonia's Cioppino an hour before serving, as is recommended in the instructions, that time will be spent in the kitchen. A few touches may be considered precious: Barbecued Mussels in the Shell, an appetizer on the summer menu for two, calls for squirting white wine on each grilling mollusk with a turkey baster. Plating some of the meals can be quirky, as in two butterflied chickens in Our Favorite Tuscan Grilled Chicken for six. But many of the dishes are elegantly simple and relatively easy to prepare, notably Grilled Shrimp with Garlic Aioli, offering fare that would fully honor the friends of an attentive cook. Among the best: Oven-Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan; Lamb Marinated in Lemon and Garlic with Mint Pesto; and a toothsomely crunchy Autumn Mixed Nut Tart.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Many of the dishes are elegantly simple and relatively easy to prepare, notably Grill Shrimp with Garlic Aioli, offering fare that would fully honor the friends of an attentive cook "Publishers Weekly"

Ingram
For dinner parties, people today want to sit down with friends without extensive preparation. That's the cry culinary booksellers Ellen Rose and Jessica Strand heard from customers at Cook's Library--so they wrote the book themselves. Arranged by season, their elegant menus for entertaining use fresh, flavorful ingredients and include helpful make-ahead tips. 24 color photos.

Customer Reviews

My favorite new cookbook
I can't say enough good things about this cookbook. Every recipe draws my interest and after a week of entertaining I can report every recipe from the book that I have tried is a winner. Start with the cherry almond biscotti and move on to the Tuscan Chicken with a Roasted Corn Salad with Avocado Vinagrette. I usually design a single menu from recipes from different sources,however there is enough in this book to keep me busy for awhile.

Inaccurate and incomplete recipes
I was initially very excited about this cookbook until I began to acually put it to use. On two different occasions I have found receipes where there have been incomplete or confusing directions. The Parmesean Crips for example list a 1/2 tsp of butter in the ingredient listing but do not tell you when or where to add in the receipe! I have also found that in the Pork Tenderloin with Fruit and Port Sauce they instruct you to preheat an oven but do not tell you when and for how long to bake the dish. Friends that own the cookbook were equally confused. This is disasterous particually when entertaining-which is what this book is all about.

deliciously different
I recieved this book as a gift two summers ago, and it's long since been a favorite. The mixed berry cobbler is to die for, and most of the other recipes are just as simple and wonderful to prepare and devour. A few suggestions, though. The authors never inform us when to remove the shells for the barbequed shrimp, and we are asked to baste the grilled chicken with bricks sitting on top of them! Nothing a more meticulous editor couldn't have caught. I really do like books that mention a little something about the recipes before simply listing the ingredients and method. I don't know about anyone else, but you really get a feel for the authors's passion for good food. Yummy.