What do you think?
Rate this book
A Great American Cook: Recipes from the Home Kitchen of One of Our Most Influential Chefs
Renowned chef Jonathan Waxman knows that becoming a great American cook starts at home—here he shares methods for recipes you can pull together with just a few ingredients.
Widely recognized as one of the fathers of New American cuisine, Jonathan Waxman knows how to make magnificent food from just a few ingredients, roasting eggplants and red peppers for an intensely flavored soup or tossing asparagus with oranges and hazelnuts for a refreshing first course. His vision is bold, but strikingly unpretentious: many of the dishes in A Great American Cook—like the Shrimp BLT, Crispy Chicken and Goat Cheese Burritos, and Gingerbread with Brandied Plums—are free-spirited plays on classics, and his “less is more” philosophy animates suppers like flash-seared scallops on caramelized onions and chicken cooked under a brick with a sauce of rosé wine, bacon, and peas. From a versatile vegetable dish that goes with nearly every main course to handmade pastas with delicate sauces to a foolproof way to cook salmon, Waxman gives you all the techniques and recipes you need for simple, sophisticated cooking at home.
Widely recognized as one of the fathers of New American cuisine, Jonathan Waxman knows how to make magnificent food from just a few ingredients, roasting eggplants and red peppers for an intensely flavored soup or tossing asparagus with oranges and hazelnuts for a refreshing first course. His vision is bold, but strikingly unpretentious: many of the dishes in A Great American Cook—like the Shrimp BLT, Crispy Chicken and Goat Cheese Burritos, and Gingerbread with Brandied Plums—are free-spirited plays on classics, and his “less is more” philosophy animates suppers like flash-seared scallops on caramelized onions and chicken cooked under a brick with a sauce of rosé wine, bacon, and peas. From a versatile vegetable dish that goes with nearly every main course to handmade pastas with delicate sauces to a foolproof way to cook salmon, Waxman gives you all the techniques and recipes you need for simple, sophisticated cooking at home.
- GenresCookbooksFoodNonfiction
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 12, 2007
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 30, 2014
Confession: I have a crush on Jonathan Waxman.
And how could you not after reading through his book? He presents unfussy, great food through approachable recipes. So many times, with a title like A Great American Cook, other cookbooks get mired in recipes full of details and techniques that, while beautiful, are something you know is so far along the continuum of difficulty for a home cook that you know you'll only think about making them.
Not so with Waxman's recipes. They focus on solid ingredients cooked in straightforward ways--so much so that I could see myself cooking them at home without a lot of trouble. This is not to say that the recipes are basic or unsophisticated--there are some powerful flavors at work here, just assembled in a really clear way.
If you don't already own this book, you should--it's worth the spend for both Waxman's asides and his food.
And how could you not after reading through his book? He presents unfussy, great food through approachable recipes. So many times, with a title like A Great American Cook, other cookbooks get mired in recipes full of details and techniques that, while beautiful, are something you know is so far along the continuum of difficulty for a home cook that you know you'll only think about making them.
Not so with Waxman's recipes. They focus on solid ingredients cooked in straightforward ways--so much so that I could see myself cooking them at home without a lot of trouble. This is not to say that the recipes are basic or unsophisticated--there are some powerful flavors at work here, just assembled in a really clear way.
If you don't already own this book, you should--it's worth the spend for both Waxman's asides and his food.
February 12, 2017
made the wild mushroom salad during the summer of 2016. flavorful mushrooms, amazing croutons, tons of textures and flavors to keep it from being a boring salad. found the prosciutto to be optional (it's a pretty hearty salad, plus i'm not a huge fan of meat anyways).
August 22, 2017
I can't wait to make some of these. When my husband isn't around to complain. Lol.
May 19, 2016
What I like and dislike about this, first what I like how he dresses a simple garden salad, my Italian mother has dressed her salads for 60 years the exact same way as Waxman, everyone raves about hers, he has several other recipes I plan on trying. What I do not like is how he cooks his lobsters (being a Mainer), fill the pot with salted water and boil for 10 minutes, no no no, fill a large pot with one to two inches of salted water, about 14 minutes, steam them, do not boil them, much better.
December 29, 2014
I looked through this book dozens of times and couldn't settle on what I wanted to make. It all looked good, but I'm not a big roast or meat eater and that is a lot of what is in here. I finally made a root vegetable dish, and added a little sausage. It was amazingly delicious. It made me want to make more--so I'll have to try another recipe when I go back through!
January 8, 2008
Solid and well-put together. The writing is gorgeous thanks to Tom Steele. I borrowed this from the library to browse, but hope to purchase it for myself soon. Waxman's comments on ingredients and kitchens tools are invaluable.
July 9, 2010
other than an intolerable forward by bobby flay (UGH), really nice cookbook with simple, new american recipes and lovely tie-in stories about the food and waxman's own life.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews