Chicken: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes

by Marcus Bean (Artist)

Marcus Bean has made it his mission to show us how to rediscover chicken, and reinvent our repertoire of chicken recipes. Whether you want to slow-cook, spit-roast, stir-fry or stuff chicken, or you are preparing a confit, casserole or curry, Marcus gives you innovative and inspiring dishes.

Chicken: The New Classics is packed with information, advice on mastering techniques such as smoking and spatchcocking, and truly mouth-watering, memorable recipes. The recipes themselves draw on time-honoured classics and are then given a modern twist. Take a fresh look at burgers, for example, and try a Chicken & Slow-Roast Tomato Burger with Pesto Mayonnaise for a family meal, or serve up a contemporary take on the traditional chicken and mushroom combination, with the Asian Chicken & Mushroom Ballotines, for a show-stopper. You can even try Golden Chicken and Mint Mojito - chicken marinated in mint, lime and rum.

Here you'll find everything you need to make a brilliant meal - and rule the roost!

Genres: Cookbooks

224 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2014

Reviews

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Chicken: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes is a solid cookbook - a large selection of recipes from around the world giving new perspective on a meat staple. For me, however, I found the book frustrating to follow and a bit too advanced (I had neither the equipment nor the knowledge to follow many recipes). The formatting of the recipes and lack of images keep this at a four star rating but I appreciate that for more experienced cooks, this is definitely a 5 star book.

The book gives a great introduction on the history of chicken but also how to buy, prepare, and cook it. It's basic info but a good reference for those who might have holes in their cooking education dealing with chicken. It's the one part of the book I found the most useful. The recipes are meant to give us something new - adding in the latest popular foods e.g., kale and quinoa and showcasing how different cultures use chicken. The book is arranged in 3 main sections: Weekday meals (light and main meals), Weekend meals (light and main meals) and then Dinners and Celebrations (appetizers and main meals). At the end are basic recipes (e.g., chicken stock) and accompaniments.

The layout of the cookbook was a bit problematic for me. Recipe instructions are given in paragraph form. That makes it very difficult to continually follow and then reference back - it's easy to get lost when it is all words stuck in 8-9 paragraphs. I always prefer steps to be numbered in block form for easier reference when actually cooking. As well, all ingredients are listed on the right of the page - when you have 25 ingredients, it gets a bit hard to reference. Those could also have been broken down into types (e.g., spices together, vegetables together, herbs together, etc.). The entire page is monochromatic - color keying or even using different fonts/type/italics would have helped make the recipes easier to look at and follow. Especially since there are so few pictures so I had no idea what I was preparing was supposed to look like or how it was to be presented.

The recipes are quite interesting - a lot far more interesting than my family is probably going to invest in eating (or that I want to buy all the ingredients for/prepare). For that reason, this felt very much like an old fashioned 'cook's' cookbook - written by and intended for those who love cooking. Since I don't fall in that category and just wanted interesting inspirations for family dinners, I probably fell very much out of the intended audience for the book.

Those that love cooking will fall in love with the diversity and depth of the recipes listed. There is a world class list of recipes here - from chicken waterzooi to smoked chicken, mango, and asparagus verrine. So although this isn't a cookbook I can use much, I can readily attest that this is a very good recipe and cookbook for the cooking aficionado. This will challenge what you have done with chicken in the past and give you fresh new ideas for the modern chicken meal.

Reviewed from an ARC.

[DelAnne Frazee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Chicken - A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes
Author: Marcus Bean
Published: 9-23-2014
Publisher: Watkins Publishing Limited
Pages: 224
Genre: Cooking, Food & Wine
Sub Genre:
ISBN:
ASIN:
Reviewer: DelAnne
Reviewed For: NetGalley

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An extensive instructions book on chickens, the differences in the breeds and how they affect the flavor of the meats. In an aside Marcus Bean also explains the different breeds in regards to egg production as well. There is also an explanation on the cutting up a chicken and of using a whole chicken. Throw us some terrific recipes written so they are easy to follow and reproduce. A great cookbook for any chicken lover, the preferred white meat.



Growing up in a household with a father who was raised on a chicken farm and could not look at a chicken without turning a little green and a mother that could eat chicken three meals a day and seven days a week you either grew up loving chicken or never wanting to see a chicken again in your life. I was one of the ones who love the flavor of chicken. Perhaps not to the extent of my mother, but I could easily eat it two or three times a week. A lunch here a dinner there and don't forget the leftovers. Chicken - A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes is a definite winner in my opinion with so many different recipes to try. This cookbook has a place of honor on my kitchen bookshelf. 4 1/2 out of 5 stars.



Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...

Barnes and Noble link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/chick...

GoodReads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

The Reading Room link: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.ph...

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love chicken and use it as a cooking staple in my home, it is versatile and can be used for so many different things. So, when I saw this cookbook, I knew that I had to get it.

This cookbook starts out with a good primer on chicken, the different cuts, how to prepare and cooking techniques. I was happy to see a lot of recipes from different cultures. Recipes are separated into weekday, weekend and dinners and celebrations.

I tried the Grilled Chicken, Fennel and Feta salad, it was a simple recipe and I was glad to use some herbs from my garden. I also tried the enticing Smoky Bacon Chicken Wings, this ended up being a nice and different, but easy appetizer with great flavor combinations.

I'm looking forward to trying Pulled Chicken Buns with Barbecue Sauce, Chicken and Butternut Squash Gnocci with Sage Butter and Chili Chocolate Chicken. Some of the dinner and celebrations recipes were a little more difficult in terms of preparation and technique, but looked delicious.

Some great new recipes and classics with chicken.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this book. I am a bit of cookery book junkie owning a few hundred and this will be at the top of my most used books quite soon. Often a new book comes out that looks good but only a few of the recipes appeal, the difference here is that I intend to work my way through the book missing out only the occasional one. The book is beautifully presented with great instructions and lovely photos. I do like a cookery book to be full of gorgeous pictures which makes the recipes more tempting to try and shows me what it should look like. The book includes old favourites which have been updated such as chicken, chorizo and tiger prawn paella, and ideas new to me such as chicken falafel. The book was kindly provided free by Good Reads.

[Chris Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

>-> I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FOR FREE AS PART OF GOODREADS FIRST READS <-<

What I love about this book is that it works chicken into a variety of recipes that are simple to follow, look delicious and even look like fun to prepare. The key to Marcus' approach however, appears to be adaptation.

As an amateur cook myself, I adore the fact that there's clearly a method to follow, but you're left free to experiment.

Would you like to try hoisin sauce rolls with your chicken, here's a recipe... oh you don't like hoisin sauce? then here's a recipe for sweet and sour, try that.

It's a form I've always wanted where the individual can personalise the recipe and rediscover the joys of cooking, when my partner returns from abroad I'll be sure to try a few and post up my results!

[Jannelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed combing through this cookbook. As a chef, it is important for me to keep myself passionate and motivated throughout my career. One way I have found to easily accomplish this is to read and cook the recipes from cookbooks.
I believe that even novices would enjoy this book - there are plenty of pictures to guide the reader along as well as many recipes to appeal to the pickiest eater.
Great job here!
Will post a mash-up (recipe post and book review) on my blog on Monday, September 22nd.

[Jeanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was absolutely thrilled to have won 'Chicken: A Fresh Take on Classic Recipes' in the Goodreads First Reads Giveaway. So many interesting recipes with colourful pictures, which I shall look forward to making soon. Apart from recipes, this book also goes into the cuts of chicken, preparing chicken and towards the end of the book, has basic recipes for pastry, sauces, potatoes and other accompaniments. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys various ways of cooking chicken.

[Cas H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicken by Marcus Bean is an awesome book on how to do everything with a chicken. He teaches you how to cut it, how to debone it, and how to make the chicken perfect for you. He teaches you how to make chicken and vegetable broth. He gives you recipes, many, many recipes on how to cook chicken.
I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent cook book which I received from Goodreads. Have already tried 2 recipes and they were easy to make and tasted fantastic.The book offers classic chicken dishes with a twist , as well as some ideas that are brand new and innovative.