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Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating
The cookbook that Top Chef fans have been waiting for, from the celebrated judge who makes delicious food and inspired cooking accessible for home cooks.
Gail Simmons is a beloved figure in the food world who has been a popular judge on Top Chef , the number-one rated food show on cable television since its inception. In Bringing It Home , Simmons shares her best recipes and food experiences. From her travels, exploring global flavors and keeping detailed diaries, to her Top Chef culinary adventures with the world's most notable chefs, she is always "How can I bring this dish home to my own kitchen?" Her goal is to make fabulous recipes using accessible ingredients and smart, simple cooking techniques for successful family meals and easy entertaining.
From Bloody Mary Eggs to Christmas Brisket Fried Rice; from Summer Vegetable Salad with Charred Lime Vinaigrette to Banana-Cardamom Upside Down Cake with Salty Caramel, there is a recipe for everyone in the family. Simmons also shares ingredient tips, cooking techniques, and many informative "Snippets," as well as personal and behind-the-scenes stories that will appeal to fans and food lovers everywhere.
Gail Simmons is a beloved figure in the food world who has been a popular judge on Top Chef , the number-one rated food show on cable television since its inception. In Bringing It Home , Simmons shares her best recipes and food experiences. From her travels, exploring global flavors and keeping detailed diaries, to her Top Chef culinary adventures with the world's most notable chefs, she is always "How can I bring this dish home to my own kitchen?" Her goal is to make fabulous recipes using accessible ingredients and smart, simple cooking techniques for successful family meals and easy entertaining.
From Bloody Mary Eggs to Christmas Brisket Fried Rice; from Summer Vegetable Salad with Charred Lime Vinaigrette to Banana-Cardamom Upside Down Cake with Salty Caramel, there is a recipe for everyone in the family. Simmons also shares ingredient tips, cooking techniques, and many informative "Snippets," as well as personal and behind-the-scenes stories that will appeal to fans and food lovers everywhere.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published October 24, 2017
40 people are currently reading
1017 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 1, 2017
Jan and I watch Gail on our fav cooking show in the U.S. I know she loves good food so her cookbook was going to be fabulous. It is.
It's a rare cookbook that makes me want to try most of the recipes!
It's a rare cookbook that makes me want to try most of the recipes!
November 8, 2018
This is the first cookbook I have reviewed, because it is the first cookbook I have finished. As in—I made all the recipes. I know! I didn’t start out intending to do this, but I made one, then another one, then suddenly I only had a few left to go, so why not just complete it, right?
I found the variety and novelty of recipes really appealing. There’s something for every mood and amount of time. Some of the most straightforward recipes (chili cheese toasts, for example) are the tastiest. There are also “stretch” recipes that take more time, more money, or more technique. However even as what I would call an average home cook I did not find anything too out of reach. I do benefit from living in a big city with a lot of markets however.
I love all the tips, including sourcing ingredients, storing leftovers for many recipes, general technique notes, and some substitution options.
The intro stories and technical info were also just right—I can’t handle a lot of blog recipes because I don’t want to scroll past 7 screens of how the cook’s day is going, but a little context for why the recipe is meaningful to Gail made it more fun for me.
There was only one tiny editorial error that I found, which is incredible. Usually there are a few places in a book where the list of ingredients doesn’t match the instructions, but not here!
In terms of recipes, I *loved* the grapefruit and shrimp salad, lazy lobster pie (that’s a special occasion budget number though!), Vietnamese omelet, ratatouille galette, rustic fish soup, sponge toffee, banana cardamom cake, chili cheese toast, Chang’s baby back ribs, and black licorice dark chocolate bundt. I liked (or really, really, really liked) almost everything else, with a few exceptions for things I just don’t like anyway (cured salmon, radicchio, papaya) and a couple of things I think I made mistakes in (Singapore-style hokkien noodles I don’t think I reduced the stock enough, and coconut callalloo I think my okra may not have been super fresh).
All in all I think this book is wonderful for rainy day cooking, and I will definitely be returning to it for years to come. The desserts in particular are sure-fire to please company—I didn’t have a low moment in any of them. I only have space in my life for 5-6 cookbooks, and this is one.
I found the variety and novelty of recipes really appealing. There’s something for every mood and amount of time. Some of the most straightforward recipes (chili cheese toasts, for example) are the tastiest. There are also “stretch” recipes that take more time, more money, or more technique. However even as what I would call an average home cook I did not find anything too out of reach. I do benefit from living in a big city with a lot of markets however.
I love all the tips, including sourcing ingredients, storing leftovers for many recipes, general technique notes, and some substitution options.
The intro stories and technical info were also just right—I can’t handle a lot of blog recipes because I don’t want to scroll past 7 screens of how the cook’s day is going, but a little context for why the recipe is meaningful to Gail made it more fun for me.
There was only one tiny editorial error that I found, which is incredible. Usually there are a few places in a book where the list of ingredients doesn’t match the instructions, but not here!
In terms of recipes, I *loved* the grapefruit and shrimp salad, lazy lobster pie (that’s a special occasion budget number though!), Vietnamese omelet, ratatouille galette, rustic fish soup, sponge toffee, banana cardamom cake, chili cheese toast, Chang’s baby back ribs, and black licorice dark chocolate bundt. I liked (or really, really, really liked) almost everything else, with a few exceptions for things I just don’t like anyway (cured salmon, radicchio, papaya) and a couple of things I think I made mistakes in (Singapore-style hokkien noodles I don’t think I reduced the stock enough, and coconut callalloo I think my okra may not have been super fresh).
All in all I think this book is wonderful for rainy day cooking, and I will definitely be returning to it for years to come. The desserts in particular are sure-fire to please company—I didn’t have a low moment in any of them. I only have space in my life for 5-6 cookbooks, and this is one.
August 28, 2018
Top Chef fans and foodies alike will find Bringing It Home: Favorite Recipes from a Life of Adventurous Eating to their liking. I enjoyed the lengthy introduction, as Gail Simmons brings the reader into her life from her childhood through her professional and married life. There are great, well balanced and flavorful, recipes for all skill levels and price point. Some of the ingredients that Gail uses are decadent, but substitutions can be made easily. The cookbook is well illustrated, with great photographs of many of the finished dishes. My favorite section of Bringing It Home is the one entitled Noodles & Rice. The recipes range from the easy, such as Spaghettini with Burst Cherry Tomatoes and Basil (p. 85), to the exotic, with Singapore-Style Hokkien Noodles (p. 93) and fusion, with Christmas Brisket Fried Rice (p. 97). I found most of the recipes to be accessible and I look forward to making many of them in the future.
March 21, 2018
I don't think I've ever reviewed a cookbook on goodreads, but after checking this one out of the library and trying and loving 3 of the recipes, I had to come give it some stars, as well as buy my own copy, which I rarely do. The ones I've tried so far were delicious and well-explained...I highly recommend it!
November 5, 2017
This is a delicious cookbook - great stories and lovely pictures along with great recipes that are not difficult to follow or obtain ingredients for. The added bonus of Chef Tech notes, Snippets, & Kitchen Wisdom sprinkled throughout the book is pretty awesome as well.
November 21, 2017
I really enjoyed reading about her background, and enjoyed the variety of food shared here. The background stories are great, and the photos are beautiful. But while I’d love to eat most of her food, it’s kind of fussy and complicated for everyday (for me). So this was mainly inspirational.
February 19, 2018
Gail Simmons brings her love of foods from around the world into a wonderful collection of recipes for any home cook. Thouroughly enjoyable, very approachable in the home kitchen.
April 4, 2018
This was a great book. I loved the Kitchen Wisdom snippets plus the background to the recipes.
April 9, 2018
Beautiful pictures but not for the regular home cook. Not budget friendly. Ingredients hard to find.
July 3, 2018
Lovely to look through, but nothing that I would actually make. Most of the recipes tend to have at least 1 ingredient that's hard to find if you don't live in a huge city like NY.
July 14, 2019
For me is worth keeping if only for the tips and instructions. The recipes are fantastic.
November 24, 2020
Not a lot of recipes that would work for my family, but the stories and memories were interesting to read. I've always liked Gail from "Top Chef."
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January 2, 2018I’ll review once I make a few of the recipes. First on my list: the Hokkien noodles, jerk shrimp rolls, the chocolate banoffee pie and the bourbon marshmallows.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews