You need to be a Chef
359096
I didn't read through the entire book; but it's not my cup of tea.  I can't spend the money and especially the time preparing these recipes.  I'll resell it.
1063228
So, most home cooks probably can't cook the majority of recipes in this. A lot of it uses specialized equipment that almost no one has in their home. It's incredible for inspiration and learning. And if you can actually cook from it, hey, three michelin star meals.
617444
It looks like you could cook in this if you wanted too, the lid will need a hole to do that.
3965594
I want to say that I am not a good cook and want to become a better cook which is why I purchased this book. I also want to say that I own like a lot of people garbage knives but I am starting to pick up good quality knives for food prep; I realized that I need better quality knives at Thanksgiving trying to carve the turkey. I just received the book and read through the utensils part and I want to just warn people about razor sharp knives and the lack of instruction in the book (maybe it comes later).

Please make sure your fingers are no where near the knife edge. Watch a few videos on the proper technique on knife skills. Norman Weinstein videos are out there along with numerous culinary school videos on how to properly hold food and cut. Honestly, I took a little slice of my thumb off accidentally because the knife touched my finger - I wasn't even cutting at that point.

So far other than that it seems pretty good - I'm learning how to make real oatmeal! :)  Once I get through the book I guess I'll update this review.
4640106
Really. This is like a Gordon Ramsey cookbook. Ideas are fine but you won't be able execute anything you can use at home
1563303
You can actually do this by hand however if you learn the trick and prepare these often this is a good tool to have. If you want the actual Outback Steakhouse recipe or the clone head over to [...] and check out his copycat restaurant recipes. He gives them away and sells them online in addition to his books. Ive used them over the years and they are incredibly close to their counterparts
2372994
If you love to cook this gives you the the inside scoop and skills taught to successful chefs. Great recipes!
4866443
Until I read "Scars of a Chef," I thought anyone who could follow a recipe could cook. I've persisted in this belief for years, though personal experience has told me differently. Perhaps I should have put two and two together: cooking is not an exact science, but rather a grand science experiment. Rick Tramonto (along with other chefs mentioned in his book) is an extraordinary food scientist.

I was amazed at the amount of work required to learn how to cook like he does. His story is fascinating--of studying for decades to become the master chef he is and of his spiritual development along the way. I may not be a foodie, but I learned much about them while reading this book.

And his testimony just about made me cry. I love learning the stories of how Christ draws people to Himself. These reaffirm my own faith and prompt me to pray all the harder for loved ones who haven't come to know Jesus--yet.

As a bonus, Tramonto closes each chapter with a recipe. If I had any doubts about my above conclusion, these affirmed it for me. I can read these recipes, but I don't even recognize half the ingredients. One calls for horseradish foam--I wondered if I'd need to find a horse with rabies. Then I noticed he included a recipe for the horseradish foam. One ingredient--2 iSi N2O cream chargers. Sounds like rabid horses to me. I don't think I'll be preparing these recipes--though most of them sound really good. Instead I'll be passing the book on to my brother. Perhaps he can cook someday An Enlightenfor me!

If you enjoy inspirational biographies, whether or not you cook well, I recommend this book to you! Thank you, Tyndale House Publishers, for sending it for my review.
1572593
Nancy Silverton is one of the last chefs in the world I would have expected to write a cookbook that urges you to use prepared foods.

Worse, prepared foods in quality meals.

Even more unlikely: meals you can prepare with the fewest possible steps and the least preparation time.

That's because Nancy Silverton is a Serious Chef. Trained at the Cordon Bleu in London. Apprenticed at Michael's in Santa Monica. In 1989, with her husband and a partner, she opened Campanile restaurant and La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles. Turned them into national brands. Sold the restaurant for a Brea Bakery for major money, sold an 80% stake in the bakery for $56 million.

So she definitely has the time and resources to embrace "slow cooking," homemade dinners, 101% natural ingredients.

And, in fact, Nancy Silverton is famed largely for her hand-crafted,  artisanal breads. And for her elaborate sandwiches. Like her BLT: smoky bacon, Boston lettuce, and sun-dried tomatoes on toasted sourdough bread with a spoon of pepper mayonnaise. And for views like this: "If someone asked me to fillet a whole fish, I wouldn't have a clue."

Still, it's a stunner --- even she thinks so --- for her to praise pasta sauce in a jar. Frozen pie crust. And, yikes, leftovers.

To come to these conclusions, she remembered how frenzied she was when she was raising three children and running two businesses. So she shopped for a year. And not just in supermarkets. She trolled gourmet stores. She clicked around the web. And she found that prepared foods had greatly improved since she started avoiding them, all those years ago.

Warning: To recreate her collection of cooking supplies, you'll have to exert some effort. You'll need to visit a high-end gourmet store. And you may need to shop on the Web, where sane prices are undermined by ridiculous shipping charges.

Other modest warnings: You won't find a pre-mixed vinaigrette dressing that's worth serving. (At least, she didn't.) In season, if you want pesto, she favors a mortar and pestle. And commercial salt-by-the-pound won't do. Silverton favors sea salt. And kosher salt. Two bowls, always handy.

Good news for vegetarians: Silverton discovered her love for cooking when she became the vegetarian chef for her college dorm. There are pages and pages of salads and soups that are either animal-free or easily could be.
3543673
This cook book goes where most don't anymore.  It's an older book that provides foundation that modern cooking lacks.  It shows you how to do things that use to be passed down in the kitchen like scaling fish or making your own spices.  It's a must for any kitchen no matter how advanced your cooking skills.  It's a great reference for the basics and a great teacher for culinary adventures that are being pursued for the first time.
2159795
Just do it.
Get yourself one.  Enjoy the culinary benefits that come from this novel Sou Vide.

Safe, and enables you to multitask...coming home to a wonderfully cooked meal.
2267126
The authors state that in "the olden days" (my words not theirs) a person cooked so often that they became intuitively good at understanding how the chemistry of food worked.  Since we don't cook as much these days, that level of proficiency is hard to attain.  This book is the solution. Master  50 "secrets" and you are a gourmet!  Okay, that seems a little daunting but you master one at a time.
785508
Can't use any of these recipes don't have the grocery store to get the products you need. Have to be a master chef at a ritzy restaurant!!!!!
3686728
This is a cook book I can use. Written obviously by a chef who has passion for his food and for his writing. A book to be read not just followed: little snippets about how the author came to into contact with the dishes make it a great read; working in a restaurant, eating on the street, meeting other cooks, finding old recipe books. As to the dishes; there are no complicated recipes to follow, the author just gives us a brief explanation of how to prepare and source a dish. This makes for a refreshing change. As someone who collects and tries to use cookbooks, I am a little fed up of over- elaborate recipes that require sourcing ingredients from inaccessible specialist shops. This book leaves me room to improvise and try some new dishes. A welcome addition to my cookbook collection.
373697
This shirt has been known to drop your cooking knowledge and execution skills by 99% and it also gives you a 100 % chance of being laughed out of a real kitchen.
Shirt matches with just about everything including "chef"  somewhere on your twitter handle,  calling yourself a foodie or a chef even though you don't have that title at your job,  and culinary or tribal tattoos.
860244
I dread getting cookbooks as gifts because I know I will never make more than one or two recipes in them.

A great cookbook should do more than provide you with recipes, it should teach you about ingredients, chemistry, and process in a way that lets you apply this knowledge to everything you cook. This is one of those great cookbooks.
2513288
A lot of nice very recipes but they are quite complicated so make sure you have the time and ingredients.