Friday, December 12, 2008

Simply Ming or Dutch Oven Cookbook

Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals

Author: Ming Tsai

As the chef and owner of the acclaimed Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and an Emmy award-winning television personality, Ming Tsai has become the standard-bearer of East-West cuisine, the innovative blending of Eastern flavors and techniques with Western ingredients and presentations.

Now, in Simply Ming, he presents a breakthrough technique for bringing East-West flair to everyday cooking, making it possible to transform a handful of fresh ingredients into a delicious meal in a matter of minutes. The genius of Simply Ming is a versatile array of master recipes—intensely flavored sauces, pestos, salsas, dressings, rubs, and more that eliminate much of the last-minute prep work. So sophisticated dishes such as Tea-Rubbed Salmon with Steamed Scallion-Lemon Rice, Grilled Miso-Citrus Scallop Lollipops, and Green Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin with Vinegar-Glazed Leeks can be on the table in less than 30 minutes.

Even casual dishes such as spaghetti, burgers, fried calamari, and chicken wings get a boost of East-West excitement in Ming’s creative hands, becoming Asian Pesto Turkey Spaghetti, Salmon Burger with Tomato-Kaffir Lime Salsa, Blue Ginger Crispy Calamari, and Soy-Dijon Chicken Wings. This is food that is simple enough to serve on a weeknight, but special enough to share with guests. And desserts get the Simply Ming treatment, too, with tempting ways to transform basic shortbread dough, chocolate ganache, and crème anglaise into a range of show-stopping finales.

Filled with color photographs that motivate and inspire, beverage suggestions to complement each dish, and helpful tips for cooking with unfamiliar ingredients,Simply Ming makes the excitement and innovation of East-West cooking easily accessible to all home cooks.

Publishers Weekly

Tsai, the irrepressible host of the Food Network's East Meets West and chef of Boston's Blue Ginger restaurant, is doing things differently on this print venture. Rather than embarking on a parade of salads, soups followed by vegetable, proteins and starches, he organizes this book by dominant flavors, like Hoisin-Lime Sauce, Roasted Pepper-Lemongrass Sambal and Soy-Dijon Marinade. Besides making the book easier to use (no more flipping around looking for sub-recipes), the sauce-based structure makes the most daunting part of the cooking easy to prepare ahead of time. Big flavors and easy prep-as in Roasted Miso-Citrus Chicken, Scallion-Crusted Cod with Mango Salsa, and Broiled Stuffed Eggplant with Black Pepper-Garlic Sauce-are essential to the Ming method. This isn't virtuoso cooking or high-concept pan-Asian like Patricia Yeo's. But Tsai (Blue Ginger) is a culinary magpie who creates the oddest juxtapositions with the fewest ingredients: Carrot-Chipotle Syrup, Kimchee "Choucroute" with Seared Dijon Halibut, Tea-rubbed Salmon with Country Mash, Potato Pancakes with Apple-Scallion Cream. Cultural borrowing on this order of magnitude can be intimidating for the home cook, which may be why the chef has concentrated the considerable force of his winning personality on making the recipes accessible. His cuisine may not win converts among the fusion-phobic, but only the hopelessly incurious will fail to find some inspiration here. (Nov.) Forecast: The timing of this title is no accident; Simply Ming will soon be airing on public television. Readers are likely to be charmed. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Chef/owner of the well-known Blue Ginger restaurant outside of Boston, Ming also hosted what became one of the most popular series on the Food Network, East Meets West, and he is soon to be the star of a new PBS show, also called Simply Ming. In his appealing second cookbook, again with coauthor Boehm, he has adapted the flavors of his restaurant fare for home cooks, with a selection of easily prepared "flavor bases" that can be used for a variety of dishes: Roasted Pepper-Lemongrass Sambal, for example, inspires Grilled Portobello Sandwiches, Braised Chicken with Mushrooms, and Orzo with Sausage. There are quick-and-easy suggestions for other dishes based on each of these flavored oils, salsas, marinades, and the like. Headnotes are helpful and engaging, and most recipes include "Ming's Tips," along with wine suggestions. Recommended for most collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.



Look this: All American Cowboy Cookbook or Crust Crumb

Dutch Oven Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pot in Your Kitchen

Author: Sharon Kramis

Today's busy lifestyles make it impractical to plan the kind of multicourse feasts one might wish. An easy and exciting solution is the venerable dutch oven pot. In this follow-up to their successful The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook, Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramis Hearne show off the many virtues of this kitchen essential. The dutch oven excels at everything from simmering to baking, working equally well on the stovetop and in the oven. The book begins with an informative history of the pot, along with a discussion of various cooking methods. From there it moves into such mouthwatering dishes as Slow Cooked Pork with Smoky Barbeque Sauce and Slaw, Smothered Chicken with Sautéed Morels, Fresh Vegetable Estouffade, Northwest Bouillabaisse, and Ms. Kate's Spoon Bread. Whether using a well-used and blackened garage-sale find, or the latest celery-green item from La Creuset, contemporary chefs can satisfy the most exacting palates with this entertaining cookbook.



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