Good and Garlicky Thick and Hearty Soul Satisfying More Than Minestrone Italian Soup Cookbook
June 30, 2009 by Italian Cooking · Leave a Comment
Good and Garlicky Thick and Hearty Soul Satisfying More Than Minestrone Italian Soup Cookbook
From basic broth to simple pasta-and-bean soup to marvelous meals-in-a-pot, here are over 150 tasty soups for every appetite and every season–from the author of THE JOY OF GRILLING, THE JOY OF PASTA, and the James Beard Award-winning CELEBRATIONS. Try hearty, winter-weather soups from Northern Italy; Fresh Asparagus Soup for spring; Umbrian Roasted Tomato Soup in season; Garlicky Mussels in Broth anytime, and much more. Illustrated .
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Good & Garkucky Thick & Hearty Soul Satisfying Italian Soup
I was so pleased with book and the recipes, I bought two more for my daughter and daughter-in-law. The recipes are simple, complete and made with products available in a Mid-Western town.
5 Stars Turn your home into a trattoria!
What an amazing collection of italian soup recipes! If you want to fill the house with great aromas and please your guests, this book will get you there. The collection is divided by types of soup, i.e. pasta e fagioli, vegetable soups, bean soups, rice and pasta soups, etc. Pappa e pomodoro, broccoli rabe and white bean soup, and escarole soup with tiny meatballs are our three favorites, and all three are so good that we serve them for guests at holiday dinners. By the way, soups are a great place for a fledgling cook to start making real food, and this book will give you lots of very accessible ideas of just where to begin.
5 Stars Yummy!
This cookbook has the most wonderful soup recipes in it - thick and hearty with deep, rich flavor - I learned so many new tricks for making a good soup taste GREAT! And even better, the soups freeze well so you can make a different recipe each night and freeze the leftovers for another time.
The recipes are easy to read and not too time consuming. While you can always substitute for some of the ingredients listed, splurge and get the items mentioned at least once - I guarantee you will not regret it!
These recipes are not for carb haters or low fat fans. The liberal use of cheese, butter and full bodied broths precludes that. But the recipes are still healthy - They involve lots of veggies, olive oil, herbs and are chock full of good stuff!
Even the most finicky soup eaters will find a favorite recipe in this book. A good bread, salad, a nice wine and one of the soups from this book and you have the perfect meal!
4 Stars Yuummmy.
Reading this book just makes my mouth water and it has some history of Italy, with references to just about every spice and tasty combinations. Wow, I ran out and bought a soup pot! One downside, making broth, Uh! Although I will say the book offers substituted canned broth I just don’t want to throw these wonderful ingredients into anything less! This is a great book for readers too, I loved hearing about the Famularo family!
5 Stars Tasty and Sensible
Not only are the soups tasty and inventive; but they are sensible and nutritious. They require little time and ingredients that are neither exotic, nor hard to find. Most recipe books are loaded with expensive ingredients that necessitate driving 20 miles from your home, and that you use only for one particular recipe. I want recipes that use inexpensive stuff I have on hand, or will have no trouble finding. This book meets those requirements. I read cookbooks like other people read novels, and this is the best cookbook I’ve ever had. Now that he’s conquered the soup pot, Joe needs to move on to pastas and more.
Dream Dinners Turn Dinnertime into Family Time with 100 Assemble and Freeze Meals
June 30, 2009 by Italian Cooking · Leave a Comment
Dream Dinners Turn Dinnertime into Family Time with 100 Assemble and Freeze Meals
“What’s for dinner?”
If the sound of those three words sends you reeling or, worse, straight to the nearest fast-food chain or take-out joint, then relax. Dream Dinners will change all that forever.
With their new cookbook, Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna, founders of Dream Dinners, bring the successful philosophy behind their hundreds of assemble-and-freeze-meal stores across America into home kitchens. Dream Dinners offers up one hundred recipes for flavorful meals made with easy-to-find ingredients.
The premise is simple: Scoop or pour ingredients into baking pans or plastic bags, then store the uncooked dishes in the freezer. Later in the week or month, when dinnertime rolls around, just pop one of the frozen meals into the oven. Each recipe is provided two ways: One, prepare just one meal for the night, or two, prepare enough for three meals and freeze the other two. Dinner after sports practice, music lessons, and play rehearsals has never been easier!
In addition to recipes for hearty, family-pleasing classics such as Baked Pesto Ravioli with Chicken, Beef and Zucchini Casserole, and Cider-Braised Pork Loin Chops, Stephanie and Tina give a wealth of time-saving shopping tips and cooking pointers. More than for convenience, eating dinner together provides benefits for the whole family. Study after study shows that mealtime matters. Families who dine together form stronger bonds, and kids get better grades and develop lifelong healthful eating habits. Dream Dinners makes it easy for families to gather around the dinner table and share the ups and downs of the day.
With Dream Dinners, you will spend less time stressing in the kitchen and more time connecting with family and friends.
User Ratings and Reviews
2 Stars Disappointing
I have been wanting this cookbook since first visiting Dream Dinners a couple of years ago. While I enjoyed the concept, I thought their prices were way too high and was tempted to buy the book back then but didn’t want to pay $20 for it. Recently, though, I found it at the Goodwill for $1.99 and happily brought it home. After wading through the pages trying to find something that might appeal to my family (this in itself was a task) I chose two recipes - New England Pot Roast and Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casserole. I made three of each and put them into the freezer, except for one of the casseroles which I left out for dinner that night. When preparing it, I immediately recognized that the 2 cups of milk called for in the recipe was not going to be enough, so I added a little extra. When the recipe was done, the rice was VERY dry - so I mixed in some leftover cheese sauce I’d made the previous night for baked potatoes. It was okay, but I was disappointed because it would have been almost inedible if prepared as written. It was also not a pretty recipe - would have been nice to include some green in it, rather than just corn.
A few days later I took one of the New England Pot Roasts out of the freezer. My biggest complaint about this recipe is that the entire recipe could not fit inside a 1-gallon freezer bag. In books like “Fix, Freeze, Feast” (a favorite of mine) and the out-of-print (but fabulous) “The Warehouse Gourmet” they intentionally portion the recipes to fit inside freezer bags, so they are easier to store in the freezer. I found that most of the recipes in “Dream Dinners” called for actual pans rather than bags - making them much less affordable to prepare, not to mention not very space-conscious.
But back to that New England Pot Roast…I thawed it out for a couple of days then threw it into the crockpot as directed. I got home from work that night to…mush. The meat itself had that “all-day-in-the-crockpot” taste, but the vegetables had turned to complete mush. There was also not even close to enough seasoning - I needed to add a lot of salt just to make it edible. But even though the taste was ok, the look of the dish was very unappealing. The cabbage, especially, was very mushy and gross.
So tonight I decided to make one of the 2 Cheesy Chicken & Rice Casseroles I had left in the freezer. I poured the thawed casserole into my pan, added some broccoli for color, and made about 2 cups of creamy bechamel-type sauce on the stove to stir in so it wasn’t so dry. I also added a little curry powder and mustard. In the end, the casserole turned out pretty good, but only because I was able to save it. I feel for anyone who paid $20 for this book only to learn - as I just did by coming here to Amazon to read these review - that the majority of the recipes have big errors in them!
Save your money and buy a different book!
1 Star Save your money!
Thankfully I was able to check this book out from the library and therefore did not waste any money. If you are tempted to buy this book I would strongly encourage you to visit your library first as well! I was interested in this book because I would like to have dinners in the freezer for busy weeknights and last-minute guests, the title and cover are very appealing and reads “Turn Dinnertime into Family Time with 100 Assemble-and-Freeze Meals” - sounds great, right? Well, after reading the book I did not write down even one recipe to try… I have to say I did glean some ideas from the book that I will try with recipes I already have, such as freezing muffin batter… The few recipes in the book that sounded like something my family might actually eat, I already have great recipes for and will make and freeze using my recipes and not the ones from the book. Many of the recipes are not appealing to my family (myself, husband, 12 year old son, 10 year old son). A sample of the recipe names which make me want to *not* own this book include: “Greatest Grub Ever Crab Chili”, “Dill Shrimp with Angel Hair Pasta”, “Sake and Soy Marinated Salmon”, “Stuffed French Bread” (you stuff it with chicken sausage and other items which do not sound appealing to me), “Chicken Cordon Bleu”, “Caribbean Blackened Turkey”, “Reuben Casserole” (I don’t know of any kids who eat sauerkraut), “Sloppy Joes” (sounds normal - but it’s not), “Smoked Turkey and Red Grape Salad”. Again, if you are at all considering purchasing this book, do yourself (and your family) a favor and preview it first! As for me, it’s back to the library to check out similar books that are hopefully better suited to my family’s taste buds.
3 Stars wasnt sure at first.. but its ok
When I first received this cookbook first thing I noticed was how unprofessional it appeared. The pages are all different lengths and made from a cheap feeling paper, BUT I think the content is great.. Easy to follow instructions and some really good dinners! I have liked every dish that I have made so far.
2 Stars Would have returned if I could have
I was really excited when I got the book, as I love the idea behind Dream Dinners. I have been to the store a couple of times and was ready to create some of the things I had there. Unfortunately none of the items that are in the store are in the book. The recipes that are in the book are not even close to being as good as the ones in the store either. The directions are not all that clear, there are no pictures, and as for reheating, I am not sure if the authors even tried to reheat the items as they all seem wrong when I do them. I would not recommend this book, there are several others out there that are better than this. If it hadn’t been a gift I would have returned it. Dream Dinners could, and should have done a much better job than this.
2 Stars too many mistakes
I wouldn’t re-make 90% of the meals I’ve made from these recipes, and I’ve tried a bunch of them. My family isn’t picky, so they eat it, but none of us love the food. It is convenient to be able to make two extra meals to freeze when making dinner, but it isn’t worth it when we aren’t looking forward to pulling them out of the freezer. Also, I was surprised to see just how many mistakes there were in the recipes. It’s a nice idea, but it’s just not worth the money. I’ll be trying another freezer cookbook.
Eat This Itll Make You Feel Better
June 29, 2009 by Italian Cooking · Leave a Comment
Eat This Itll Make You Feel Better
Those finding a kindred spirit in the ebullient actor and comedian will hear his cheerful voice bubble off the page, giggling as he calls himself “the fastest yolk in the West.” Others will forgo the humor for the appealing, homestyle recipes. The focus is on Brooklyn-Italian-American food, although a Chinese chicken salad and chef Paul Prudhomme’s blackened redfish are offered along with stuffed calamari, mamma’s marinara sauce and sausages with peppers and onions. Family and friends, including a number of celebrities, contribute their favorites. Fans can sample Burt Reynolds’s beef stew, Loni Anderson’s chicken with wild rice, Anne Bancroft’s vegetarian chili or Mel Brooks’s red clam chowder. Desserts run the gamut from the eponymous Dom’s no-sugar baked apples to “death by chocolate” #1 and #2. Photos not seen by PW. First serial to Woman’s Day; paperback rights to Pocket Books; Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Awesome book!
I was so happy to see that they were bringing this book back again, I had tried to buy it for a friend years ago and couldn’t believe it was out of print.
Dom’s cookbook has the best Italian/American recipes…many from food his mother cooked at home…family favorites are Eggplant Stuffed Peppers, and the meatballs my husband swears are the best he’s ever had (and may be the only reason he stays married to me).
You cannot go wrong with this book. Dom’s stories are entertaining and funny, like when he says his mother always wore her hair up in a bun and he was sure she had meatballs in it - lol. I do not think that it is offensive in any way as the last review stated…it’s too bad she didn’t keep the book and cook some of the awesome recipes!!!
5 Stars Best Italian Cook Book
This book it loaded with great recipes.Dom puts a twist on this book with his humor You’ll also understand the relationship between Italian Mom’s and their son’s.
5 Stars A Great Classic Cookbook
EAT THIS . . . IT’LL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER! MAMMA’S ITALIAN HOME COOKING AND OTHER FAVORITES OF FAMIY AND FRIENDS is a beautiful and priceless celebration of food prepared in some of the finest ways imaginable. Some of my Italian friends think that some of the rest of us cannot cook truly Italian food. Here’s a little secret: with this book all of us can cook wonderful Italian food.
In Dom’s book, we have all we need: detailed and easy-to-follow recipes for the best dishes, such as meatballs, Mom’s Sunday sauce, marinara sauce, and pizza dough; pictures of Mamma helping cook the food; and funny stories about Dom’s interaction with the food.
My book actually was published in 1988, and it has been used well; yet it still looks brand new. If you can get a copy, do so. This is bound to become a collector’s item.
Oh, there is something else too. The book has several pictures of celebrities way back when.
5 Stars A good Italian cookbook
I have been looking for this cookbook for a long time. My Italian mother-in-law had made many of the recipes from this book and they were wonderful.
5 Stars Great Cook Book
I love to cook. Over the years I have collected a large number of cookbooks of all varieties. I am also of Italian decent so naturally I am somewhat biased with regards to Italian cookbooks. I owned a copy of this book for years and I used it so often that it literally fell apart so I purchased another copy. The recipes in this book are extremely easy to follow and Dom Deluise fills the book with humorous stories that any Italian can relate to. The meals I have cooked bring back memories of eating at my grandparents home and the taste is almost identical to the way my grandmother made them. I thought those meals would be lost forever when they died but thanks to Dom, I can re-create them in my own home and my children can carry on the tradition. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to cook and eat great southern Italian food.
One Dish Vegetarian Meals
June 28, 2009 by Italian Cooking · Leave a Comment
With One-Dish Vegetarian Meals, a healthful, great-tasting dinner is quick and easy to prepare. This comprehensive collection of vegetarian meals from Robin Robertson features 150 globally inspired vegetarian recipes for every season, including soups and stews, stir-fries and sautes, casseroles, lasagnas, baked stuffed vegetables, simmered dishes, chilis, pastas, main-dish salads, and more. Using fresh, wholesome, naturally flavorful ingredients, these recipes are perfect for both busy weeknights and leisurely weekend meals. There is tremendous variety, with choices such as Lentil Stew with Chard and Orzo; Autumn Harvest Lasagne; Zesty Bombay Beans with Chutney; Pumpkin and Black Bean Chili; Rigatoni with Radicchio, Italian Peppers, and Leeks; Green Beans and Rice with Sesame-Orange Sauce; and more. Vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike will find easy, delicious choices for any night of the week.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Over a hundred stews, soups and casseroles
Over a hundred stews, soups and casseroles for the author’s favorite vegetarian meals makes One-Dish Vegetarian Meals a top pick. This combined with international influences - as in a Lebanese Fattush or a Vegetable Biryani - makes for a fine collection of simple main-course dishes perfect for any vegetarian needing a solid collection of main course dishes not ‘fluffed’ by lots of carbo side dishes. Highly recommended.
4 Stars Pretty close to what I was looking for
Nearly ALL of my cooking falls into the “one-dish” category, because it’s the easiest kind to cook up on a Sunday afternoon and freeze for meals throughout the coming week or month. So I was thrilled about this book. Most of it looks pretty good. The only thing that strikes me as odd is the massive chapter on pastas. I’m fairly sure I can figure out what to top pasta with. I wouldn’t have minded if the suggestions were very original or of unique interest for vegans/vegetarians above and beyond the mere fact of being meatless… but they mostly weren’t. However, I instantly forgave this when I reached the glorious chili chapter. No other book in my bloated cookbook collection pays such loving homage to the diverse possibilities of vegetarian chili. All I can say is Wow. I intend to try every single one of them. The chapters on baked dishes and stovetop simmers also look very promising from a make-ahead-and-freeze perspective.
One annoyance: ingredients that can only be found in specialty shops or ethnic groceries appear frequently. (I cook a LOT, and I have never heard of fil
Preserving Our Italian Heritage
June 27, 2009 by Italian Cooking · Leave a Comment
Preserving Our Italian Heritage
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Preserving out Italian Heritage
I have owned this great cookbook for years and was thrilled to find it on Amazon. I ordered 3 for Christmas gifts this year. It has all the recipies that my Grandmother used to make for us as children and many more.
5 Stars Great Italian Cookbook!
I lost this cookbook during a divorce recently and just HAD to buy another one to replace it. It is a collection of wonderful authentic Italian recipes compiled by a community of wonderful authentic Italian cooks.
5 Stars Trip down memory lane
I nearly wept the first time that I read through this cookbook. So many of the dishes were variations on meals–and treats–that my Italian-American great-aunt and grandmother had cooked for me as a child. Admittedly, few of the recipes are especially sophisticated (Italian home cooking tends to rely on good ingredients and simple preparations rather than on special techniques), and nearly all require some tweaking to taste. But for the experienced home cook, they are a gold mine of memories and inspirations from the first and second generations after the immigration boom.
5 Stars Real Italian recipies
These are great authentic Italian recipies. Some are straight from Italy, some are recipies made after people immigrated here using what was available. I’m Sicilian, and I grew up with homestyle Italian cooking, and this is it.
I don’t know how the person who was disappointed with it could claim it wasn’t “authentic”. Maybe they were comparing it to restaurant food. Well, Italian restaurants are like Chinese restaurants in what they cook for the customers is usually much different than what they would cook at home. So, maybe the misconception stems from there.
Trust me. It’s authentic. The only better book I’ve seen is The Sicilian Gentleman’s Cookbook (of course, being Sicilian I’m biased) which I believe is out of print. My Scottish-German wife now cooks like my grandma used to 
This book reminds me of an Italian version of The Joy of Cooking. Straightforward recipies from Nona’s kitchen. No frills, just good eats.
5 Stars Just Like Mama Julia Made
This book brings back wonderful memories for me! I was fortunate enough to grow up two doors away from an Italian lady, Julia, who made wonderful homemade pasta dishes. She made huge family meals and would share the leftovers with my family! I have been a lover of Italian food ever since. I don’t live near Julia anymore, so she suggested that I buy this book and make my own Italian meals. I am happy to report that the recipes are simple, delicious and reminiscent of the Italian cooking I grew up with. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves authentic Italian food.
