Book Review - Easy Gourmet: Awesome Recipes Anyone Can Cook

About the Book
With the rise of food and cooking channels and celebrity chefs, more people than ever are exposed to the world of gourmet cooking. Yet many people feel too intimidated to try their own hand at it. What most don't know is that gourmet food doesn't have to be complicated, difficult, or time-consuming. It can actually be incredibly simple to create, with surprisingly few, but key ingredients and steps.

Food blogger and writer, Stephanie Le regularly showcases the delicious dishes she cooks on her popular blog, I am a Food Blog. Now, Stephanie has put her favorite recipes together and created EASY GOURMET: Awesome Recipes Anyone Can Cook [Page Street Publishing, September 2014, $21.99 US/$23.99 Canada]. Whether a new cook suddenly cooking for a hungry family or a more experienced cook who’s always been intimidated by what goes on in the kitchen, this book has you covered.

Stephanie guides home cooks through even the most complex culinary techniques and makes them easy to understand and follow. Her must-have recipes cover every meal and everything in-between, all paired with her signature stunning photography.

“EASY GOURMET contains some of my favorite recipes. And they are meant to be just that: easy, yet unexpectedly delicious,” Stephanie explains. “The recipes are as eclectic as my taste in food. A little bit Asian, a little bit classic and a lot delicious, these recipes are what I love to cook.”

Recipes include:

• Peaches and Cream French Toast
• Chicken & Waffles
• Pea and Bacon Risotto
• Sesame Noodle Salad
• Octopus Chips
• Tofu Fries
• Fish Tacos
• Roasted Jalapeño Chili
• Bone Marrow Pasta
• Mixed Paella
• Beef and Guinness Stew
• Pork Belly
• Buttermilk Fried Chicken
• Maple-Glazed Duck
• Curry Croquettes
• Double Almond Cookies
• Lemon Meringue S'mores

No matter how little you know in the kitchen, you’ll be able to produce amazing dishes following these recipes and accompanying photography and you’ll surprise family and friends who will secretly be wondering if dinner was actually ordered from a high-end restaurant. With EASY GOURMET, everyone will become a gourmand in no time flat!

About the Author
Stephanie Le runs I am a Food Blog – Saveur Magazine's 2014 Blog of the Year and Editors' Choice Best Cooking Blog. With a focus on delicious foods that we all want to be cooking and eating, I am a Food Blog is where to go when you ask yourself, "what's for dinner tonight?" Stephanie's food is enticing and accessible - she makes us excited to get into the kitchen again. She has been featured on saveur.com, foodandwine.com, TheKitchen.com, BuzzFeed.com and Food52.





My Take on the Book
Just looking at the beautiful photographs that accompany each recipe will make your mouth water and encourage you to head to the kitchen to cook. Stephanie has written a recipe book that included recipes from breakfast to dessert, meats and seafood, soups and sandwiches, rice and vegetables and more. They are creative. The ingredients are written in our U.S. standard measurements and in metric too. The step by step directions are well written and easy to follow. 

 
Some of the selections are pulled pork pancakes which may seem unusual but once you read the ingredients I believe you will think it is worth trying. I saw a nice paella recipe I want to try.
I decided to cook the Brussels sprouts recipe. It was delicious and I ingredients were right in my kitchen. 

If you enjoy cooking, I think you will find Stephanie's cookbook full of interesting food pairings and delicious choices.

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