Everyday Dining with Wine Review

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(More customer reviews)Immer is truly becoming a resource for wine & food combinations! This is her fourth venture into publishing books on this, and each is just outstanding, fun, practical, and interactive.
Here she goes where not many venture, into inexpensive but good wines for everyday, home dining. She offers recipes paired with selections that one would not normally think of. Here she introduces us to what she learned in Spain --- having wine with our dinner, and not just our ordinay routine of trying to enjoy our favorite with everything, but reaching out to try Reisling with "Plank Cooked Salmon". I was not into this at first sight, but first bite changed it all. She is right on that the combo of the Indonesian Five Spice BBQ sauce lights up with a great WashState or Aussie or NewZealand Riesling.
There are more great things like this to try out, all lined up by grape type, i.e. Chardonnay, Dessert Wines, etc. This is nice way to venture out, e.g. try type normally wouldn't or go the other way and line up a recipe like "Turkey Quesadillas with Sesame-Sweet Potato Mole Sauce" and she what she pairs it with: in this case "Barrel Fermented Chard."
She writes with spice and it is just plain fun to treat your taste buds to new delights with the likes of "Chicken Legs Braised in Pinot Grigio Mojo" paired with a Pinot Grigio. Or for finale, how about "Ice Wine" with "Tropical Fruits on the half-shell with Banana Crunch Topping". Truly Yum!
Finally, couldn't resist letting you into some combos here that knocked me out: Spanish wines with Spanish Stype Scrambled Eggs with Chorizo and Manchego Fricos, and Cheese Grits with Shrimp and Chorizo. Great brunch or weeknight supper with an attitude!
There are some good color photos, source suggestions along with technique advice. This lady can cook, pair wine and entertain all the while. This is certainly a volume to put in your collection and give away to those friends who need this jumpstart in their wine/dining life.

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Andrea Immer has one of the world's best, and least pretentious, wine palates.In her debut cookbook she proves that her taste in food is just as finely honed and down-to-earth.Presenting 125 recipes that pair magnificently with wine, she shows how to bring these great flavor combinations to the dinner table—with minimum fuss and at minimal cost.Her food and wine matches are guaranteed to make even weeknight meals special occasions.Wine enthusiasts and epicures alike could not be in better hands:World-renowned Master Sommelier Andrea Immer is also a graduate of the French Culinary Insitute, where she refined her already formidable cooking skills and understanding of food flavors, and where today she is dean of wine studies.In her new book, she solves that most vexing dinner dilemma—which wines to serve with what foods. Drawing on her sophisticated understanding of tastes, she offers up internationally inspired delicacies like Cumin-crusted Lamb; Fettucine with Proscuitto, Sage, and Mushrooms; or Tarte Tatin with Bourbon and Vanilla. She also offers down-home dishes like Fast-Track Baby Back Ribs, Turkey Quesadillas with Sesame Sweet Potato–Mole Sauce, or Cheese Grits with Shrimp and Chorizo.Everyday Dining with Wine is filled with recipes emphasizing a robust harmony of flavors for every course from soup to dessert.Andrea believes that wine should be a part of everyday dining—for both pleasure and health. With this book in hand, you can choose a recipe and then find the wine that complements it best, or start with a special bottle and discover its perfect food partner.Here, too, are Andrea’s answers to such common and perplexing questions as "Where should I store my wine?”; "Once I open a bottle, how long will it be good?”; "Does the shape and quality of glassware matter?”Wine and food belong together, whether for a weeknight meal or a dinner party. With Everyday Dining with Wine there is no guesswork involved in making any meal a cause for celebration.

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Small Plates, Perfect Wines: Creating Little Dishes with Big Flavors Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is not full size, it's 8.5 x 8.5. But it's still full of great little dishes with big flavors (hence the sub title). In addition to all the great recipes there are complete menus starting on page 131. There is a Spring Celebration, Backyard Cookout, Fresh from the Summer Garden, Autumn Harvest, Holiday Dinner Party, Finger Food only, and Desserts Only. All the menus have step by step timetables to keep you on track with preparing and hosting your small plate party. The icing on the cake is the list of wines that every dish accompanies. It's quite awesome.
You could host a complete party with just this book. This one is certainly more affordable without compromising flavor than Wine Food & Friends. Perhaps a combination of both books and you'd have a meal as well as appetizers, if that is something that interests you.
I did the Pork Saltimbocca with Pan Sauce as one of the other reviewers and it was delicious as they said. I combined it with a Mark West Pinot Noir and it then became outstanding. Definitely worth having. I would also suggest the The Sunset Grill: 125 Tasty Recipes for Casual Get-Togethers and Easy Weeknight Cookouts if you're interested in having outdoor parties and that book too had many small plate dishes.

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Small plates. Appetizers are the new entrees. . . . Call it the age of the do-it-yourself tasting menu." --New York Magazine* Imagine any-occasion entertaining made easy. Replace the tired entree with refreshing small-plate options and wine pairings.Small plates in the form of Middle Eastern mezze, Spanish tapas, Mexican antojitos, and Venetian cicchetti are usurping traditional entree-driven meals by offering greater selection and gastronomic fulfillment. To satisfy this growing niche, cookbook author Lori Lyn Narlock presents 50 delicious small-plate recipes and complementary wine pairings from the culinary experts at the Kendall-Jackson Wine Center, including celebrated chef Justin Wangler and winemaster Randy Ullom.* In addition to specific chapters on salads, vegetables, meat, seafood, and desserts, Narlock includes sample party menus accompanied by preparation plans, as well as tips on buying and serving wine, planning and executing entire menus, sample table settings and presentation ideas, and more. More than 50 appetite-inspiring four-color photographs illustrate Small Plates, Perfect Wines: Creating Little Dishes with Big Flavors.* Instead of languishing in a culinary quandary this holiday, consider flavorful pairings like Asparagus with Melted Brie served with sauvignon blanc or Duck and Spinach Empanadas with Persimmon Chutney complemented by a glass of pinot noir.

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French Women Don't Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure Review

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(More customer reviews)I understand that the reviewer who listed her web site has her own products and way of losing weight that has been effective for many people. I truly applaud her efforts.
However, that is not to say that this marvelous little book is incorrect in any way, shape or form. While Madame Guiliano is not a nutritionist or doctor, she is the CEO of Clicquot Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Champagne Veuve Clicquot. Believe me, she knows a thing or two about eating and drinking for pleasure and maintaining your ideal weight.
Let me tell you my own experience eating the French way. I went to France a few years ago for about three weeks. I stayed in Paris, and then in Chartres. I could only afford to eat in little cafes and bistros, but I vowed to eat only my favorite foods and go back only to restuarants that were to die for. I ate my favorites - chocolate made fresh every day, chocolate mousse, home made ice cream, omelettes, pizza with goat cheese and cream sauce, quiche of every kind - you name it I ate it. I also had a glass of wine with dinner every night. We snacked almost all day in between meals on fresh fruit. All of the food was fresh - no chemical additives and nothing packed in pastic bags. We also walked every morning before breakfast and every day after lunch.
When I got home and got on the scale I was shocked to see I had lost 25 pounds, and two dress sizes. I had to laugh because we complained the first few days about how long it took us to get served, and how long each meal took. After the second day we were so into really tasting the food we shared, we shut up and stopped hurrying through each meal.
It took less than a week for me to get back into my harried life - eating on the run, shoving food in my mouth while I talked on a conference call and simultaneously completed and emailed reports. I was back to the fast lane and fast food take out.
When I got this book it took me back to France, and back to why the French have less than an 11% obesity rate (and ours is 30% and climbing.) The French simply eat the freshest food in season, they enjoy what they eat and they walk every where!
We cannot avoid food. We need it to survive. But we can choose fresh foods in season that we love, make meals with a few favorite ingredients and savor every bite.
Once we slow down and let our taste buds enjoy great food again, we will give our stomachs the twenty or so minutes it needs to signal - hey that was delicious but I am done now. You can stop. Save the rest for another time.
Granted, we should not use food as a deterrent for issues we are not dealing with in life. We need to ask - what exactly is eating me right now? And deal with it. Get help from books like Eating in the Light of the Moon or from professional therapists.
In the meantime, we can learn the pleasure principle of food, and lose a few pounds along the way.
I also recommend her other books:
French Women for All Seasons
Women, Work & the Art of Savoir Faire: Business Sense & Sensibility

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The Food Lover's Companion to the Napa Valley: Where to Eat, Cook, and Shop in the Wine Country Plus 50 Irresistible Recipes Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a must have for anyone visiting or living in the Napa Valley. Well organized and cleverly composed. I found it most useful for locating the rare-to-find places and foods that make the Napa Valley so unique. It makes a great gift for all the food lovers in your life.

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This is the first of its kind: an insider's food guide to that gourmand's paradise, the Napa Valley. Author and longtime resident Lori Lyn Narlock goes behind the scenes to discover where chefs shop, the best places to take a cooking class, or where to get a grapeseed oil massage. With complete details on the where, when, how, and how much, plus dozens of artful black-and-white photographs, this indispensible guide for food lovers even includes 50 recipes honoring the region's local specialties. It's a mouthwatering roster of the best that Napa has to offer.

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