Sear, Sauce, and Serve

Starred review from June 27, 2011
Chef, restaurant owner, and food writer Rosenfeld's (150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken) three-step approach to cooking could come off as gimmicky, but instead makes for a terrifically accessible and varied book for cooks interested in broadening their skill sets and repertoire. Though segments on the cooking aspect, such as grilling chicken, burgers, and sautéing ground meat, may seem overwritten and overly complicated to even casual cooks, Rosenfeld's heart is in the right placeâthe book is peppered with tips on choosing the right fish, adding smoke to a gas grill, how to use alcohol-based ingredients in sauces and more. Readers who choose to skip his detailed protein tutelage can fall back on his detailed and useful charts on various cooking methods for proteins including prep notes and doneness. But the heart of the book, and where it truly excels, is in Rosenfeld's superlative collection of sauces, most of which require just a handful of readily available ingredients. Approachable enough for the novice and varied enough for veteran cooks, this is a terrific collection that deserves some shelf space for cooks interested in expanding their repertoire.

June 15, 2011

For cooks who love choices, food writer and restaurant owner Rosenfeld's (150 Things To Make with Roast Chicken) latest cookbook is magic. He introduces four high-heat cooking techniques (saute, stir-fry, broil, and grill); a range of meat, fish, and vegetables; and more than 250 sauce recipes, e.g., Mandarin Orange and Mint Glaze, Spiced Pineapple-Rum Glaze, and Rosemary Lemon Cream. Illustrations showing how to stuff a boneless breast and how to cut up a whole chicken are helpful. Comparable to Lucy Vaserfirer's recent Seared to Perfection, Rosenfeld's book might be more appropriate for practiced cooks who like to experiment.

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