Cook It Up
Bold Moves for Family Foods: A Cookbook
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $5.99
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- $5.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • 75 family favorites get leveled up to be even bolder, saucier, cheesier, and crisper thanks to Iron Chef Alex Guarnaschelli and her highly opinionated chef-in-training daughter Ava!
A FOOD NETWORK BEST COOKBOOK OF THE YEAR
From the time she was old enough to hold a fork, Ava has been at Alex’s side in the kitchen, whether eating lusciously cheesy gnocchi at Alex’s New York City restaurant, Butter, or making classic French omelets with her famous Iron Chef mom. While Alex turns to treasured cookbooks for inspiration, Ava scrolls through TikTok—and now as a teenager, Ava is teaching Alex a thing or two.
Through seventy-five witty and informative recipes, Alex and Ava share a repertoire of dishes that define their modern family meals: bold flavored, comforting, satisfying, and always supremely delicious. Side by side, they cook their way through family favorites like Blueberry Pie from Alex’s mom, a legendary cookbook editor, and Nanny Ida’s Crisp Potato Latkes. Tips and notes offer great cooking advice for achieving the fluffiest frittatas (add water, never milk) and how to season and mix meatballs so they always stay juicy (spread the mixture up around the sides of the bowl and then season). There’s even a bonus recipe for dog biscuits, inspired by Alex and Ava’s family dog, Leon!
Cooking with authority is learned and earned in this smart and joyous cookbook that celebrates a mother-daughter bond that’s stronger than the even the most garlicky garlic bread (the secret is—surprise—lots of shallots!).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Iron Chef star Guarnaschelli (Cook with Me) and debut author Clark, her 15-year-old daughter, collaborate on this bighearted and wide-ranging collection of their favorite family recipes. "Whereas I learned to cook in school," Guarnaschelli writes, "Ava just cooks—always with curiosity and with so much confidence." While not limiting itself to a readership of young chefs, the collection is partly designed to inspire other teenagers to follow suit. The recipes in each section are arranged from least to most challenging, accumulating cooking techniques along the way. The breakfast chapter, for example, starts with tortillas and scrambled eggs (a recipe from Ava, inspired by a TikTok video), then offers instructions for perfect poached eggs (tip: add apple cider vinegar to the water) and quiche, while the chapter on pasta opens with 10-minute buttery egg noodles and ends with pasta carbonara. Seafood dishes encourage cooks to practice their knife skills with tuna carpaccio (but first with tomatoes) while the section on meat includes a whole roasted chicken with potatoes ("My mom says this chicken tastes like being in Paris (eye roll)," writes Ava.) Family influences are clear throughout—the burger with onion jam and thousand island dressing, for example, has "at least two generations of Guarnaschellis behind it"—and add a cozy, genuine feeling to the proceedings. Chefs of all ages will be inspired.
