Customer Reviews

The Best of Chef at Home: Essential Recipes for Today's Kitchen

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Michael Smith is my favorite all time Food Network Chef. His meals are simple, easy to make and you can always find the ingredients. This book has many outstanding recipies in it, that everyone in the family will enjoy. I have bought 4 of this book and used 3 for gifts of which my girlfriends just love it. They agreed that the recepies are simple and easy to follow and the end result is a dinner you would think a professional chef made. Don't miss the chance to give someone a cookbook that won't just sit on the shelf, it will sit in your kitchen and you will use it over and over again!! I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

I've been a fan of Michael Smith's show on the Food Network for years but this is the first of his cookbooks that I've ever used. I wasn't sure what to expect from it, but it was love at first sight. This book is beautifully laid out - uncluttered, simple formatting of recipes and gorgeous photos of each dish. Even if you don't make a single one of the recipes in here, it is just a lovely book to look at.

The recipes themselves are very easy to make and the ones I've tried so far have all turned out wonderfully. I've made the whitefish provencal, the fetuccine alfredo, and the grilled chicken with 10 toppings (I used the basil pesto suggestion for the topping but all of Smith's ideas are great). He provides a lot of suggestions for variations and substitutions so these recipes are quite flexible depending on your tastes and what you have in your pantry.

My favourite thing about this book is the way that the instructions are given. Unlike most other cookbooks I own, Smith gives instructions based on how the food looks, feels, and smells so that you become an intuitive cook. He doesn't tell you how many minutes to saute something, he tells you what signs to check for to see if it's done. I find that very helpful - I'm not a beginner in the kitchen but there are many things I am still learning and this book is great for developing that Chef's Sixth Sense.

This is easily one of my favourite cookbooks and I highly recommend it.

I love Michael Smith and I was really excited for this new book, hoping for a stellar follow-up to his last Chef at Home book. I was disappointed to find that many of the recipes were reprints or slight variations of recipes from that book (i.e. orange ginger beef, chocolate chip cookies) and I laughed out loud when I saw the recipe for a grilled cheese sandwich. However, the pasta section is expanded and interesting, the recipes do use easy to find (often staple) ingredients and the variations and tips offered make everything very accessible. In short, if you only buy one Michael Smith book, you'll probably be really happy with this one. If you already owned his last Chef at Home compilation, you might find it's a bit of a let-down.

This is not a traditional recipe book. Although it is written in the style of a recipe book, Chef Michael Smith encourages you to not do exactly what is written. I find that the best way to use this book is to read the recipe to get the general idea of ingredients, proportions and preparation, put the book aside, then prepare the dish from memory changing it as I see fit. Doing so actually makes cooking more interesting and enjoyable as well!

It's wonderful and straight forward. He encourages you to keep tasting, testing, and adjusting the flavours to get what you want. Pretty much all of the ingredients can be found in a typical Canadian grocery store which is fantastic.

Love Chef Michael Smith and this cookbook has beautiful pictures and great simple recipes. Comfort food as you would expect from Michael.

Great imaginative recipes. I bought three of Michel's cookbooks at once and they all get use often but this might be my favorite. Personal "taste" comes into that estimation.

Michael Smith has brought a whole new world of cooking into my kitchen.
Have been cooking for almost 70 years, and have always been considered a really good cook.
Well, now I'm also inventive and liberated.
Love this book and recommend it highly to cooks young and old.

I really wanted to love Chef Michael Smith's cookbook. Visually, it is quite perfect, the layout, the quality of the paper as well as the photographs illustrating each recipe... but! Not all recipes are winners. I found the chicken and beef stews to be bland and boring, the miso soup was OK but not fantastic... that said the no-knead country bread was wonderful and easy and the butterscotch recipe perfect.

As a result, I found the quality of the recipes all over the map. This has created a lack of confidence in the recipes which makes choosing one challenging. If you are a fan of the show and have loved everything you have tried by Michael Smith, this will be a winner for you and your kitchen. The recipes are very simple and straightforward, perfect for the new cook.

But! If you enjoy complicated flavours with fascinating and innovative cooking techniques like me, you will probably be disappointed.

Recettes simples mais délicieuses. Belles illustrations. Je l'aime tellement que je l'ai offert aussi en cadeau.