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Library | Call Number | Shelf Location | Item Barcode | Status |
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Searching... E.P. Foster Library (Ventura) | 641.59 IRVIN | Adult Nonfiction | R0023531216 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Robert Irvine has led a one-of-a-kind life. He joined the merchant marine as a teenager, and would go on to become a cook in the Royal Navy where he happened to befriend a man named Prince Charles. Since then, Chef Robert has gone on to cook for presidents, prime ministers, royalty and celebrities.
It's been a remarkable life and career, ranging from cooking on the beaches of Yemen for thousands of refugees to making a seven-course meal for First Lady Laura Bush and her friends on an aircraft carrier.
Trained by the best European chefs, Robert also shares his cooking philosophy, his best recipes and tips on how to add that special twist to any dish.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
As the host of Food Network?s Dinner: Impossible, chef Irvine routinely pulls off last-minute feats of Herculean culinary might, assembling multi-course meals for large groups in out-of-the-way locations with few resources. Devoted viewers may be surprised to learn that this isn?t new for the British chef, who relates other close calls in this combination cookbook-memoir. Alongside tales of his time in the Navy (where he prepared a last-minute meal for 2,000 refugees) and Hollywood (a lavish post-Oscar celebration makes a nail-biting yarn), recipes for impressive dishes like Black Angus Beef Tartare with Toasted Brioche and Fried Quail Egg, Roasted Duck with White Bean Ragout, Truffle Oil and Shaved Parmesan Cheese and simple but flavorful Grilled Winter Vegetables with Pesto Dressing give readers plenty to think about and salivate over. Unfortunately, alternating from storyteller to cooking coach proves awkward, and his advice-"let the food in front of you speak to you and inspire you"-can be of little utility. Still, his enthusiasm is genuine and infectious, and Irvine the storyteller keeps things interesting with tales of his education, the Royal family and the kitchen at Donald Trump?s Taj Mahal. Best consumed in small bites, Irvine?s war stories will delight foodies, but his recipes may be too daunting for novices. (Sept.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal Review
Irvine is the host of Food Network's Dinner: Impossible, for which he is expected, on incredibly short notice, to rise to such challenges as cooking dinner (in a completely unfamiliar kitchen) for more than 1000 people, including 600 children, at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He certainly has the background for it, as his memoir with recipes makes clear. His first story relates how, at the age of 20 when he was "a leading cook" in the British Royal Navy, he was suddenly called upon to prepare food for several thousand refugees awaiting evacuation on a beach in South Yemen. At the time, he was a chef for Britain's royal family, a job he kept for ten years before moving on to a range of other culinary pursuits. Irvine includes recipes in each chapter, mostly sophisticated and reflecting a variety of cuisines, but his stories are the most fascinating part of the book. The television series will guarantee demand; for most collections. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Mission: Cook! My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy Maryland Crab Cakes with Mango Salsa Makes 4 crab cakes Attention crab cake aficionados! You can make your own, and they will be as good or better than those you've eaten in your search for the perfect crab cake. The finish on this mango salsa is a treat for your taste buds. Ingredients: For the Mango Salsa 1 mango, diced small 2 teaspoons diced red onion 2 teaspoons diced red bell pepper 2 teaspoons diced green bell pepper 1 teaspoon chopped chives (save 8 strands or so for plating) Juice of 1 lemon 11/2 teaspoon honey 1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar Salt and pepper to taste For the Crab Cakes 2 teaspoons whole-grain Dijon mustard 2 teaspoons Old Bay seasoning 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives 2 egg yolks Juice of 1 lemon 1 cup mayonnaise Salt and pepper 1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat 1 cup fresh bread crumbs (no crust) Canola oil, for browning 4 lemon wedges Instructions: In a mixing bowl, combine all the salsa ingredients and let the salsa sit in the refrigerator to chill. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a bowl, mix together all the crab cake ingredients except the crabmeat and bread crumbs, then add the crabmeat and the crumbs. Try not to break down the lump crabmeat; leave it in chunks. Form the crab mixture into 31/2- to 4-ounce cakes. Place a sauté pan on the stove to get hot and pour 2 to 3 ounces canola oil in the pan. Place the crab cakes into the pan; brown on both sides, turning carefully. Transfer the crab cakes to a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Presentation Place a crab cake in the center of each plate. Top with a lemon wedge. The mango salsa should be spooned to one side of the plate, with two strands of whole chives on the other side. Pan-Roasted Wild Striped Bass with Roasted Tomato and Broccoli Rabe Medley Serves 8 Bitter, salty, sour, and sweet tastes are all well represented here by the harmonic blending of broccoli rabe, fish, tomatoes roasted again in the oven, and honey. Ingredients: 4 tablespoons olive oil Juice of 2 lemons (squeezed separately) 2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon white pepper 2 teaspoons honey 1/4 stick (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter 8 Roma plum tomatoes 4 bunches broccoli rabe 2 carrots, cut into julienne strips 2 yellow squash, cut into julienne strips Eight 5- to 6-ounce striped bass fillets, skin on Instructions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Mix the olive oil, the juice of one of the lemons, the salt, white pepper, honey, and 1 tablespoon of the butter in a bowl, and add the tomatoes, broccoli rabe, carrots, and yellow squash, coating them well with the oil mixture. Roast the vegetables on a baking sheet until tender. Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan and sear the fish, beginning with skin side down, leaving undisturbed for 2 or 3 minutes, until crispy brown. Turn over and sear the other side of the fish the same way. Cook completely, but do not overcook. (The fish is done when the flesh springs back.) Remove the fish, and let it rest. Place the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the juice of the other lemon into the pan, and swirl together to create a butter sauce. Presentation Place the vegetable medley on a platter. Arrange the fish on top. Spoon the butter sauce on the fish and medley and serve. Mission: Cook! My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy . Copyright © by Robert Irvine. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold. Excerpted from Mission: Cook!: My Life, My Recipes, and Making the Impossible Easy by Robert Irvine All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.Table of Contents
Introduction | p. vii |
1 Amuse-Gueule, Times Two | p. 1 |
2 Sunday Roasts and the White Rabbit | p. 49 |
3 A Course in Pleasure | p. 77 |
4 The Altar of Flavor | p. 109 |
5 Point and Counterpoint | p. 161 |
6 The French Godfathers | p. 187 |
7 I'm Passionate About Passion | p. 219 |
8 Style and Substance | p. 247 |
Coda: Is This Dinner...Impossible? | p. 277 |
Afterword | p. 289 |
Acknowledgments | p. 291 |
Index | p. 293 |