Semi Homemade Money Saving Meals or Mario Batali Holiday Food

Semi-Homemade Money Saving Meals

Author: Sandra Le

Each chapter focuses on a unique timesaving shortcut, with irresistible recipes that use Sandra's approach of 70% prepared foods and 30% homemade.

Pantry Shortcut Solutions-easy meals made from a Semi-Homemade pantry.

Dolled-Up Deli Dishes-a stop at the deli and a few fresh flourishes make extra-easy meals.

Fix N' Freeze-the freezer is the ticket to a stash of ready-to-savor meals.

Real Quick Rotisserie Chicken-a dozen quick recipe ideas that start with purchased rotisserie chicken.

Cook Once, Eat Thrice-one main recipe makes three leftover creations.

Quick Fix Holiday-easy main dishes perfect for those folks who don't want to cook an entire turkey as well as sides for stove top, microwave, and oven.

Bakery Embellishments-bakery fix-ups for those days when time is short but a sweet treat is a must!

Enticing color photos with each recipe show just how tempting Semi-Homemade recipes

can be.

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Mario Batali Holiday Food: Family Recipes for the Most Festive Time of the Year

Author: Mario Batali

Never is the generosity and spirit of the Italian table more evident than at the holidays, when great food and good times are on the menu in every household. In his new book, Mario Batali captures all the flavors of this festive season with enticing recipes that showcase the brilliance of simple Italian food at its best.

Four complete menus offer abundant meals for the holidays, starting with the seafood extravaganza known as the Feast of Seven Fishes, traditionally served on Christmas Eve. Mario's rendition includes almost a dozen delectable fish and seafood dishes, from delicate sea bass ravioli to the indispensable baccalà, here served in the Vesuvian style. A magnificent boned and rolled turkey breast stuffed with roasted chestnuts is the centerpiece of a lavish Christmas Day's menu, while an assortment of alluring finger foods and a showstopping ziti-and-meatball-filled pasta dome set the tone for a lively New Year's Eve celebration. For the relaxed entertaining of New Year's Day, Mario suggests a procession of marinated salads, pastas, and stuffed vegetables, all served at room temperature, capped off with fresh homemade sausage with sweet peppers.

One of the great pleasures of cooking at this time of the year is baking, and Mario Batali Holiday Food includes recipes for a dozen irresistible holiday cookies, some authentically Italian and others family favorites Mario has relished since childhood. You'll also find a host of delectable tortes, custards, cakes, and confections as well as wine suggestions and a refreshing aperitivo to round out each holiday menu.

Whether you're creating a full-blown Italian spread or simply adding a touch of Italyto your own family traditions, Mario Batali Holiday Food will make your holiday gatherings memorably delicious.

Publishers Weekly

Americans tend to think of Italian cooking as easy: we have come to rely on 15-minute pastas and hearty, seasonal dishes like minestrone. But here, Batali of Food Network's Molto Mario presents the most cherished Italian dishes--those served, often after days of preparation and with fanfare, during the holidays. Batali focuses on the seafood-rich Amalfi coast, beginning with a Christmas Eve menu that includes Vongole Origanate (clams oreganato), Baccal Vesuviana, Ravioli alla Spigola (Sea Bass Ravioli with Marjoram and Potatoes), and in case you still have any room for dessert, Classic Cannoli. The book consists of traditional Italian menus that take you through the four holidays--Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day--but the recipes can be used for an impressive meal or snack any time. (There is also a separate section on the wines of Campania.) Cooking from scratch is the name of the game, so don't expect shortcuts; however, instructions are generally to the point and the results are well worthwhile. Recipes like Mythic Pasta Dome (a sort of pasta torte) capture the elaborate and festive nature of holiday Italian cooking. Beginners might be intimidated: Baba (lemon cake) requires a yeast rising and the insertion of fine holes in the cake into which a lemon mixture is "infused." But once practiced, recipes become easy, and there are some simple yet gratifying recipes, such as No-Bake Chocolate Cookies. If you want to enliven your Italian repertoire with authentic, celebratory dishes, this book is invaluable. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Library Journal

In his latest cookbook, Batali (Simple Italian Food), popular host of the Food Network's Molto Mario and executive chef of four New York City restaurants, offers four Italian holiday menus, from a Christmas Eve "Feast of the Fishes" to a New Year's Day day-long open house. This is the companion volume to a new television series, Mario Batali's Italy, and many of the recipes are inspired by the simple, rustic dishes of the region of Campania, particularly the Amalfi Coast from Naples to Salerno. There are color photographs of the region and of most of the recipes, many of them full-page close-ups. This is a small book, but Batali has numerous fans. Recommended for most collections. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.