About this title: Earthy, elegant, affordable, and nourishing, the virtuous legume gets star billing in this comprehensive bean primer written by chef, consultant and food writer Aliza Green. More than 200 delectable recipes-gathered from Green's travels and from famous chefs and restaurants-are accompanied by essential information on bean varieties, cooking methods, and equipment.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
"Aliza Green's name doesn't ring a bell for most foodies ... although it should. In addition to the three cookbooks she's written under her own name, she has helped many well-known super-star chefs write their cookbooks (such as Georges Perrier's Le Bec-Fin Cookbook, or the Latin-focused Ceviche!), as well as help restauranteurs and food service manufacturers develop their menus and products. When it comes to food, there's very little Aliza doesn't know or can't make better. As one famous chef says on the back cover, "Aliza Green could make a snow tire appetizing!"
This book starts with the history (and pre-history) of beans, legumes, and peas (and helps clarify the differences). Next, a short agricultural look: New World beans vs Old World beans ... and heirloom beans (sources for many are in the appendix). Next, a chapter on basic bean cooking: fresh vs dry, how and when to soak beans; cooking in clay pot vs slow cooker vs pressure cooker ... and that key issue no one wants to mention: how to deal with beans and the intestingal gas they can cause.
After these introductory chapters, the bulk of the book covers detailed recipes for most bean types, organized by category: appetizers, soups, main courses, one pot meals, sides, and desserts (yes, beans make wonderful desserts). Within the recipes are Aliza's notes on how she learned a given recipe, or how she came to invent or modify a recipe ... guidance on how a chef thinks and what happens in their home kitchen or at work in a restaurant.
Nothing in this book is difficult. Most ingredients are easily found in a supermarket or in a specialty store. The techniques are as simple as the beans themselves ... and the results are delicious. This isn't a vegetarian cookbook, but there are more than enough recipes to keep either a vegetarian (or vegan) or omnivore happy ... and beans represent what they have always been: an inexpensive, healthy, tasty, easily stored form of food and flavor. Whether you grab canned or frozen beans, or have a supply of dried beans, or come in from your garden with fresh beans, this book will help you create a wonderful meal from one of mankind's oldest foods."
"Well, I kinda just get a kick out of the title...but this has some good recipes for some savory oven-cooked beans, and helpful cooking times etc. She tries to go into desserts etc, but mostly I just use it for variations on standard boiled black beans. Recipes are marked vegetarian or not."
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