All About Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art

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Overview

Successful restaurateurs have always known that adding "roasted" to a dish guarantees immediate appeal. Molly Stevens brings her trademark thoroughness and eye for detail to the technique of roasting. She breaks down when to use high heat, moderate heat, or low heat to produce juicy, well-seared meats, caramelized drippings, and concentrated flavors. Her 150 recipes feature the full range of dishes from beef, lamb, pork, and poultry to seafood and vegetables. Showstoppers include porchetta ingeniously made with a loin of pork, a roast goose with potato-sage stuffing, and a one-hour beef rib roast-dishes we've dreamed of making, and that Molly makes possible with her precise and encouraging instructions. Other recipes such as a Sunday supper roast chicken, herb-roasted shrimp, and blasted broccoli make this an indispensable book for home cooks and chefs. All About Roasting is like having the best teacher in America in the kitchen with you.

Winner of the 2012 James Beard Foundation Award for Single Subject

Winner of the 2012 IACP Award in the General and Single Subject Categories

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Stevens is a cooking instructor and food writer whose first book, The Art of Braising, won a 2005 James Beard Foundation award. Here, in this outstanding cookbook, she shows herself to still be at the top of her game. She begins with a 45-page introduction to the art and science of roasting that should be required reading for anyone in possession of a chunk of meat and an oven. Topics covered include the differences in employing high versus low heat, the reasons to rest meat before carving, the joys of convection ovens, and why fat is always a critical component. Next come 150 recipes divided into chapters on beef, pork, poultry, fish, and vegetables. Each begins with a basic entree that, once grasped, leads the way to more complex adventures. A simple sear-roasted pork tenderloin, for example, involves only salt, pepper, and oil, but 30 pages later it is time for a sausage and prune stuffed pork loin with brandy cream sauce. Numerous tips on trimming, carving, and shopping augment the work, all of which is written in a clear, confident voice that educates (“Fat conducts heat much better than air”) and entertains (“Halibut is an easy fish to love”). It is a compelling collection that drives home the difference between a chef merely showing off some recipes and a teacher exploring her craft. (Nov.)

Christopher Kimball

This is the one book on my list that is more practical than inspirational, although it is well appointed and more than serviceable in design. Roasting books have been done before (thanks to Barbara Kafka, among others), and the author is, therefore, treading well-worn ground. But she has struck a nice balance between useful recipes, clear directions, and more-than-sufficient culinary artistry to make me sit up and pay attention. The standard recipes are all there, but she dresses them up just enough to make you look good at home without being overly trendy. I would be perfectly happy to serve Spice-Rubbed Roast Chicken Thighs with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette or Quick-Roasted Halibut Steaks with Basil-Mint Browned Butter and Almonds. This is a glossy book with big color photos that you can really cook from—a good solid book from someone who clearly knows her way around the kitchen.
— Founder and Editor, America's Test Kitchen

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Library Journal

Stevens, author of the James Beard and IACP cookbook award winner All About Braising, has once again delivered a comprehensive, must-have volume that deftly illuminates a seemingly simple technique. After reading Stevens's introduction to roasting history, science, and basic principles, cooks of all levels can confidently tackle the book's 150 recipes for roasted meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, vegetables, and fruit. The recipes progress from simple (e.g., Basic Roast Chicken) to more complex (e.g., Thai-Style Roast Chicken Pieces with Lemongrass, Red Peppers, and Shiitakes) and clearly list yield, cooking times, and wine/beer pairings. This book arrives just in time for readers hoping to sear, sauce, and serve an impressive roast this holiday season.

Corby Kummer

Any meat-lover—and fish- and vegetable-lover—will learn from All about Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art because the author, Molly Stevens, is such a careful teacher…
—The New York Times Book Review

The Barnes & Noble Review

In her award–winning cookbook All About Braising, Molly Stevens produced an indispensable, surprisingly informative guide to the possibilities of a single –– and supposedly simple –– cooking process. All About Roasting looks to repeat the trick, taking the mystery and chance out of what may well be the most laissez–faire, cook–friendly of all culinary procedures. Did you know, for example, why those bags of so–called baby carrots never roast as well as rounds you cut yourself? Because they're processed with water –– and the first rule of roasting is that foods should be dry. This is because "foods cooked with moist heat can never reach temperatures above 212 degrees" –– and temperatures above 220 degrees are required for browning. Roasting, as it turns out, involves maximizing heat conductivity, which is why it's important to coat meats and vegetables with olive oil or some other fat –– which conducts heat better than air –– and cook them in low–sided dishes that don't deflect heat.

Beyond the dry–versus–wet issue, the main variable cooks face when roasting is speed, and Stevens explains which foods do best with a blast of high heat (whole beef tenderloin, whole chickens, quail, Cornish hens, most fish, and most vegetables); which ones benefit from a slow, gentle oven (tougher cuts of meat, salmon fillets, high–moisture–content veggies like tomatoes and onions); and which ones do best with an initial searing followed by moderate heat or a combination of temperatures (pork tenderloin, chicken parts, duck). Her book will soothe the most flummoxed cooks, who otherwise might find themselves driven to the wilds of the Internet –– or a panicked phone call to Mom –– when faced with a holiday lamb.

While All About Roasting isn't geared toward vegetarians, it features plenty of non–meat options, along with appealing sauces and relishes. Stevens's best tip on roasting veggies, including the delicious Maple–Roasted Butternut Squash and Apples I made for Thanksgiving: Don't overcrowd the pan, or you'll end up with steamy mush instead of lovely browned surfaces. For those of us who feel there are few meals that roast potatoes can't improve, Stevens offers multiple variations. Don't miss her irresistible, crunchy British–style wedges, achieved by parboiling russets and dusting them in semolina prior to roasting them in preheated fat.

Heller McAlpin is a New York–based critic who reviews books for NPR.org, The Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Christian Science Monitor, and other publications.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393065268
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 11/1/2011
Pages: 592
Sales rank: 21,359
Product dimensions: 10.28 (w) x 8.30 (h) x 1.40 (d)

Meet the Author

Molly Stevens is the author of All About Roasting and All About Braising, the latter of which won both the James Beard and the IACP cookbook awards. A contributing editor at Fine Cooking magazine, she lives near Burlington, Vermont.

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All About Roasting: A New Approach to a Classic Art

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Overview

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Related Subjects

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Christopher Kimball

Library Journal

Corby Kummer

The Barnes & Noble Review

Product Details

Meet the Author

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