Stir: Mixing It up in the Italian Tradition

by Barbara Lynch

Overview

Although Barbara Lynch was born and raised in South Boston, not Tuscany, many critics believe her food rivals the best of Italy. It has been praised by Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Gourmet, and many more.

Lynch’s cuisine is all the more remarkable because it is self-taught. In a story straight out of Good Will Hunting, she grew up in the turbulent projects of “Southie,” where petty crime was the only viable way to make a living. But in a home ec class in high school, she discovered her passion. Through a mix of hunger for knowledge, hard work, and raw smarts, she gradually created her own distinctive style of cooking, mining Italian and French classics for ideas and seasoning them with imagination.

The 150 recipes in Stir combine sophistication with practicality. Appetizers like baked tomatoes and cheese and crisp, buttery brioche pizzas. Dozens of the artful pastas Lynch is famous for, such as little lasagnas with chicken meatballs, and potato gnocchi with peas and mushrooms. Lobster rolls with aïoli. Chicken wrapped in prosciutto and stuffed with melting Italian cheese. Creamy vanilla bread pudding with caramel sauce. Accompanied by Lynch’s forthright opinions and stunning four-color photographs, these dishes will create a stir on home tables.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780618576814
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	11/02/2009
Pages:	335
Sales rank:	1,031,887
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.40(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 18 Years

About the Author

Barbara Lynch is the James Beard Award-winning chef-owner of Barbara Lynch Gruppo, which includes seven restaurants and food businesses in Boston: No. Nine Park, B & G Oyster, The Butcher Shop, Sportello, Plum, Drink, and Stir.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Well worth the wait"
— Tom Colicchio

"The core of Stir is the story of a woman who saved herself from a dead-end life with the power of cooking. Any chef who goes from stealing buses to creating some of the best food on the eastern seaboard is someone I always want to hear from. Distinctive dishes, generous spirit, and a genuine cook are all bound up in this wonderful book."
— Michael Ruhlman, author, Ratio

"In the American culinary stratosphere, Barb Lynch stands out as a national treasure. Stir gives the home chef her cooking keys and secrets to the kitchen kingdom."
— Art Smith, James Beard Award-winning chef and best-selling author

"To look inside this book is akin to looking into the soul of one of America's greatest chefs. Though Barbara Lynch's food is contemporary and smart, it's refreshing to see that her cuisine is remarkably grounded. There is so much of this that I can't wait to cook"
— John Besh, Chef/Owner Besh Restaurant Group, New Orleans

"Honest and straightforward, Stir will be your new best friend in the kitchen."
— Nancy Oakes, chef-owner, Boulevard

"I didn't think it would be possible to capture all that is bold, brash, ballsy, and Bostonian about Barbara Lynch on paper but somehow she has done it! I love this book!"
—Suzanne Goin, chef-owner Luques

"Barbara Lynch's first cookbook was well worth the wait. Her grit, drive, and signature good humor shine through in this collection of elegant, user-friendly recipes."
— Tom Colicchio, Chef-Owner of The Craft Restaurants

"[Lynch] has mastered her art, and the results are evident in this gorgeous, mouth-watering book..."
—Publishers Weekly

"...gutsy and sophisticated...Lynch's refreshing point of view covers every page." —Tasting Table

"At long last, Barbara Lynch ... has written the cookbook her admirers have been waiting for. Her contemporary French/Italian food is refined but approachable." —Fine Cooking

Editorial Reviews

"Well worth the wait"
— Tom Colicchio

"The core of Stir is the story of a woman who saved herself from a dead-end life with the power of cooking. Any chef who goes from stealing buses to creating some of the best food on the eastern seaboard is someone I always want to hear from. Distinctive dishes, generous spirit, and a genuine cook are all bound up in this wonderful book."
— Michael Ruhlman, author, Ratio

"In the American culinary stratosphere, Barb Lynch stands out as a national treasure. Stir gives the home chef her cooking keys and secrets to the kitchen kingdom."
— Art Smith, James Beard Award-winning chef and best-selling author

"To look inside this book is akin to looking into the soul of one of America's greatest chefs. Though Barbara Lynch's food is contemporary and smart, it's refreshing to see that her cuisine is remarkably grounded. There is so much of this that I can't wait to cook"
— John Besh, Chef/Owner Besh Restaurant Group, New Orleans

"Honest and straightforward, Stir will be your new best friend in the kitchen."
— Nancy Oakes, chef-owner, Boulevard

"I didn't think it would be possible to capture all that is bold, brash, ballsy, and Bostonian about Barbara Lynch on paper but somehow she has done it! I love this book!"
—Suzanne Goin, chef-owner Luques

"Barbara Lynch's first cookbook was well worth the wait. Her grit, drive, and signature good humor shine through in this collection of elegant, user-friendly recipes."
— Tom Colicchio, Chef-Owner of The Craft Restaurants

"[Lynch] has mastered her art, and the results are evident in this gorgeous, mouth-watering book..."
—Publishers Weekly

"...gutsy and sophisticated...Lynch's refreshing point of view covers every page." —Tasting Table

"At long last, Barbara Lynch ... has written the cookbook her admirers have been waiting for. Her contemporary French/Italian food is refined but approachable." —Fine Cooking

—

From the Publisher

Boston's Sportello was named by prestigious Saveur magazine as one of the 12 restaurants in the country that have "most profoundly influenced the way we think about food." That the chef-founder of that restaurant (and eight other eateries) is a feisty, self-taught, working-class Irish-American girl from South Boston puzzles even the best culinary minds of our generation: New York Times "Minimalist" Mark Bittman calls it "one of those virtually unanswerable nature vs. nurture questions." Fortunately, we can set aside that quandary and simply enjoy the 150 amazing recipes in Stir, Lynch's first book. The simple delicacies include Little Lasagnas with Chicken Meatballs; Lobster Rolls with Aïoli; Potato Gnocchi with Peas and Mushrooms; and Chicken Wrapped in Prosciutto and stuffed with melting Italian cheese...and let's not forget the Creamy Vanilla Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce.

Starred Review.

James Beard Award-winning Lynch, chef-owner of Boston's famed No. 9 Park and several other notable restaurants, delivers her much-anticipated first cookbook. An unlikely cook raised in the projects of South Boston, where she subsisted solely on processed foods, Lynch was introduced to cooking by her high school home economics teacher and was smitten. Since then, she's mastered her art, and the results are evident in this gorgeous, mouth-watering book, which includes her restaurants' signature dishes, such as prune-stuffed gnocchi with foie gras sauce and Butcher Shop Bolognese. She offers an ample selection of starters including quick chicken liver pâté, gorgonzola fondue, and brioche pizza dough. She also includes hearty and satisfying soups and salads, a substantial section on pasta, side dishes and desserts. Lynch's fish offerings are plentiful, including pan-fried cod with chorizo and clam ragout, and scallop and pureed celery root gratinée. Poultry dishes range from lemony breaded chicken cutlets to spice-rubbed roast goose. Lynch provides helpful tips throughout on everything from celery leaves to segmenting citrus. Lynch will delight fans who have been waiting patiently for this delectable collection.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Publishers Weekly