Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication

Recipes from Simple to Spectacular \ Oven-roasted Zucchini\ Makes 4 servings\ Time: 30 minutes\ 1 pound zucchini\ 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil\ 2 teaspoons minced garlic\ 1 teaspoon thyme leaves\ Salt and freshly ground black pepper\ Large chunks of zucchini turn buttery when roasted; these slices have some of that quality but also gain a measure of crispness. With the garlic, oil, and thyme, this is a sensational technique to use for a too-often bland vegetable. The zucchini is also great at room temperature.\ 1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Wash and trim the zucchini and cut them the long way into slices 1/4 inch thick (a mandoline is a good tool for this, but you can easily do it by hand).\ 2. Spread half the olive oil in the bottom of a baking pan. Spread the zucchini in the pan; they can overlap slightly if necessary, but keep it to one layer. Drizzle with the remaining oil and sprinkle with the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper.\ 3. Roast for about 15 minutes, turning the oven heat to 450 degrees F as soon as the oil starts sizzling. The zucchini is done when it is tender and just beginning to brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.\ Oven-roasted Peppers with Capers and Anchovies\ Makes 4 servings\ Time: About 1 hour, largely unattended\ 2 bell peppers, preferably 1 yellow and 1 red\ 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil\ 8 cherry tomatoes (or, even better 16 "grape" tomatoes)\ 4 anchovy fillets, cut in half both the long and short ways\ 1 large clove garlic, peeled and cut into thin slivers\ 12 fresh marjoram or oregano leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried marjoram, oregano, or thyme\ 24 capers\ Salt and freshly ground black pepper\ A staple at Jean-Georges' Mercer Kitchen restaurant in Soho, these are a notable step up from the usual roast peppers. We're tempted to say that this recipe actually serves two rather than four, so you might consider doubling it.\ 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Cut the peppers in half the long way; remove the core and seeds. Spread half the olive oil in the bottom of a baking pan. Put the peppers cut side up in the pan.\ 2. Place one-quarter of the tomatoes, anchovies, garlic, herb, and capers into each pepper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Put 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the pan and cover with foil.\ 3. Bake for about 20 minutes, then uncover, lower the oven heat to 300 degrees F, and cook for another 40 minutes, or until the peppers are tender (add a little more water if the bottom of the pan dries out). Serve hot or at room temperature, drizzled with a little of the pan juices.\ Chicken Breasts in Foil with Tomato, Olives, and Parmesan\ Makes 2 servings\ Time: About 20 minutes\ 2 tablespoons olive oil\ 2 thick slices tomato\ 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 12 ounces)\ Salt and freshly ground black pepper\ 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan\ 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, plus 2 sprigs thyme\ 10 small black olives, pitted\ 1. Tear off two sheets of aluminum foil, each about 18 inches square, and place one on top of the other. Use the olive oil to smear a patch in the center of the foil, large enough to hold the chicken. Make a bed of the tomato slices, in the center, then top with the chicken breasts, salt, and pepper to taste, the Parmesan, and thyme leaves. Add the olives and thyme sprigs.\ 2. Fold the foil over the chicken onto itself and crimp the edges as tightly as possible by making 1- or 2-inch folds, one after the other, each sealing the other. Seal the package very tightly, but leave plenty of room around the chicken. (You can prepare the recipe up to 3 hours in advance to this point; refrigerate the package.)\ 3. Place a skillet large enough to hold the package over high heat. A minute later, add the remaining oil, then pour our all but a film. Put the package in the skillet; it will sizzle. About 2 minutes later, the package will expand like a balloon; be careful of escaping steam. Cook for 5 minutes longer from that point.\ 4. Remove the package from the heat, again taking care to avoid any escaping steam. Let rest for 1 minute, then cut a slit down the length of the top with a knife. Use a knife and fork to open up the package, then spoon the chicken, garnish, and juices onto a plate and serve.\ Chicken Breasts in Foil with Foie Gras and Porcini\ Makes 2 servings\ Time: About 20 minutes\ 2 tablespoons olive oil\ 2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed\ 1/4 pound fresh porcini or shiitake mushrooms, trimmed and sliced\ Salt and freshly ground black pepper\ 1 tablespoon butter\ 1 cup shredded cabbage\ 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 12 ounces)\ 4 ounces foie gras, cut into chunks\ 3 tablespoons Jus Rôti or any good chicken stock\ The ultimate in luxury, really delicious -- but easy as well.\ 1. Place half the olive oil in a medium skillet and turn the heat to high. A minute later, add the garlic, mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are tender and browned all over, 5 to 10 minutes.\ 2. Tear off two sheets of aluminum foil, each about 18 inches square, and place one on top of the other. Use the butter to smear a patch in the center of the foil large enough to hold the chicken. Make a bed of the cabbage in the center, then top with the chicken breasts, salt and pepper to taste, the foie gras, mushrooms and garlic, and jus rôto or stock.\ 3. Fold the foil over the chicken onto itself and crimp the edges as tightly as possible by making 1- or 2-inch folds, one after the other, each sealing the other. Seal the package very tightly, but leave plenty of room around the chicken.\ 4. Place a skillet large enough to hold the package over high heat. A minute later, add the remaining oil, then pour out all but a film. Put the package in the skillet; it will sizzle. About 2 minutes later, the package will expand like a balloon; be careful of escaping steam. Cook for 5 minutes longer from that point.\ 5. Remove the package from the heat, again taking care to avoid any escaping steam. Let rest for 1 minute, then cut a slit down the length of the top with a knife. Use a knife and fork to open up the package, then spoon the chicken and garnish onto a plate and serve.\ Recipes from Simple to Spectacular by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman. Copyright © 2000 by Broadway Books.

\ From Barnes & NobleOur Review\ If you can boil lentils or roast a chicken, you can make Terrine of Lentils and Squab and Roast Chicken with Truffles. That's the promise of Simple to Spectacular, the second collaboration by New York Times "The Minimalist" columnist Mark Bittman (Mr. Simple) and celebrated chef and restaurateur Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Mr. Spectacular). They provide definitive recipes for such standbys as chicken stock, scrambled eggs, seared tenderloin, and poached pears -- plus some you may not have in your repertoire, like buckwheat crepes and rabbit. Each basic recipe is followed by a handful of variations and elaborations that transform it into a dish that would be at home in one of Vongerichten's restaurants. \ It's such a brilliant premise that it's amazing no one has used it to organize a whole cookbook before. It puts the emphasis on the foundation of simply prepared seasonal vegetables and meats and builds upon what it teaches. A recipe for salmon cooked in a low oven, for example, lends itself to versions with lemongrass; fresh horseradish; herbs, mushrooms, and tomato fondue; culminating in Slow-Cooked Salmon with Mussels and Coriander. Many of the "spectacular" dishes take no more time than the dish in its purest form. The four variations on Chicken Breasts in Foil with Rosemary and Olive Oil, for example -- even the luxurious one with foie gras and porcini -- all share a speedy 20-minute prep time.\ The book is a reminder that even the fanciest food often comes down to straightforward cooking. It emphasizes the continuity between home cooking and sophisticated restaurant food; simple and spectacular aren't opposites here, just the different forms that good food can take. I was pleasantly surprised by how little effort yielded unusually flavorful dishes. The roasted vegetables and the Roast Tomatoes Stuffed with Bitter Greens were excellent, and the recipe headnotes unfailingly helpful and to the point. The focus isn't quick meals, but when you can make Skate with Sesame Beurre Noisette or Steak au Poivre with Mustard Sauce in 20 minutes, who needs to eat lackluster food to save time?\ I've heard that most people have a repertoire of five or six different dinners, which they more or less rotate. If this is true, Simple to Spectacular really speaks to how people cook. Once becoming comfortable with a dish, it's easy to throw a spin on it with a variation, or make a more involved version for company using the same basic technique. And the format makes it appealing to cooks at any level of expertise. This felicitous collaboration between two of America's most talented chefs earns its shelf space several times over.\ --Stephanie Hartman\ \ \ \ \ \ Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly\ Following their James Beard Award- winning collaboration, Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef, Vongerichten and New York Times food columnist Bittman (The Minimalist) team up again, this time ingeniously leading home cooks from simple to spectacular dishes. "A mastery of basic recipes and an idea of how to vary them leads to almost limitless options," writes Bittman. They emphasize time-saving techniques and offer an intriguing range of flavor possibilities. An excellent section on seasonings and sauces introduces innovative flavor-enhancers such as Citrus Salt, Mint-Licorice Spice Mix and Lobster Oil Mayonnaise. The authors expertly marry an updated French culinary sensibility with Asian-inspired influences, gradually transforming one basic recipe into four increasingly sophisticated dishes by adding luxury ingredients (e.g., truffles, caviar) or unusual seasonings (like harissa or pistachio oil), or by incorporating more advanced techniques (such as making beurre noisette). Among the mouthwatering permutations on French-bistro basics, One-Hour Chicken Stock morphs into Rich Chicken Soup with Chestnuts and Mushrooms; Best Scrambled Eggs is elevated to Oeufs au Caviar; and Tuna Tartare takes a fancy turn as Tuna Spring Roll with Soybean Coulis. Clean, pared-down prose, helpful "Keys to Success" sidebars and clear recipe instructions ably guide both novice and seasoned cooks. With a masterful understanding of today's global pantry, the authors have produced a modern classic. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\ \ \ Library JournalBased on the premise that "almost all recipes proceed from the basics," this is a book about learning to cook. Its ten chapters cover soups; salads; eggs, crepes, and savory tarts; pasta, noodles, and rice; vegetables; fish and shellfish; poultry; meat; seasonings and sauces; and desserts. Each begins with the fundamentals for working with that category and then proceeds linearly to build a basic recipe into mouth-watering complexities by introducing new techniques and ingredients--often Thai influenced. In less expert hands, this could have been a formula for fussiness and frustration, but the steps are so clearly explained (with rarely more than five per recipe) and the progressions so logical that even novices should feel confident. Vongerichten, a four-star chef, and respected food journalist Bittman have collaborated before, notably on the highly acclaimed Jean-Georges. This outstanding new work should be no less well received. Highly recommended.--Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., KY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\\\ \ \ \ \ Susie MiddletonWhat sounds like a gimmick is really an ingenious learning tool. \ —Fine Cooking\ \