[.ca] Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe: 140 New ... (ISBN 0060196475)

From Amazon.com:
The Union Square Cafe is consistently ranked New York City's favorite restaurant by the Zagat survey. Why? Superb yet relaxed food served in a setting both deluxe and friendly. Second Helpings from Union Square Cafe, the follow-up to the restaurant's proprietor Danny Meyer and chef-co-owner Michael Romano's Union Square Cafe Cookbook, offers readers 140 recipes for Union Square's popular fare--Italian-inflected "everyday" cooking taken to a higher, yummier, but completely cook-friendly power. Dishes like Butternut Squash and Bean Soup, Roasted Halibut Pugliese-Style, and Zucchini Purée with Marjoram exemplify the book's unique approach; simple in conception and easy to execute, they nonetheless pack flavor and style to burn. Chapters cover appetizers to desserts, with sections devoted to pasta and risotto and to side dishes and condiments, such as the restaurant's much-loved Olive Mashed Potatoes and Apple-Pear Chutney. Sweets like Butterscotch Pudding with Brown Sugar Sauce and Chocolate Pudding Flan should also keep diners happy. A word must be said about the photographs of Duane Michals, whose signature storytelling style (depicting, for example, a seated couple's response to a cell-phone-using table neighbor) wonderfully echoes the sweetly knowing tone of the restaurant itself. With a section on basic preparations, the book should become a trusted kitchen friend. --Arthur Boehm

Not a Great Second Act:
i LOVED the first Union Square Cookbook, and use its recipes regularly...and i have been SO disappointed with this one...i have not made ANYTHING that i liked from this cookbook...spare yourself

one recipe under my belt!:
I just made the Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy. Hands down the best turkey I have ever prepared. All of my dinner guests for Thanksgiving this year commented that it was the best turkey they have ever had. Wow! The turkey was absolutely delicious, succulent, and wonderfully flavored by the complex assortment of ingredients that came about in the brining process and the stuffing and gravy. I used quince for the first time as an ingredient in my cooking. The book is invitingly presented with it's story line approach through the photographs, sometimes silly. But yes, as another reviewer mentioned there is Jacque Pepin in the black and white photo essay in one chapter looking like he's truly enjoying himself. A great endorsement for this book as I love his cooking and personality as much as I do Julia Child. I can't wait to try other recipes from this book and soon. I think that this book will become a regular for me to try out new recipes and enhance my own knowledge of my Northern Italian Nona's cooking every day.

Unusual but excessible recipes:
Sometimes the ingredient lists are a bit daunting,especially if one lives outside of a major metropolitan area, but it's worth the effort. The impressive thing about the recipes included in Union Square Cafe's second cookbook is that the various flavors are distinct while working together. For example, a pasta dish with gorgonzola and fresh corn requires that you simmer the husks in a broth--what an odd notion and what a great result ! I would say that the procedures are straightforward, but time-consuming. These are recipes that you have to plan for; they are not last-minute, just home-from-work desperation dinners. With that in mind, these are tasty, perhaps even mind -(not to say waist-) expanding recipes.

Second Helpings:
Some of these recipes are a little difficult to follow, but overall this is a good cookbook. The entrees are crowd pleasers at dinner parties!

More of the same with extra spice in the pics:
Most of what I found true of the first Union Square Café is also true of this sequel. And, the appearance of a sequel justifies the good opinion of the first volume. The new volume continues it's contribution to my Italian repetoire and continues to do it with recipes which are exceptionally well written. The introduction to the new volume makes it clear that many, if not most of the dishes are ... from Italian restaurants and nonas. I like this, if only because I find this much more believable than if the authors took credit for the recipes themselves. I also appreciate the traditional Italian names of the dishes as it makes it easier to compare these recipes with those done by classic Italian food writers such as Marcella Hazan and Lidia Bastianich. The new volume uses it's photographs to add a rare element of humor to the cookbook. It is great good fun to do some celebrity spotting in the pics and be reassured that if Jacque Pepin takes the trouble to eat there, something good much be going on in the back of the house. The new volume includes a long Pasta and Risotto chapter. A welcome addition. On the down side, I find some of the recipes fairly long. Several are probably too much for the casual cook, although I believe some of the length is due to their being very thorough in their explanations. Since this is a sequel to a well received book, I find the Pantry section to be a waste of space. Many named preparations from the first book are repeated in the second. Since these preparations are also available in hundreds of other books, I think this is blatant padding. Bottom line is that the book is a worthy continuation to the original.