Modern Baker or Panini Express

Modern Baker: Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes and Cookies

Author: Nick Malgieri

A collection of 150 simple step-by-step recipes that still have gourmet appeal, The Modern Baker strives to bring you baking success with the bulk of the preparation taking under one hour. Nick Malgieri distills years of teaching and experience into these detailed recipes for virtually every savory or sweet yeast bread, quick bread, muffin, pastry, dough, and batter. Recipes are thorough and include descriptions of how batters and doughs are supposed to appear at each stage of preparation. The Modern Baker is as necessary and essential as a good oven; Nick Malgieri leads cooks through the simple art of creating an international assortment of delicious sweet and savory baked goods, interweaving techniques and helpful sidebars.

Library Journal

Malgieri is director of the baking program at New York's Institute of Culinary Education and author of numerous other cookbooks, including How To Bake , in many ways the predecessor of this ambitious new title. He begins with an introduction to ingredients, equipment, and techniques and follows with eight recipe chapters. Chapter introductions provide helpful general tips on the various techniques involved, and recipe headnotes offer more specific information. Despite the subtitle, streamlined techniques do not seem to be a major focus, as many recipes rely on classic, time-tested methods. The recipes, many shown in color photographs, include both traditional favorites like Date Walnut Bread and more contemporary creations such as Smoked Salmon Mille-Feuilles, with ethnic specialties from a wide range of cuisines. For most baking collections.

Mushet, a talented pastry chef, cooking teacher, and author of the excellent Desserts: Mediterranean Flavors, California Style , presents the latest book from the Sur La Table team, following Things Cooks Love . Like Malgieri's book, it covers both sweet and savory baking, but it includes far more information. Two lengthy introductory chapters cover techniques, equipment, and ingredients, and dozens of sidebars on "Tips for Success" and "What the Pros Know" offer further helpful insider advice. Recipes range from basics such as Quick Puff Pastry and Classic Sugar Cookies to unusual and appealing treats like Malted Milk Chocolate Tart; most of them include make-ahead information, and many also have variations. There are striking color photographs throughout, as well as step-by-step technique photos. Mushet's style isengaging and never intimidating. Essential.

Look this: Global Marketing or First the Seed

Panini Express: 70 Delicious Recipes Hot off the Press

Author: Daniel Leader

Panini are little sandwiches that are put through a press that warms up the filling and gives the bread a delicious grilled flavor. Ten years ago, you would have had to get on a plane and gone to Italy to enjoy one, but today you can find panini everywhere—in Italian restaurants, restaurant chains like Panera, even higher-end supermarkets are selling panini in their take-out foods sections. Because its popularity, the panini press (think a small George Foreman Grill) has become the hottest selling small appliance on the market. Everyone is selling them. Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table carry brands like LeCreuset, All-Clad, and Krups, while Target sells a Hamilton Beach model for less than $50 and Wal-Mart a Breadman version for $39.95.

Panini Express contains easy recipes for 70 deliciously different sandwiches you can make using your panini press. Panini Express does not confine itself only to authentic Italian Panini recipes, but instead will explore a world of flavors (like the Catskill Cubano with ham, turkey, Swiss, and a hoisin-lime dressing). In addition to the sandwich recipes, there are recipes for four homemade breads if you want your sandwiches completely from scratch, as well as for mayonnaises, spreads, and other tasty sandwich slathers to up the flavor quotient.

Judith Sutton <P>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. - School Library Journal

Leader is a well-known artisan baker and author of two bread-baking books. Soon after he opened his bakery, Bread Alone, in Woodstock, NY, he started offering some of the "baker's sandwiches" he had discovered during his travels to Europe, and his new book provides recipes for his mouthwatering panini, along with delicious condiments, and five bread recipes for those who want to start from scratch. He favors a minimalist approach, with simple but flavorful combinations such as Tuscan Chicken with Artichokes and White Beans and Grilled Asparagus, Taleggio, and Prosciutto. Interestingly, he uses a panini press not just for toasting the sandwiches but also for cooking ingredients such as the grilled asparagus. A good companion to Jennifer and Jason Denton's panini cookbook, Simple Italian Sandwiches, this is recommended for most collections.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
1. Bread Basics, Basic Breads
2. Quick Mayonnaises, Pestos, and Other Sandwich Enhancers
3. The Sandwiches
4. Resources
5. Index