Recipe Weekend / Cookbook Review: Weeknights with Giada by Giada De Laurentiis
Synopsis: After a full day, Giada, like most parents, wants nothing more than to sit down for a home-cooked dinner with her husband, Todd, and their daughter, Jade.Weeknights with Giadarises to the challenge, delivering soups, sandwiches, pizzas, pastas, and meat and fish dishes that come together quickly as stand-alone main courses—most in half an hour or less: Rustic Vegetable and Polenta Soup, a hearty soul-warming one-pot dish, cooks in under twenty minutes; Lemony White Bean, Tuna, and Arugula Salad is a great meal that’s quickly assembled from pantry and fridge essentials; Spicy Linguini with Clams and Mussels is a fifteen-minute-or-less spectacular pasta; and you can’t beat Grilled Sirloin Steaks with Pepper and Caper Salsa, which are also ready in just fifteen minutes. From inventive breakfast-for-dinner dishes and meatless Monday vegetarian recipes—both weekly traditions in Giada’s house—to picnic sandwiches and hearty salad recipes for reinventing leftovers,Weeknights with Giadareveals every secret in her repertoire. Even the desserts are quick to mix and bake, should a craving—or a last-minute school bake sale—strike.
Review:
This is a very open book, showing us intimate moments with Giada and her family. The photos of the food are stunning (as always) and will have your mouth watering with every turn of the page! Some of the recipes are a little more time involved, but most are very easy to make and perfect for busy families! I've found with most of Giada's cookbooks that I have, that I find and love about 7-10 recipes in every book, and the rest I just am not interested in- they're wither very similar to what we already cook, or too involved/not to our family's taste buds. This book fits the same pattern.
The one recipe that caught my eye immediately was Toasted Ciabatta with Shrimp, Tarragon and Argula. Just look at the picture:
Yup- I knew I had to share this one with you all!
Ingredients
Toasts:
- 1 (1-pound) loaf ciabatta bread, trimmed and cut into 14 (1/2-inch thick) slices
- Olive oil, for drizzling
- 1 garlic clove, halved
Topping:
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large or 2 small shallots, thinly sliced
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 pound extra-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup white wine
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon leaves
- 1 packed cup arugula, chopped
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- (noteif you don't have mascarpone, you can use this substitution:8 oz cream cheese + 1/4 cp. heavy cream+ 2 1/2 Tbsp. sour cream. Mix and then take out the 1/2 cp measurement)
Directions
Make the toasts:
1. Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Arrange the bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until light golden, about 10 minutes. Cool for 2 minutes. Rub the warm toasts with the cut side of the garlic. Set aside.
See Alsogrilling fish recipesMake the topping:
1. In a medium skillet, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, about 2 minutes.
2. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper, to taste, and add them to the skillet. Cook until the shrimp are pink and cooked through about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the shrimp and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Set aside.
3. In the same skillet, add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook over medium-high heat until the tomatoes start to soften, about 4 minutes.
4. Turn the heat to high. Add the wine and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Cook for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in the stock and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and add the tarragon, arugula, mascarpone cheese, and chopped shrimp. Stir until the mixture is creamy. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
7. Arrange the toasts on serving plates and drizzle with the sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper before serving.
Other recipes that I'll be making include Chicken,Bibb and Argula with Raspberry Vinagrette Salad, Burgers a la Pizzaiola, Wagon Wheel pasta wth Pancetta and Peas, Filet Mignon with Rosemary and Mushroom Gravy, Spiced Pork Chops with Sweet and Sour Glaze, Breakfast Tart with Pancetta and Green Onions (great for brunch), Double Chocolate and Espresso Cookies, and Peanut Butter Cookies with Blackberry Jam. See 9 recipes, out of the whole book! Other readers will probably find more to their liking and tastes. All in all it's not a bad book, and I recommend having at least one of her cookbooks, for simple homestyle Italian cooking with a twist.
About the Author:Giada De Laurentiisis the star of Food Network's Everyday Italian, Giada's Weekend Getaways, and Giada in Paradise. She attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and worked at Wolfgang Puck's Spago restaurantin Los Angeles.
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book for review purposes, free of charge, from ** Publishing, via NetGalley!No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it.
