Average Customer Rating: (8 votes)

You ll be cooking French food in no time thanks to Laura Calder s friendly and witty introductions to each of the recipes in her charming cookbook, French Food at Home. Calder lives in Paris where she works as a correspondent for Vogue Entertaining & Travel, and where she taught herself to cook the same way most of us learned--by feeding herself and her friends. Who among us can t relate to her description of Mushroom Toasts: It s a starter when other people are around, but if I m alone, I just tilt the whole pan into a high, rubbly heap on my plate, dig in, and call it dinner. And how many of us recognize ourselves when she confesses of Burgundy Eggs (a heavenly concoction of eggs poached in red wine served with a hearty sauce that she adores): Oh, how I did not want to make these when I first came to France, I thought nothing on earth sounded so vile. Almost all of Calder s recipes are barely a page long, and that s only because of those frank and funny introductions. Her recipes for dishes such as Camembert Salmon, Scallops in Velvet, and The Lemon Tart of My Dreams, are simple, approachable, and manageable. The ingredients are easy to find, and she s always suggesting options. Calder s is a sunny and welcome addition to the list of French cookbooks already out there, and happily, chefs of any skill level will enjoy her company in the kitchen. --Leora Y. Bloom

#Amazing (2008-11-16) I normally won t buy a cookbook without pictures, and when I ordered this book I didn t realize it had no pictures, but despite this limitation, this book has become one of my favourite and most used cookbooks. Her style is great and really adds to how you create the food. A real delight, even for those who, like me, can t stand her television show.

#EXCELLENT! (2008-10-17) As a European (i m from Belgium)i m used to very good food. So when i moved to Canada and saw Laura Calder s TV cooking show i was very impressed by her approach to French recipes. Also she s very dry and funny so that made her show very popular in my book. so ofcourse i had to buy her book which is written in the same way as she talks on tv -to be honest if she would ve just written essays without recipes it would be equally enjoyable. I have tried several of the recipes and they are very easy with great results. Believe me when i say this is how they cook in France . . . Thumbs up for this book , but please Laura next time include some photo s. . .

#Ok. But not great. (2006-11-09) I bought this book for a image in nursing project. Almost every journal on nursing image cites this book. The book itself is alot of movie plot rehash. Also alot about the times the movies where done. It s OK, but not great.

#Easy, varied, and delicious recipes (2003-12-17) I first found this book in the library, and was enjoying cooking from it so much that I didn t want to take it back. I ve gone and gotten myself a copy, and cooked many of the recipes from it, and each one has been delicious and fairly simple to make. The instructions are clear, and as others have mentioned, she s a very engaging and amusing writer. I have a lot of cookbooks, but this has quickly become a favorite.

#Great book but a few minor problems (2003-06-29) I really loved this book for the most part - it is well written and her recipes are not complicated. She makes french food seem less intimidating. I have made the Salmon Camembert (delicious), Wine Sausages (easy and rich), Beet Stacks (impressive - a burst of different, complex flavors and very gorgeous to look at), as well as the Potato Gratin and The Lemon Tart Of My Dreams. The last two recipes have some minor problems - both were rather runny - especially the tart. The tart had the best flavor of any lemon tart I have ever had, but I was disappointed with the texture. It might either need to be cooked a little longer than the directions, it may need a thickener of some sort - or it may simply need to rest overnight in the refrigerator. I am not sure which is the best way to correct this. I will try it again and try to perfect this thing. The taste alone is worth the effort!Other than those minor problems, everything in this book is doable and I will certainly be trying more!