Cooking with Master Chefs
A companion to the PBS series of the same name, Julia Child's classicCooking with Master Chefsintroduces readers to sixteen of America's top chefs, then presents their signature dishes to make at home. With the relaxed precision cooks expect of Child's recipes, and aided by more than 80 color photos, the dishes are as accessible as they are delicious. Child's fans, as well as those of chefs including Emeril Lagasse (Emeril's, New Orleans), André Soltner (formerly of Lutèce, New York), Alice Waters (Chez Panisse, Berkeley) and Michel Richard (Citrus, Los Angeles), among others, will be delighted.The recipes, arranged in mini-menus of three to five dishes each, run the gamut of (mostly) American-inspired specialties. The aforementioned Lagasse provides an authentic Louisiana Crab Broil and savory Shrimp  Étouf;ée; Mary Sue Milligan and Susan Feninger (Border Grill, Santa Monica), present a spicy vegetarian feast; and Charles Palmer (Auriole, New York), reveals his methods for making perfectly seared Venison and Tender Butternut Squash Timbales. The Italian table is represented by Lidia Bastianich (Felidia, New York), who shares her Pasta Ears with Brocolli di Rape and Sausages. And for dessert, chef Richard produces an extraordinary Chocolate Dome and pulse-quickening Hot Chocolate Truffles. Other chefs provide equally mouth-watering dishes.Useful notes on techniques and ingredients are given throughout and in an appendix. As lively as it is instructive,Cooking with Master Chefsshould provide a gratifying encounter with a remarkable culinary crew, conducted  by an esteemed interpreter of the world's table.--Arthur Boehm