Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet

Cooking with
the 60-Minute Gourmet
300 Rediscovered Recipes from
Pierre Franey's Classic New York Times Column

By Pierre Franey and Bryan Miller
with a Foreword by Jacques Pepin
Introduction by Claudia Franey Jensen

Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet
"In this sensible, sophisticated cookbook, 60 minutes is really 60 minutes-and often less." ...Publishers Weekly.

When Pierre Franey's New York Times recipe columns began appearing in the late 1970s, he helped usher in a new era in American cooking. This new book, Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet: 300 Rediscovered Recipes from Pierre Franey's Classic New York Times Column by Pierre Franey and Bryan Miller with a foreword by Jacques Pepin, combines Pierre Franey's culinary principles: fresh, flavorful ingredients, ease of preparation, and his rule: "Don't spend all evening in the kitchen." Franey's recipes and simple cooking methods allow even the busiest home cook to prepare quick and delicious meals in a hurry.

This new tribute to Chef Franey was assembled by Bryan Miller, his longtime collaborator at The New York Times, with the cooperation of Franey's family. Miller emphasizes the ease of Franey's recipes as he says, "Pierre always bought ingredients at local stores so readers wouldn't be exasperated by trying to locate Peruvian blue onion or Mexican jicama."

Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet demonstrates the importance of stocking your pantry and even lists the essentials that you should have in your kitchen at all times. Explaining that "Cooks are like Boy Scouts-they must always be prepared," Franey says: "Having a well stocked pantry makes cooking infinitely easier. If you have spices, canned and frozen goods, condiments and cheese and fruits on hand, all you need to do is shop for the main ingredients." In this new book Franey offers personal stories (including the time he threw an omelet in the face of an overbearing boss), tips on choosing produce, cleaning seafood, peeling vegetables, and cooking methods such as how to deglaze a pan, devein a shrimp and poach garlic. Invariably unpretentious, Franey also encourages substituting and experimenting to create your very own variations.

Jacques Pepin's fond introduction to Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet is a personal recollection of an esteemed and greatly missed colleague and friend. He says, "Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet is a treat for all food lovers and home cooks. In this posthurnous book of Pierre's, he leaves us his legacy of taste. Pepin stresses Franey's interest in ethnic fare, "From Spanish Tortillas and Cajun-style Chicken Fingers to award-winning New England Clam Chowder, Whole Red Snapper with Lime Butter, a classic Roasted Lemon-Garlic Chicken, or a Linguine with Fresh Mussels, the variety as well as the originality.. .echoes the essential Pierre."

Franey's desserts are no less diverse than the rest of his cuisine. While easy and quick to prepare, the recipes are both sumptuous and sophisticated. They include traditional French dishes such as Crepes with Strawberries and Cream, Poached Pears in Red Wine and Cassis and Chocolate Mousse, as well as variations on American and international favorites including Harvest Bread Pudding, Chocolate Brownies, Banana Cream Pie and new and unexpected combinations like Rosemary and Mint Ice, Lemon Chocolate Tart and Frozen Yogurt Soufflé with Raspberry Sauce.

Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet is a new classic, an essential cookbook for food lovers without a lot of time. These recipes will appeal to both Franey fans, excited to learn that such a treasure trove of recipes has been found, as well as readers unfamiliar with his distinctive cuisine.

Pierre Franey's recipe columns appeared regularly in The New York Times for nearly twenty years, under his own byline and with Craig Claiborne. His other books include The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet and The New York Times More of the 60-Minute Gourmet, both of which were bestsellers. He died in 1996. Bryan Miller has been the New York Times' restaurant critic and a long-standing collaborator with Pierre Franey.

Buy the Book!

Cooking with the 60-Minute Gourmet
300 Rediscovered Recipes From
Pierre Franey's Classic New York Times Column
By Pierre Franey and Bryan Miller
Times Books, August 1999
Hardback, $30.00
ISBN: 0-8129-3094-0
Information provided by the publisher.