Product Description

From Katy Sparks, who dazzled a devoted clientele at her restaurant Quilty’s in New York City, here is a wonderfully creative collection of recipes and culinary wisdom. It is a book for people who love to cook, enabling you to put to work in your own kitchen the secrets and inspirations a gifted chef can offer, particularly one who now cooks at home for her own family.

From snacks, small plates, and cocktails to relishes and desserts, Sparks makes it clear that good ingredients are all-important. So she offers guidelines on what to buy seasonally, how best to judge freshness, and how to store foods effectively. She loves to combine flavors in unexpected ways, utilizing a wide range of spices and coaxing the essence from fresh herbs and zests.

Whether she is detailing a dramatic dish to start off a special dinner, such as her Oysters in Gewürztraminer Cream (crowned with a nest of crispy fried leeks) or the playful Middle Eastern–inspired creation Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Eggplant “Leaves,” or a simple, satisfying family meal like Grilled Chicken in Marjoram Marinade or Pork Chops Smothered in Lentils, she encourages the home cook to be creative. As she guides you through a recipe, you will learn invaluable lessons: what makes a good soup, ways to keep meat tender and juicy, foolproof methods of grilling a whole fish and roasting a chicken, keys to successful deep-frying. And sidebars like “Leftover Alert” and “Weighing Your Options” encourage you to improvise with leftovers, experiment with interesting substitutes, and create delicious accompaniments.

A pat of one of her compound butters, a splash of her homemade flavored vinegar, or a dollop of her Papaya-Ginger Salsa or Onion-Sage Confit might contribute to the sparkle that makes each finished dish so delicious. Try her Sesame-Roasted Green Beans, Coconut-Simmered Fingerling Potatoes, or Beet Pickled Eggs dipped in Spice-Seasoned Salt for revelations in flavor.

And, if there’s still room, a Sparks dessert is not to be missed. Three different pots de crème, chocolate bread pudding, apple tarts, raspberry tarts, maple tuile cookies, and Mohr im Hemd (individual souffléd cakes drenched in dark chocolate) are among the family favorites gathered here.

Above all, Katy Sparks shares the fun and drama of cooking, interweaving stories from her childhood on a Vermont farm and her odyssey from college dropout to star chef. The kitchen is where she feels most happily at home, and with this book to inspire you, so will you.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #640684 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-27
• Released on: 2005-12-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Amazon.com Review
Katy Sparks, formerly chef at Quilty's in Manhattan, is noted for delicious cooking that's French-based and globally influenced. Sparks in the Kitchen offers 160 approachable recipes for all courses and occasions--dishes like Broiled Shell-On Shrimp with Juniper, Black Pepper and Citrus Dipping Salt; Garlic-Studded Leg of Lamb in Red Chile and Cumin Crust; Arugula with Grilled Peaches, Goat Cheese, and County Ham; and Sugar Snap Peas with Browned Shallots, Pancetta and Mint. Sweets, such as Warm Berry and Mango Gratin in Mascarpone Chantilly and Mohr im Hand, over-the-top souffléd chocolate cakes with chocolate sauce and whipped cream, are equally tempting. Included also are snack and cocktail formulas, notes on ingredients and equipment, and useful tips and suggestions.

Some readers will find the abundant autobiographical material (there's 21 pages of it up front and more throughout the text) unwarranted, while others will enjoy Sparks's stories about her Vermont family, among other recollections. With a section on techniques, and photo-illustrated throughout, Sparks in the Kitchen bridges the divide between everyday and restaurant cooking--a welcome rarity in a chef's cookbook. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
Sparks's food looks comfortably rustic, corresponding to her childhood on a Vermont farm, occasional visits to Germany and a move to New York, where she opened Quilty's, a SoHo restaurant that felt like a country inn (it closed after 9/11). The chef's hallmark is combining flavors and textures in unexpected ways; hence, there's papaya in her Gazpacho, ground star anise and coriander in a Seasonal Country Salad, and chilled cucumbers against hot scallops in Seared Sea Scallops on a Cool Cucumber, Sesame, and Dill Sauce. Sparks is no fusspot, advising readers "have fun and don't sweat the details." For example, in the recipe for Simple Roast Chicken, she notes, "Chicken is a perfect vehicle for experimentation," so try stuffing the bird with a half a lemon, a sprig of herbs, a few mushroom stems—anything that'll release flavor and aroma. Most of the 160 dishes featured can go fancy or casual; a perfect example is Smoked Trout Tartare with Cucumber, Feta, and Dill, which can be "dressed down with a beer or gussied up with a glass of sparking wine." Sparks's family features prominently in the essays and recipe introductions, adding to the homey, casual feel of this handsome volume. Photos. (Jan. 6)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Self-confident, experienced cooks will find a lot of inspiring recipes in this collection from a noted New York chef. Sparks' cuisine reflects ingredients both from her New England upbringing and from current Gotham preoccupations, such as salmon, goat cheese, lemongrass, balsamic vinegar, and pancetta. Sparks uses these creatively and in profusion. Her appetizers have the look of carefully crafted restaurant hors d'oeuvres. Horseradish cream gets piped into cunningly arranged cones of smoked salmon. Fresh porcini mushrooms bulge inside pockets of East European-style crepes. Sparks balances these fancies with delightfully old-fashioned hard-boiled eggs dyed with pickled beet juice. Goulash soup, a central European staple, has extra zing from caraway and a bit of fresh marjoram. For main courses, Sparks offers pork chops and lentils, but dresses them with spiced yogurt studded with bits of fresh mango. Desserts encompass both the simple and the complex. Sparks' butterscotch pots de creme get a flavor boost from Scotch whisky. Cardamom scents raspberry tarts. Sugar cookies generate unexpected heat from cayenne and cinnamon. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

A top pick for cooks seeking innovations and pizzazz
Take a talented chef, have her apply professional techniques to home cooking pursuits, and then publish a cookbook of the results and you have a vivid presentation of fresh flavors, new recipes, and explanations of what enhances traditional methods in SPARKS IN THE KITCHEN. Katy Sparks' restaurant is a very popular New York City venue: now her taste for innovation and drama is accessible to home cooks in such dishes as Soft-Shell Crab Tempura with Crushed Blackberry and Horseradish Relish, or Roasted Cauliflower Gratin. A peppering of color photos adds interest but the 'meat' is in the recipes themselves. A top pick for cooks seeking innovations and pizzazz.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

A great find
I bought this book after reading Judith Jones' new memoir "The Tenth Muse," wherein she recommends "Sparks in the Kitchen" as a great find- a great find it is! I love everything about this cookbook. Katy Sparks infuses anecdotes about her family and life into every recipe that make the book a pleasure to read as well as cook from. The recipes are accessible to many different skill sets and she provides useful information about culinary techniques that she has learned over her many years in professional kitchens.

I especially love her recipes that elevate simple classics, such as roast chicken, with the addition of a variety of tasty compound butters. Overall, it's a lovely book that I've gotten a lot of use out of so far!