Product Description

Mina knows that cooks like to master one recipe but then try different flavors with the main ingredient. MICHAEL MINA reveals how to recreate his trio concept, where a master recipe is followed by three flavor variations, each with its own variations and accompanied by side dishes created just for that version. A crispy loin of pork can be served with an orange/carrot, apple/sage, or tomato/corn combination of accompaniments. Although the flavor combinations create a sense of complexity, the recipes themselves are simple.Accompanying the trios are Mina's classic and most-requested recipes from his acclaimed restaurants, including Whole Fried Chicken with Truffled Macaroni and Cheese, and Root Beer Float with Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies. This book is a must-have for any cook with an adventurous palate.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79412 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 272 pages

From Publishers Weekly
San Francisco chef Mina, who has franchised himself to Las Vegas with the backing of tennis star Agassi, declares that all the recipes in his book have been "designed to be prepared in the home kitchen by a single cook." The home cook with a day job is unlikely to regard this as a practical guide, however, unless similarly driven by Mina's obsession with the core concept: the trio. Each of his New American dishes, from starter to dessert, is presented with three different interpretations of the key ingredient. For instance, his Summer Berry Cobbler, Berry Sundae with Mascarpone Ice Cream, involves creating a raspberry cobbler with vanilla streusel, a blueberry cobbler with lavender scone and a blackberry cobbler with candied ginger shortbread, in hot and cold variations to be eaten in alternating bites. The design alone—with its 100 beautifully crisp photos—will further entice home cooks to try his recipes in their own home. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author
Michael Mina is chef and owner of Restaurant Michael Mina in the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco and in the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas; he is also chef and owner of Nob Hill and Seablue in the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He has won the 2002 James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef in California and the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence and the AAA Four Diamond Award.

JoAnn Cianciulli, was a producer for four years on the Food Network show, Food 911, and she's the collaborator on Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen and The Lever House Cookbook.

Customer Reviews

Not Mina's Food
If you know Michael "Haj" Mina and where his real influences come from you will know that this book does not contain his work, but rather the work of Chef George Morrone whom Mina trained under and worked for, for over a decade.

For example the Mussel Soufflé with the Saffron Sauce originally came from a seafood Soufflé pioneered at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles back in 1988 - believe it or not.

At the time Morrone was talking about opening his dream restaurant "Aqua." He eventually did and it became the hottest seafood restaurant in San Francisco. Mina went along as Morrone's right hand man. After Morrone left Aqua, Mina stayed on as chef. He parlayed this through hard work and a little luck and Andre Agassi into the Mina Group.

He may be a good business man but the creator and the genius behind his food is not him. Though Mina does give Morrone credit in the book Morrone deserves more - he deserves his name on the cover.

Still it's an awesome book and written more for a professional than the average home cook.

Great book for a budding Chef
This book is a very good book, but not for someone who wants to just throw something together quickly. It's got some very sophisticated recipes and some quite complicated. All-in-all, it's a very good book, but if you're a cook and not a chef; I would look for something a bit simpler to cook from. On the other hand, if you love to cook and impress, this is the book for you.

Beautiful cookbook with pictures to match.
I had gone to Michael Mina in SF with some friends, who are also chefs, and they tried to get a recipe but couldn't. I found the cookbook while trying to search the internet for the recipe and thought "what a perfect Christmas gift". They LOVED it! The photography is beautiful and it shows exactly how he plates the food. Unless you are a true chef, I'm not sure most could handle the recipes but if you love great food and the challenge of cooking. This is a book for you.