In Nightly Specials Michael Lomonaco, former chef at Manhattan's Windows on the World and Le Cirque, offers 125 easy dishes--food for everyday enjoyment. Avoiding complication and fussy invention, Lomonaco focuses principally on old favorites, like Maryland-Style Crab Cakes and Chicken Pot Pie, to which he often gives a satisfying twist. (His meatloaf, for example, contains pecorino cheese, tomatoes, and oregano.) Included also are "original dishes" like Hacked Chile Lobster, Corn Cakes with Smoked Salmon, and Beef and Porter Stew, also uncomplicated to prepare. The Lomonaco approach extends to tempting desserts like Triple Berry and Pecan Crunch Pie, Silky Coconut Flan, and a particularly good flourless chocolate cake. Recipe variations called Nightly Specials--you can, for example, exchange grilled chicken breast for the roast beef in a hash with mushrooms--round out this very attractive collection. All the dishes celebrate an improvisatory spirit that leads cooks to create menus based on what's freshest in the market--your own nightly specials. --Arthur Boehm

From Publishers Weekly
Mahi mahi is on special, kale is fresh, lemons are abundant; what should you make? Celebrity chef Lomonaco’s newest cookbook tackles the line between recipe and technique, offering home cooks a window into his world of inspired impromptu dinners. Simple but fancy-sounding dishes—like Marinated Salmon Carpaccio with Green Apple and Dill—act as templates. "Replace the salmon with sushi-grade tuna and the apple with 1 small mango and 1 small papaya," he suggests in a sidebar alongside the recipe. One of these little sections accompanies every recipe in the book, and though they’re small, they do help teach readers the logic behind creative cooking. "If you cannot find blood oranges, no problem," he assures in Ceviche of Bay Scallops and Blood Oranges. "Any orange will be fine. But also consider ruby red grapefruit from Texas." For a cook intimidated by the creative process (or one who lives in an area with erratic access to vegetables), these recipes nestled within recipes are a great favor. The dishes themselves are an odd mix of restaurant-fancy food from Lomonaco’s time at 21 and Windows on the World, old standbys (like My Mother’s Italian-American Meatloaf) and a mishmash of Asian and Latin flavors. His use of unusual starches like yuca, quinoa, "risotto," wheat berries and barley will appeal to carb-conscious eaters. There are a few confusing moments—he suggests looking for ginger that feels "soft to the touch" and recommends boiling collard greens for a whopping 90 minutes before sautéing—and the dessert section is surprisingly complicated. Overall, however, this strong collection of recipes will be welcome to any cook, and those in Lomonaco’s strong fan base won’t have any trouble finding a place for it on their shelves. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Television chef Lomonaco shares with readers the sorts of "secrets" that restaurant cooks use all the time: turning one dish into another by varying just one or two ingredients to turn out something novel. Sometimes the variation is simple. Instead of using wheat berries in a spicy side dish of curried grains, he suggests barley. In baked pasta with spinach and leeks, he changes the cheese from fontina to blue or adds a whole melange of parboiled veggies and rechristens it "primavera." Switching beer for the wine in braised beef short ribs, he makes it richer. In an earthy dish of roast beef and mushroom hash, Lomonaco substitutes chicken for beef and invents a lighter dish suitable for brunch. To make a potato gratin seem more elegant and formal, he portions the final product into precise rounds with a cookie cutter. He surprises by rolling truffles in chopped nuts or toasted coconut instead of cocoa powder. Lomonaco's unpretentious cuisine lends itself to such invention, and the imaginative cook can find a lot to imitate here. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Book Description

Have you ever wondered why restaurants have nightly specials? There are many reasons, actually, but they all have one thing in common: spontaneity. Nightly specials are a way to cook with seasonal fruits and vegetables, the catch of the day, unexpected leftovers, and spur-of-the-moment market finds. They are also a way for chefs to experiment with exciting new ingredients, develop their own signature dishes, and road-test new ideas that may eventually become regular menu features.

If these reasons sound familiar, that's because they all apply to home cooks as well.

Because there's no set menu in a home kitchen, every dinner is a nightly special. But all too often, home cooks find themselves in a rut, recycling the same meals week after week. Nightly Specials shows home cooks how restaurant and home cooking can meet. Acclaimed New York chef and host of the Travel Channel's Epicurious, Michael Lomonaco, along with award-winning food writer Andrew Friedman, offer up 125 recipes that use fresh and spontaneous ingredients to create innovative starters, salads, entrees, sides, and desserts. All the recipes are simple, loosely improvised dishes that will inspire home cooks to be flexible and remain open to each day's culinary possibilities. Best of all they can be selected at the last minute and cooked successfully in relatively little time.

No matter what the season or occasion, you'll find the perfect recipe in Nightly Specials. Toss together salads like Cool Roasted Beets with Mint or Mango and Red Onion Salad with Basil Vinaigrette. Warm up with a bowl of Curried Pea Soup with Frizzled Ginger or Moroccan Lamb Stew. Main courses include everything from quick-comforting favorites such as Supermarket Mushroom Risotto to show-stoppers such as Hacked Chile Lobster and Boneless Roast Leg of Lamb with Feta Cheese, Olives, and Eggplant. Desserts range from holiday classics such as Pear-Cranberry Upside-Down Cake to peak-of-the-summer favorites such as Plum and Peach Cobbler and indulgences such as Baked Alaska with Coconut Sorbet and Chocolate Ice Cream and Chocolate Truffles.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Have you ever wondered why restaurants have nightly specials? There are many reasons, actually, but they all have one thing in common: spontaneity. Nightly specials are a way to cook with seasonal fruits and vegetables, the catch of the day, unexpected leftovers, and spur-of-the-moment market finds. They are also a way for chefs to experiment with exciting new ingredients, develop their own signature dishes, and road-test new ideas that may eventually become regular menu features.

If these reasons sound familiar, that's because they all apply to home cooks as well.

Because there's no set menu in a home kitchen, every dinner is a nightly special. But all too often, home cooks find themselves in a rut, recycling the same meals week after week. Nightly Specials shows home cooks how restaurant and home cooking can meet. Acclaimed New York chef and host of the Travel Channel's Epicurious, Michael Lomonaco, along with award-winning food writer Andrew Friedman, offer up 125 recipes that use fresh and spontaneous ingredients to create innovative starters, salads, entrees, sides, and desserts. All the recipes are simple, loosely improvised dishes that will inspire home cooks to be flexible and remain open to each day's culinary possibilities. Best of all they can be selected at the last minute and cooked successfully in relatively little time.

No matter what the season or occasion, you'll find the perfect recipe in Nightly Specials. Toss together salads like Cool Roasted Beets with Mint or Mango and Red Onion Salad with Basil Vinaigrette. Warm up with a bowl of Curried Pea Soup with Frizzled Ginger or Moroccan Lamb Stew. Main courses include everything fromquick-comforting favorites such as Supermarket Mushroom Risotto to show-stoppers such as Hacked Chile Lobster and Boneless Roast Leg of Lamb with Feta Cheese, Olives, and Eggplant. Desserts range from holiday classics such as Pear-Cranberry Upside-Down Cake to peak-of-the-summer favorites such as Plum and Peach Cobbler and indulgences such as Baked Alaska with Coconut Sorbet and Chocolate Ice Cream and Chocolate Truffles.

About the Author:

Michael Lomonaco is one of America's most popular and brightest culinary stars. His long list of accomplishments includes serving as executive chef at both '21' Club and Windows on the World, two of New York's most legendary restaurants. He is the host of Epicurious on the Travel Channel, and is a regular guest on The Late Show with David Letterman and the Today show.

SYNOPSIS

Unlike a restaurant, there is no set menu in a home kitchen. Every dinner is a nightly special. Too often, home cooks find themselves in a rut, recycling the same meals week after week. Nightly Specials is where restaurant and home cooking meet. Michael Lomonaco and Andrew Friedman offer 125 recipes that use everything - seasonal produce, the catch of the day, unexpected leftovers - to create innovative dishes and to inspire home cooks to be flexible and spontaneous. All the recipes are simple, loosely improvised dishes that can be selected at the last minute and cooked successfully in relatively little time.