Chic Made Simple {Review & Giveaway}
December 12th, 2012 Print
UPDATE: THE WINNER OF THE GIVEAWAY IS CHAYA (COMMENT #48)!!
This post contains the following:
A Savvima review of Chic Made Simple by Esther Deutsch.
A Savvima giveaway of Chic Made Simple by Esther Deutsch
Chic Made Simple is the creation of Ami food columnist Esther Deutsch. It features both new and previously published recipes with an emphasis on food styling. So much of the food experience is visual and this cookbook features food that’s easy to prepare, always delicious, and presented impressively. Most of the recipes call for a short list of basic ingredients.
With Esther’s food styling inspiration you will learn the secrets of how to dress up a plate of simple food. Such as Fruit Tartare – a simple fruit salad transformed by layering the fruit into a mold according to color: Simple to prepare, but with a flare!
Another idea is the Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips. Esther uses these chips as a garnish to Hazelnut Chocolate Mousse but I’m sure this salty/sweet garnish will work with ice cream, pudding or sorbet too.
Here is a rundown of the recipes I tried:
Purple cabbage and Yellow Bell Pepper Slaw – There are many variations of sweet cabbage salad. What makes this one stand out is the bold purple and yellow color contrast with black sesame seeds for garnish and crunch. Oh, and it tastes great too.
Cranberry Blueberry Orange Chicken – The unique flavors of this recipe and its ultra simple preparation yield an impressive dish.
Pretzel-Crusted Lemon Lime Pie – I’ve been making this lemon pie for years with a simple graham cracker crust (see it posted here). The addition of the sweet and salty pretzel crust works well with the tart lemon flavor and is a nice update to the recipe.
There are plenty of recipes I hope to try soon:
Tongue Polonaise- Here’s a dish I would reserve for Yom Tov. Esther prepares tongue as an appetizer instead of a main (a smart way to keep the cost down) and she also heads to the deli counter for sliced tongue (instead of boiling, peeling, and slicing the tongue at home).
Mini Mushroom Beef sliders – Low in carbs, high on visual appeal, these sliders feature Mushroom cap “buns.”
Roasted Corn and Sausage Soup – this hearty soup is bookmarked for a chilly weeknight dinner.
Coconut Tilapia with Apricot Dipping Sauce – Skewered mini strips of tilapia are coated in a coconut breading and then fried. This would work well as a dinner party appetizer.
Chic Made Simple by Esther Deutsch features 185 recipes accompanied by over 200 photos. It is available at Amazon or Feldheim.
If you would like a chance to win a copy of Chic Made Simple please leave a comment on this post with a tip on how to “impress while doing less.”
Leave a comment before January 1, 2013.
One comment will be randomly selected as a winner!
Good Luck!
The presentation is incredible!
Pretty flowers in unique vases always make something look fancier than it is.
I actually bought this cookbook after making three of the recipes that were posted on the Web, which were complete successes!!!! But if I won another copy I have four daughters that would gladly fight over it!
At first I thought that this cookbook was more of the same but looking at the recipes has me wanting to see more!
Presenting the food in a nice way with nice serve ware.
There are a lot of good looking recipes in here! Would love to try it out!
Serving it with nice dishes as well as pretty napkins help out!
Lovd the way Esti Deutsch presents the food
This cookbook is gorgeous I’d love to be a winner!
I think playing food w fresh herbs makes a beautiful display
I love making flower salad bowls out of eggroll wrappers-simple and people always love them!
LOVE the presentation!
I make my kreplach as borekas using puff pastry dough. Everyone loves them and it took all of 5 minutes to get ready.
creativity is important for every dish separately to be presented nicely
cant wait to win it!
Everything looks incredible!
Put nice chargers or napkins to enhance the table
Serving dishes and utensils help enhance presentation
Would love to win it!
When you are smiling and not apologizing how the food came out. Pretty dishes and extra glasses can add a lot! I use martini glasses all the time for desserts! Looks awesome and super easy!!!!
Dim lighting, candlelight floating in water centerpieces are a perfect mood setter.
Name cards always dress up a table plus seating decisions go much faster at the start of the meal.
Would love to add this beautiful cook book to my collection
Use paper napkins with fancy napkin rings. All the look without all the clean up.
I once bought a bunch of funky platters at the dollar store. They’re all white but fun shapes so they can be classy at the same time.
It’s beautiful! Want it, need it, gotta have it!
Nice serving pieces go a long way!
doing a salad and adding any kind of ‘crunchies (e.g. bissli, terra stix, cashews) always is a talking point and seems to amp up the salad.
Its all in the presentation
You don’t need a crazy hard recipe for your food to look good Its all about presentation, also centerpieces are a must!
Pretty bowls or footed bowls or stands heaped with whatever fruit used as a centerpiece or next to flowers always looks pretty and inviting. Grapes, lemons, clementines, pomegranates,cherries, strawberries are some of my favorites.
I find doing things in individual portions can make a big difference. All you need to do is make a recipe the same way, and pour into different shaped muffin tins. Mini bundts, regular muffin tins, you name it!
Lots of courses individually plate
I love the presentation in this cookbook! I like to use a lot of colorful salads – it makes it so pretty!!
Garnishes totally make the plate, as well as nicely plated individual servings. Lasagna rolls, stuffed shells, food stuffed in the puff pastry shells, anything like that always looks nice.
Wonton wrapper molds are easy
I like to individually place appetizers and desserts. This enables me to create a beautiful eye pleasing plate
clean and simple always comes out the nicest
Glassware serving makes a clean impression and is easy to clean
Just saw this cookbook in a store for the first time. I rarely buy cookbooks, but this one is beautiful and I would love to get a copy!
Talia stole my trick! Garnishing a plate, be it a family style dish, or an individual bowl of soup, makes all the difference. It can be as simple as a swirl of herb oil on a soup, or bunches of herbs or greens on a serving platter.
everything in mini always makes an impression. and i use a lot of mini deposable spoons and mini plastic trifle cups to dress up desserts and appetizers. love ur cookbook
a single orchid in the middle of the table always makes a splash
Chargers! Place a silver charger under a dinner plate and the table automatically looks fancier
Love it all!
I would love to receive this cookbook to add some new life to my repertoire. I love to cook and entertain. On hot days (and cold too) I like to add some fresh mint leaves and slices of lemon to a pitcher of cold water before I put it on the table.
Parsley sprigs, rosemary sprigs, sprinkled nuts, and citrus rinds are all great additions to garnish without adding a lot of expense. I have a rosemary plant in my back yard that is wonderful to have,
Would love to win a copy. This is how I impress while doing less. I buy pretty paper napkins and place them under hard clear plastic plates – usually the wavy plates. The clear plastic cups and cutlery from Costco. A pretty tablecloth.. And the table is set.
Lining things evenly on square dishes makes any food look great! Also, adding some leaves on the side gives a great touch.
Would love to get a copy of your amazing cookbok everything looks delicous!!
Wow! Love this thread, everyone has really useful tips… Individualize portions, as well as serving less, choose quality sides and present it well, rather then quantity served in bulk.
pretty serving dishes can make a simple dish seem fancy
I’m always looking for amazing new recipes to keep Shabbos guests coming back for more!
A little prep work goes a long way. If I know that the chopping that I hate to do is already done, I’m not so daunted to start in on a recipe.
Bundt cakes on cake stands always look impressive & are easy to bake, present & clean up = win, win, win
I really wanna win this cookbook, I could really use some more chic cooking ideas.
This cookbook looks amazing and practical at the same time. An easy to trick is to squiggle some chocolate sauce or store bought strawberry sauce on plates. Then serve the desert on top. Easy and looks professional.
There are so many great ideas I picked up reading the other comments. One thing I like to do when entertaining more fancy is use chargers and napkin rings . It’s very simple but makes a big difference !
It is all ,in the way you plate the food cannot wait for more ideas
i would love to win this and spend hours salivating over the pics and recipes! I’ll probably even cook a few of them!
I would really love to win this cookbook. MY family has a houseful for almost every Shabbat dinner and new and exciting recipes are always welcome.
As to serving in a special/appealing manner, I do the following. Aside from trying to make an assortment of courses, both new and those we remember from our childhood, I like using dishware/serveware that is outstanding. For instance, you can get some very nice, highly polished serving plates in Indian stores that come in all sort of sizes. They are terrific for holding cookies, dried fruits, etc for serving. The shine is great, it really makes the food stand out, and they do not have to be polishes. Low maintenance. Thank you for you consideration in this drawing.
I love ramekins, beause everything looks good in mini, like desserts or fruit crumbles.
Serve white meat fish, on a bed of black rice, on a plain white plate. Too simple, but oh so elegant, will wow your guests. Black rice (Forbidden rice) is readily available.