The Gentle Chef Cookbook: Vegan Cuisine for the Ethical Gourmet

UPDATE: Having tried many more of the seitan recipes, in the book and the website, one thing for sure, is that when you try the recipes, if you follow the instructions, as written, you will not be disappointed.Every single recipe is turning out to be well worth the effort, which, to me, is pretty unusual for a cookbook. Normally, not every single recipe is great, but, they are turning out to be and on top of it are cruelty free.You don't have to worry about the old time method of preparing seitan, and it is quick and easy to put together. It literally takes, at the most, 15 minutes, to measure, mix, wrap up, or set the water to boil. The only thing that takes the time is the baking/steaming or boiling and then allowing the texture to firm up in the refrigerator (usually around 8 hours - but, we sometimes can't wait that long - it is still good).The more you "practice" with the recipes and techniques, the easier it becomes and you KNOW they will come out.The Ribz are so easy and actually do "rip-apart". The swedish meatballs, excellent! and the Roast Turk'y with stuffing was our Thanksgiving main dish. The Roast Beaf came out really good and made a great French Dip sandwich, with the Aus Jus sauce (which was very "meaty" tasting).We just tried the seitan burgers and pastrami recipes, on the author's website, and I have to say that you definitely won't miss fast food takeout burgers. These are better than the Morningstar grillers burgers and are homemade, no preservatives/artificial flavors and you know exactly what went into them.Any new vegetarian/vegan, should pick this book up, as it will definitely make the transition easier, or just check out the website and get a feel for the recipes.Original review:I literally just baked 4 seitan roast recipes from the book, all at once, today. I made the Greek Gyro Roast, the Baked Hammy, the Herb Roasted Chik'n, and the German Bratwurst. I halved several of the recipes, and it still made a significant amount. One was supposed to be shaped into sausages (the bratwurst)and steamed, however, the recipe was very forgiving, for me.This is, honestly, the first time, I have ever made homemade seitan, and it did not have the immediate "wheat gluteny" taste. The texture for each roast was tender, as promised. The author gives detailed instructions for preparation, that are very easy. I was able to ask the author, through e-mail, from a link on his website, on how he came about what method he uses to prepare the seitan, and he was kind enough to answer.I usually justify my collection of vegetarian/vegan cookbooks, as cost effective, in that if you find at least one good recipe, in a book, it usually costs that much for one dinner out, so, I feel you honestly get your money's worth with this. We have paid for dinners with just three small slices of seitan, for a lot more than what this book costs.My absolute favorite cookbook and standby, has been The Grit's Vegetarian Restaurant cookbook, and, to me, this one is on the same level. The recipes really do produce a great product and are cost effective, in that you can freeze them for up to 3 months.I know there are many more recipes to try in this book, however, I personally feel that the biggest reason to purchase it is for the seitan recipes. Hopefully, this author will continue to create more of these great recipes to share!

This is the one cookbook that I can't put down! I admit it. I am a cookbook junkie. I have hundreds of them. Why do I have so many? The problem I find is that with most cookbooks, you will find a handful of "go to" recipes that you'll want to create over and over again, but the rest never get you drooling. That's not the case with "The Gentle Chef Cookbook". In Skye-Michaels brilliant book, I found myself marking almost every single page with post-its as the recipe I want to try next!It doesn't matter if you are an amateur cook like myself, or an experienced chef, Skye-Michael takes you on a culinary adventure, from all of your favorite comfort foods that you grew up with all the way up to sophisticated cuisine and not only veganizes them, but gives you clear instructions to ensure your success.It also doesn't matter if you are a vegan, vegetarian or omni, the food stands on it's own merit regardless of the protein source. Even if you are not vegan, and you want a healthier diet, or if you are thinking about making the transition and don't want to give up your favorite foods, with this book you won't miss the animal proteins.This has to be hands down the most comprehensive book on making seitan I have ever seen. With Skye-Michaels recipes not only is it easy and fun, but the results are sensational not to mention delicious! There are whole sections on roasts, sausages & seitan specialties like Seitan Mignon. My Thanksgivings will never be tasteless again! I just made the "Roast Beaf" the other day and brought sandwiches of ultra thin slices with No-Eggy Garlic Mayo, (also in the cookbook) for my co-workers (one vegetarian and one omnivore) and they both loved them. The omni asked if I would teach his girlfriend how to cook like that! Tonight I am making Chik'n Seitan so I can have cutlets ready to make myself some scrumptious Chik'n Parmesan tomorrow night!This book contains a great deal more than just incredible seitan recipes such as: Cheeses, breakfast fare, appetizers, spreads, dressings, soups, gravies, desserts, etc.! Check out the "Look Inside" feature to see a complete table of contents. Besides delicious American dishes, Skye-Michael also takes you on a gastronomic tour of the world as he creates dishes from different countries.While this book doesn't contain pictures, you can go to his website and see photos of all the mouth watering recipes that you will soon be able to devour once you pick up a copy!Thank you Skye-Michael Conroy for giving me back my passion for compassionate cooking! The food in this book is exquisite and I look forward to every evening when I get out of work, get into the kitchen and make another remarkable dish, whether it's "Bangers & Mash" or "Coconut Cream Pie", not only will it be insanely delicious, but it will help us all. For the animals, for our health, for the planet, for our taste buds, this book is revolutionary. I can't wait for the next book!

Wow what can I say, if you are wanting to become vegan or you are vegan then this is the book for you. I have quite a few vegan cook books and believe me when I say I don't even look in them they are useless. I have only had this book for about two weeks now but it is amazing, I have only tried 6 recipes so far and they are delicious. I also bought the non dairy book written by the gentle chef. Amazing. I will never buy another vegan book again, apart from the gentle chef Skye Michael Conroy. He is on Facebook and he will help you if you have any questions. Don't hesitate you won't look back.

This book is a black and white one, very professional and, sometimes boring. It teaches you how to make some fake meat too - unuseful for me as I hate the smell of meat and the meat itself! Recommended for professionals (e.g., new generation smart chefs).

This is the best vegan cookbook I've seen for recreating the dishes of the standard (meat-eater) diet. The dishes I've tried have all been just like the real thing - the quiche and saag tofu paneer are particularly good. There are no photos, but as someone else said you can find them on the gentle chef website, and many of the recipes will be familiar to most from their meat-eating days. Specialist ingredients are required for some recipes but these can easily be purchased on amazon. Recipes are concise and easy to follow and there are special sections on preparing tofu, seitanic, etc. All the staples are in here (cheese, dairy and meat alternatives) as well as American, European and eastern dishes. All in all a fantastic book for anyone look to recreate the food that they've most likely grown up with.

I am in the UK and bought this book because it has lots of recipes for seitan in. I love it. It gives lots of info about dishes as well as actual recipes. In the UK some of the ingredients might not be available in high street supermarkets, but as with most vegan recipes...where there's a will, there's a way! Highly recommended.

I can’t live without these recipes. Easily the best vegetarian and vegan meat alternatives I have ever found, especially compared to supermarket and shop equivalent. An absolute must if you are a vegetarian or vegan with a guilty pleasure for the flavour of meat