The New York Times 60-Minute Gourmet

About the Author Pierre Franey learned the basics of cooking from his French mother and grandmother, and at fourteen was sent to Paris to become a chef. He published more than a dozen cookbooks in his distinguished career, including several collaborations with Craig Claiborne. Franey died in 1996, leaving an enduring legacy of fine food and good taste. Craig Claiborne was for many years a food writer at The New York Times. He wrote many cookbooks, including The Best of Craig Claiborne and The New York Times Cookbook. Edward Brown is the chef at The Sea Grill in New York's Rockefeller Center. Product Description Compiled from the pages of his popular NEW YORK TIMES culinary column, Pierre Franey has created a book of complete, delectable meals that can be prepared in an hour or less. There are dozens of choices to suit the palate of every gourmet, including : Chicken Breasts Veronique with Curried Rice Filet Mignon Sauce Madere with a Saute of Vegetables Fermiere, Parsleyed Rack of Lamb with Grilled Tomatoes Provencale, and more, as well as straightforward organization to provide maximum cooking convenience. Review "Pierre always had his finger on the pulse of contemporary American cuisine. Though he was the country's elder statesman of French cooking, he instinctively understood American food and the needs of modern American cooks. . . . Pierre knew that great cooking wasn't about fancy ingredients -- I would have been surprised to have been served even lobster in his house -- but about fresh ingredients, organization, and proper technique. If you've got these, then you cook, move along with ease, and create memorable food."---from the new Foreword by chef Edward Brown From the Inside Flap m the pages of his popular NEW YORK TIMES culinary column, Pierre Franey has created a book of complete, delectable meals that can be prepared in an hour or less. There are dozens of choices to suit the palate of every gourmet, including : Chicken Breasts Veronique with Curried Rice Filet Mignon Sauce Madere with a Saute of Vegetables Fermiere, Parsleyed Rack of Lamb with Grilled Tomatoes Provencale, and more, as well as straightforward organization to provide maximum cooking convenience. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Pierre Franey was my mentor. People use the term loosely nowadays to describe almost any relationship involving guidance, but that doesn't really exhaust the word in relation to Pierre.  I thought I understood the word myself, but it wasn't until Pierre had passed away in 1996 that I truly knew what a mentor does and what Pierre meant to me.            I first met him in 1984, when I was a cook at the restaurant Maurice in Manhattan. I knew that Pierre was considered the "godfather" of French chefs in America--he was in fact one of the first, bringing the legendary Le Pavillon to great culinary heights--and I was very shy when we met. I needn't have been; he embraced me immediately, in every sense, as he did with anyone who came across as straightforward, as I evidently did. I learned very quickly that for Pierre, being above board was vital--he couldn't stand phoniness.             We became good friends, a world-established chef and a kid hoping to be one himself. When I was put in charge of fish preparation at Maurice, Pierre was genuinely enthusiastic; we shared a love for all seafood, and we would talk for hours about its preparation. Food-talk was always a great bond for us (it began almost the minute I met him and continued to the end) and I never ceased to be excited by the clarity of Pierre's approach to all things culinary. His cooking reflected this clarity and his great integrity, as do his recipes, which are always true to their ingredients. Everything in them belongs, nothing is ever superfluous.Pierre and I not only talked food--we cooked it. He would invite me to his home in East Hampton where we'd cook and drink Burgundy and I continued to