Book Description

With The New Best Recipe, we invite you into America’s Test Kitchen where you will stand by our side as we try to develop the best macaroni and cheese, the best meatloaf, the best roast chicken, the best brownie, and nearly 1,000 more best recipes for all your favorite home-cooked foods.

Behind this book is a deeply felt understanding of how frustrating it can be to spend time planning, shopping and cooking only to turn out dishes that are mediocre at best. With The New Best Recipe in hand, you will have access to a wealth of practical information that will not only make you a better cook but a more confident one as well. In fact, as long as you follow our instructions, we guarantee that these recipes will work the first and every time.

We have also included 800 illustrations showing you the best way to do almost everything from how to carve a turkey and beat egg whites properly to how to frost a layer cake and set up your grill. Also, get valuable information on how and when to splurge on that expensive knife or baking pan and when the basic model will do just fine. We also explain the science of cooking since understanding the science of food can help anyone become a better cook.Complete with recipes ranging from appetizers to desserts, The New Best Recipe ... Read more

Book Description

With Cover & Bake, the editors at Cook’s Illustrated set out to revive the venerable casserole. From Turkey Tetrazzini and Chicken Divan to Crab Imperial and Hoppin’ John, casserole cooking represents the ingenuity and practicality of the American cook. In Cover & Bake, the editors set out to investigate the old standards and in the process have re-imagined the art of the one-dish meal to meet the demands of today’s cook.

Here you will find classic assemble and bake casseroles like Macaroni and Cheese and Creamy Chicken and Rice as well as more inventive dishes like Mediterranean Chicken Bake and Polenta Casserole with Italian Sausage. We’ve experimented with techniques that allow you to cook everything in just one pot where possible, avoiding the need for hours of preparation and clean up just to get a casserole in the oven. And nearly every recipe can be made ahead allowing busy cooks to serve these wholesome dishes on a busy weeknight.

Looking beyond what most people consider to be a casserole, the editors offer a rather original take on the subject with inventive skillet "casseroles," slow cooker meals that are really worth serving, pot pies with multiple topping options (many of which you can make ahead), oven braises and stews that cook in a low oven for hours so you won’t have to stand over a hot stove, and breakfast and brunch dishes that can be assembled the night before.

In addition, this book contains all the relevant tastings and testings conducted in America’s Test Kitchen. Learn which casserole dish is our hands-down favorite. Are all storage containers created the same? Want to know which slow cooker has the best combination of features?

In short, Cover & Bake is filled with 200 one-dish meals for everyday cooking. We’ve made these casseroles a whole lot better tasting while making sure that what everyone loves about casseroles remains – the fact that they are practical one-dish meals that require a minimum of fuss and last minute attention. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Based on the popular PBS TV series, Cook's Illustrated's America's Test Kitchen Cookbook presents more than 200 recipes in short, essay-like investigations that reflect exhaustive ingredient, equipment, and method testing. Over the years, Cook's Illustrated magazine has set itself to the task of finding the best versions of favorite dishes. The result has been often-definitive reports on how to achieve fare like thin-crust pizza, oven-fried chicken, and blueberry muffins. Readers who look to the magazine for the last word on dish preparation, and others seeking reliable, enlightening cooking counsel, will welcome this book.

Each recipe includes a What We Wanted statement (in the case of french fries, for example, "Golden brown fries with a nice crunch on the outside and an earthy potato taste"); explores various dish approaches (the perfect fat for fries is investigated and determined, among other cooking issues); What We Learned ("Use russet potatoes, soak them in ice water, and fry in peanut oil twice); the recipe itself; and other features such as Testing Lab (a detailed view of the dish's perfecting process). A full range of dishes are explored, from puréed soups, sandwiches, and barbecue fare to holiday dinners, seafood classics, and sweets such as apple pie, bar cookies, and chocolate desserts. Fully photo illustrated, and with useful step-by-step technique drawings, the book is a valuable kitchen resource that will help readers cook better. --Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Reviews (14)

If you enjoy the show, you'll love the book...
I've enjoyed the cooking show, America's Test Kitchen, for several years. Their web site ... includes the current season's recipes -- but not the full list. If your local PBS station is running a show from an earlier series, then the recipes are not readily available.

Well this book has all of the information. It has the recipes (plus usually one or two that weren't included in the show because of time constraints). It has the product reviews and it has the explanation behind food science involved (why you want to a russet potato for one kind of recipe and a boiling potato for another recipe). Many of the techniques are also discussed -- but the book leaves out Bridget's joy of whanging away at a recalcitrant piece of meat. Personally, I'm waiting for them to do a kitchen tool review on rubber hammers!

I still enjoy the show -- but find that I regularly return to the cookbook. My definition of a good cookbook. Now I'm looking for the next season's cookbook.

Combination cookbook & textbook!
I've always wondered why sometimes you use baking powder and sometimes you use baking soda, and sometimes both. Now I know! This book explains cooking theory in little side articles that are easy to find (and easy to ignore if you don't care about them). It has lots of recommendations, for things like cooking equipment (I bought a new grater & love it) as well as ingredients. And there are a couple of recipes that have become classics at my house. Try the chocolate cream pie; it's to DIE for! The ingredient that they investigated in that one was baking chocolates. You'll be surprised which one ended up being used! One of my favorite cookbooks; it stays on the counter rather than getting filed away.

Shop carefully
These books are great! I love my Cooks' Illustrated Books and use them all the time. My one and only complaint is that they have now published the Best Recipe series and now the Test Kitchen books and they don't have enough recipes to fill them each one with enough unique recipes to distinguish one book from another.

A few repetitions is understandable, but they have gone way over the top. If you buy more than two of these books, the third is bound to be composed of a third the recipes from each of the first two. Same test info, everything. This only leaves 1/3 of the recipes as original.

Because of this, I say look carefully before deciding which one from this series you purchase unless you want multiple copies of the same testing articles and recipes.

More than just recipes
If you are interested in the chemistry of cooking, you'll love this book. The recipes are good but the reasons behind why certain ingredients work better than others, which brands are better tasting than others, etc. is so interesting if you really want to cook well.

Think of it as a sample size...
This was the first Cooks Illustrated cookbook I bought (I now have three) and it's... well, limited. It's meant to accompany the TV series, though in actuality it's really only a small part of what the TV show is about. Like other Best Recipe books, it occasionally nicks material from the other books (a frequent Cooks Illustrated annoyance) but it still manages to work nicely, and the recipes in it are still enough to get the reader going.

It's the odd one out of the series, limited as it is to a fairly narrow selection of items, and it has a rather strange but appetizing Southern accent (strange because of the show's basis in New England). It also has plenty of pictures that give it a playfulness that the bigger books lack.

I do recommend this book, with some reservations (though the recipe that teaches how to butterfly a turkey is not something you're going to find anywhere else, and might be worth it if it saves someone some frustration on Thanksgiving). I really wanted to give it 3 1/2 stars, and rounded up because I don't like being cheap with praise. Just understand that it's a sample of what Cooks Illustrated is all about, and really just a cleverly done ad for their bigger books, and you will definitely not be disappointed. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Perfect Vegetables is the work of Cook's Illustrated magazine, a publication devoted to providing the "best" American recipes. Like the magazine, from which its contents is largely drawn, the book offers super-tested recipes--as many as 18 tries for stuffed tomatoes, for example--for an A to Z vegetable range, artichokes to zucchini. The book also includes dozens of technique and equipment notes ("Stir-Fry Basics," is one), plus a short section on vegetable soups. An impressive recipe range is here and accounted for--classic dishes like grilled eggplant and braised fennel, plus "newer" formulas for the likes of Grilled Red Peppers with Mint and Feta and Glazed Curried Carrots with Currants and Almonds. Are these the ultimate versions of the dishes included?Certainly they represent exhaustive investigation--and most cooks will find the Perfect Vegetables take, which offers many technical refinements (preheat your baking sheet to ensure golden oven-baked fries, for example) enlightening.

Vegetable entries begin with a detailed discussion that highlights the cooking methods for each that ensure best results. (Steaming, for example, gets the nod for artichokes, as it yields the "deepest, most pronounced flavor.") Master recipes follow, such as that for steamed artichokes, plus formulas for tasty accompaniments like Lemon Mint Vinaigrette, or variations, such as Roasted Baby Artichokes with Roasted Garlic Aïoli. Techniques are beautifully illustrated with line drawings and photos. The ingredient and equipment investigations, which often include ratings, are mini consumer reports.Devotees of Cook's Illustrated and those new to its "obsessive" approach to dish making, should happily embrace this encyclopedic compendium.--Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Fabulous Book for Veggie Lovers
Although we are not vegetarians, we, and our friends love fresh vegetables. This is the most comprehensive compilation of vegetable recipes we've seen, and an asset to anyone's cookbook collection. We have tried at least a dozen recipes, and we have made some of them more than once. Each one works just as described, and the additional information on why the particular method was chosen as the best is very useful. This is a winner!

Great vegetable recipes and ideas
Thus far, I've made several recipes from this book and everything has turned out delicious! I've found it very helpful to use in planning side dishes for dinner parties or for dinner in general. Even if you don't follow the recipe exactly -- like improvising based on the ingredients you have on hand -- they provide enough variations for you to find something you can work with. Because the recipes are arranged alphabetically by vegetable used, it's very easy to browse and find exactly the recipe that sounds best to you. And, it's a great reference for ideas. Roasted Baby Carrots and Sugar Snap Peas with Garlic and Toasted Nuts were both fantastic. ... Read more

Book Description

Create and give the gifts that money can't buy, making any occasion memorable with 325 easy ideas for delicious foods and pretty packages in Simply Homemade Food Gifts, from Meredith (R) Books. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Fun Book!
Great recipes! Could have shown pictures of packaging better.

I want one now!
I bought this as a bridal shower gift, and now I want one. There are lots of great ideas in here - especially if you want to give gifts to people, but really can't afford to.

Each recipe not only comes with a full colour photo, but also instructions as to how to package it. The ideas are inspiring, and easy to play with to personalize for the gift receiver.

I think it makes a great shower gift - especially as newlyweds never have money, and have tons of people to give gifts to!

great
This book was definitly worth it. If you like champagne taste with a beer budget, this is the book for you. Great ideas and recipes. Incredible.

Simply Homemade Food Gifts
Save your money. Use the back button on your computer and keep shopping.

How to make friends with food gifts
I truly loved this book, it incorporated my love of experimenting with food and crafts. The crafts come in when you make an interesting container to hold your food gift.

This book has over 325 ideas for kinds of food to make and appealing packages to hold them. There are five different sections which contain the following: Giving Thanks, Bright Birthday Wishes, Cherished gifts for all seasons, Merry gifts for Christmas and Between friends & Neighbors. Each section has beautiful pictures of the item to be made. The instructions and recipes are easy to read and understand. They give detail information as to how long these foods will keep in refrigerator or freezer.

The instruction of the containers for your food gifts list exact materials needed. They give several suggestions whether your gift will need a box, jar or packaging. There are decorative suggestions as ribbons, jewels and ideas for gift tags.

I have tried many of these recipes as I had my family here for a visit for a few days. This book is full of unusual foods such as Cheddar Crackers, Garden Bread, Spiced Honey butter, Red Onion Marmalade, Champagne Truffles, Key Lime Fudge, Soft 'n' Chewy Pretzel Sticks and Carmel-nut Corn to list a few of the things I prepared from this book. This give you an idea of the variety of food gifts are available in this book.

I will use this book many times especially this Christmas. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Does The Silver Palate Cookbook ring a bell? Or The New Basics Cookbook? That's Sheila Lukins, with partner Julee Rosso, back in the days of making a major splash in the food world. What had been an upscale take-out shop became a brand, a series of books, and a line of specialty foods. Lukins went on to become food editor of Parade magazine. And she never slowed down on the cookbooks, producing on her own All Around the World Cookbook and USA Cookbook. Now her legion of fans can welcome Celebrate! Like all the others, it's a big book: 350 recipes, 200 color photographs, 480 pages.

"I'm in the mood to celebrate," Lukins crows. "It's the kind of joyous mood that makes me happy to call friends and family and invite them over for good food, good conversation, and good cheer! It's the kind of mood that makes needing a reason to celebrate...." Should you find yourself banging around for a reason to celebrate, relax: Lukins provides 43 of them. She hits all the major holidays--Christmas, Mother's Day, Passover, Superbowl. And then she witches up come celebrations you probably wouldn't think up on your own--Celebrate India, for example, or Celebrate Fresh Blueberry Breakfast. This is a book of menus and clustered recipes, which is handy if you don't want to think through an entire meal. Nothing's too demanding, flavor remains the bellwhether, ingredients will be in easy reach. Piece of cake. Piece of Devil's Food Cake, for that matter. You'll find that along with Deviled Chicken Wings, Red Hot Short Ribs of Beef, Jicama Slaw, and Tangerine Sorbet when it comes time to Celebrate an Old-Fashioned Halloween.

Sheila Lukins has always been one to point the way. Sure, celebrating with food and family and friends is obvious. But Lukins moves it all up to the next level, with bold splashes of color. If you make celebration a part of your everyday life, she's saying, you'll surround yourself with everything in life that's worth celebrating. Good food is certainly part of that living equation. --Schuyler Ingle ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Reason to Throw a Party
This is simply creative, well done and inspirational. From the unique concept to the exciting layout to the fab recipes, this is one to have and use and celebrate and enjoy.

The author is a cookbook all-star, having done The Silver Palate series and New Basics and several of her own. She branches out now with this one which provides a whole thematic culinary event including recipes, music, wine suggestions, serving and decorating ideas. All centered around great food.

There are 43 themed events with 350 recipes all showing color photos organized into two main sections: A Year of Celebrations, with a dozen of the more classic events e.g. New Year, Seder, Mother's Day, etc., and the second: Celebrating Our Lives, bridal shower, graduation, cuisine & culture outings, e.g. India, morocco; and ingredient feasts such as a blueberry breakfast. There are also adequate sources, bibliography, conversion tables and a nice index. The servings are hefty, sometimes for 24, 8, 2, 16. Buffets, pool party, sit down dining room, beach, etc. venues well covered as well.

While so many could be singled out to inspire you to add this to your collection, let me tempt you with two samplings: A Toast To New Year for 8, with a Celebration Coktail ( Grand Marniew and champagne and more), Sparkling Crab Salad, Frisee Folie with Tangerine Vinaigrette, Mahogany Squabs, Fancy New Year's Pilaf, Carrot-Ginger Whip, Beet and Apple Whip, Frozen Lime Souffle, Chocolate Truffles. All of this decked out in an ambience of Old Painted Hookahs holding apricot-hued roses, with votive candles amid floating white orchids, set upon table of paisly fabriic, with pink linen napkins set off with gold wire-ribbon ties. Suggested music: Rimsky--Korsakov's Scheherazade or John Coltrane's My Favorite Things.

Anytime Sunday Brunch for 8 with Leek Frittata, Roasted Tomatoes and Onions, Rustic Chicken Salad, Tomatoes a la Tapenade, Blackberry Sorbet, and Rich Pecan Squares.

As she suggests, one doesn't have to do all the recipes, and mix and matching of them is allowable and encouraged. She has a good idea too, that of trying a more difficult recipe ahead of time as a dish to gain confidence before preparing as part of a bigger spread.

This is lush, well thought out and executed and a marvelous resource for entertaining, whether one follows it to a tee, some of it, and use for inspiration to dream up your own. This is wo well done and has something everyone can find exactly what you're into. Explore, dine and wine, bon appetit.

Seriously Fun Book for Cooking Up Entertaining Menus
This book by veteran cookbook author Sheila Lukins is an excellent cookbook for the home cook who likes to cook and to entertain, but who is not a foodie who does not want to spend a lot of time pulling recipes from books by celebrity authors or the 'Joy of Cooking'. The book is also superior to other recent books written to the same theme such as 'Around the Table' by Ellen Wright.

There is a great divide between books written for foodies and culinary professionals and books written for everyone else who needs to prepare food and simply needs some straightforward guidance in how to go about the work in the kitchen. The latter type of book generally specializes in cooking fast, cooking thin, or cooking to other special purpose. Lukins' book covers entertaining menus and recipes in an exceptionally thorough treatment of 43 different events. To my lights, she has done a superb job of selecting recipes, which are appropriate to the occasion. I may miss the special paska bread at the Easter menus, especially since there are two different Easter menus, but I respect Lukins' decision as the book contains no recipes for bread, and the menus contain nothing, which is not made in the home.

While this book is not a foodie book, it succeeds far better than many other general audience cookbooks in selecting recipes, which are genuinely interesting to gourmets. The Salad Nicoise, for example uses freshly sautéed tuna rather than the traditional canned tuna. The chile recipe uses diced beef like most 'competition grade recipes', not ground beef. The recipes for stock are reputable. Expert sources like Cooks Illustrated or Jeremiah Tower may prefer fewer vegetable ingredients or more chicken bones, but Lukins' recipes will give flavorful results without an excessive amount of trouble. The recipe for a standard pastry dough leaves out a few of the finer tips found in books dedicated to pastry, but here too, the recipe supplied will work. I do suspect one may be well served by going to a specialist for baking.

I tried my best to find a menu where an ingredient was clearly used out of season and I could not. Fresh corn was used in recipes slated for summer events, while frozen corn was used in recipes requiring fresh corn at Thanksgiving. Unlike foodie oriented authors, Sheila does not preach to us about using local, seasonal foods, but she is practicing that doctrine gently, without burdening us with the gospel according to Alice Waters. Lukins does, however, tip the hat to intellectual honesty by citing her expert sources. She has a Moroccan menu and, sure enough, she credits Paula Wolfert's authoritative book on Moroccan cuisine as a source.

Lukin's book is primarily about providing worthy recipes to people who want to have fun. Each menu includes an alcoholic beverage recommendation. I am no expert on this, but it makes perfect sense to me to include these recommendations in a book of entertaining menus. Leaving it out would have been a deficiency in the book. The book also includes recommendations for music appropriate to each occasion. While I pretend to know much more about music than I do about wine, I will not object to any of the recommendations except perhaps to the omission of Moussorsky's 'Night on Bald Mountain' from the Halloween lineup. Anyone who recommends Duane Eddy as a listening option certainly has their heart in the right place.

The selection of recipes in each menu are appropriate and the recipes are serious. There are no second rate pot luck event recipes here from the back of Hamberger Helper boxes. I recommend this book over any other of books on the same subject. The paperback price for a book of this size and quality is doubly attractive. ... Read more

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Derived from the pages of Cook's Illustrated magazine, American Classics (part of the successful Best Recipe series) offers 300 formulas for a soup-to-nuts trove of American standards--everything from clam chowder, mashed potatoes, and fried chicken to brownies, carrot cake, and lemon meringue pie (which required 28 tryouts before the "best" was achieved). The book goes far to realize its mission with exhaustive "what-we-were-looking-for-and-how-we-got-it" investigations; tons of useful asides on techniques, ingredients, and equipment; great how-to illustrations; and the recipes themselves, which are precisely thought through and clearly rendered. All in all, even a cursory dip into the book takes readers into the very heart of cooking.

How does it work? Let's take the recipe for Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, a simple dish but one that's frequently botched. First, the problem of achieving the right filling distribution: "Tradition ... suggests that the cheese be cut into thin, even slices for easy melting," say the authors, but this can be problematic as "cheese planes don't work well on soft, rubbery cheeses" and cutting with a knife "requires patience, practice, and a relatively hard block of cheese." After a number of slicing failures, the authors opt for "the common box grater ... which is quick and efficient." Next, the bread: "Some like it soft and some like it firm," but even so, a supermarket brand gets the nod. Testing a full range of fats reveals salted butter is best for "superior flavor and its ability to turn bread deeply golden," and so it goes through the choice of skillet (heavy gauge with a flat bottom) and the correct cooking temperature (no more than medium low). An exemplary recipe for grilled cheese sandwiches follows.

If all of this sounds obsessive, it is. More compelling is the fact that this approach helps readers understand the parameters of any cooking task, thus educating their tastes while also providing true technical empowerment. And the dishes really are keepers. --Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Not their best
American Classics is not the best cookbook that Cook's Illustrated has put out. It may be interesting to know why you should do some of the things that they recommend in a recipe but you could get the same or better information from a stalwart like Joy of Cooking not to mention MORE recipes. In fact some of these recipes are just updated JOY recipes and I don't that the update is really a marked improvement.

There just is nothing substantial in here. Fannie Farmer & Joy of Cooking are much better and more complete. Saveur does American is better if indeed all you want is Classic American recipes. If you are looking for an intro book by the Cook's crowd try the Yellow Schoolhouse book.

Excellent Cookbook for First Time Cooks
I have tried nearly every recipe in this cookbook. All of them came out well, and the explanations that come with the recipes are excellent.

You can find more recipes in the Joy of Cooking, but you won't be as assured the food will taste good. Cooks Illustrated runs through several iterations to create the "perfect" recipe. Most of the ingredients are simple and readily available. The instructions are easy to follow.

This is an excellent cookbook for inexperienced and experienced cooks alike.

Up To Their Usual (Very High) Standard
Did it ever occur to the whiners writing reviews about duplications that these might exist, not because the editors don't "have enough" recipes, but because some recipes BELONG in more than one cookbook? A grilling recipe from the Test Kitchen series might be appropriate in the Best Recipe: Gilling and Barbeque book. In fact, the Grilling and Barbeque cookbook might be lacking a key technique or dish without it. The Best Recipe (1999) was the first of its kind, and since it contained "best" Italian recipes, chicken recipes, and soup recipes, a few of these would be entirely appropriate in cookbooks that claim to cover all the basics in the sub-categories. And I wouldn't want an incomplete Perfect Vegetables cookbook, for instance, just because a recipe had been perfected during the Test Kitchen television series. The 1/3 figure is much too high, by the way.

My kind of cookbook!!
I absolutely recommend "American Classics," by the editors of "Cook's Illustrated" magazine. This book not only gives the very best recipe, but answers every question about them. I have hundreds of cookbooks, but having read this one, I want each and every publication this company has to offer!

One of the more original in the series
These books are great! I love my Cooks' Illustrated Books and use them all the time. Many of the recipes from this book have become favorites. My one and only complaint is that they have now published the Best Recipe series and now the Test Kitchen books and they don't have enough recipes to fill them each one with enough unique recipes to distinguish one book from another.

A few repeated recipes is forgiveable, but they have gone way over the top. If you buy more than two of their books, the third is bound to be composed of a third the recipes from each of the first two. Same test info, everything. This only leaves 1/3 of the recipes as original.

Because of this, I say look carefully before deciding which from this series you purchase unless you want multiple copies of the same testing articles and recipes. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The mysteries of cream of tartar revealed! How to make maximum use of blackening bananas! The hidden meaning of folding in dry ingredients until just blended! Perfect pie crusts for perfect fools! It's all here in Baking Illustrated, from banana bread to pecan bars, and everything imaginable in between--500-plus pages of densely packed, illustration rich, photo finished information all devoted to baking. Tools, techniques, ingredients, tips, and perfect, tested recipes.

There's cooking and there's baking, and the two should never be confused. Good cooks are ever commendable. Good bakers, on the other hand, have something about them bigger than skill or imagination, something that reaches back to the beginning of agriculture and the first inklings of civilization. Good bakers are their own mystic society. So hats off to Cook's Illustrated for throwing open the doors and sharing the mysteries with the rest of us. Baking Illustrated absolutely has it all. You'll find chapters devoted to "Quick Breads, Muffins, Biscuits, and Scones"; "Yeast Breads and Rolls"; "Pizza, Focaccia, and Flatbread"; "Pies and Tarts"; "Pastry"; "Crisps, Cobblers, and Other Fruit Desserts"; "Cakes"; and "Cookies, Brownies, and Bar Cookies". No mean undertaking, all that. Tools are tested and names are named. Techniques are stripped back then rebuilt. Cook's Illustrated carries all this off with a style and relish for inquiry and detail that sets a standard. Nothing is taken for granted because there's no fudge room with baking. It works or it doesn't. So trust is a big issue. And the end result of all the mighty labors of the Cook’s Illustrated staff is text you can trust. This is a baking book that works.

And those blackening bananas? Simply keep adding them to a Ziplock bag you store in the freezer, then use them when you wish and as you like. --Schuyler Ingle ... Read more

Reviews (6)

A Must Have Cookbook!
This book is great! I have made about 8 of the recipes and each and everyone of them has turned out amazing!! The recipes are really quite great! I plan on giving this book to friends as gifts, it is that good. I trust that every recipe will be a success!

Excellent Resource for Baking Enthusiast
This volume, 'Baking Illustrated' is a compilation of articles and recipes from 'Cook's Illustrated' magazine. This is the same source as many other volumes presuming to provide the 'best' recipe for various dishes. Overall, I find the recipes in this book very good, but with several reservations.

I am really happy to see the 'America's Test Kitchen' crew turn their attention to baking. Unlike savory cooking, baking is highly dependent on accurate measurements of weight, volume, and temperature. Therefore, it is an area where a scientific approach of varying various quantities will have a more beneficial result than in the savory world.

This book is subtitled 'The Practical Kitchen Companion for the Home Baker'. This means the book is directed at the amateur home baker. This facet does not really distinguish the book that much from dozens of other baking books I have reviewed. In fact, I would warn occasional bakers who simply want recipes that this book might just be a bit too wordy for you. You may be much better served by a general baking book by Maida Heatter, Nick Malgieri, or even Martha Stewart. On the other hand, if you love 'Cooks Illustrated' or simply reading about cooking and baking technique, then this is a book for you!

My biggest reservation with the whole 'best recipe' approach by 'Cooks Illustrated' is that a recipe is best only by a certain set of criteria. What may be the best FAST recipe may fall flat on its face for ENTERTAINING or for MOST HEALTHY. The 'Cooks Illustrated' team generally goes for a good compromise between fast and tasty. A corollary to this reservation is the presumption that the 'Cooks Illustrated' approach has a unique insight into baking truth. This is simply not true. I just finished reviewing professional baker Sherry Yard's new book 'The Secrets of Baking' an I believe it is unequivocally the best book you can get for understanding baking technique. She spends no time on discussing failed approaches. Everything in the book is right to the point. With only slightly less enthusiasm I would recommend the 'Bible' series of baking books by Rose Levy Beranbaum.

One clue to my preference for Yard and Beranbaum is the way they treat brioche and challah. Both deal with these two recipes as two variations on a common 'master' recipe. Thus, when you understand how to make one, it is clear that you are very close to knowing how to do the other. This 'Baking Illustrated' volume gives the two recipes side by side, but gives little other clue that the recipes are related.

Another symptom of where the 'Cooks Illustrated' method may be less than satisfactory is in their carrot cake recipe. Carrot cake is a really interesting product, made even more interesting to me by Sherry Yard's explanation of why it is so good and so versatile. I have been making a three layer carrot cake for birthdays from a Nick Malgieri recipe for over a year now, and I am very happy with the results. 'Baking Illustrated' gives a passle of advice on what works and what doesn't work and ends with a recipe for a single layer sheet cake. This simply does not have enough WOW quotient for an important birthday.

Yet another weakness in the 'Cooks Ilustrated' method is illustrated by a recent Jim Villas book which has over a hundred recipes for biscuits, with over twenty for simple, unflavored biscuits. Each of these twenty recipes has their own charms. The current volume has only one 'best recipe'.

After all these reservations, I must still say that for the person who treats baking as a hobby, this book is a rich resource for all sorts of recipes. Some few baking books such as those by Yard and Beranbaum do a lot of explaining and offering alternatives, but most books do not. If you really want the straight scoop on what is the best ingredient to use, this is your book. It is also a rare source of excellent pictorials on technique based on line drawings that focus on the important aspects of a technique and do not distract as many photographs may do. The explanation of differences in types and results with butter you may not find anywhere else. The discussion of variations in flour is good, almost as good as the one you will find in Beranbaum's books.

I give the book five stars but there may be many potential buyers who may not want the extensive why and what ifs and just want the recipes. For those people, I suggest Nick Malgieri's 'How to Bake'.

An absolute must have for any baking enthusiast!
I've been a subscriber to "Cooks Illustrated" for a few years now and love it for all of it's great recipes and tips. I received this book as a gift and since I am a baking maniac I was thrilled to have received such a tremendous resource. Within the first week I went absolutely nuts and baked about 5 things from it, each recipe I tried was outstanding and won HUGE raves from all who tasted! I really do encourage any of you who have a passion for baking/desserts to pick it up. It is also a must have for those of you who are aspiring bakers. You can't beat the tips and detailed information, valuable things when you are just starting out... I truely believe that this cookbook is truely the only baking book you will ever use again!

Excellent Book, But there's an error
I like the way Cook's presents recipes. They tell you how they experiment which give you, the home baker, the skills to experiment on your own! This is great.

There are a lot of recipes here and they are all well-written. Please note, there is an error in their Basic Pie Crust recipe. It should be 1/2 cup of shortening rather than one cup. This was sent to me in an email from the America's Test Kitchen website.

The pefect tone for aspiring bakers
For somebody who already spends a lot of time in the kitchen, this book is a revelation. I own several good baking titles, but Baking Illustrated just runs circles around them. The book is literally packed with tips and information. Even the areas I thought I knew something about were covered in such exquisite detail and straightforward instruction that I have all but stopped making the usual dumb mistakes which torpedoed my many attempts at pies, tarts, cakes, brownies, etc. And as always, the folks at Cook's Illustrated have filled the book with clear, simple illustrations that show exactly how to do it--a difference between this and other titles that makes ALL the difference.

Baking Illustrated is a gem; it will find a prime spot on my bookshelf. ... Read more

Amazon.com

A fine whole tenderloin of beef is a great piece of meat to roast and serve on a special occasion, and is expensive enough it could give one pause at the open oven door--that great What If, as in what if I don't really know what I am doing. The editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine have settled the issue. It's all right here in Steaks, Chops, Roasts, and Ribs: Where the tenderloin can be found on the beef, whether to buy it untrimmed or not, how to roll and tie it for uniform roasting (including a sidebar on how to tie the butcher's knot), the best temperature at which to roast this cut of meat, and the length of time you can expect to wait beside the oven door. Having tested the process with 11 tenderloin roasts, these editors tell you all you need to know to get the results you want.

Steaks, Chops, Roasts, and Ribs opens with meat basics. If you know where a specific cut of meat comes from, you have a leg up on how best to cook the meat. Pork, lamb, veal, and beef are all covered. The buying information leads to a section on cooking basics. And then into the chapters. This isn't a book based so much on the kind of meat as on what you want to accomplish with any meat. The chapters cover steak (cooking outside and indoors), chops, cutlets, ground meat, ham, roasts, and more--polus there's a chapter on Rubs, Sauces, Salsa, and Gravy.

The pace is moderate and the information is thorough, both about the product, the technique, and the truth by experience about the tools you need to achieve success. There are hundreds of helpful line drawings and pages of color photos. And most important of all, 300 recipes that have been tested and retested by the people who invented the test kitchen.Steaks, Chops, Roasts, and Ribs is the meat eaters insurance policy. --Schuyler Ingle ... Read more

Book Description

Nigella Lawson, Gourmet magazine's "It Girl," New York Times "Dining In" columnist, and bestselling cookbook author, is celebrating life -- and you're invited. Feast, Nigella's most festive book yet, offers savory, spicy, and delicious recipes for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukah, Eid, New Year's, Passover, Easter gatherings, and any time you want to celebrate food and life. This book is filled with festive recipes, and in it, Nigella offers tips, tricks, and shortcuts that will ensure you dine with ease, style, and fun. Feast also includes some surprising gems, like Nigella's Chocolate Cake Hall of Fame, and her best cheeseburger. And like her other cookbooks, Feast is a cookbook that will be treasured all year long. ... Read more

Amazon.com

At a certain point you have to ask yourself, do you really need another couple of hundred recipes all carefully clustered around a food concept, or do you want a more manageable number of recipes that all work--guaranteed? Welcome to Here in America's Test Kitchen by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Not only can you rest assured that the results will taste as good as they look in the color photo, you get to learn along the way exactly why these recipes work so well. If you are a little confused about which salt or which pasta is going to bring you the pleasure you deserve, that information's in there, too, along with the inevitable concerns about kitchen tools. Ingredients, tools, technique, kitchen science, good humor, insatiable curiosity, bonhomie--this is the world of Here in America's Test Kitchen.

With Here in America's Test Kitchen, a companion book to popular PBS TV series, the kind editors of Cook's Illustrated have placed the busy cook first and foremost in their concerns. Fine, the rustic bread is going to be a weekend project. But what about coming home after work knowing a few friends are going to fall by and being able to crank out award-winning nachos, Buffalo wings, fresh guacamole, and delicious sangría with complete confidence? That's where this book starts. Along the way you'll find the perfect fried rice and kung pao shrimp, or steak au poivre with a brandied cream sauce. Beef burgundy, Texas chili, barbecued salmon, pasta classics, American casseroles--these editors know what you want to put in your mouth. What they do best is showing the process they went through to get the exact result they were looking for. If you cook your way through this book, cover to cover, you will not only be a good cook, you will know exactly why that is so. And you can take that to the bank. --Schuyler Ingle ... Read more

Reviews (10)

They've Done It Again!!
This is the ninth book that I have purchased from the editors of Cook's Illustrated. I have been a fan of the PBS series, America's Test Kitchen, but the 2003 shows have yet to air here and the show is produced in Boston. With the first book in the series, I used to follow along with the television episode that corresponded to the recipe(s) in the book.

For the uninitiated, Cook's Illustrated is the Consumer Reports of the kitchen. Products and food brands are tested and evaluated. Each recipe is prepared in a variety of ways until a concensus is reached and the 'winning' recipe is published. If you follow the simple directions, you get a scrumptious result. For novice and expert alike, this is an invaluable resource. More than a mere cookbook, Here in America's Test Kitchen is a course in culinary arts and science. I love to read through it and learn the how's and why's of food preparation.

As for the recipes themselves, I loved the Stovetop Macaroni and Cheese. I found it amusing that in the evaluation of cheddar cheeses, the 'experts' displayed a northeastern proclivity toward white cheese and a disdain for annato-colored (orange) cheese. The Beef Burgundy recipe was the best I have ever tasted. And as an earlier reviewer noted, there is a party theme in this book. Party foods, bistro favorites, chili and holiday entertaining recipes are evidence that the Cook's folks like to party too!

I have given this book as a gift and the recipients have become converts to the Cook's Illustrated series. Even if you haven't seen the television show, buy this book anyway. It will win many kudos for you from family and friends.

A Great Book
I have long loved the professional approach to home cooking that Cooks Illustrated has always taken. Their recipes are well thought out, easy to follow, and remarkably dependable. The equipment reviews have saved me money by steering me to high quality yet economical kitchen equipment. The reviews, which are scattered throughout, look at everything from vegatable peelers to measuring spoons. Also reviewed are such items as salt, beef stock, and other food additives. I appreciate the fact that when I begin a recipe I can be certain that it will result in something good -- this is not the case with many other cookbooks being sold today. This cookbook is straight-forward but very interesting.

Buying more in the series
This is the one cookbook that has not gone on the shelf, but instead sits on the corner of the counter. So far I've made the beef burgundy, pan roasted chicken, smothered pork chops, lemon meringue pie, macaroni and cheese, nachos with salsa and guacamole, and more. I'd've done more in the past two weeks, but I do have a job to go to. These may not sound like extraordinary recipes - they're all in my Betty Crocker cookbook or Good Housekeeping cookbook - but this is the cookbook that tells you the how and why, what works and what doesn't work (based on their own testing, which is an interesting read in itself). One of the things I like most is that they make an honest effort and usually succeed at restricting themselves to ingredients found in nearly every supermarket. Serving sizes are extremely generous. I ate nachos for four days --- luckily, they were delicious.

I do wish they would include nutritional analyses. These recipes are all about taste and optimal preparation to ensure the best results; nothing particularly low cal or low carb and certainly not low fat here; and it doesn't purport to be a diet cookbook. That's okay, but it would still be nice to have the numbers. And it would be nice if they would test a few ways of cutting calories and/or carbs and/or fat while developing the best recipe.

As a novice, I also got tripped up in the pan roasted chicken because the recipe didn't give me even a clue as to how long the pieces would be in the oven; I guessed about 30 minutes but turned out to be 50 minutes to get to temperature, which threw off the timing on the side dishes...minor, novice issue.

Finally, I also subscribe to Cook's Illustrated published by the same people. In the Nov/Dec issue was an incredible recipe for pumpkin cheesecake (beg, borrow or steal it from someone). Their technique explanation ranted about the wonders of cooking a cheesecake in a waterbath. Indeed it made a great difference. But in this cookbook, there's a recipe for a New York Style Cheesecake with no mention of a waterbath. I'm not a pro, so maybe the different techniques deliver two distinct textures, but it was curious why both ways aren't discussed in the cookbook since they touted it in the magazine (or vice versa).

I've bought a couple pieces of their recommended equipment and believe they've been right on target there too.

It's an impressive book that has pursuaded me to buy both the Italian Classics Cookbook and the cookbook for the 2002 television series. Looking forward to receiving those soon.

Quality Cooking Advice & Phenomenal Ribs!
As someone who consider's themselves an elite "home chef", I stopped using recipe books years ago and just built on the basics that I'd gleaned from reading what I considered the "essential" cookbooks. Then, one stormy Saturday afternoon when the husband was at work and the kids were away at Grandma's, I stumbled on America's Test Kitchen on PBS. Needless to say, I loved what I saw.

Now I am a Cook's Illustrated fan. I have not come across anything done by these folks that isn't absolute quality cooking instruction - no matter what your level of cooking expertise. That's because ATK doesn't just write the recipes - they write articles and background about every recipe that breaks down each element of the recipe and explains why certain ingredients, techniques and equipment work so much better than others in producing the best tasting recipe. Even if you never follow an America's Test Kitchen or Cook's Illustrated recipe step-by-step, the things you learn just by reading the recipe books can be carried over into all of your cooking. If, like me, you are a non-recipe cook, there is still much to be learned here.

"Here in America's Test Kitchen" carries on the standard of excellence that Cook's Illustrated has established for itself. Detailed recipes that are actually essays about what goes into creating each recipe and why certain ingredients and methods are used will elevate the level of every home cook - regardless of your current level of expertise.

This book contains some of the best recipes I've ever had. The BBQ Rib recipe prepared with a dry rub and slow cooked over a smoky grill is simply the best rib recipe I've ever made - spicy, smokey, fall of the bone tender with a wonderful crisp skin on the outside. At a recent 4th of July party, these ribs and the ATK buffalo wings were a huge hit. And the cookie jar favorites - chewy, flavorful double chocolate cookies and ginger cookies are family favorites. The recipes here aren't always the quickest, the cheapest or the lowest in fat and calories, but if you are looking for the best in flavor and texture, with America's Test Kitchen you can't go wrong.

Just As Good As the PBS Show!
I have been watching this series on PBS and the book is just a delightful. The receipes are pretty easy to follow, ingredients are available in most grocery or gourmet shops. Plus they have done all the testing and we get to prepare the perfect combinations! Highly recommend it, especially as a gift! ... Read more

Reviews (4)

More of what CI should be doing
As I look over the last few issues of CI it's hard to get excited about yet another roast chicken or brownie recipe. Now that they've tackled just about every 'classic' recipe, they seem to be stuck in something of a rut. But having a look through the Restaurant Favorites' book, there's all sorts of amazing looking dishes to get excited about trying. As usual, CI applies their rigorous testing and streamlining to provide a detailed and reliable recipe. Here's hoping the magazine decides to swing towards more exciting food like this.

This is my favorite Best Recipe book!
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book so much. I was anticipating recipes from the kinds of restaurants I eat out in frequently, which are in my price range, and still prepare foods I don't often do at home. But the restaurants represented in THIS book are the extremely pricey, cutting-edge, wait-for-days-for-reservations places that I rarely can afford. These restaurants have incredible food. So I haven't even been able to taste a wide range of dishes in this unique category, let alone prepare them at home. A diverse group of people in the high-end food industry were polled to find the recipes that people ordered again and again. The editors pared 750 suggestions down to 150, with the chefs generously contributing their recipes for inclusion.

These are indeed things you could not cook at home. In this volume it takes more than the average amount of Cook's Illustrated tweaking to make the recipes accessible to the home cook. (Christopher Kimball noted in his preface that this project was more work than he had expected, and it's easy to see why.) But they don't stop until every problem is solved.

And the food!! I have made several of these recipes, and they are sublime. I have dog-eared dozens more pages with additional dishes I want to try. Each dish represents the particular vision of the chef who created it. Sometimes we think food like this it too weired for the average person to enjoy, but this is not the case. Everyone who tried my dishes to loved them, including children.

From anyone else this would be a 5-star book, but...
It really hurts giving a weak rating to a Cooks Illustrated book. The America's Test Kitchen crew is one of the most overachieving organizations in the culinary world, turning out magazine, cookbooks, and a TV show at a furious pace, and all the while serving as the oracle of record for all things culinary. By itself, this is an excellent book, with excellent interpretations of normally-inaccessible restaurant dishes for the home cook. But it seems to lie outside what Cooks Illustrated does best; their usual methodical approach is muted here, though not nonexistent.

The selection of recipes is a good one -- lots of New American, kicked-up ethnic (including Anthony Bourdain's Cassoulet from Les Halles), innovative twists like "Green Eggs and Ham" (Seuss-inspired -- eggs in an herb sauce), and some flat-out four-star stuff that nobody would ever think to do in a home kitchen. The usual sidebars with product reviews and food tastings are there, as well (though seemingly in smaller-than-usual quantity), and there's even a short section on restaurant presentation. But... there's something missing.

On the one hand, the ATK crew could have gone even deeper, exploring the basics of restaurant cuisine and how to adapt its techniques to the home kitchen. Complex, yes, but a lot of fun. On the other hand, they could have pulled out a straight Todd Wilbur impression, then going one better and talking with the chefs about the origins of the dishes and the restaurants they come from. But Cooks Illustrated sent this one straight down the middle, creating something that doesn't quite fit either genre of cookbook. It doesn't, after all, feel like a Cooks Illustrated book with its interlocking technical commentary, nor does it satisfy as French Laundry-style food porn.

This doesn't mean I don't recommend it -- if you're bored with the usual, this book still does a good job despite its shortcomings, and the recipes sound truly delicious. But it's a diversion from the usual, and an awkwardly handled one at that. Know what you're getting into beforehand and you won't be disappointed.

why i prefer the best recipe collection
because i am sure the investigation was true, and i like so much the previous pages for each theme, always i usually with my students cooking classes. it was the bible. ... Read more

Book Description

If you want the recipe for romance -- this is the book for you. Whether you're an accomplished home cook or even a beginner, 50 Ways to Feed Your Lover includes everything you need to win your lover's heart. Authors Janeen Sarlin and Jennifer Saltiel asked fifty of the country's best chefs for their most seductive recipes. The contributor list is a culinary who's who, including Marcel Desaulniers, Bobby Flay, Charlie Palmer, Lidia Bastianich, and Norman Van Aken, to name just a few.

In case you grow tired of oysters, caviar, and Champagne, try your hand at enticing recipes like Stuffed Soft-Shell Crabs, Lobster with Red Wine Risotto, and Pan-Seared Salmon with Black Truffle, as well as luscious desserts such as Chocolate Rapture and Wild Strawberry Souffle. In addition, the chefs include wine suggestions for each course, and their own personal stories of seduction, making this a must-have for any romantic food lover. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

It Lacks Pictures...
When I ordered this book, I was impressed by the title and the beautiful marzipan rose on the cover. I am very disappointed to find out that it lacks pictures. It has NO pictures at all. The font and the layout are very nice and the instructions are clear. Most of the recipes are set as menus and the ingredients are not hard to find. However, I do not enjoy reading the recipes nor feel like trying them because I do not know what they will look like. I have had the book for about a year and have not tried any of its recipes yet.

Valentine Day Treat
I loved it! I will be using this book to cook something special for my girlfriend for valentines day.

What a great book....
I love this book ! It is so wonderfully written and interesting. The authors are so creative in the way in which they have organized the book---Bravo and well done ! A must for Valentine's Day or any other special day for someone you love.

Four Ways to Praise "Fifty Ways"
First, this book delivers what it promises. Second, the stories that accompany the recipes are charming. They are short and, well, tasty. Third, the actual recipes are excellent. (Or they seem to be excellent. I've not tried them all yet, and may be a dead lover before I finish!). Fourth, the book is extraordinarily well made, from an esthetic standpoint. Superb use is made of color, space, type faces, sidebars--everything related to the craft of printing. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Very good book from Cook's Illustrated team.
I understand where another reviewer got confused: you might assume that this book would consist of quick little recipes--fast reading and fast prep. For the Cook's staff these are quick recipes, but compared to the recent success of Rachael Ray's books these recipes aren't that quick!

I should say that I really like this collection. I turn to it often for ideas. I may have spent half a day preparing an entree only to remember that I forgot to prepare a vegetable--out comes the book! The same goes for starches, salads, dessert, etc. If I need an idea fast I pull out this book along with Joy of Cooking and possibly Bittman (though don't get me started on his shortcomings).

Let me remind potential consumers here that this is indeed a collection. You will see overlap if you have read the magazine for years. Though, strangely, they will update certain things in the book without making that crystal clear to magazine subscribers. In other words, you may think that Cook's favors a certain brand of unsalted butter based on magazine reviews. In the book you may find that they have switched brands on you!

Here are a few recipes I have tried that work:
Chinese chicken salad
Broiled asparagus
Glazed carrots
Warm spinach salad
Roasted potatoes (memorize this one)
Pan-seared salmon (high heat saute of fish will smell up your pan and your kitchen)
Quick chicken noodle soup
Stuffed chicken breasts
All forms of stir-fry
Cinnamon rolls
There are others I have tried, but suffice it to say that I really use this book. If you have an expanded definition of "quick," and you respect the Cook's Illustrated methods then you will find this to be one of their better tomes.

More goodness from Cook's Illustrated
If you aren't already familiar with Cook's Illustrated or the Best Recipe series, and you realize that cooking involves more than a microwave, you absolutely need to get familiar with both. The combination of real-world cooking, detailed research, clear goals, and well designed recipes makes any of the series (or magazine) well worth seeking out.

In The Quick Recipe, the focus is on dishes that can be made from start to finish in 30-60 minutes. My mouth was watering going through this book for the first time, you'd be amazed at what Cook's has managed to keep under the hour mark, without resorting to low quality short-cuts... Even Jambalaya appears in this volume!

Great for time-challenged novice chefs
We've had this cookbook for about one month and have made 21 recipes (several twice) already and look forward to making more. We have 17 cookbooks -- which hardly qualify us as devotee chefs -- but this is the one we reach for most often. Most of the dishes we've made come close to an hour to prepare and cook, which undoubtedly will make the term "Quick Recipes" debatable to some. But if you start with good ingredients that are well laid out and are fairly adept at chopping and slicing (which we are not) you should at least come close to the times listed for making each dish (it takes us about 15% - 20% longer than expected). Nevertheless, for the time-challenged, these recipes are certainly quicker than many we've used from our other cookbooks. And if your guest's reactions are as favorable as ours, it's well worth the time. Most of the recipes are fairly simple in structure but surprisingly tasty. Certainly for those new to the kitchen, serious consideration should be given to this cookbook. Explanations of why each recipe was formulated the way it was are interesting and may help some to avoid possible less-tasty or more time-consuming substitutions.

Good, but maybe not great . . .
Ideally I'd give this cookbook 3.5 stars because I don't think I have made enough of the recipes to really know how good the cookbook is. I love to cook and normally average 90 minutes cooking dinner. I bought the book becuase I enjoy Cook's Illustrated and I wanted to add some quicker meals to my repertoire. I have made five dishes and only one would I not do again (the cinnamon buns that look so tasty on the cover). Another I would modify. Besides the fact that the recipes really do take 60 minutes or less from start to finish, I appreciate that the ingredients lists are basic and fairly short. You don't have to stock your pantry with all sorts of crazy items that you use only once in a while. These are fairly basic recipes--the kind you get the gist of after making once or twice and then add your own embellishments if you are in a creative mood.

Not very tasty
There are few recipes here that are very inspired. This anthology seems very hastily put together (perhaps that's the real quickness) and again like the previous reviewed said a quick review of their magazine with all that why this recipe is sooo good. Problem is the recipes are often bland and when you read why you can often see what they did wrong. That was helpful ;-)
but still there are other books out here in this space and I'd recommend giving them a try instead. ... Read more

Book Description

Filled with ideas for making your Christmas beautiful and stress free, you'll find everything from folded-paper poinsettia trims, knitted scaves and hats, rubber-stamped vases, cinnamon stick wreaths and clever handmade cards to peppermint fudge, Christmas candy apples, star-studded chili, and the best banana bread ever. Full-size patterns and step-by-step how-to make this book perfect for every Christmas lover. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Williams-Sonoma, purveyor of choice gourmet products and kitchenware, has also created a collection of succinct yet comprehensive cookbooks. Part of the series, Thanksgiving offers 40 recipes that reflect the company's signature good taste. From traditional and "new" holiday starters like Butternut Squash Soup and Mixed Greens with Bacon-Wrapped Figs to desserts including Creamy Pumpkin Pie and Ginger-Pear Torte, the book offers delicious options for a hearty, homemade feast. Main-course birds, dressings, breads, and other accompaniments are represented with the likes of classic roast turkey and Hickory-Smoked Roast Turkey with Horseradish-Apple Sauce; Cornbread Dressing with Oysters and Ham; and Cranberry Sauce with Cider and Vinegar, while a chapter entirely devoted to potatoes provides exemplary "mashed" formulas as well as Candied Yams and a knockout Two-Potato Gratin with Cheese.

Accompanied by color photos that show the dishes in all their glory, the recipes are completely doable, and will appeal to a wide range of cooks. Throughout, sidebars (like "Biscuit Savvy") offer useful information on techniques and ingredients; a glossary and basics section are also helpful. Though small in size, the book provides an inclusive store of superior recipes and instruction. --Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Book Description

For centuries Jewish communities around the world forged dynamic cuisines from ancient traditions combined with the bounties -- and limitations -- of their adopted homelands. In this important new collection, Matthew Goodman has assembled more than 170 recipes from twenty-nine countries, handed down through the generations and now preserved in this historic volume.

The heirloom offerings Goodman gathered range from such iconic specialties as bagels, kugel, and chopped liver to such favorites, mostly unknown in the United States, as Turkish borekas, flaky cheese-filled turnovers; chelou, an Iranian rice specialty; and shtritzlach, a sweet blueberry pastry unique to Toronto. Together the recipes celebrate the ingenuity of Jewish cooks around the world, in Mexican Baked Blintzes with Vegetables and Roasted Poblano Peppers, Syrian Bulgur Salad with Pomegranate Molasses, Moroccan Roast Chicken with Dried Fruit and Nuts, Iraqi Sweet-and-Sour Lamb with Eggplant and Peppers, Italian Baked Ricotta Pudding, and many other unexpected delights.

These dishes have been shaped by the histories of the communities from which they come. This book also features dozens of lively, engaging essays that present the history of Jewish food in all its richness and variety. The essays focus on ingredients, prepared dishes, and cultures.

Food is a repository of a community's history, and here, in its broad strokes, is the history of the Jews. The recipes and essays in this book provide a fascinating new perspective on Jewish food. More than a cookbook, Matthew Goodman's Jewish Food: The World at Table is a book to learn from, to cook with, and to pass on through the ages.

Book Description

Nationally known chef Leslie Mackie opened Macrina in 1993 as an artisan bakery and lunch spot. News of this exciting eatery spread quickly through Seattle and beyond, making Macrina an American favorite. This lavishly produced cookbook offers the same dishes, developed from extensive research and travel, found at Macrina. More than 100 recipes range from a classic Rustic Potato Loaf or Raisin Brioche Twist, to a delectable Raspberry Cinnamon-Sugar Bread Pudding with Nectarine Compote, to a tantalizing variety of lunch items, including Butternut Squash and Apple Galette, and Salmon Paillard on Mixed Greens with Mustard Vinaigrette. The book features a special holiday section, and gorgeous duotone photographs capture the setting, its people, and its inspiring displays of breads, pastries, and breakfast and lunch fare. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Breads, pastries, sweets and savories
Leslie Mackie opened the Macrina Bakery & Cafe in 1993, specializing in hearth-baked artisan loaves and rustic European pastries. An expert baker, Leslie Mackie's recipes have been featured in Bon Appetit, Sunset Magazine, and The New York Times. Now, with the assistance of Andrew Cleary, Leslie Mackie has drawn upon her expertise to compiled the Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook showcasing her favorite breads, pastries, sweets and savories. From Guatemalan Hot Chocolate Bread; Raspberry Cinnamon-Sugar Bread Pudding with Nectarine Compote; Chocolate Cherry Pound Cake; and Lemon Chess Tart; to Sour Cherry Shortbread; Gingerbread Crepes with Citron Ricotta, Cranberry Compote & Vanilla Syrup; Tuscan Tomato & Fennel Soup with White Beans; and Steamed Chocolate Pudding Cake, Macrina Bakery & Cafe Cookbook is a gourmet's delight and very highly recommended for personal, professional, and community library cookbook collections.

Great bread recipes
The porcini mushroom loaf is just the bread for a melted fontina sandwich. Recipes were clear, user-friendly and delicious. Not sure I would do the breakfast bread pudding again (with sausage, cranberries and goat cheese), but there are many other wonderful recipes to try. Best of all, visit Macrina in Seattle and eat for yourself! I used to stop in on the way to work or on the way home for bread; it is always a treat.

Beautiful, but not a coffee table book---very helpful
As a cooking student, this book is helpful, not too fluffy with photos. It explains the care and feeding of dough starters, and how to make crusty breads at home (different than in a commercial kitchen a little). There are great non-bread recipes for salads, brunch items,soups, gnocchi, biscotti. Haven't tried many of them yet but so far, so good, money well spent, and I'm sure it will inspire recipes for my workplace. ... Read more