The Walnut Cookbook

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Summary: This would make a great gift. Over 100 well written recipes.
Review: The Walnut Cookbook is filled with recipes that work. No complicated techniques or equipment (beyond a food processor) are needed to reproduce these delightful recipes. There are many desserts and salads, of course, but the appetizers and meat recipes are often brilliant. It is a very handsome trade paperback, with a heavy water-resissitant cover, a scattering of illustrations and photographs, and a beautiful lay-out. This book is a winner

Rating:
Summary: great recipes and health benefits too
Review: This book has a very interesting section on the historial and health related-aspects of walnuts. Most people don't realize how beneficial for cardiovascular risk factors walnuts are, and the book outlines the "Perigord paradox" which points out how walnuts can favorably influence blood lipid levels. The recipes are fabulous, and have a genuinely French feel and taste. A must-have book.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, but...
Review: Though delightful to read, and beautifully produced, the first recipe I tried turned out a disaster. Since I'm not inexperienced as a baker, I fault the imprecision of the directions--the sort of thing that, many years ago, Julia Child set herself to do away with once and for all in French cooking recipes. In any case, the walnut chocolate tart, with its delicious ingredients, turned out to be uncooked inside after the 20 minutes that were the only signal for doneness provided by the author and editors, and naturally fell apart upon removal from the pan. It's only one recipe, but I'll confess that I'm now hesitant to try the rest.