<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: Fun to read
Review: Enjoy reading "Cook's Illustrated"? If so, click the Add-To-Cart button immediately, because "The New Best Recipe" presents you with hours upon hours of happy reading in that style. Each recipe is accompanied by an article describing the testing, the failures, and ultimately why the success was successful.
While the book is highly enjoyable for the reading alone, even better are the recipes themselves once you hit the kitchen.
Outstanding.
Rating:
Summary: These Recipes Consistently Deliver
Review: I consider myself an experienced cook but I have had frustrating experiences with cookbooks and recipes I'd find in magazines and newspapers. Something would sound wonderful, I'd buy ingredients, spend hours cooking and the results would be...OK. Not terrible, not inedible, but a disappointment none the less. Even cookbooks that I love and contain recipes I think are wonderful would also have recipes that I found pretty so-so. In fact, in many cookbooks the ratio of successes to non-successes is pretty small. Finding The Best Recipe (the edition that preceded this one) was a revelation for me. Each recipe I tried was a success. When The New Best Recipe was published, I bought one immediately and was thrilled to find so many new recipes.
This is now my go-to cookbook, the first place I look when I want to find a recipe, and a book I check other recipes against when considering recipes from other sources. I use this book in the way my mother used the Joy of Cooking when I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s. And just as Joy was the book she used when she needed a recipe for a classic like beef stew or a then fashionable food such as quiche or cheese fondue, The New Best Recipe has recipes for classics (spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast, coq au vin, shrimp scampi) and also has recipes for foods that have hit the American culinary radar more recently such as pad thai, beef fajitas, and pozole. In fact the huge range of foods is one of the things that makes this cookbook so wonderful; for instance, the pasta section includes recipes for lo mein, tuna noodle casserole and ravioli.
This is a great book for beginners because of the detailed explanations of how the ultimate recipe was achieved which include discussions of different techniques that were considered or used and why they were rejected, as well as the many sidebars which give information on technique and equipment. Plus there is nothing that teaches you to cook like cooking, and nothing that keeps you cooking as much as having success. But it is a book that an experienced cook will find just an interesting and useful. I have been cooking for years and I have learned from this book.
This is not (and does not represent itself to be) a low-fat cookbook. The recipes are about achieving maximum flavor and taste. It is also not (and does not represent itself to be) a cookbook full of fast recipes. However, this book contains so many recipes that low fat and fast recipes can be found among them. The recipes are always clear and easy to follow, and the results will speak for themselves.
I love cookbooks and have many but if I were forced to have only one cookbook, this would be the one
Rating:
Summary: Yet Another Great Cook's Illustrated Book
Review: I didn't even think that it was possible to improve on the first Best Recipe, but sure enough, the crew at Cook's Illustrated has done it again. This is the book that I go to first on my cookbook shelves when I'm looking for a basic recipe. This is good, basic cooking that you feel pretty confident that it is going to turn out great. The information in the book is enough to satiate any Foodie. Not only are the recipes good, but reading how they went through all the different trials to get the perfect recipe is entertaining and educational. You can learn from their mistakes...and your kitchen will be a lot cleaner and a lot less chaotic as a result.
This book could easily replace many of my cookbooks in my collection, it's that invaluable. Of course, I wouldn't part with any of my cookbooks, but you get the idea. :)
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THOSE MAMMOTH COOKBOOKS
Review: I'll be honest. I've never really been one who likes these huge, mega-recipe cookbooks as I've always preferred smaller, more specialized books. This one did come as a surprise as a friend loaned it to me who just raved about it. The recipes are culled from the pages of Cooks Illustrated Magazine which I am not overly familiar with. With a 1000 pages and 1000 recipes, you're sure to find a LOT that you can use.
One thing important to note is that these recipes are not simply thrown into the book. Cooks Illustrated tests these receipes in their kitches many times, evaluating all facets of the recipe from ingredients and preparation to cook times and equipment. More than just recipes, the book acts as a guide to everyday kitchen techniques, many designed for the novice but certainly still valuable to more experienced cooks. There's also great advice on buying cookware and utensils, as often your receipes are only as good as the equipment you use to make them.
Everything from simple casserole dishes and crockpot favorites to more elegant receipes can be found within its pages. The receipes are VERY step-by-step, obviously written for the beginner in mind and will ensure a great meal everytime. Add to that the editors have put in a generous helping of over 800 illustrations perfectly complement the well-written and well-tested recipes.
If you are going to own just one of these massive type cook books...toss out Betty Crocker...Give the Joy of Cooking the heave-ho...let the Gourmet Cookbook gather dust, and pickup this fantastic book. Simply put it's the best of its kind anywhere! Highest recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely a must-have for any type of cook
Review: THE NEW BEST RECIPE
The editors of "Cooks Illustrated" magazine
BC Press/America's Test Kitchen $35.00
When first released a few years ago, THE BEST RECIPE became a household staple. Now, the book has been completely revised and updated with a total of 1000 recipes, along with complete step-by-step instructions on the best way to prepare each recipe.
The book also goes out of it's way to make sure the user is completely informed about how each dish should turn out. Information from Cook's Illustrated on the best equipment to use for each dish, as well as exhaustive information on taste tests to guide even a novice in the kitchen in choosing the best possible ingredients, almost push the book into the realm of cooking encyclopedia rather than just a cookbook.
The book also includes 800 illustrations to represent many of the steps in preparing each recipe.
Coming in at just over 1000 pages, double the size of the original edition, THE NEW BEST RECIPE is quite a hefty and extremely valuable addition to any cookbook library. Whether you're a novice new to the kitchen, or an experienced cook who loves trying new ideas and new ways to prepare an old favorite, this is the book to have.
It's my guess that where our mothers and grandmothers swore by classic basic cookbooks like those published by Better Homes And Gardens or Pillsbury, or by the culinary classic Joy Of Cooking, today's generation of cooks will turn to this updated tome time and again as THE new standard for a cookbook in the 21st century.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Kitchen Resource
Review: This book is huge and pricey, but IMO it's worth every penny.I own a number of cookbooks and have read a million recipes on the 'net and other cookbooks, but no other publication imparts a sense of confidence in the reader like this book does. Every recipe is preceeded by a background story from the ATK crew in which they discuss their experience perfecting every recipe. You really get a sense that they care about making sure everything is perfect before they tell you how it's done. While there are no real exotic recipes in this book, I would recommend it for anyone interested in Western-style cooking. A superb buy!
Rating:
Summary: A great cookbook!
Review: This is a great cookbook if you like to read and want to understand why some recipes fail or how to do something better. The recipes are excellent and I especially like the background information on how they constructed the "best recipe" for a particular dish. The book has all the basics so it's a great starting point if you're learning to cook, want to perfect a recipe, or need basic information on cooking.
This is definitely one book that any cook should have as part of his or her arsenal. I've cooked or baked about a dozen items from this cookbook and each one turned out like it was supposed to. I'd rate myself has a "good" cook in most things, but I don't make layer cakes well for some odd reason. The layers always had a "hump" in the middle, never were the same size, and the frosting was always a disaster. Their yellow cake recipe came out perfect. I was quite amazed. It looked and tasted like a layer cake!
Rating:
Summary: GREAT WEDDING GIFT!
Review: This is a spectacular cookbook. It isn't so much in the recipes, but in the descriptions. It helps you understand WHY instead of just how. Great for a starter cook who wants to expand their knowledge because the information will be helpful in creating their own recipes and basic knowledge of COOKING, as opposed to making food. We all know the difference between a GOOD COOK and someone who can cook well. This book helps nurture that distinction.
Rating:
Summary: "the Best" is right!
Review: This is the only cookbook you'll ever need! VERY informative, step-by-step instructions (practically foolproof), interesting facts about foods and equipment...everything you need to know to make great meals.
The only flaw was a printing layout mishap (at least on mine). I took off the jacket and found the binder end of the hardcover was upside-down. No big deal.
The cookbook also is quite large and heavy so you'll need a bit of counter space just for that.
This would make a great gift for many occasions. Wedding, housewarming, birthday, anything. And for any kind of cooks, from novices to pros.
Rating:
Summary: Be the most amazing cook ever, right now!
Review: Would you like to be a fabulous cook? Can't afford a ritzy cooking school? Ever wondered if the mortals in your kitchen could learn to cook like GODS??!! Wonder no more...this cookbook comes to us courtesy of the team at Cook's Illustrated magazine, which while not widely known, is the single best source of cooking information and recipes on the planet. Cook's takes classic recipes, deconstructs them and puts them back together, streamlined for the home kitchen but sacrificing nothing in terms of knock-your-socks-off flavour. Bonus: these recipes don't fail, unlike those in most other cookbooks. I was always a decent cook, but after finding Cook's Illustrated I became an amazing cook...this book will make you one too. I didn't know food could taste this good; you will produce dishes that rival 4 star restaurants, I kid you not. The directions are crystal clear, and you get lots of expert advice on how to choose ingredients and equipment. Most recipes show you master-chef level tips and tricks that are easy to learn. I can personally recommend the Coq au Vin p. 341 (my family literally begs for it), and if you cook the steak and Madeira pan sauce p. 389, they will probably name a religion after you. Other highlights, French Onion Soup p. 43, various pastas with garlic and oil pan sauces p. 238, Fresh Tomato Sauce for pasta (INCREDIBLE!!!) p. 241, Molasses Spice Cookies p. 785, Lemon Pie p. 907, Key Lime Pie p. 908, Creme Caramel p. 958. Well, you get the idea...I could go on and on, the recipes are so utterly delicious. This cookbook is kick-ass, world class. Everyone you cook for will wonder where you learned to cook like that. I have lots of cookbooks and almost never look at any of my old ones any more. This one is just that good! Get it, get it now, you will be so very happy you did, and so will any cook you get it for. The Best Recipe rocks.
<< 1 >>
|
