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Summary: Superb cookbook!
Review: This one blows away every other cookbook I have: it's meticulous, reliable, and focused on foods that I actually want to cook. I want to make a great meatloaf--not some fussy pine-nut-stuffed quail with pomegranate-vodka sauce--so this book's focus on the classics is perfect for me. I love it that they tell you what they tried and how each approach worked out. You can avoid a lot of mistakes that way, and if you want to experiment, you have some idea of where to start and what to avoid. There's a lot of food science in this book, crucial to any good cook. I can sit and read it for hours. I'd give it TEN stars if I could.
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Summary: The best cookbook I've ever used
Review: Sometimes I just read this cookbook for fun. I actually look forward to picking it up and learning something new and interesting about cooking and food. And the recipes, simple and delicious. It covers such basics as hamburgers (Believe it or not, there is a better way to make a simple hamburger. I now make the best hamburgers anyone I serve has ever tasted) and meatloaf. It gives advice on kitchen gadgets. It is a must for any new/intermediate cook.
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Summary: The scientific approach to cooking
Review: If you love to learn, and if you like experimenting in the kitchen, then Christopher Kimball could easily become your hero.Whether or not he has really identified the very best recipe in every case is certainly open to debate. But you can't help but admire the approach Kimball and his crew have taken to sorting through the variations on different means of preparing almost anything you're likely to cook at home. Moreover, even for a relative novice chef like me, the descriptions of his trials and travails in the test kitchen can be as much fun to read as the resulting recipes are fun to eat. This is an awesome cook book if: you want a survey of the basics, you like to learn WHY different ingredients or prep methods are employed in a dish, you enjoy experimenting a little in the kitchen, or you simply want to enjoy great food with simple preparation. Kimball has changed my approach to cooking. Now, before I make anything, I take out several cookbooks and compare recipes. What's different? What's the same? Is there a simpler way to prepare it? Do I really need that rare ingredient? I feel like I gained 10 years of kitchen experience in the time it took me to read (and sometimes prepare) the sampling of "best" recipes I've already tried.
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Summary: reveals many kitchen mysteries
Review: After you've been cooking for a while, you start to ask yourself questions like, "Do I really need to add oil to my pasta water?" or, "What exactly is cream of tartar?" If you are interested in ingredients and combinations of cooking, this is the book for you. A year ago a friend turned me onto the magazine Cook's Illustrated which is fantastic. This book collects 700+ of their classics from the last several years in one place. More than the recipes themselves, I like the narrative of how they start with all the classic recipes and then do exhaustic scientific experiments (often consulting food scientists) until they have everything just right. Since I often do minor experiments myself and find that I've messed up an entire meal, it's nice to let the test kitchen take on this role. Even more gratifying, sometimes it turns out that the fancy complicated recipe does not produce better tasting results than a more streamlined one. I've cooked lots of these recipes and ever single one has come out perfectly. On top of the recipes, you will find answers to questions you just don't have time to figure out: which supermarket olive oil tastes best? Which tuna fish is the tastiest? What's the difference between rib eye, London Broil and Flank steak? I've never been so interested in a cookbook. I read the whole thing through over a long week of reading and can't wait to experiment by trying more of their recipes. If you like this book, subscribe to the magazine!
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Summary: Want to know how to cook?
Review: I just finished catering a meal for over 75 people, and this book was my saving grace. The recipes are wonderfully simple but incredibly delicious. I have yet to make a recipe from this book that didn't turn out. In fact, some of the recipes for the meal I tried for the first time that night - but I was confident they would turn out beautifully, and they did. The great thing about this book is that it gives you foundational recipes - then you can use your own creativity to embellish (if you choose). I have close to 50 other cookbooks, but I study this one as if it were the gospel of cooking. For anyone who says that the recipes are too simple; please note that cooking methods are just as important as ingredients... This book is not a "hit-or-miss" cookbook. This is a book for someone who wants to know how to cook, and who wants a book with fool-proof, delicious recipes. This book was recommended to my by a friend, and I will continue that tradition and recommend this book to everyone I know (and some I don't!).
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Baseline
Review: This cookbook isn't for the "just tell me what to do" sort. They should buy the Joy of Cooking. But those who like/need to know why one this ingredient is better than another, or why barbeque is best cooked at 200 and not 275, should definitely get The Best Recipe. As a non-chef, this guide gives you an insightful look into the science of cooking and an explanation of why my worst meals were so bad. At its core, is some 400+ recipes, with clear preparation descriptions, diagrams when needed, and a selection of variations or sauces for each. But, when you just want to know how to make that grilled chicken, it gives you the simple recipe. I really appreciate that for every grilling recipe, it gives the variation required for a gas grill vs. charcol. There is also a great selection of guides to selecting many core items from cooking ingredients (beef to bay leaves), or cooking items (knives to thermometers).
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Summary: This book merits space on a vegetarian's bookshelf
Review: I have been holding off buying this book for some time because I felt it would offer little for someone who eats no meat. I finally got a chance to leaf through a copy and decided otherwise. Granted, my chapters on meat and seafood go unused and the stews need altering because they're meat based, but I still consider this book a bargain. If you are a vegetarian who uses egg and dairy products, there is quite a bit here for you to enjoy and learn from as well as excellent brief essays on the editor's extensive kitchen-testing--finally I have the reasons why some things work and some things don't--why that batch got too mushy and that batch got too tough (something I have yet to find covered well in a vegetarian cookbook). This aspect alone left me fortified to venture out on my own with ideas. Straightforward guidance has this sort-of-timid cook feeling more confident. Unfortunately, if you are vegan, this book offers very little for you, though peek at a friends copy to read about salads and some excellent prep tips for vegetables and grains.
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Summary: Jam
Review: I have not actually purchased this book. Instead, and in direct violation of international copyright law, I copy recipes out of it at a local Border's while on my lunch break. Yesterday I copied out the Sweet Milk Scone recipe. Today I have delicious scones. Also, jam. I have jam. .....
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Summary: Make Cooking a Joy again!
Review: I love this cookbook and intend on getting it for gifts as well. I used to dread cooking but now I can find recipes that have basic ingredients and taste great! This book proves things don't have to be complicated to be great. I've made the oven-fried chicken, the beef stew and the sauteed chicken breasts. I love all the explanations--someone already did all the experimenting so I can be assured of the best recipe. This is my first book review and my enthusiasm for this book inspired me to write it!
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Summary: GREAT BOOK
Review: I have more than 200 cookbooks, however this is the one i usually go to first. I have been a subscriber of the monthly magazine, and loved the recipes. When this book came out I knew I needed to try it! This book contains recipes from the magazine, so I have all my favorites together. Not too much fusion type recipes, but many great general recipes. Two of my all time favorites are the chicken and dumplings (the best comfort food!) and the rosemary garlic roasted red potatoes. I would recommend this book for anyone that enjoys cooking!
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