The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've tried three recipes so far from this collection, each one more complex than the last, as I gain my trust in this author. The Baked Eggplant was ridiculously easy (just cut the eggplants into cubes and cook on low for 4-6 hours, then add the seasonings after the cooking is done.) Next I tried the Tuscan White Bean Soup, which was excellent and not at all watery, like most crock-pot soups. Finally, I made a pot of Mexican Chicken in Peanut and Ancho Chili Sauce, and I can finally say that I've found a crock pot book that really does work.
The author encourages crock-pot users to lift the lid and stir while the food is cooking; I heartily agree, because the food ends up well cooked and NOT the watery, insipid mess I usually got. These are recipes that will not taste like a well-meaning, "good-for-you" home economics project. But this means you can't start your supper in the morning and have it done when you're back from work: the result may be watery. That's been my experience with other books, like Judith Finalyson's.
So if you're going to be home and willing to keep an eye on your slow cooker while it's doing its thing, you will be very satisfied with the recipes in this book.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World

Although the slow cooker has experienced a renaissance over the past several years, the discriminating cook is still hard-pressed to find slow cooker recipes worthy of serving at a dinner party‚Äîrecipes that reflect concern about ingredients, flavors, and appearance.For these cooks, comes THE GOURMET SLOW COOKER, an upscale approach to this new-old phenomenon by author and food journalist Lynn Alley. With fresh ingredients and imaginative recipes, you can create delicious meals to serve with pride to your guests. Drawn from slow cooking traditions from around the world, the recipes include Lamb Shanks in Tomato Sauce from Greece; Apricot Chicken from India; Chicken Mole from Mexico; White Truffle Risotto from Italy; Proven?ßal Chicken Stew from France; and Potato, Cheddar, and Chive Soup from the United States. In keeping with the sophistication of the food, each recipe is accompanied by wine or beer suggestions. The slow cooker can be so much more than a repository for nacho cheese dip. Paired with THE GOURMET SLOW COOKER, your everyday dining will be elevated from the mundane to the gourmet, while freeing you from hours of hard work in the kitchen.
A slow cooker book for discriminating cooks, with 16 full-color recipe photographs.
Includes chapter introductions to each region, focusing on the slow-cooking traditions and techniques from that country, and local wine or beer suggestions for all 60 recipes.
According to a study by the Betty Crocker Kitchens, 80 percent of U.S. households have a slow cooker. Reviews“Go ahead and sneer. I love my slow cooker. . . . Even food snobs like me are realizing their potential, albeit a little later than the more than perhaps 100 million Americans who already own one.”—Mark Bittman, New York Times

Get 33% OFF

Click here for more information about The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Simple and Sophisticated Meals from Around the World

Read More...

Cooking from the Garden Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)When I saw this book had been published 14 years ago, I couldn't believe it. The information is timely, the recipes are wonderful, and Rosalind Creasy's pragmatic style is incredibly friendly and helpful. I love this cooking and gardening book that helps me integrate these 2 passions.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cooking from the Garden

A gardening expert demonstrates how to grow and prepare fresh foods from seventeen savory theme gardens--including Italian, French, edible flower, and heirloom gardens--covering such meals as Shotgun Willie Chili and Stir-Fried Chicken with Golden Needles. Tour.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Click here for more information about Cooking from the Garden

Read More...

Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill: 125 Reasons to Light Your Fire Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Don't get me wrong, I have been a huge Flay fan since 1996, when I used to watch his first show on food network. Despite his recent TV saturation and subsequent swagger and attitude I think he has contributed alot to modern cooking and deserves his popularity. No, I am not a hater - the past 2 years my family has gone to Mesa Grill for my birthday, and I tape his shows every day. I am a big fan. I would be sad to see someone give it this rating, but I am giving this book 2 stars because I am comparing it to what Bobby Flay has done in the past.
If you are a viewer of his "Boy Meets Grill" show on food network, you probably recognize 80% of these dishes, and can easily get them for free on their website. I have seen him hock this Cuban burger on 3 shows as well as his own show and this book. It's a regular hamburger with a piece of swiss cheese and ham, squished with a heavy object. hardly groundbreaking. Other Flay staples are rehashed and rehashed - honey, chipotle(which he tries to disguise as "smoked chile" a few times in this book), jicama, ancho chiles, chicken thighs, the list goes on. 125 recipes? If you consider regular old guacamole and salsa, quesadillas prepared 5 similar ways, and store bought ketchup with a pureed chipotle as 8 recipes (and 8 other quickie drink recipes), then I'm sure he squeaked his way to 125. (notice this book doesn't say "NEW recipes" like 'Boy Meets Grill' did?)
Also although I am not a fool for color photos, this book is primarily black and white with no pictures (actually there are many pictures of HIM - shopping, smiling, serving a drink, lighting a grill...) until the middle 10 pages where you DO see some color, unlike his past few books, yet the price tag is the same as his others.
I will say one positive thing about the format, as it breaks down by course (appetizers, entrees, etc.), then by type of main ingredient (fish, meat, burgers) followed by menu suggestions matching recipes from each course and a loose game plan of what to prepare in advance.
Put it all together and you see a complacent celebrity cookbook author "phoning it in" - a quickie money maker using old ideas placed into another lucrative media. I can see this as exciting for someone who has just stumbled on Bobby Flay for the first time, someone who has yet to encounter the taste of a chipotle pepper or who occasionally watches his shows and is buying a cookbook for the first time. But for those of us who "know" Bobby Flay, this is one falls short, and don't say I didn't warn you. Want a better value? try Flay's BOY MEETS GRILL, Tyler Florence's 'Real Kitchen' or for grilling anything by Steven Raichlen.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill: 125 Reasons to Light Your Fire

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Bobby Flay's Boy Gets Grill: 125 Reasons to Light Your Fire

Read More...

The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery: For Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures Complete With 2973 Recipes Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm a Chef, and have borrowed copies of Escoffier's Le Guide Culinaire from friends whenever I need it. On a lark, I ran a search on Escoffier here at Amazon.com. I was stunned to find this book for the low cost of $12 or so, knowing that every other copy I had seen cost $60 or $70. So I ordered it and paged through it. Well, it only prints 2300 or so of over 5000 recipes in Escoffier's treatise. Admittedly, probably more than the home cook actually *needs*, but nowhere does the book say that it has been abridged.
But, like many Amazon.com customers, I found myself in the position of thinking "but it'll cost me half the price of the book to send it back." So I wound up giving it to a friend who likes to cook, but doesn't need the "real thing."
Suffice it to say that if you want the real Esoffier, you're still going to have to drop the $60+ for the Van Nostrand Reinhold edition. Sorry, culinary students, you didn't luck up on a deal.
ToqueBlanc

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery: For Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures Complete With 2973 Recipes

An American translation of the definitive Guide Culinaire, the Escoffier Cookbook includes weights, measurements, quantities, and terms according to American usage. Features 2,973 recipes.

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about The Escoffier Cookbook and Guide to the Fine Art of Cookery: For Connoisseurs, Chefs, Epicures Complete With 2973 Recipes

Read More...

The Best of Cooking Light: Over 500 of Our All-Time Greatest Recipes Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I am rarely a collector of "Best of" anythings, usually finding them too confusing and incomplete. Besides, who's deciding the "best"...?
This book is an exception. As a seriously addicted Foodie, my new cookbooks are read as I would a novel; from cover to cover. If there is a recipe that I want to try I mark it with one of those little colored post-its. This book is full of little purple post-its. Even though I subscribe to the magazine of the same name, and make at least one thing out of it each month, there is something quite satisfying about having all 500 of the "best" recipes in one volume, without all the ads.
Pictures are divine. The instructions clear as a bell. It has recipes for novice and intermediate cooks alike. Some recipes are quick to prepare and others can take awhile. But none are very complicated. I made the "Gorgonzola Fettuccine with Asparagus" in about 25 minutes (including preparing the asparagus) for a surprise lunch guest, and the very nice "Eggplant Parmesan Lasagne" in about an hour when my guy and I decided last minute to nix dinner "out". The "Caesar Potato Salad" was oh-so-good with a roasted chicken on a busy Sunday (the touches of anchovy paste and vermouth were fun.)
Almost every recipe makes some sort of substitution in the name of lower calories and fat, satisfying the "light" part of the title, but this is not a low-carb book (thank goodness...) I like having the nutritional information handy, even if I don't feel like planning a meal around it!
Bottom line...nothing out-of-this-world innovative or exotic or too new, really. But good, interesting, easy to prepare, lower calorie, everyday recipes in ONE volume. A great book to add to your collection or give to the beginning "foodie" in your circle!


Click Here to see more reviews about: The Best of Cooking Light: Over 500 of Our All-Time Greatest Recipes

The recipes included here have been carefully chosen from more than 10,000 that have appeared in the magazine since 1987. To make the final cut for The Best of Cooking Light, each recipe had to meet one or more of the following criteria: • Earned a high rating in the Cooking Light Test Kitchens • Has a surprising and satisfying "no-way-this-can-be-light" flavor • Named a "reader favorite recipe" based on calls, letters, e-mails, and comments on cookinglight.com • Voted "most popular" among the Cooking Light Foods staff—these are the recipes they cook for their families and friends You're guaranteed success with every recipe! Each recipe has been tested at least twice, often three or four times, in the Cooking Light Test Kitchens to ensure that not only are they supremely healthy, tasty, and easy to prepare, but that they also have the all-important "yum factor." "Our Test Kitchens' staff does the hard work every day so the rest of us can take Cooking Light accuracy for granted." Mary Kay Culpepper Editor, Cooking Light Over 250 color photographs make this all-star collection come alive. A virtual feast for the eyes, this book is as beautiful to read and display, as it is practical to use. Look for serving suggestions and artful food presentations throughout to show you how to turn an ordinary dish into an extraordinary meal. This healthy cookbook is for all cooks and for all occasions. While some recipes take very little time, others require a bit more commitment. Either way, you'll have your choice of great food that adjusts to your schedule, your grocery list, and your mood. Plus, • Step-by-step instructions and complete nutritional analysis with each recipe • Preparation and make-ahead tips • Menu suggestions• Ingredient substitutions and purchasing information Whatever your definition of "best" is, there are recipes here for you. Just step into your kitchen and make them your own.

Click here for more information about The Best of Cooking Light: Over 500 of Our All-Time Greatest Recipes

Read More...

The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread: More Than 200 Wheat-Free Recipes Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I've had this book on my shelf for a while, always putting off baking some gluten-free bread partly because most gluten-free recipes come out disastrously and partly because I take the easy way out and buy a loaf of rice bread at the local health food/WF store.
The other day I was having a rice-bread shortage so I thought I'd try a recipe, "Basic Featherlight Rice Bread," from the cookbook. Good thing I gave it a try. That was the best, most delicious gluten-free bread I have ever tasted. The texture couldn't be more perfect, crunchy on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle, qualities that I miss and long for from regular bread. It tastes very delicious. It also doesn't necessarily need to be toasted, as most gluten-free breads require to make them more palatable. The bread was actually very easy to make. The batter is much like cake batter, thus no worries or guess work in the kneading department. I had only filled the loaf pan barely to the quarter mark, and after about an hour the darn thing rose to the top edge of the pan. I was shocked. There was one ingredient that I had to omit, the egg replacer, since I didn't have any at hand and I really do not know what it is anyways. The bread came out perfectly regardless. I also substituted the xanthum gum with guar gum since it is significantly cheaper...
Bette Hagman organizes her recipes according to how much bread you would like to make, from small, medium or large. This was extremely helpful since I didn't want to go too overboard. She includes instructions for bread machines as well. She gives a lot of different suggestions for flour mixes that you can use. I personally prefer the rice/tapioca/potato starch mixture, so I most likely will ignore the other suggestions. Hagman has truly found an excellent method to "raise" gluten-free breads, since gluten is what allows regular wheat breads to rise so well.
I highly, highly recommend this book. I think it'll be a long time before I buy gluten-free bread at the store again.
Addendum:
I've been using this recipe for quite a while now, always making the "small" loaf-size, and thought I'd share some of the renditions with the recipe that work. Instead of the 1 egg plus 1 egg white, I use 2 eggs; I got a lil' tired of freezing the yolks - I was amassing a large collection of frozen egg yolks and not knowing what to do with them... I use the whole packet of yeast instead of measuring it out; it's close enough and the tiny bit of extra yeast will only make the bread better. I use olive oil instead of butter/margarine. (I would not recommend margarine for anything). And finally, I add 1/4 cup of flax seeds, for the extra nutrition and fiber (gluten-free foods lack fiber...) The flax seeds give it a nutty delicious flavor.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread: More Than 200 Wheat-Free Recipes

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread: More Than 200 Wheat-Free Recipes

Read More...

Crockery Cookery Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)My mom had this book, and every recipe I make from it has that nostalgic taste of home. I especially love the breads and beverages -- things that other slow-cooker books leave out.
However, I find myself using these recipes mostly for weekend entertaining rather than on work nights. A substantial number of these dishes aren't designed for the dump-it-in-and-run-to-work crowd; they require six hours on low heat or the addition of extra ingredients halfway through the cooking time.
Devoted cooks looking for tasty long-simmered flavors will be delighted, but there just aren't enough dishes here that can be made on the working-family schedule for me to give this the rating that the flavors deserve.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Crockery Cookery

A New York Times bestseller, this cookbook established Mable Hoffman as a premier cooking enthusiast--well-deserved praise for one who has spent decades extolling the benefits of slow cooking. Her easy and affordable recipes for appetizers, soups, and main dishes are designed to bring out that "simmered-in" flavor that only slow cooking can provide. In addition to the new recipes, this edition contains many others that have been revised to reduce fat and calories.--This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Click here for more information about Crockery Cookery

Read More...

Low Fat & Light Four Ingredient Cookbook (Vol. III) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I received this as a gift after I started college. I had no idea how to make it own my own, let alone cook for myself. I was bound and determined not to gain the dreaded "freshman fifteen" so I tried the recipes from the Low Fat and Lite cookbook...wow! It was so easy! I became the apartment cook for all the roommates. I love this book...and I NEVER gained the weight, in fact, I lost 20 lbs.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Low Fat & Light Four Ingredient Cookbook (Vol. III)

New four ingredient recipes, especially selected to helpreduce fat....and still taste great!Nutrient values are given foreach of the recipes: appetizers, salads, vegetables, main dishes anddesserts.

Click here for more information about Low Fat & Light Four Ingredient Cookbook (Vol. III)

Read More...

Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I love a good piece of stinky cheese. I enjoy taking it out of the fridge and letting its nasty old stank peel the paint off my walls, knockout my cat, and make the local children cry. It's how you know you gots yerself sum quality cheese right there.
Unfortuneatly, I must admit, my cheese knowledge is limited to about, oh, whatever I might have picked up from a cookbook or Food Network. Thank heavens for Max McCalman, may chiors sing his spoiled milk praises! For those who don't really know this guy, he is the man and fromager (cheese brainiac) who pretty much single handedly spearheaded the idea of presenting true artisinal cheeses, cheese courses, and giving cheese the kind of credit we give to wine here in America. He has become well known for his work in the New York restaurants Picholine and Artisinal, and luckilly for those of us not living shibby in New York, has gone out of his way to create a wonderful guide to the best of the best in his second book, Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best.
While McCalman's first book, The Cheese Plate, co-authored by David Gibbons, was a chic everyperson's guide to wine and cheese pairings, Cheese simply gives us 200 of the world's best cheeses. Listed in alphabetical order, each cheese is described beautifully and concisely noting where it is produced, how it is produced, how best to enjoy it, and the underlying flavors you should expect when experiencing it. I use the word experience, because after trying some of these selections, it really is the only appropriate word that the English language can offer me. McCalman also goes ahead to offer with each cheese a variety of different wines (red, white, and blush) and even some sparkling wines that should help you wow your party guests' palates.
McCalman, also understanding our blind kitten approach to cheese, also guides you through various aspects of cheese. Early chapters deal with how to select, store, prepare, serve various kinds of cheese. Later on we are given a thurough lesson on how to pair cheese with various breads, fruits, and nuts, or how to simply lay back and enjoy a piece unmolested by any other food. Basics for how to create and serve a cheese course or a cheese tasting party will inspire you to host your own (I know I plan to have a truly stinky one shortly!). Lastly, of course, an extensive, though maybe a bit too much so, course on how to pair wine and cheese. The watchful and caring teacher, he does this in a simple, plainspoken manner, allowing any reader to understand not only how to preform each task, but the why behind it as well.
I have to say, I would not have discovered my love of Lancaster, my passion for Prattigauer, my desire for Doddington, and how I give resounding praise to Roaring 40's Blue!
Overall, I give Cheese a 5 out of 5. This book is a wonderful addition to any food lover's bookshelf. It's susinct, informative, and covers a wide variety of cheeses you can find from California to Italy.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best

Get 34% OFF

Click here for more information about Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best

Read More...

Cooking Light Cook's Essential Recipe Collection: Slow Cooker: 57 essential recipes to eat smart, be fit, live well (the Cooking Light.cook's ESSENTIAL RECIPE COLLECTION) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I'm not much for creating my own recipes. I think I have the skill to do it, but I simply haven't the time, particularly not for a slow cooker (isn't the point of having one, after all, that you have so much to do, see, experience that you don't want to spend anymore time than necessary in the kitchen?). So-o-o it was with some trepidation that I ordered this book. Truth be told, it was to bump the order over $25, so S&H would be free. Imagine my delight and surprise when I found actual recipes inside, not meat-or-veg-with-canned-soup-poured-over. In particular I love the recipe for a tamale pie, with cornbread crust and cheese topping. As with any slow cooker, the special taste you get from high direct heat is missing, but most of these recipes are juicy, stewy things with delightful combinations of flavors. Best of all, each is accompanied by a nutritional analysis which allows me to cipher Weight Watchers points. I have found that one of the things I miss most about living alone is opening the apartment door after work and smelling -- what? -- furniture polish? something gone bad in the trash? This book and my slow cooker let me open the door to the delightful aroma of a supper I know I will enjoy. Buy it; you'll like it.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Cooking Light Cook's Essential Recipe Collection: Slow Cooker: 57 essential recipes to eat smart, be fit, live well (the Cooking Light.cook's ESSENTIAL RECIPE COLLECTION)

Beautiful to display and practical to use, Slow Cooker is truly a godsend for time-challenged cooks who want to prepare healthy, tasty, and satisfying meals but don't have hours to spend hovering over their stoves. Replete with all the high standards that have made Cooking Light a trusted favorite, this new edition provides over 58 beautifully photographed recipes with useful, easy-to-follow instruction.

Get 43% OFF

Click here for more information about Cooking Light Cook's Essential Recipe Collection: Slow Cooker: 57 essential recipes to eat smart, be fit, live well (the Cooking Light.cook's ESSENTIAL RECIPE COLLECTION)

Read More...