Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)First, full disclosure and caveats for this review:
I am writing this on August 23, 2010, as a member of the Amazon Vine Program. The book I received, prior to the scheduled October 2010 publication date, is an "Advance Uncorrected Proof." The final book will be hardcover, ring bound, with color throughout. The proof copy I am reviewing is a paperback, 520 pages, black and white throughout. Everything I have seen indicates that this is going to be a five-star book upon its official release, but to preserve the integrity of this review, I need to be clear on the actual book I reviewed. It has nothing to do with the quality of the content, only the "draft" level of pre-publication presentation. I love it "as is" but I know the color version will be a real stunner.
The format of the book will be familiar to fans of "America's Test Kitchen" and their publication "Cook's Illustrated." You'll see the same sidebars on cooking utensils and "taste tests" of items such as canned tomatoes. These are extremely valuable as they point you in the right direction for successful execution of the recipes.
The book is HUGE (520 pages in the proof copy, final book may differ). It runs the gamut from appetizers through desserts, all kinds of meat, vegetarian dishes, breads...it is an excellent "general" cookbook but it is far from general in its range and depth. There are forays into ethnic cuisines, including a great, lengthy tutorial on making a classic cheese pizza. The first 16 pages of the book cover the basics of healthy cooking. It is then broken down into the following chapters:
Healthy Start (breakfast), Appetizers and Healthy Snacks, Salads, Soups, Stews And Chilis, Vegetables, Rice, Grains, and Beans, Pasta, Fish And Shellfish, Poultry, Meat, Vegetarian Entrees, Stir-Fries And Curries, Griling, Pizza And Tarts, Whole Grain Rolls And Loaves, Quick Breads, Cookies And Bars, Cakes, Fruit Desserts And More, and Kid Friendly, concluding with four pages of equivalent and conversion charts.
The tips and tricks (such as preparing brown rice in the oven, rather than the stovetop) help you succeed with items that may have been too daunting in the past (I hate cooking brown rice on the stovetop...it never comes out right). You also get variations: brown rice with parmesan / lemon / herbs, with onions / roasted red peppers, or with peas / feta / mint.
If you thumb through the book, you won't get past more than a couple of pages before something catches your eye. I can't imagine the amount of planning that goes into a book like this...it's packed with a lifetime's worth of things for you to try and enjoy in your own kitchen. If you like "Cook's Illustrated," you will love this book.
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The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook: A New, Healthier Way to Cook Everything from America's Most Trusted Test KitchenFeaturing 800 Kitchen-Tested Recipes for More Healthful Eating Every Day of the Week PLUS Full Nutritionals for every recipe Plus Recipe Makeovers of Everyone s Family Favorites, Hundreds of Step-by-Step Photographs, and Opinionated Ingredient and Equipment Ratings A groundbreaking addition to our best-selling ringbound cookbook series, this all-purpose cookbook delivers 800 foolproof recipes for healthier everyday fare from breakfast dishes and appetizers to pasta, meat, chicken, kid-friendly favorites, desserts, and more. With this comprehensive cookbook in your kitchen, eating well will no longer be a chore. Here we offer up all-American, homestyle recipes that won t leave you hungry from multigrain pancakes, lowfat spaghetti and meatballs, Tex-Mex meatloaf, skillet pizzas, hearty beef and vegetable stew, and creamy lowfat spinach lasagna to rich-tasting scalloped potatoes, fudgy brownies, rustic apple tart, carrot cake, and lots of simple fruit desserts. Here you ll also find naturally lean recipes like our Spa Chicken and Lemony Steamed Spa Fish as well as healthy vegetable and grain classics and an entire chapter of vegetarian main dishes. Cook from this volume and you ll learn tips and techniques that will forever alter the way you cook. Banish fried foods but still serve crispy chicken fingers, eggplant Parmesan, and oven-fried fish with our simple tricks (we toast the bread crumbs for that fried flavor). And learn to incorporate more vegetables and whole grains into all sorts of everyday dishes with easy recipes such as Hearty Ten Vegetable Stew, Chicken Baked in Foil with Fennel, Carrots, and Orange, Stuffed Acorn Squash with Barley, Multigrain Pizza Dough,Fusilli with Kale and White Beans, and Barley Risotto with Roasted Butternut Squash. And while we kept our eye on the bottom-line nutritionals, we also focused on using healthy ingredients too, so while some recipes might be a little higher in fat and calories, that is because they use nutritionally valuable foods like salmon, avocados, nuts, and seeds (and more). We also relied on many lower-fat ingredients here and we tell you which ones really measure up from ricotta and cream cheese to cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream. Which one you choose and when you use it can make a big difference in your final dish. With this book in hand, home cooks everywhere will be able to make simple changes in how they shop, eat, and cook changes that will deliver a big payoff to their family s health.
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