Culinary Arts & Techniques Books - Page 6

Making Artisan Cheese: Fifty Fine Cheeses That You Can Make in Your Own Kitchen (Quarry Book)

Tim Smith

Amazon Price: $14.95 List Price: $21.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Quarry Books Amazon Marketplace: 40 new & used starting at $13.74

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Nothing Artisan About It 1 out of 5 stars.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.

Considering that the title features the word "Artisan" I expected a little more than what other cheesemaking books on the market contain. Instead I found less. It is more of a recap of other cheesemaking 101 primers, with less detail and less information. This book contains nothing of interest to anyone trying to take their cheese making skills to the next level. Steer clear.

Editorial Review:

Cheese is a sprawling, worldwide industry that has spawned interest among consumers in exploring fine cheeses. Now, you too can have your own slice of the trend. With this informative guide about home cheese making, you will be able to turn your kitchen into the perfect cheese laboratory, creating fresh, artisan cheese with flavor that will surpass that of any commercial product.

With its inspiring, mouth-watering photographs, Making Artisan Cheese shares the secrets behind creating fifty types of cheeses, including mozzarella, feta, Swiss, cheddar, and Stilton. The book charts the best cheese and wine combinations and also provides you with information about other foods to pair the cheese with and how to store your creations to preserve their flavor and freshness.

Betty Crocker Cooking Basics: Recipes and Tips to Cook with Confidence (Betty Crocker Books)

Betty Crocker Editors

Amazon Price: $17.13 List Price: $25.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Betty Crocker Amazon Marketplace: 35 new & used starting at $15.35

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Editorial Review:

Betty Crocker Cooking Basics, Second Edition is the only cookbook you need to help you begin cooking with confidence, even if you barely know how to boil water. Fully updated to include 112 simple and tasty favorites like guacamole, meatloaf, and strawberry shortcake, the second edition of this comprehensive cooking guide even includes how-to photos for every recipe, advice on kitchen equipment, a reference to cooking terms, food storage tips, and cooking times and nutrition information. With game plans for special events like Thanksgiving Dinner, you will never go hungry!

Cakes to Dream On: A Master Class in Decorating

Colette Peters

Amazon Price: $26.40 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $22.13

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 49 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Colette peters, the celebrated queen of the confectionary arts, unveils an inspiring resource for serious home bakers, professional chefs, and aficionados of Colette's incredible edible architecture. The ingenious cake decorator - whose miraculous and luscious concoctions have appeared everywhere from White House Christmases to royal weddings - presents a master class in cake design and decoration, alongside an all-new selection of her own cake designs. With Cakes to Dream On, Colette's inspired creations can now be rendered into show-stopping cakes of your own.

Cakes to Dream On reveals the secrets to fashioning gorgeous and utterly distinctive cakes for all occasions - whether it's an opulent marriage reception (the majestic Ivory Wedding Cake) or a fanciful children's party (the whimsical Homage to Dr. Seuss). Colette presents designs for cake architecture ranging from the imperial splendor of Dolce de Medici, to the elegant grace of Bride's Vintage Cameo, to the topsy-turvy daydream of Mad Tea Party.

Colette begins with the foundations: she illuminates step by step the process of constructing a multitiered cake, from determining serving sizes and choosing appropriate cake pans to making fillings, and ultimately stacking layers so they don't tumble off the table. Cakes to Dream On also discloses insider tricks of the trade: Colette's easy-to-follow instructions in techniques such as sugarwork, gumpaste, brush embroidery, and piping will help readers recreate the spectacular effects of this singular confectioner's toolbox.

Bakers - and their enthusiastic audiences - will discover that these sensual masterpieces tantalize the palate as much as they do the eye. Colette's cake recipes include the Coco-Loco Cake, an alluring marriage of coconut and coffee; the Meringue Buttercream and its luscious lemon, raspberry, and mocha variants; and the ambrosial caramel-tinged Heavenly White Cake.

As breathtaking as Colette's cake works appear, her clear explanations of technique are meant to stimulate readers' creative instincts and give them ideas for crafting their own distinctive confections. With more than 150 dazzling full-color photographs illustrating both processes and finished presentations, and more detailed instruction than ever before, Cakes to Dream On will inspire readers to create their own mouthwatering masterpieces. Colette's master class is truly a launchpad for cake lovers' own confectionary visions.

Anyone Can Cook (Better Homes & Gardens)

Better Homes and Gardens

Amazon Price: $24.45 List Price: $24.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Better Homes and Gardens Amazon Marketplace: 51 new & used starting at $7.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 11 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A great intro to the kitchen, whether you're young or old 4 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I just bought Anyone Can Cook for a recently-retired family member who's as unfamiliar around the kitchen as I am in an auto shop. I wanted something with a solid foundation and ample descriptions of basics such as choosing, storing, and prepping fruits and veggies (a step which is often overlooked in "regular" cookbooks), a primer on kitchen tools (knives, utensils, appliances), and step-by-step guidance in addition to easy-to-prepare recipes. The first hundred pages or so are devoted to the differences between produce and tool tips (red, yellow or white onions? Cremini, enoki, button, morel, or portabello mushrooms? Springform or cake pan?). Also, recipes are ranked according to skill level, with 1 being easiest and 3 being easy.

Enter Better Homes and Gardens: Anyone Can Cook. Like millions of other housewives, I grew up using the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook, and have several reincarnations, so I had no reservations about investing in Anyone Can Cook. Its organization is similar to the traditional BHG cookbook; i.e., appetizers, soups, salads, meats (including detailed charts of the various cuts), poultry, veggies, desserts, breakfast and more. However, many of the recipes are simplified and rely heavily on store-bought shortcuts such as refrigerated dough and precooked meats (in that respect, it reminded me of Betty Crocker Quick and Easy Cookbook: 30 minutes or less to dinner (Betty Crocker Books), so if you're put off by the idea of using so many processed foods in your recipes, you might want to invest in the original BHG cookbook. Of course, once you have a little more experience, you can whip up your own pasta sauce or use leftover roast to achieve the same effect with fewer preservatives.

The layout is stuffed with step-by-step photos and can be visually overwhelming at times, especially with the choice of bright colors. I noticed that several of the recipes are carryovers from other BHG publications such as Vegetarian Cooking (Better Homes & Gardens). Also, many of the recipes are ethnically influenced, including many with a Latin/Asian flair. If "exotic" doesn't appeal to you, you might want to steer clear.

For everyone else, this is a perfect, step-by-step introduction to the kitchen, including some simple baked goods, that will allow you to graduate to more difficult standard recipes once you've mastered the basics.

Editorial Review:

Lacking kitchen confidence? No problem. Using simple instructions with accompanying detailed photos demonstrating the instructions, this cookbook provides more than 500 tasty and easy recipes spanning breakfast to dinner and all points in between so you can amaze your friends and family with your culinary skill. Add in the intro chapter that covers kitchen basics such as which appliances are a must and the ingredients for a well stocked pantry, and you'll be on your way to demonstrating Anybody Can Cook.

The Everything Meals For A Month Cookbook: Smart Recipes To Help You Plan Ahead, Save Time, And Stay On Budget (Everything: Cooking)

Linda Larsen

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Adams Media Amazon Marketplace: 31 new & used starting at $9.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 19 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

You don't have to order take out every time you don't feel like cooking--now there's an easier way to have breakfast, lunch, and dinner (not to mention dessert) right at your fingertips! The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook is the perfect tool to help you save time in the kitchen (and money in your wallet!) with practical shopping tips and food handling tricks for buying and cooking in bulk. Learn how to plan your menu, assemble the ingredients, and store and freeze a month's worth of dinners-without losing any freshness or taste.

In addition to 300 mouth-watering recipes, The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook explains how you can organize your kitchen for once-a-month cooking. Thanks to the easy-to-follow bulk-cooking model provided, it's easier than you think!

Features family-friendly recipes such as:

Cranberry Oatmeal Quick Bread

Stuffed Mushrooms

Santa Fe Chicken Soup

Curried Turkey Casserole

Apple Glazed Pork Roast

Shrimp Pesto Linguine

German Chocolate Pound Cake

Whether you're serving up these delicious meals straight from the oven or freezing them for later in the month, you'll find everything you need to save time and money with The Everything Meals for a Month Cookbook.

Mastering the Craft of Smoking Food

Warren R. Anderson

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Burford Books Amazon Marketplace: 30 new & used starting at $11.67

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

If you want to learn to smoke foods, this is the book! 5 out of 5 stars.
37 of 38 people found this review helpful.

This is probably the most complete, detailed book available on smoking food. It's not a barbecue book, it's a smoking book. Written by Warren Anderson, a food enthusiast and long-time food smoker, It covers both cold and hot smoking and includes detailed instructions for building your own smoker, or using commercial smokers. Warren shares everything he has learned through years of smoking food. A chapter covers smoking woods, where to get them and the characteristics of different types of woods. The chapter on cures and marinades covers brines, dry and wet cures, and marinades. Detailed recipes and instructions are included for making smoked bacon, ham, pastrami, jerky, cheese, turkey, fish, shellfish, sausage, nuts, and even smoked Peking duck. It's interesting that the Publisher's Weekly review is critical of the book for being TOO detailed. According to Publisher's Weekly, the descriptions and techniques "read like a technical manual, although Cook's Illustrated fans might welcome the excruciating detail. Though directed toward nonprofessionals, this book isn't likely to please armchair chefs." So, if you are an "armchair chef", this book may not be for you, but as Publisher's Weekly says "for those who plan to make a habit of smoking food, Anderson delivers". If you are serious about smoked food then this book is for you.

Editorial Review:

Here is an exceptionally complete guide to making real smoked food at home that tastes far better than commercially made products.

Semi-Homemade Cooking

Sandra Lee

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Meredith Books Amazon Marketplace: 59 new & used starting at $7.08

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 80 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Gatherings 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I have all of Sandra Lee's cook books. They are beautiful done and great recipes. I like how she even suggest what brands to use in her recipes.

Editorial Review:

These second editions cookbooks showcase an inspiring new look, featuring:

• Dazzling new covers

• Friendlier trim sizes

• Refreshed designs

• All-new bonus chapters

• Additional, never-before-published recipes

• 32 more pages than original editions

Recipes for every palate and mood—the Semi-Homemade way creates an inspiring pairing of fresh ingredients and packaged foods.

Quick-to-the-table, delicious recipes to satisfy any culinary whim any time of the day. Delectable breakfast fare, light lunch bites, family-pleasing dinners, simple appetizers and snacks, sassy cocktails, and more.

Most recipes prepared in 30 minutes or less.

All-new bonus chapters on red-hot topics: slow cooker favorites, restaurant remakes, and kid’s cooking.

Time-saving tips for shopping, prepping, leftover storage, and Sandra’s brand recommendations for success.

Wine suggestions to create delicious dining occasions every day.

Beautiful photo of every recipe.

Brewing Classic Styles: 80 Winning Recipes Anyone Can Brew

Jamil Zainasheff, John Palmer

Amazon Price: $13.57 List Price: $19.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Brewers Publications Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $12.47

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Best recipe book out there 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I have already brewed several of the beers from this book and have had outstanding results. You will need a primary book for the beginner, but if have brewed before and want to get away from kits this is definitely the way to go. You can get most of the recipes free via podcast, but there is other information included in the book that the podcasts miss. I would definitely recommend adding this book to your brewing repertoire.

Recipes great but not a howto book 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Browsing through the 80 recipes in this book was a great source of inspiration for my next batch of home brew. If you can't decide what to do next, pick up this book. There is bound to be something you haven't tried.

The title is misleading, the sub-title would be more accurate. It is primarily recipes. The book contains short introductory chapters on ingredients and brewing that other books have covered in more detail. If you don't know what terms like lovibond, OG, FG, and IBU are I would read an introductory how to brew book first.

The recipes are primarily setup for all grain brewers. For extract based brewers the recipes are modified to `fit' the style. I get the sense the authors are all grain brewers who wanted to broaden the market for their book by adding the extract formulations.

This is a great book to browse and see what a style has in common in terms of grains, hops and yeast.

larry 'at' brewersfriend 'dot' com
http://www.brewersfriend.com

How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart

Pam Anderson

Amazon Price: $17.16 List Price: $26.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Broadway Amazon Marketplace: 96 new & used starting at $4.42

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 87 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Pam Anderson grew up watching her parents and grandparents make dinner every night by simply taking the ingredients on hand and cooking them with the techniques they knew.

Times have changed. Today we have an overwhelming array of ingredients and a fraction of the cooking time, but Anderson believes the secret to getting dinner on the table lies in the past. After a long day, who has the energy to look up a recipe and search for the right ingredients before ever starting to cook? To make dinner night after night, Anderson believes the first two steps--looking for a recipe, then scrambling for the exact ingredients--must be eliminated.  Understanding that most recipes are simply "variations on a theme," she innovatively teaches technique, ultimately eliminating the need for recipes.

Once the technique or formula is mastered, Anderson encourages inexperienced as well as veteran cooks to spread their culinary wings.  For example, after learning to sear a steak, it's understood that the same method works for scallops, tuna, hamburger, swordfish, salmon, pork tenderloin, and more. You never need to look at a recipe again. Vary the look and flavor of these dishes with interchangeable pan sauces, salsas, relishes, and butters.

Best of all, these recipes rise above the mundane Monday-through-Friday fare.  Imagine homemade ravioli and lasagna for weeknight supper, or from-scratch tomato sauce before the pasta water has even boiled.  Last-minute guests? Dress up simple tomato sauce with capers and olives or shrimp and red pepper flakes. Drizzle sautéed chicken breasts with a balsamic vinegar pan sauce. Anderson teaches you how to do it--without a recipe. Don't buy exotic ingredients and follow tedious instructions for making hors d'oeuvres. Forage through the pantry and refrigerator for quick appetizers. The ingredients are all there; the method is in your head. Master four simple potato dishes--a bake, a cake, a mash, and a roast--compatible with many meals. Learn how to make the five-minute dinner salad, easily changing its look and flavor depending on the season and occasion. Tuck a few dessert techniques in your back pocket and effortlessly turn any meal into a special occasion.

There's real rhyme and reason to Pam's method at the beginning of every chapter: To dress greens, "Drizzle salad with oil, salt, and pepper, then toss until just slick. Sprinkle in some vinegar to give it a little kick." To make a frittata, "Cook eggs without stirring until set around the edges. Bake until puffy, then cut it into wedges." Each chapter also contains a helpful at-a-glance chart that highlights the key points of every technique, and a master recipe with enough variations to keep you going until you've learned how to cook without a book.

The Art of Eating

M. F. K. Fisher

List Price: $19.95 By: John Wiley & Sons Amazon Marketplace: 88 new & used starting at $0.70

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 26 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Art of Eating "…only wise men know the art of eating." —Brillat-Savarin "There is a communion of more than bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk. And that is my answer when people ask me, Why do you write about hunger, and not wars or love?" So M. F. K. Fisher begins The Gastronomical Me, one of the five memorable volumes collected together here in The Art of Eating. The five books cover an eclectic array of thoughts, memories, and recipes, from World War I vignettes of frugality at the table to a consideration of the social status of vegetables. Her recipes range from those for all manner of oysters, dressed and undressed, to Cold Buttermilk Soup, and are accompanied by the remarks and observations that provoked W. H. Auden to say, "I do not know of anyone in the United States today who writes better prose." "M. F. K. Fisher evokes the magic that shimmers just beneath the surface of the most commonplace, everyday experiences in prose you can wrap around your soul." —Richard Sax, Chocolatier "M. F. K. Fisher is one of the best food writers. She makes you laugh, tells you stories, intrigues your mind, gives you an appetite, takes you on her travels. She is witty, wise, and unpretentious." —Jane Grigson "One of the world's finest food writers and, in the eyes of many, the grand dame of gastronomy…M. F. K. Fisher has remained our guiding light, the source of infinite gastronomic and philosophic wisdom, the model of what a truly refined food writer should strive for." —James Villas, Bon Appétit