Reference Books - Page 13

The Instant Cook

Donna Hay

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Donna Hay is swiftly becoming the source American cooks go to when they ask themselves, "What should we have for dinner tonight?" She has garnered a passionate global following for her fresh and modern approach to food -- bringing out clean, sparkling flavors with simple techniques and streamlined instructions. In The Instant Cook, she offers more than a compendium of flexible recipes; it is an elegantly simple philosophy of cooking, and of eating.

Donna Hay pulls together flavor combinations and cooking skills from the Mediterranean and the Pacific Rim - two of the most luscious and quick-cooking cuisines on the planet - to create delicious meals with a handful of ingredients in a few minutes. She gives home cooks the confidence to cook with instinct and with style.

Exquisite full color photographs on every page illustrate Donna's signature look -- chic yet never fussy. It reminds you that cooking is a pleasure. Pour a glass of wine and catch up with family as you cook; shop without waste or confusion; host a weeknight dinner party with little planning and less effort. The Instant Cook is destined to be the cookbook that is never put back on the shelf.

The Wine Club: A Month-by-Month Guide to Learning About Wine with Friends

Maureen Christian Petrosky

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 37 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Everything you need to know about starting a wine club. This sassy handbook teaches you and your girlfriends the art of selecting, sampling, and sipping the fruit of the vine (while you indulge in the latest gossip, of course).

A foolproof month-by-month plan by sommelier, Maureen Petrosky, highlights all the pesky details, so you and your girlfriends can sit back and sip.

From still to sparkling and delicate whites to rich reds, each month's chapter singles out a grape for study and enjoyment-school was never like this! This course with class includes easy-does-it entertaining tips, taste-testing know-how, and tantalizing wine facts.

Expert recommendations for brilliant wines at killer prices! What woman doesn't love a bargain?

Wine-laden tidbits such as how to collect bottles for a personal wine stash.

Outrageously scrumptious recipes that teach you simply to pair wine and food-it's a no-brainer.

The latest on the snazziest wine gizmos and gadgets. Shoppers, start your engines.

Demystified terminology: a short course in “wine speak” makes any wine novice comfortable when shopping for and serving wine.

Flatbreads & Flavors: A Baker's Atlas

Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Superb Treatment of a Broad Culinary Topic. Buy It! 5 out of 5 stars.
28 of 31 people found this review helpful.

`Flatbreads & flavors, A Baker's Atlas' is Canadian culinary photographer / writers' pair Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid's second book, which is easily more useful to the average foodie and reader than their last two expensive culinary travelogues, `Mangoes & Curry Leaves' and `Hot Sour Salty Sweet'. While this book covers a broad geographical range, like the `big' books, it maintains its high level of quality and focus by concentrating exclusively on the subject of flatbreads and dishes that are most commonly served with these flatbreads in their `natural habitat'.

While Alford and Duguid seem to have inherited the style of the great culinary travelogue, `Honey from a Weed' by Patience Gray, they have their own twists on this style which makes it all their own. One difference is that while Gray does a fair amount of reflection on the whys of local techniques, her observations are not systematic. They are more in the line of archeological observations. Since Alford and Duguid in this book, are dealing with the single technique of baking flatbreads, this focus give them the opportunity to give us an excellent tutorial on bread baking technique, including the use of modern appliances in the making of traditional flatbread recipes.

The authors take their `Atlas' approach seriously, as each chapter addresses a particular geographical region and opens with a map locating the center of traditional production for each type of bread. The eight regions are:

Central Asia, primarily Iran, the `...stans', and Tibet with lots of yoghurt and kebabs.
China, Vietnam, and Malaysia with dipping sauces, pancakes, and roll-ups.
India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka with chutneys, curries, and lentils galore.
Eastern Mediterranean, or `flatbread central' with pitas, matzos, Bulgar wheat, and dips and wraps.
Morocco, Tunisia, and Ethiopia, with mostly accompanying dishes.
Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, the home of Lavosh
Europe, from Italian pizza to Scottish oatcakes
North America with tortillas, crackers, and salsas.

While this would seem to be a rich subject, the authors don't spend much time reflecting on why flatbreads are so important in some parts of the world and less important in others. In Asia, it seems that it is the only kind of bread they make, while in Europe, it's definitely a sidelight. I hypothesize that flatbreads are important where there fuel for ovens is scarce and the native peoples are or were at one time primarily nomadic.

It is just a bit surprising to see how many different bread recipes use yeast. One would think yeast requires a nearby brewing industry, but natural sourdough type yeast is free for the asking and a lot easier to manage on the road than chemical leaveners, when the nearest 7 - 11 is 7000 miles away. But, all the recipes have been modernized and none actually use natural sourdough yeasts. All yeast doughs are made with `active dry yeast', the kind you have to bloom in warm water, but which will keep for years in their little foil packets. The other side of the coin is that there are a fair number or yeastless recipes, especially India's skillet breads, where the leavening is the action of heat and water in the dough, very much like unleavened matzos, except that matzos is made in an oven. So, if you can't tolerate yeast and you are tired of buttermilk biscuits and Irish soda bread, this book may be a great ticket to enriching your range of tolerated breads.

One thing this book does not do is be a complete source on those flatbreads which are so dear to our French / Spanish / Italian backgrounds. If your primary interest is with Pizza, go to Peter Reinhart's `American Pie' or some other treatise on pizza by your favorite Italian cookbook author. If your primary interest is in tortillas, get Diana Kennedy's `From My Mexican Kitchen'. But, if you like these things and want to find the their flatbread cousins, this is your book.

This book is simply all around excellent, and certainly deserves its James Beard Cookbook award. It makes me wish Alford and Duguid would stick to their single subject surveys instead of boosting their photographs business with the richly pictured , `Mangoes & Curry Leaves' and `Hot Sour Salty Sweet'. Their other books on rice and home baking are similarly delightful and should be in every foodie's library.

Editorial Review:

An amazing cookbook that travels to the furthest reaches of the world to celebrate flatbreads with over the recipes for a myriad of breads, including Afghani naan, Mexican tortilla, French fougasse, Middle Eastern pita, and Armenian lavash. Hungry for something to go with all that bread? The authors include another 150 recipes for traditional accompaniments. How about a Scandinavian smorgasbord, tomatillo salsa with arbol chiles, Nepali green chile chutney, Ethiopian beef tartar, or Yemeni stew?

The Well-Filled Tortilla Cookbook

Victoria Wise, Susanna Hoffman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Like a blank canvas but much tastier, the ubiquitous corn or flour tortilla is the perfect vehicle for every sort of food. And taco-making-the art of filling tortillas with dozens of zesty and unexpected concoctions-turns the ordinary into the irrepressible.

Victoria Wise and Susanna Hoffman, both life-long tortilla aficionados, fill them with Fiesta Ground Beef, Chicken Mole, Spicy Shrimp Salad, Green Olive Cilantro Salsa Ancho Chili Sauce, Pear Lime Salsa, and much more.

Here are over 200 recipes for well-filled tortillas. Tacos from around the world-Portuguese-style Grilled Fish Taco, Oriental Stir-Fry Beef Taco, Thai-Style Shrimp Taco, add variety to the spice of such Cal-Mex favorites as Basic Beef Fajita Taco, Black Bean Taco, Chorizo Taco, Snapper Vera Cruz Taco, and Taco de Carnitas. Dessert tacos and tostada sundaes bring the most festive food into the most festive course.

Whether store-bought or home-pressed (the recipes are here, for corn and flour), a stack of tortillas means delicious, down-home, fun food for any occasion-to eat with your fingers in messy splendor. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's The Good Cook Club. 250,000 copies in print.

The Smoked-Foods Cookbook: How to Flavor, Cure, and Prepare Savory Meats, Game, Fish, Nuts, and Cheese

Lue Park, Ed Park

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Excellent variety of smoke cooking recipes. 4 out of 5 stars.
219 of 222 people found this review helpful.

A complete and interesting compendium of recipes and smoke cooking methods. The advanced smoke cooker will enjoy this book and find some new ideas within. The section on sausages and pemican, two of the advanced smoke cooking skills, are expecially helpful. The beginer may be disapointed in the results of applying the recipes due to one major oversight.

The heart and soul of good smoked food is the cure. Smoke goes on the food last. This book although mentioning cures of many types fails to make this point clear and to provide the first time smoke cook with a simple first time recipe. In fact, the cure recipes provided do not have anywhere near enough sugar in them. Having smoked foods for 20 years I have found that the taste for sugar is strong and if not enough sugar is used the complaint of smoked food is that there is too much salt. First timers should use the cure on page 39 but substitute 4 parts sugar to 1 part salt. And don't leave the sugar out of meat cures like the author does.

Curing time is not covered adequately either. Lean meat absorbs salt while fat absorbs sugar (more or less), and time in the cure makes a huge difference in the saltiness of the food. The longer in the brine, the saltier the food will taste. The leaner the meat, the saltier the food will taste. Never leave your meat in the cure longer than the recipe states, or you will have salty meat.

Buy this book to improve your smoke cooking skills, but not to learn how to smoke cook if you have never done so before.

Editorial Review:

Easy, modern methods of preparing smoked foots, with 147 tasty recipes. Includes low-fat and low-salt alternatives for healthful eating.

The Spice and Herb bible

Ian Hemphill

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The classic reference - expanded and in full color.

Professional chefs and home cooks use spices and herbs to enhance food flavors and to create new taste combinations and sensations. From vanilla beans to cinnamon, from cumin to tarragon, no kitchen is complete without spices and herbs.

The second edition of this classic reference is significantly expanded, with four new spices and herbs as well as 25 additional blends. The book is now printed in full color and features color photography throughout. Every herb and spice has a handsome and detailed color photograph to make identification and purchasing a breeze. The book includes fascinating and authoritative histories of a wide range of global herbs and spices such as angelica, basil, candle nut, chervil, elder, fennel, grains of paradise, licorice root, saffron, tamarind, Vietnamese mint and zedoary.

The Spice and Herb Bible, Second Edition, includes 100 spices and herbs and 50 spice-blend recipes. It is an essential resource for any well-equipped kitchen.

(20061025)

Cooking under Pressure

Lorna J. Sass

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

Editorial Review:

Remember how wonderful home cooking tasted when you were a kid? Remember the comforting aromas that filled your house, the delicious soups and stews that warmed your childhood winters?

They can all be yours again. From the elegant to the ethnic to the traditional, this collection of recipes --developed for a whole new generation of pressure cookers and mindful of the healthier way we eat today -- is comfort food at its fastest and best.

Today's totally safe pressure cookers -- sleeker, speedier, more user-friendly than the microwave oven -- turn out foods in one-third the time of conventional methods without sacrificing moisture, flavor, or aroma. Even inexpensive cuts of meat become tender and succulent; soups, stews, and sauces taste as if they've been simmering for hours; pot roast melts in the mouth; rice, beans, and grains, which used to take hours, are ready in minutes.

Lorna Sass introduces us to an eclectic array of dishes that can be prepared on a whim: Imagine a classic ossobuco in only 18 minutes, chicken gumbo in an astounding 9, superb risotto in just 6 minutes without stirring -- even chocolate cheesecake and Grand Marnier bread pudding are done to perfection in record time.

These are dishes that are right in tune with the eat-healthy eat-right life-style of the 1990s: The shorter cooking times allow foods to retain their nutritional content, and the pressure cooker is ideal for preparing grains and beans, so low in cholesterol and high in fiber. Also included in the book are charts and tables that take the guesswork out of cooking foods under pressure.

Treat yourself to this wonderful world of satisfying flavors: Take the pressure out of cooking and put the taste and nutrition back in.

The Cook's Companion: The Complete Book of Ingredients and Recipes for the Australian Kitchen

Stephanie Alexander

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Outstanding! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I use this book all the time. It covers all the basics such as stocks and sauces as well as giving you ideas for how to use just about any ingredient you might have in your kitchen.

The book is organised alphabetically by main ingredient and there is also a comprehensive, user-friendly index.

Every recipe I have made from this book has been successful. This book helped me make great potato gnocchi for the first time ever (and I've tried many other recipes).

Highly recommended!

Maybe the Best Cookbook of All 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

It's a big claim, but this might be the greatest cookbook ever published.

The crowning piece of the author's long and distinguished career, it is utterly comprehensive, authoritative and, befitting its title, friendly and companionable.

Alexander begins with a general introduction followed by thorough sections on equipment and basic ingredients, preparations and techniques.

Then follows the main body of the work, which runs to more than 1100 pages without ever seeming too long or even too heavy. Well over a hundred ingredients, starting with abalone and ending with zucchini and squash, are covered. She begins with introductory remarks, which often venture into history and folklore, sometimes spiced with appropriate literary quotations. Each entry has useful notes on varieties and seasons [although here adjustments will need to be made for northern hemisphere readers] on selection and storage and on preparation and cooking.

Then come the recipes. Each ingredient is given at least two or three recipes, the more significant might have a dozen or so, with cross references to maybe as many more elsewhere in the book.

This is a book to lose yourself in, to seek inspiration in, to answer any of a hundred and one questions.

No serious cook deserves to be without this.

Saucier's Apprentice

Raymond Sokolov

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Here is the first book all the great sauces of practical, workable system. Raymond Sokolov, the widely admired former Food Editor of The first to point out that the hitherto mysterious saucier's art, as practiced by the best restaurant chefs, is based on what amounts to an elegant "fast food" technique. And this is what he demonstrates in his unique, useful, and witty book:
-- How to prepare, at your leisure, the three fundamental classic sauces (the "mother" sauces from which all others evolve: Brown, White, and Fish Veloute)...
-- How to freeze them in one-meal-size containers, ready for use at a moment's notice...
-- How to transform any of these basic put-away sauces, quickly and easily, into the exact ones that French chefs are famous for and serve in the finest restaurants...
-- How to prepare the classic dish for which each sauce is traditionally used, with suggestions for enhancing simpler fare (the recipes run the gamut from Duckling a la Bigarade to Poached Eggs Petit-Duc -- that is, with Chateaubriand Sauce).

Mr. Sokolov has conceived, then, a comprehensive collection of recipes -- authoritative, clear, and easy to follow -- as well as an inventive method of cooking for the average kitchen. Peppered with culinary lore and with reassuring accounts of the author's own experiences as a modern-day Saucier's Apprentice, here is a book that will appeal to every good amateur cook who wants to produce sumptuous fare at home for occasions great and small.

Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook

Dawn Hall

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Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Slow cookers are convenient and save time. And Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook makes even the preparation quick and easy. Each of the more than 200 recipes in this book is made with seven or fewer easy-to-find, grocery store ingredients. Most can be prepared in less than ten minutes. The preparation can even be done the night before and the entire slow cooker placed in the refrigerator until morning.

But convenience is not the only reason to use Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook. From exquisite cakes with warm berries oozing down the sides to hearty soups, creamy chowders, and delicious entrees complete with side dishes prepared in the same pot, Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook is a creative collection of low-fat recipes that look and taste as if you have been working all day in the kitchen.

Each recipe in Busy People's Slow Cooker Cookbook is complete with nutritional information, preparation time, and cooking time, along with helpful hints and money-saving ideas. It is bound in an easy-to-use hardcover concealed spiral binding.