Reference Books - Page 14

The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia: Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About Hot Peppers, With More Than 100 Recipes

Dave Dewitt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia has the answer to just about any question one could ask about chile peppers. Which chiles are the hottest? What country did the first chile plants come from? What popular brand of dandruff shampoo is made with chile peppers? Can chiles really be used to cure headaches? Even the most devoted "chile-heads" will be satisfied. The encyclopedia is researched and written by Dave Dewitt, the country's foremost expert on hot and spicy foods and longtime editor-in-chief of Chile Pepper magazine.

In addition to entries on chile species, culture, terminology, and agriculture, the encyclopedia includes more than one hundred fiery recipes like Madras Fried Chile Fritters from India and Jamaican Jerk Chicken Wings are sure to please any hot-and-spicy food lover. Black and white drawings and photographs, charts, and graphs appear throughout, and an eight page insert includes color photographs of dozens of varieties of chiles, invaluable for identification. The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia is an indispensable sourcebook for chile aficionados, gardeners, cooks, and anyone else who has a burning interest in fiery foods.

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.

Perfect Vegetables: Part of "The Best Recipe" Series

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Perfect Vegetables is the work of Cook's Illustrated magazine, a publication devoted to providing the "best" American recipes. Like the magazine, from which its contents is largely drawn, the book offers super-tested recipes--as many as 18 tries for stuffed tomatoes, for example--for an A to Z vegetable range, artichokes to zucchini. The book also includes dozens of technique and equipment notes ("Stir-Fry Basics," is one), plus a short section on vegetable soups. An impressive recipe range is here and accounted for--classic dishes like grilled eggplant and braised fennel, plus "newer" formulas for the likes of Grilled Red Peppers with Mint and Feta and Glazed Curried Carrots with Currants and Almonds. Are these the ultimate versions of the dishes included? Certainly they represent exhaustive investigation--and most cooks will find the Perfect Vegetables take, which offers many technical refinements (preheat your baking sheet to ensure golden oven-baked fries, for example) enlightening.

Vegetable entries begin with a detailed discussion that highlights the cooking methods for each that ensure best results. (Steaming, for example, gets the nod for artichokes, as it yields the "deepest, most pronounced flavor.") Master recipes follow, such as that for steamed artichokes, plus formulas for tasty accompaniments like Lemon Mint Vinaigrette, or variations, such as Roasted Baby Artichokes with Roasted Garlic Aïoli. Techniques are beautifully illustrated with line drawings and photos. The ingredient and equipment investigations, which often include ratings, are mini consumer reports. Devotees of Cook's Illustrated and those new to its "obsessive" approach to dish making, should happily embrace this encyclopedic compendium. --Arthur Boehm

The Encyclopedia of Country Living: An Old Fashioned Recipe Book (Encyclopedia of Country Living)

Carla Emery

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 115 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Book to Guide You! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I cannot beleive the amount of information this book contains! The author makes no pretenses. She doesn't claim to know everything. She bases her knowledge on her experiences, letters, & information gathered over the years from others. This massive book is many many years worth of information! It has been updated many times. I'm pretty sure she doesn't leave anything out from the older versions, explaining why the book gets larger and larger. One thing that I'm aware of being left out because she mentions it is raw egg recipes. She says she was requested to leave them out for food saftey reasons. This was very dissapointing to me. No Egg Nog, No Mayonaise. :o( Anyone country living can usually trust that their backyard eggs are safe.
Just about anything you can think of regarding the "simple life" is noted in this book. She gives TONS of information for outside sources so you can further your knowledge in the vast areas. This books makes a fantastic starting point or reference point to whatever it is you are looking for more information on. Look it up in her book, learn the basics (or sometimes much more than the basics), & then use her references to guide you.
From farm animals, to gardening, to canning, to flowers, to recipes, to you name it! It's here! Even giving birth alone! Outhouses, water issues...on and on it goes!
This truly is a must have! You will find yourself picking it up often. It's like curling up to read the letter of a long distance friend...sort of!

Editorial Review:

For twenty years people have relied on these hundreds of recipes, instructions, and morsels of invaluable practical advice on all aspects of growing and preparing food. This definitive classic on food, gardening, and self-sufficient living is a complete resource for living off the land with over 800 pages of collected wisdom from country maven, Carla Emery--how to cultivate a garden, buy land, bake bread, raise farm animals, make sausage, milk a goat, grow herbs, churn butter, catch a pig, make soap, work with bees and more. Encyclopedia of Country Living is so basic, so thorough, so reliable, it deserves a place in every home--whether in the country, the city, or somewhere in between.

The Book of Whole Meals: A Seasonal Guide to Assembling Balanced Vegetarian Breakfasts, Lunches and Dinners

Annemarie Colbin

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

Whole Foods Meals Made The Smart Way 5 out of 5 stars.
41 of 41 people found this review helpful.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in macrobiotics, vegetarianism, and general healthy living. The book begins with the theories on why it is important that we eat organic, locally grown, natural foods. It explains how to choose your meals, what those "wierd" natural foods are that were unfamiliar to me before I read this book, and even how to set up your kitchen. The recipes make up the second half of the book. It is divided into winter, spring, summer, and fall with seven complete meal plans for each season. These meals are something you could actually make. Leftovers from dinner are combined or changed into something completely different for lunch and breakfast the next day. In the sidebars of each page are directions for how to prepare the complete meal in the proper order. For example, it might say 1. Cook rice. Go on to soup. 2. Chop vegetables. Go on to tofu. 3. Marinade tofu. Go on to etc. Then the complete recipes are listed on the main part of the page. All the recipes in this book are easily adaptable to your particular tastes. The only thing I don't like about it is there are a few recipes involving fish or eggs. I am a vegan, so I don't use either of these.

Editorial Review:

"It is difficult to imagine a better course for practicing, would-be, or even part-time vegetarians," said The New York Times of Annemarie Colbin's cooking classes. And, in this book, the founder of the successful Natural Gourmet Cookery School in New York City offers a whole year's worth of her popular classes.

The Book Of Whole Meals
-- Provides a sound holistic nutritional philosophy on which to base your food choices
-- Gives thorough instructions on how to set up a kitchen and a well-stocked pantry
-- Offers varied menus for each season: dozens of whole breakfasts, lunches; and dinners, using the fruits and vegetables of the season
-- Shows how to make quick meals with leftovers, without sacrificing taste or nutrition
-- Teaches you how to maximize efficiency and grace in the kitchen with time-saving hints for organizing every step of food preparation...and more!

Voted one of ten best cookbooks by New Age Journal readers.

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 Complete Book of Spirits: A Guide to Their History, Production, and Enjoyment

Anthony Dias Blue

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

An indispensable follow-up to his classic Complete Book of Mixed Drinks, Anthony Dias Blue presents The Complete Book of Spirits, a comprehensive collection of history, lore, and tasting tips, along with recipes for select cocktails. Here, in one concise and easy-to-use volume, is all the information a consumer needs to shop, mix, and sip like a spirits expert.

From bathtub gin to mojito madness, Blue brings the dynamic history of the spirits industry alive, demonstrating that spirit making is not only one of mankind's oldest pursuits but also perhaps its most colorful. In ten captivating chapters, readers are treated to everything they ever wanted to know about their favorite liquors, including vodka, aquavit, tequila, and whiskey. Blue also provides step-by-step instructions on how to host spirit tastings to educate your palate and to help you and your friends discover your favorite brands and blends. For every chapter and every spirit, there is also a handy tasting-notes section, with Blue's expert comments and his favorites, along with price points.

If you've ever wondered about the difference between potato and wheat vodkas, or between mescal and tequila or American and Irish whiskeys, or what makes single malt Scotch so desirable, look no further. With Anthony Dias Blue, America's leading wine and spirits expert, and The Complete Book of Spirits as your guides, you will take your enjoyment to a new level.

Creme De Colorado Cookbook (Celebrating Twenty Five Years of Culinary Artistry)

Junior League of Denver, John Fielder, Constance F. Graham

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

My most-used cookbook 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I have over 200 cookbooks, I often times go to sleep reading cookbooks and I relate to the world in many aspects through my stomach. I love food and cooking. This is definitely my most-used cookbook, I don't know how many times I've looked for a recipe, finally gotten this book out and there it was all the time. I consult this book first. I have several Junior League cookbooks, this is my favorite. Everything I have cooked out of this book has been good. Don't even think about it, just buy this book. You won't be diappointed.

Cut Above Other Recipe Collections! 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Likely you too have scanned or even invested in those recipe collections to fund a worthy effort, either not expecting to use the recipes or had to search through to find those that one even would want to attempt. Not the case with this collection of the Jr. League of Denver! And over half-a-million in print to date! You'll want one before it goes out of print!

This is large, rich colleciton that is well thought out, organized and bursts forth with uniqueness, creativity and breadth.

Some unique features are its individual sections on Colorado Wild, Mexican and HealthMark Modifications. For example, the game section using Colorado abundance of wildlife is buy a doctor who is in to this, who gives recommendations on preparing to remove gaminess and to improve flavor and maintain health.
How about Wild Pheasant Stroganoff! Indicative of the stuff you'll love finding here and trying.

Also a plus to this delight is notes which accompany most all of the recipes that tell about alternatives, serving suggestions, history where the dish came from, etc. Adds zest for us foodphiles!

One can easily see why so many other reviewers have raved about this -- it enticed me to try it. I think you will enjoy using this collection too!

Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits, & Shakes

Todd Wilbur

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Todd Wilbur has made a career out of his Top Secret Recipes series, dissecting popular recipes from America's favorite restaurant chains and presenting the results to eager home cooks. Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits, and Shakes continues the theme, offering homemade approximation recipes to satisfy the craving and expectations of the thirsty reader looking for a brand-name fix. Wilbur presents a host of potables to create at home, including sodas such as 7-Up and A&W root beer, brand mixtures such as Orange Julius, and even signature adult drinks from a variety of restaurant chains including Chili's, Hard Rock Cafe, and Red Lobster. But Wilbur offers more than just the genetic code to these concoctions: he provides interesting anecdotes on the origin of the beverages as well as humorous, but necessary, warnings about the various alcohol-infused drinks included. He's even dedicated a chapter to the home version of popular (and expensive) spirits such as Bailey's Irish Cream and Grand Marnier. For convenience and economy, this addition to the Top Secret collection offers a truly satisfying alternative, saving readers a trip to Starbucks for that addictive Frappuccino. --Teresa Simanton

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.