Reference Books - Page 20

The New Pressure Cooker Cookbook

Pat Dailey

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The best out there 5 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

Of about 4-5 pressure cooker cookbooks I have bought, this is far and away the best one, not even an issue. The recipes are fairly simple, easy to put together, easy to find/common ingredients, and they taste great. This is what a pressure cooker should do for you. There are good general guidelines on how to cook other things as well. While there are not a whole lot of recipes in here, they are all great and easy. If you have to have one pressure cooker cookbook, this is it!

strange 1 out of 5 stars.
15 of 26 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book and am sending it back. The recipes were a little strange for my taste. I wanted more everyday type dishes.

It's a good start but needs work 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

All in all I enjoyed this book. It has potential, but it needs work--more attention to detail.

For example several of the recipes missed steps--i.e saying to saute an item and set it aside, but never saying when to add it back in.

Additionally, while the book states that all the recipe amounts/portions are designed around the capacity of a 6 quart pressure cooker, I found that many recipes they could easily be increased by 50% and sometimes 100% while still keeping it safe by not filling the cooker more than 2/3 full (if your going to go the trouble to cook something, you might as well use the full capacity of the cooker IMHO).

Other recipes (i.e. Curried Beef and Greek Beef stew) sounded good, but in reality the flavors just didn't blend well. Others (like the Green Chile Pork and Hominy Stew) were just delicious!

I think this book has potential, but the author needs to pay more attention to detail.

Editorial Review:

More than 80 delectable step-by-step recipes designed for the sophisticated features of new pressure cookers.

Holidays: The Best of Martha Stewart Living

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Looking for a way to make your holidays more elegant? 5 out of 5 stars.
28 of 28 people found this review helpful.

This offering from Martha Stewart provides a new, more elegant way to celebrate the holidays. The menus she presents are a refreshing departure from the traditional "turkey and dressing". Her decorating ideas are absolutely exquisite (a fact that did not go unnoticed by our guests). My friends and I enjoyed making the decorations and preparing the meal as much as our guests enjoyed looking at the decorations and eating! I only wish she had provided more decorating ideas.

Cookie Recipes are Perfect 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 12 people found this review helpful.

My wife and I use the recipes in this magazine every Christmas. They come out perfect every time.

Editorial Review:

Here are hundreds of the best ideas for the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to New Year's, collected from the pages of Martha Stewart Living, one of America's hottest and fastest growing magazines. Includes party recipes, entertainment ideas, table settings, decorations, gifts, wrappings, and much more.

Mennonite Community Cookbook: Favorite Family Recipes

Mary Emma Showalter

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

Mother's home cooking 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I acknowledge the Madman's points: most of the recipes in this book do not conform to today's dietary standards. But bear in mind that this book was first written over 70 years ago. That's when my mother got her copy. She still has it with the cover's half-torn off and pages stuck in loose and scribbled on. This was a Pennsylvania Dutch housewife's book of recipes for Pennsylvania Dutch housewives. They weren't worried about waistlines or BMI numbers. They needed to feed their families who worked in the fields or guests over for a holiday feast.

I also agree that the strength is the desert section, but that is the specialty of the PA Dutch. My brother, sister, and I would spend winter days with mother making cookies from the recipes and I even took a turn at making the cream puff recipe once for a church social. They turned out great!

Not only is this a wonderful recipe book, but to me, it is a family treasure.

Editorial Review:

Showalter has collected 1,100 recipes--tantalizing dishes brought to this country directly from old Dutch, German, Swiss, and Russian kitchens--from hundreds of Mennonite women noted for their excellent cooking. Each chapter is introduced by the author's own nostalgic recollection of cooking in her grandmother's day. Color photos and illustrations throughout.

The Oxford Companion to Food 2nd Ed

Alan Davidson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 23 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Twenty years in the making, the first edition of Alan Davidson's magnum opus appeared in 1999 to worldwide acclaim. Its combination of serious food history, culinary expertise, and entertaining serendipity was recognized as utterly unique. Including both an exhaustive catalogue of the foods that nourish humankind-fruit from tropical forests, mosses scraped from adamantine granite in Siberian wastes, or ears, eyeballs and testicles from a menagerie of animals-and a richly allusive commentary on the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookbooks, or as dishes peculiar to a country or community, the Oxford Companion to Food immediately found distinction.
The study of food and food history was a new discipline at the time, but one that has developed exponentially in the years since. There are now university departments, international societies, and academic journals, in addition to a wide range of popular literature exploring the meaning of food in the daily lives of people around the world.
Alan Davidson famously wrote eighty percent of the first edition, which was praised for its wit as well as its wisdom. Tom Jaine, the editor of the second edition, worked closely with Jane Davidson and Helen Saberi to ensure that new contributions continue in the same style. The result is an expanded volume that remains faithful to Davidson's peerless work. The text has been updated where necessary to keep pace with a rapidly changing subject, and Jaine assiduously alerts readers to new avenues in food studies. Agriculture; archaeology; food in art, film, literature, and music; globalization; neuroanatomy; and the Silk Road are covered for the first time, and absorbing new articles on confetti; cutlery; doggy bags; elephant; myrrh; and potluck have also found their way into the Companion.

The Cook's Book

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 13 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

For Beginners and Seasoned Cooks Alike 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 0 people found this review helpful.

"The Cook's Book" by Jill Norman is a text that has increased my kitchen skills by leaps and bounds. Regular pizza became stuffed pizza pie, ordinary chocolate chip cookies took on a cappuccino flare, and maduros were added to our realm of savory side dishes. (See site for photos.) More than these particular dishes, "The Cook's Book" expanded my knowledge of cooking techniques. I learned, for example, how to make an array of sauces, ranging from velouté to berbere and many places in between. But before you are even given a specific recipe the first page of the "Sauces and Dressings" chapter takes you step-by-step through the terms used when making sauces (skimming, sieving, deglazing), then explains the various ways in which sauces can be thickened (roux, butter, arrowroot, etc). All this is done through the use of clear explanations and - get this - photographs for every step. By page 57 an entire world of possibilities had opened before my eyes, and I hadn't even reached the "Foam," "Soups" or "Flavoring" sections, not to mention the remaining 537 pages of the book! It's astounding what a well-written, beautifully photographed cookbook can accomplish. The Editor, Jill Norman, collaborated with some of the world's best chefs when putting it together, including Rick Bayless, Pierre Hermé and Greg Malouf. I have to say that while working through this book you feel as if you are learning directly from the chefs you admire.

In addition to the chapters mentioned above, "The Cook's Book" includes sections on eggs & dairy products, fish & shellfish, poulty & game birds, vegetables, pasta & dumplings, breads & batters, and pasty & sweet doughs. The list goes on. These topical chapters are supplemented by sections on Indian cooking, Chinese cooking, Thai cooking, Mexican cooking and Middle Eastern cooking - each presented by a chef who has mastered the area and has created a menu for you. Hence, the Mexican cooking chapter written by Rick Bayless includes recipes for squash blossom-filled corn masa boats; tortilla soup with chili, cheese & avocado; braised pork in red chili sauce and lime ice cream with cajeta. Chapters in "The Cook's Book" are relatively short and by no means comprehensive, but that's alright because the point of this text is to teach you essential skills that will enhance your overall ability. Recipes range from simple (how to cook rice perfectly), to challenging (how to make frankfurter kranz), to difficult (how to make croissants), but I appreciated this fact. This is a cookbook that engages you, the cook, on every level. I had to make the stuffed pizza pie referenced above twice before it came out the way I wanted, the same goes for my gnocchi from semolina flour. Yet the end results were delicious and I gained a tremendous sense of accomplishment from learning such tasty new skills.

There isn't much that can be said about this book that would fall into the negative category. It is a huge text and hence a bit cumbersome, but that is to be expected from a book that transmits such a monumental amount of knowledge. At times the ingredients are a bit esoteric, yet I don't see how this can be avoided in a book that truly tackles the gourmet side of cooking and baking. Most of the less-common ingredients can be found at Whole Foods or your local speciality food store, and if those avenues fail there is always the internet. Overall I strongly recommend this book to cooks and bakers of every level.

Editorial Review:

Taking the best of the techniques and recipes from The Cook's Book, this is a reduced format and extent concise edition at an affordable price.

Beyond Parsley

Junior League of Kansas City

List Price: $24.95 By: Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri Amazon Marketplace: 43 new & used starting at $6.18

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 10 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A Genuine Gem! 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Beyond Parsley is one cookbook I always have nearby -- and I have many, many cookbooks. I am renowned among my family members and friends for e-mailing special recipes -- and many have come from this special gem. I have too many favorites in the book to list but if I had to select just ONE, I would choose Cossack Cheese. That one is a WINNER in every respect, and has gained the love of people around the US to whom I have sent the recipe. D. Ray Fuller Jr., Dallas, Texas

The one cook book you must have! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

We would go hungry without this book! This is the cook book we use far and away more than any other. We have even started some family holiday traditions from the recipes i.e. the green beans with pears - amazing! You never have to worry about making a recipe because they are all fantastic. It is a regular gift from us and we have been told many times it's the receivers new favorite cook book as well. Buy it, it is any cook's must have!

Best cookbook in my collection 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is one of those cookbooks that you can pick up hours before a dinner party, open it to any page, make the dish and have rave reviews. There are VERY few dishes in here that aren't good.

This is an older cookbook, but definitely worth looking into adding to your collection!

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: 12 Average rating: 3.0 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.

Busy Peoples Low-Fat Cookbook (Busy People's Low-Fat Cookbook)

Dawn Hall

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over 300,000 copies of Busy People's Low-Fat Cookbook have already been sold! What's a busy people's recipe? It's one that has seven ingredients or less and can be cooked in 30 minutes or less. Most take only 15 to 20 minutes. Here's a cookbook with more than 240 fast and easy, homestyle, heart-healthy recipes.

When her husband's cancer created a situation in which Dawn Hall realized she had to become the family breadwinner, Dawn, a self-described food addict, turned her passion - creating quick and easy recipes for delicious heart-healthy meals - into a solution that made her self-published cookbooks a nationwide sensation. With her charm, enthusiasm, and energy, Dawn has sold more than 650,000 copies of her cookbooks, won national awards, opened doors to speaking engagements, landed her press appearances and magazine covers. She created a wildly successful cookbook franchise with a fiercely loyal following.

Each recipe in Busy People's Low-Fat Cookbook has nutritional information, preparation time, and cooking time as well as menu ideas. The book also contains instruction on how to maintain an ideal body weight and tips on saving time and money in the kitchen. It is bound in an easy-to-use hardcover concealed spiral binding.

With Love from My Kitchen

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Family Recipes 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a great recipe journal. It offers everything you need. It has tabbed dividers, lined pages with "recipe for" and "from the kitchen of" on the recipe pages and has a lined page in the front of each tab to create an index. I bought this one for my sister for her birthday. I put a favorite recipe in each category to get her started. Hopefully she will pass it down to her daughter.

Not sure I would purchase again... 3 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

The concept of this book is good/sweet, but anyone could essentially create their own cookbook using a nice/high quality spiral bound notebook and placing sticky tabs where they want. I have medium size handwriting and I often have to squeeze words in because the illustrations on each and every page take-up valuable writing space and then when you couple the loss of writing space from the illustrations with the border... I am using my book but I'm also keeping my eyes open for a better version.

Great transaction 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

Very smooth transaction, very quick shipping. Item was packaged very well and completely as described

Wonderful Wedding Gift~Old Fashioned Love 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I gave this to a young bride who did not know how to cook. I put all my best family recipe's in there and all the litlle helpful hints I knew from my grandma. Like what to substitute for this or that, how to make yogurt last longer. I didn't fill up any section so she can add to it over the years and pass it down to her children. A unique gift that the bride will not have another just like it.

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

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

List Price: $24.95 By: Junior League of Denver Amazon Marketplace: 56 new & used starting at $1.15

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 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 4 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!

Editorial Review:

This bestselling community cookbook features almost 700 triple-tested recipes reflecting Colorado's lifestyle and rich heritage.