Reference Books - Page 8

Semi-Homemade Cooking

Sandra Lee

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 77 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Does the thought of cooking from scratch make you panic? Do you stand in front of your supermarket's canned vegetables display frozen with indecision? Is your fridge filled with takeout containers, and your oven used for storage? If you answered these questions with an emphatic "Yes," Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Cooking might be the cookbook for you.

There are plenty of excellent quick-and-easy cookbooks out there, but this book feels like a cross between a giant advertisement and one of those free recipe books you get with mail-in proofs of purchase. Every ingredient that can possibly be branded is labeled as such. Lee's Salad Chinois is made with Swanson premium chunk chicken breast, Kikkoman soy sauce, McCormick ground ginger, Hellman's or Best Foods mayonnaise, La Choy chow mein noodles, Fresh Express prepared green salad, Chun King chow mein vegetables, and Dole mandarin orange segments. Gnocchi Dippers are whipped up with Alessi gnocchi, Bertolli olive oil, and, believe it or not, Kraft Velveeta cheese. The Malibu Rum Cake includes Malibu Rum, Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe yellow cake mix, and Jell-O vanilla instant pudding. And not only does Lee dictate brand names, she chimes in with advice on music and wine selections, as well. One can only hope that Wolfgang Puck wrote the introduction to this book without ever seeing it. --Leora Y. Bloom

Making & Using Dried Foods

Phyllis Hobson

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Similarities to previous out of print Garden Way Book 5 out of 5 stars.
45 of 48 people found this review helpful.

This book will be a happy surprise for those of you who are looking for the out of print and hard to find "Garden Way's Guide to Food Drying" by Phyllis Hobson. This is basically the same book, with all the tips and hints for drying vegetables, fruits and herbs, but with even more recipes than the out of print book. Both the author and the publisher are the same.

Compare to How to Dry Foods 5 out of 5 stars.
27 of 29 people found this review helpful.

This has more methods of drying (including sun-drying), it has information on pretreating foods.

How to Dry Foods on the other hand has metric to american conversion, and it tells how long specific foods last while dry.

If you want methods buy this book, if you want specific facts, buy How to Dry Foods. Personally, I'm buying this one.

Making and using dried Foods 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I'm a first time drier and got several other book on this subject but this is my favorit. Highly recommend.

Awesome 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This book is great. Very informative. Bought a dehydrator, Nesco American Harvest FD-75PR. Already dehydrating foods to take on flying trips.

Editorial Review:

Step-by-step instructions for drying almost everything with or without a commercial dehydrator. Includes more than 200 delicious recipes using

dried foods.

The Food Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Gastronomical Knowledge

David Kamp, Marion Rosenfeld

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Food Snob n: reference term for the sort of food obsessive for whom the actual joy of eating and cooking is but a side dish to the accumulation of arcane knowledge about these subjects

From the author of The United States of Arugula--and coauthor of The Film Snob’s Dictionary and The Rock Snob’s Dictionary--a delectable compendium of food facts, terminology, and famous names that gives ordinary folk the wherewithal to take down the Food Snobs--or join their zealous ranks.

Open a menu and there they are, those confusing references to “grass-fed” beef, “farmstead” blue cheese, and “dry-farmed” fruits. It doesn’t help that your dinner companions have moved on to such heady topics as the future of the organic movement, or the seminal culinary contributions of Elizabeth Drew and Fernand Point. David Kamp, who demystified the worlds of rock and film for grateful readers, explains it all and more, in The Food Snobs Dictionary.

Both entertaining and authentically informative, The Food Snob’s Dictionary travels through the alphabet explaining the buzz-terms that fuel the food-obsessed, from “Affinage” to “Zest,” with stops along the way for “Cardoons,” “Fennel Pollen,” and “Sous-Vide,” all served up with a huge and welcome dollop of wit.

175 Best Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and Other Soft Spreads

Linda J. Amendt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Preserve the very best in available fresh foods.

Home canning is fun and exciting for the whole family, and enjoying homemade treasures is an unbeatable pleasure. In 175 Best Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and Other Soft Spreads, Linda J. Amendt shares her recipes and techniques for preserves that are easy to make and enjoyable any time of year.

Instructions are easy to understand and complete. Along with reliable recipes is a preplanning guide, essential for a successful home-canning project.

Canners and their lucky family members and friends will experience the tasty pleasures of such preserves as:

• Caramel apple jam, seedless blackberry jam, cherry raspberry jam, strawberry peach jam, sweet onion jam
• Apple cider jelly, boysenberry jelly, nectarine jelly, basil jelly
• Citrus trio marmalade, red onion marmalade, bing cherry marmalade, Tequila lime marmalade
• Blackberry preserves, apple raisin conserve, pineapple apricot conserve
• Apple butter, plum apricot butter, lemon curd, sunrise curd.

From expert techniques to safety concerns and choosing the right equipment, the author shares what every home canner needs.

A New Way of Eating from the Fit for Life Kitchen

Marilyn Diamond

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

food combining saved my life 5 out of 5 stars.
34 of 34 people found this review helpful.

I started food combining to lose weight. Thanks to this book, I have not only lost the excess weight, but my energy level and my blood pressure and cholestrol levels have dropped dramatically, too. But , best of all, I AM NEVER HUNGRY.

I lost 30 pounds effortlessly and I'm healthier than ever. 5 out of 5 stars.
34 of 36 people found this review helpful.

This book helped me to drop 30 pounds in less than 6 weeks. I feel alive again. I've never felt this good. Not only did I take the weight off, but I also lost my asthma and chronic fatigue. Thank you Marilyn Diamond.

Simple, healthy recipes that taste good 4 out of 5 stars.
25 of 25 people found this review helpful.

I like this cooking book and use it wuite often. It has several sections, and I especially like the one on salads and salad dressings and the one of fruit smoothies. The book can actually be used by people who have not read the Fit for Life books, too, as it contains a summary of the main info on food combining and fruit consumption; while Fit for Life fans will like it as it will bring nice new recipes in their kitchen, while still assuring them they are eating as healthy as possible.

The book contains several sections: fruit smoothies, juices and salads; vegetable salads and many dressings for them: sandwitches (yes, you can have a properly combined sandwicth, and once you had one, you won't want to go back to the old way!); soups; vegetable dishes; feast and buffest dishes.

The recipes are simple to realize even for people who don't have much experience in cooking, and they are realized with readily available items. This book will allow you to cook for your family and know they are eating properly without much effort on your side, and they'll like what you cook!

Particularly recommended for vegetarians! But anyone will like this book.

Aveline Kushi's Complete Guide to Macrobiotic Cooking: For Health, Harmony, and Peace

Aveline Kushi, Alex Jack

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Excellent macrobiotic cookbook 5 out of 5 stars.
13 of 14 people found this review helpful.

I own multiple macrobiotic cookbooks, and this one is the one I come to time and time again. Learning about the specialty ingredients in macrobiotic cooking is tricky, but once you have found a source of these ingredients, the recipes in this book are simple and tasty.

The thing I like most about this book is the simplicity of the recipes. Most of the recipes call for the same 4-5 cooking styles, with the same 4-5 condiments. Many of the recipes in this book have become staples of my diet.

I am not a 100% practicing macrobiotic, but when I feel the need to eat healthy and lose weight, I always turn to this book as a refresher course to how to eat healthy.

This book is an excellent companion book to "The Macrobiotic Way" by Michio Kuchi. Another book I highly recommend is "The Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics". These three books are used more than any other in my cookbook library.

The authoritative reference on macrobiotic cooking 5 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

From the teacher herself comes a huge book which distills more than 35 years of macrobiotic cooking and teaching. This book covers everything on the subject, from food preparation prior to cooking (an area most American cooks know little or nothing about) through "Medicinal Cooking and Home Cures."

Menu planning is included to incorporate acid/alkaline balancing which is so critical to the macrobiotic practitioner's path to total health.

I predict that those who study macrobiotic cooking will never again be able to enjoy fast foods such as meat burgers, french fried potatoes, sodas, chips, etc. They will KNOW when food is creating an imbalance and why. They will understand at what point disease kicks in and how to reverse it.

This book is required for all who seek health, harmony, and peace. We develop an appreciation and understanding of the role which whole foods, organically grown and properly prepared, play in our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

I might point out that prescription drugs, refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, dairy, and meats (other than fish) are huge contributors to imbalance and have no part in macrobiotic health. In a diet consisting of 50% whole grains, 25% vegetables, and the remainder made up of beans, sea vegetables, fish, and soups, it is amazing to see how many creative recipes are included in this 414 page book.

Buy it. Everyone needs this education.

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.

Nantucket Open-House Cookbook

Sarah Leah Chase

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

Editorial Review:

Sarah Leah Chase, co-author of The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook, knows that summer means long, lazy days of fun and getting together, of throwing the doors open and inviting over everyone you know for the pleasures of good company and good food. Now, cooks everywhere can create more than 250 of the recipes that have drawn hungry visitors and residents to her popular gourmet shop, Que Sera Sarah on Nantucket Island.

The author's eclectic combinations center on the freshest of seafood and produce, and induce hearty summer appetites to indulge in a unique chilled clam chowder, a fresh beachfront salad of Scallops with Orange and Chervil Vinaigrette, savory empanadas and turnovers, or a beautifully grilled bluefish redolent with lavender. Sumptuous meals must end with the proper desserts: an extravagantly rich Chocolate Bombe or a fruit tart glistening with a fortune of fresh raspberries and blueberries.

Complete with just-baked muffins and breads for breakfasts best enjoyed in a huge wicker chair and cool summer drinks for whiling away long afternoons, Nantucket Open-House Cookbook is for anyone who wants to make the most of fair-weather dining all year round.

Over 214,000 copies in print.

Lidia's Italian Table: More Than 200 Recipes From The First Lady Of Italian Cooking

Lidia Bastianich

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 29 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Lidia Bastianich moved to the United States in 1959 from Trieste in northern Italy. She was 12 years old. Her actual home was over the line, in what became Yugoslavia after World War II. So food, for Bastianich, was both what made her family different from everyone they lived around in their new home in New York State and the anchor that held her family together. Bastianich calls this visceral sense of food "Lidia's Italian Table." It's the name of her PBS series and of this book, which accompanies the series.

In sections that include antipasti, soups, pasta, risotto, gnocchi, polenta, vegetables, game and chicken, meats, fish and shellfish, and sweets, Lidia sweeps readers up into her arms and hugs them with the likes of Baked Onions with Butternut Squash Filling; Sauerkraut and Bean Soup; Bow Ties with Sausage and Leek Sauce; Shrimp Risotto; Fennel, Olive, and Citrus Salad; Braised Venison with Polenta; Baked Squid and Potatoes; and Zucchini Cake. Notice how most of these dishes have a familiar "Italian" ring, yet stretch beyond whatever that notion typically includes--the soup with sauerkraut, for example. Lidia's table is set in a part of Italy that doesn't get a lot of ready play. It's Italian, but then some. A little extra. If you try it, you may find it difficult to get up from Lidia's table. You may just want to stay. --Schuyler Ingle

Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen

Alton Brown

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 53 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"I think cooking is a lot of fun and I hate to see people not having fun doing it just because they don't have the right tools--which is not to say they need the prettiest, best, most expensive tools. They just need the tools that are right for them." Such is the organizing principle of Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen by the selfsame Alton Brown, star of Food Network's Good Eats as well as award-winning author of I'm Just Here for the Food. It's an interesting, effective principle. It comes from a guy who serves pie with a four-dollar mortar trowel he picked up at the hardware store.

Brown's opening challenge is a 60-day, four phase process of ridding your kitchen of all things unused and insignificant--easy on the surface, but tough in the doing. That leaves room for essential gear. And to help make those choices, Brown looks at pots and pans, sharp things (not just knives, but graters, mandolins, and cheese slicers, too), small things with plugs (as in small appliances--from food processors to coffee makers to deep fat fryers), kitchen tools unplugged (those items that fill drawers), storage and containment, and safety and sanitation.

If this were just an encyclopedia, what an unwholesome bore it would be. But Brown turns this relevant information into a romp. He's talking about the tools he uses, after all, and has no fear of naming likes and dislikes--based on his own experience. He also includes unending side chatter about cutting corners, saving money, and actually putting good tools to work. You'll find recipes throughout, and techniques, too. Like, how to bake a chicken in a flower pot. If you wonder why you would even want to attempt it in the first place, Brown clues you in. Alton Brown's Gear for Your Kitchen is about as guilt free as pleasure will ever get. --Schuyler Ingle