Cooking Books

This cookbook is one of my most ragged cookbooks. It is the one I look for when I want to fix something special or homey. The stew recipe is absolutely the best!
Elaine Littau
Author of "Nan's Journey"

Yes, this is an excelent book. I cant think of a single recipe that I have made from this book that has resulted in a failure. However there are a few things that get to me when using the book.
1. The Index: The index in this book is perhaps the most absurd index I have ever encountered. I dont know who formatted it but they should never be allowed to create an index for the rest of their career. The way things are tabbed, spaced, and positioned on the page makes it almost impossible to find what you are looking for without sitting down and seriously taking time to search.

2. Christopher "I am depressed" Kimball - At the intro to every single recipe he startes it out with some depressing horror story "Most apple pies turn out soggy, burnt, too crispy, too moist, rotten, dog food..." "most roast recipies turn out like cardboard cooked in a lava flow"

he is depressing.
but cookbook good

I love this cookbook I recently recieved it from good friend and have used it so much since then which is saying alot since I have a vast selction of cookbooks. I learn so much and am content to just sit and read this book, the writing is stunning and I can't even begin on the recipes. The cauliflower recipes are to die for, they take a normally bland vegetable and totally spice it up. I think that if you don't cook alot you would be content with just this cookbook in your kitchen. And if your an avid cook this book is for you as well. I give it five stars and two thumbs-up.

This isn't just a cookbook, it's a cookbook telling you how the recipe came to be the best recipe. It's a fun read and everything I've made has turned out to be great.

I have had this cookbook for several years and of the many cookbooks I own, I consider this to be the desk reference. I enjoy just reading it as much as I enjoy cooking from it as it explains recipes in a way that teaches better cooking skills in general. If you follow the recipes exactly, you are almost assured of great results. But more subtly, this book has taught me over time how to take any recipe and add a few tricks to make it better -- something that most accomplished cooks already know, but I started as a total novice with this book. It's the one cookbook that I brought with me overseas and the one that I will always refer to when I want to understand any recipe.

This is a thinking man's "Joy of Cooking". They give you all the caveats to avoid when you are making any dish. I am not one to follow recipes to the letter. I like how they give you the objectives of what you are trying to accomplish. Then you can work within your range of knowledge. It is a great book for an advanced cook.

The recipes are thorough to the point of an extreme and if followed EXACTLY you will have perfect results every time. Even when not followed to the tee they come out great! I have purchased a lot of new equipment for these recipes and the buying tips offered in the book were invaluable! so you may be asking why only 3 stars after all the praise? The problem with the book is it's sheer size. It is a monstrosity! 5 pounds does not sound like a lot of weight but combined with the thickness of the book it makes very hard to read. I have accidentally ripped a lot of the pages just by holding them while the book has slipped between my legs. A better format would have been to break this into smaller pieces each focusing on a certain category like baking, main dishes, equipment corner, ect and offered as a boxed set. All said and done it is a great read! 5 stars for content 1 star for format= 3 stars.

I'm not a chef so I don't want to experiment on my own. I want to cook something the right way the first time. This book allows me to do this as the authors have taken the time to try the various methods and only give you the one that works the best.

I am also a geek at heart and I love the fact that they often explain the science and reasoning behind their recommendations. Very good book and I highly recommend. If you are a chef or someone looking for highly unique or very ethnically diverse dishes, this is probably not for you.

I have had this cookbook for a couple of months and have yet to be disappointed with a single thing I have made. The recipes are explained in detail, and I believe this book has made me a better cook simply by providing the "science" behind what makes a recipe work (for example adding baking soda to add more browning to a baked good). This has become my cooking bible and I have since ordered two more books from the same publisher.

Recipes I've made from the book that were fantastic include:
Devils Food Cake with Coffee Buttercream Icing (YUM!)
Chicken Marsala
Guacamole (so easy, yet so delicious)
Hummus (again, easy - it's fun and cheaper to make your own!)
Ratatouille
Stir Fried Pork (tasted better than a Chinese restaurant)

I've made a ton of others, but these are recent ones that come to mind. There are also numerous "sidebar" articles throughout the book with various equipment and ingredient reviews. I've followed a number of these recommendations and have also been very pleased.

In summary, this book is well worth the price and you will be on your way to serving fantastic meals to your family with relative ease!

Provided it as a gift, and the receiver loved it. I am thinking of getting my own copy.

I loved this book as a kid and now own it and read it to my kids. I love everything about it (the pictures and the story).

This is an all around great book! We have loved reading this book over and over. It brings a smile to your face and lifts you up! As authors ourselves, it is inspirational to see books written by other authors.
Darla, Sydney and Jimmy Batchler

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

This book has been one of my favorite children's book since I was young. Today i find it as an inspiration that a book can stay with a child throughout their entire life.

This book is my proclaimed favorite book of all my childhood. I read this book so much that I had to buy a replacement for it when I was 18 because the original was falling apart. I cannot wait for the birth of my daughter so I can read to her about the silly story of a town that receives its food from the sky until the weather makes a turn for the worse. The pictures still crack me up, and the detail is quite nice. As I grew older I searched for different foods and hidden details in the illustrations. I always liked the length of this book, because most bedtime stories seemed too short for me. I grew up an avid reader from a family with little time or money to keep me occupied, getting my amusement from books.

I can't believe this book has 5 stars. . I'm so confused. I bought this book for my kids for Christmas after reading the rave reviews...and I can't express how completely disappointed I am. Rather than being "whimsical" the book was more "disturbing" with a touch of "nauseating". After I read this book to my six year old she offered to take it to her school and donate it to the school library. . . that oughta tell you something.

I purchased this book based on previous Amazon reviews and was expecting it to be good - but I didn't expect it to take over my life and my kitchen! I have bowls of sour dough seed starters, barms and pate fermente. I'm stretching my dough to see if it passes the "window pane" test and sticking my milk frothing thermometer into the risen dough to see if it is warm enough - there is so much to learn in this book and it is so much FUN!!! You can use a machine mixer if you like - the author is encouraging of a variety of methods of kneading and proofing - and so far I have had great results - the instructions are very detailed and easy to follow.
My only criticism is that I would want a few more pictures of the dough in its different stages particularly for the more complex recipes involving several different stages of wild yeast starter. I had no visual reference to see if my starter looked right on the final day. But a small point in an otherwise magnificent book!

Excellent bread book. The recipes are awesome. I have tried 4-5 of them and all of them turned out great. Now I bake better bread than most of the store-bought ones!

This is an excellent, comprehensive book to help you produce incredible breads. Every time a loaf comes from my oven, friends & family alike beg me to open a bakery.

Just can't say enough about Peter Rhinehart. I have bought 3 of his books so far. He IS a master at what he does. Even the beginner can make delicious bread, pizza......whatever, if they are dedicated to following his formulas. Be prepared though, these aren't recipes where you just throw some yeast in and have bread in a few hours. Most of his formulas take 2 or 3 days to complete. The taste will probably be the best you have ever eaten.....and you will have made it yourself!!

The printing of this book is totally lousy. The spine weakened within just a few weeks. This is my main complaint because I just don't think it will hold up to years of opening and closing. I can see this as coming apart.

A scientific approach to cooking. It covers all aspexts of food preparation, has extensive bibliography and a good index. This book is not for casual cookers. The reader has to be serious in his desire to profundize his knowledge of the minutia that makes the difference between a casually prepared dish and a great one. He/she have to possess some knowledge of chemistry to get a good information in regard to the delicate aspects of different forms of heat, coockware etc. All and all, it is an excellent source of good information for the serious cook.

I looked for a book that would help me understand which variables can I manipulate to affect the outcome in my cooking of : meat, bread, eggs, sauces, vegetables ... etc. And would help me with food handling practice - bringing it out of habit in to understanding. Different cultures handle food differently - I wanted to understand what effects those habits have. How does food spoil? And what are the variables that one can control - and how do cultures control them?

This book responds to those questions, bringing real understanding to my kitchen. And it responds to them on both an overview level and a scientific level, and one can engage either or both.

The book really appeals to be because this isn't a scientist writing dryly about food, this is a food lover bringing the context of history and science to food preparation.

I am truly enjoying the depth of cooking knowledge in this book. I am a "down home" type cook. It is fun to learn the chemistry of the cooking procedures I use, and to learn the history of the ingredients I use. The book is well arranged and the style of writing is easy to understand. This is not a cookbook, per se, but an excellent reference for someone interested in the "how" and "why" of cooking.

I bought this book for my husband, at his request. He's not much of a cook, but he is intrigued by the encyclopedic knowledge of food and food preparation that this book includes. He is very pleased with the purchase. And I will refer to it, I'm sure.

This is an excellent book filled with great information in what I like to call a "pick up and read a little" format. It is logically arranged and well indexed but it lends itself well to random reading. Think of it as part Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, part chemistry primer, and part dictionary of eatables.

Since buying this book, I leave it within easy reach on the top of the bookshelf and typically pick it up and choose something at random and learn something new.

Very readable, well illustrated and a great value: you will not regret purchasing this book.

This book looks full of great delicious looking cupcake recipes and also offers useful tips throughout the book. The author's experience is obvious in the helpful tips. It offers ganauche, basic icing recipes that you can vary throughout the book: it's simple, organized, and straightforward. However, non-hydrogenated shortening and non-hydrogenated margerine are staples in the icing which is brilliant but I don't know where to find non-hydrogenated shortening. Otherwise there are no really specialty items to buy. It looks really good.. i haven't tried it yet. But there are just enough pictures... not on every single page like some other overpriced modern-looking cookbooks... but just enough to show the important stuff. I want to buy Veganomicon now.

I have been baking my way through Ms. Moskowitz' book and have made the best cupcakes I've made in years! My family has been enjoying the treats and any problems have been due to my error, not due to any problems with the recipes themselves. No one needs to spend money on "Sprinkles" cupcakes when they have this wonderful book at their fingertips!!

Many of my coworkers are vegan, so I got this book to make birthdays a little more delicious, and every recipe is a gem. They are so tasty, and offer so many unusual options, and I've never made better icing. This is truly an "I can't believe it's vegan" cookbook.

Ok, seriously, this book is ridiculous! The cupcakes would fool any non-vegan! I made some of the Golden vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting and brought them to a 4 year olds birthday party, since I was the only vegan attending and wanted to eat something sweet with everyone. Well, the cupcakes went faster than the kid's birthday cake!Great book- a MUST HAVE!!

The only word I have for this book is delicious! Each cupcake I've made so far has been delicious, and I have to convince people that they're vegan!
The basic cupcakes are also really easy to make, which is a bonus.

Veganomicon, along with Isa's previous Vegan With a Vengeance, are the go-to cookbooks in my kitchen. I use other cookbooks, sure, but these are the ones that are spattered with sauce, splashed with water, and generally look like they've survived a culinary war.

There's a little bit of everything in this cookbook; quick recipes that I can whip together without too much planning or special ingredient shopping as well as more complex dishes that I can use for fancier gatherings.

I just bought this book a few weeks ago and have already made quite a few recipes out of it, and everything has come out wonderful!

I tend to have bad luck when cooking from vegetarian/raw/vegan cook books but the authors were spot on with this collection.

I use this book to plan 75% of my meals and have not been let down yet.

It also lists soy free, gluten free, sugar free, recipes and
has a section on how to correctly cook vegetables
and includes a party menu guide

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I just find the recipes in this book are far too involved for everyday cooking.. I was disappointed with this purchase.

This cookbook has really helped my partner and me with our transition to a vegan diet. I really thought it would be harder for us, but with this very comprehensive cookbook it has almost been a breeze. I make a batch of the Cesar salad dressing almost every week! I have also made the BBQ Tofu, the plantain and pinto stew, and the cornbread. All fantastic! I can't wait to try the brownies, the homemade seitan, and the mac daddy mac and 'cheese'. I recommend this book to anyone, and most of the items can be made to satisfy non-vegans too.

This book has tasty dishes that are easy to make. I have had many dinner parties where I only used the recipes in this book and everything has been a hit. It is a great addition to your library of cookbooks.

I bought this book to accompany a charcoal Weber grill for my husband last father's day. He mastered babyback ribs after one grilling, wowed my co-workers with the NC pulled pork on pg. 109, upstaged my traditional Thanksgiving turkey with his smoked bird with a mediterrean rub (pg 443). He has become the neighborhood smoking/grilling legend and we we already grill several times a week regardless on rain, sleet or snow.

The book is well organized, easy to understand, and the photos are great at showing techniques and the process of cooking several types of meats and so many vegies.
If you don't know how to start a grill or are stuck doing burgers you can thumb through this, try the simplier recipes/techniques, and work your way up to become a neighborhood legend too.

This book covers all the technique needed to barbecue, um, I mean grill you'll need (note: if you think the two words are interchangeable, they're not. Barbecue is low-`n'-slow; grill is hot-`n'-quick). Cook steaks, seafood, vegetables, and desserts. After reading this book, following some easy instructions, and practice you'll be the grill guru you've always wanted to be. The book also contains some very good recipes to demonstrate the techniques. It is a good buy.

this book is one of the best bq book on the market, i'm glad i got it.

This is an amazing book, makes a great gift for any barbeque-er -- the recipe for lamb chops is out of this world. The best part of this book is you can flip through it on a Saturday morning and visualize what dinner looks like because every recipe has a picture. It's super easy to follow and anyone can make a feast. This is my favorite cookbook by far.

We highly recommend this book!!! Every recipe we've tried has been a winner. We love the photographs and clear descriptions. The only problem is the binding on the paperback. It falls apart, especially for the avid griller's. My dad had his spiral bound to keep it together. I am sure the hardback copy would be better.

I only received this book a couple weeks ago.
The 3 recipes I cooked were okay.
I had reservations about the two chicken breast filet recipes:
cooking times requested are very short and your filets can come out raw.
-She should've been more specific on to tell when its done by detailing the weight of the breast filets to use.

However, other recipes, especially the pasta ones, look really good!
Looking foward to using this book more.

This is a good book for technique and ingredients; belongs on every Italian cook's shelf. I agree it's a little limited re recipes. But, her recipe for Minestrone is the BEST I've ever tried! Excellent technique for prepping and cooking all the veggies. I've been making this soup for years and it's a true winner!

This is one of the best cookbooks I own, and certainly the best Italian cookbook I own.

I do love a lot of these recipes, but not all of them. I don't think I would've tried to make sauce with San Marzano tomatoes if it hadn't been for this cookbook. I am so glad I did. The recipe for the tomato sauce with butter is to die for. I put some in a small container to let my sister try, gave it to my niece to bring to her, and as soon as she tasted it, she called me on the phone to ask for the recipe. I also tried the Minestrone alla Romagnola soup recipe and was pleasantly surprised again. My brother happened to have a chest cold at the time that I made it, and I sent some home to him when his wife stopped by. Again, he called as soon as he ate it and asked how I made it. Needless to say I have bought several of this cookbook and sent one to my brother and one to my sister. Now we all cook some of the recipes that we each like.
Now my father was from Italy, and he came to the United States when he was a child. He opened several restaurants and was very successful. He passed away when I was very young, so I never had the chance to talk to him much about cooking. However, I do remember how good many of his recipes were, and he always insisted on making everything from scratch, even his chicken and meat stock. After trying the recipes in this cookbook for meat stock, I have to say that it is VERY similar to my dads.

The lemon Chicken recipe in this book is not only tasty, but it's easy as well. Everyone that has tried it agrees. The recipe for the pork braised in milk was just okay for me. I actually prefer making pork roast my way with garlic, rosemary, thyme and extra virgin olive oil processed in a mini chopper and smeared all over the pork roast and slow roasted in a 325 degree oven to an internal temperature of 170.
Eggplant parmesan seems like a good recipe, but again, I prefer my way of salting and draining it and dipping it in egg and milk mixture then flouring it and frying it. After letting it drain on paper bags, then layering it with sauce fried eggplant, parmesan cheese, sauce, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella cheese, eggplant sauce and then more parmesan, and baking it at a 375 degree oven for an hour. It comes out great every time. Now I haven't tried all the deserts, but I have to say that some of them don't look or sound very good, so I tend to look else where for those recipes.
As for the way the book is written and illustrated, I find it very good. I never had a problem reading or figuring out anything that was written, there are plenty of notes and illustration pictures for you to see so nothing is very hard. All in all I do like this book, just not all the recipes, and I do use it often.

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Like many people, I get many of my recipes online at sources like allrecipes, Food Network, Food & Wine, etc. It makes me wonder why I keep so many cookbooks cluttering up the kitchen. Then I open a book like Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, and it's crystal clear why it's allowed valuable shelf space in my cluttered kitchen.

Recipes as simple as tomato sauce made with only tomatoes, butter, onion and salt come alive with descriptions such as:

"There is nothing inherently crude about tomato sauce. Quite the contrary: No other preparation is more successful in delivering the prodigious satifactions of Italian cooking than a compentently execute sauce with tomatoes; no flavor espresses more clearly the genius of Italian cooks than the freshness, the immediacy, the richness of good tomatoes adroiitly matched to the most suitable choice of pasta."

Essentials is quite literally essential for anyone who wants to create authentic Italian dishes. The recipes focus on the quality of ingredients and the methods for preparing those ingredients to maximize the flavor and experience. Few recipes require more than 5 ingredients.

The instructions are comforting, as Marcella makes you feel as though she is in the kitchen with you. From her Bolognese Meat Sauce recipe, she instructs: "When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface."

Essentials is the perfect volume, for both seasoned foodies and beginner cooks alike. The introductions and recipes read as though you are cooking beside your Italian grandmother. Remarkable, given that I am only Italian in spirit!

Excellent book on grilling, I wanted a book on Charcoal but found this book full of good information that can be used by both gas and woodl

Fantastic book with lots of great grill instructions and recipies. Wished that every recipie had a picture but it does'nt.

I received this book as a gift,all have benefited! We've tried about half of the recipes, each is easy to follow with simple ingredients, and delicious.

I'm one of those people who loves buying and looking through any kind of cookbook. I get cooking magazines too (including Gourmet). But so far, nothing tops this grill book. It is my favorite! And my husband's too. We've had it for several years and have probably made at least half the recipes in it - and they were all so tasty! I even use some recipes for non-grilling ideas. I highly recommend this book for casual grilling and formal entertaining. There's something for everyone.

Here we have one of those rare culinary volumes which is actually helpful, and inside, you'll discover a treasure of grilling knowledge. Clearly, this is the bible for outdoor chefs.

I sort of specialize in gourmet outdoor cooking effecting all techniques including (but not limited to) grilling, smoking, dutch oven, cooking on a spit, and open campfire, utilizing many different woods and devices to achieve my ends. I don't limit my outdoor cooking to meats and barbeque -- I do Chinese, desserts, seafood and all manner of side dishes. You can access many of my recipes here: http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?chef=196369

This book contains very excellent rubs, sauces, and meal recipes that you'll find are difficult to beat -- the methods are quite clear and the book is as useful for the grilling veteran as it is for the newcomer to these skills. I know of no better work on this topic.

Highly recommended!