Cookbook Review Thread

[chesspain]

I have a bunch of cookbooks (albeit only half has many as I had before my divorce [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]), although it is difficult for me to keep track of which books contains a recipe I might have read. Consequently, I often use cooks.com when looking for a recipe, even though many of the recipes there suck.

Consequently, I thought it would be awesome if there was a program into which you could type all of your cookbooks--and then when you want a recipe for one or more ingredients, you type in said ingredient(s), and the software lists the various recipes by your book and page number.

[dylan's alias]

By far the best cookbook I have is The Balthazar Cookbook. For those not from NYC, Balthazar is a French Bistro in SoHo, and is IMO consistently the best restaurant in Manhattan. Nothing is too fancy (it is a bistro) but everything is done perfectly. I've never had a bad dish there.

The cookbook is the entire menu, exactly as it is made there. The preparations can be a little time-consuming but the results are worth it. As a scary aside, the recipe for garlic mashed potatoes called for 6 potatoes, 2 cups of cream and 3 sticks of butter! (There's a reason restaurant food tastes so good)

One ingredient that consistently comes up is veal stock (recipe in the back). I bought some cut up bones, made the stock, then reduced it to a demiglace (very thick, almost a gel) and froze it into ice cubes (1 cube = 1 cup stock). A few hours of work on a lazy weekend day has really transformed my sauces (and lasted about 6 months before I ran out). Homemade veal stock is the missing ingredient from a thin, runny sauce that lacks body.

Basically, I can't recommend this cookbook enough. You will find things you want to make and will impress a crowd.

Favorites:

Goat cheese and onion tart

Duck a l'orange

Braised short ribs




http://www.amazon.com/Balthazar-Cookbook...TF8&s=books

[ElSapo]

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Consequently, I thought it would be awesome if there was a program into which you could type all of your cookbooks--and then when you want a recipe for one or more ingredients, you type in said ingredient(s), and the software lists the various recipes by your book and page number.

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Try MasterCook. The version I have, which came with a textbook, has about 20 cookbooks already entered. You can create your own cookbooks, enter your own recipes, and so on.

I'm not a huge fan but some people rave about the program.

[SamIAm]

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Try MasterCook.

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Looks interesting. 2+2 Beware, though; I googled MasterCook and found a trial. Unfortunately, Avast warned of adware when I downloaded it, so I didn't install. Be careful with trials out there.
-Sam

[jeffnc]

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream book and a Donvier and you should be good to go.

[Aloysius]

Just got recommended this cookbook by several friends and picked up a copy, looks good:

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking

I'm a big fan of braised foods so am going to try out alot of these recipes (also a very forgiving method of cooking wrt mistakes, always a good thing imo). Stevens also breaks down science of braising.

From Amazon page:

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Braising--cooking food slowly and at low temperatures in a closed pot with a little liquid--produces deeply flavorful food. Molly Stevens's All About Braising is a definitive exploration of this soul-satisfying approach to food. With 125 simple recipes for braises of all kinds--from meat and poultry through seafood and vegetables, plus a thorough anatomy of technique (Stevens explores oven versus stovetop braising, for example)--the book will please cooks at every skill level. Most importantly, perhaps, it will send them to the kitchen to prepare enticing dishes such as Braised Endive with Prosciutto, Whole Chicken Braised with Pears and Rosemary, Duck Ragu with Pasta, and Veal Shoulder Braised with Figs & Sherry. Braises can also taste as good or better the next day, and Stevens supplies advice for second-day service. Included, too, is an "Opinionated Pantry" which, besides exploring relevant ingredients, expresses Stevens's ongoing commitment to using only the best and freshest available.

Throughout, Stevens's offers sensible, rewarding counsel. "If it comes down to a matter of cooking or not cooking dinner for your family," she says, "I recommend buying commercially raised chicken [as opposed to locally produced or other naturally raised poultry]. Make a satisfying home cooked meal, and sit down and enjoy it with your family." In other words, Stevens is wise. "The act of cooking on a regular basis will make you a better cook," she concludes, "and will improve the quality of your life and of those around you." --Arthur Boehm

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From Publishers Weekly
Cuisines as diverse as Vietnamese, Moroccan, Italian, British and American all use braising; the technique can be a means to cook everything from vegetables to pork belly. Stevens, a Fine Cooking contributing editor, says that braising is simply "tucking a few ingredients into a heavy pot with a bit of liquid, covering the pot tightly and letting everything simmer peacefully until tender and intensely flavored." With the help of appetite-inducing photos of Vietnamese Braised Scallops, and Braised Endive with Prosciutto, Stevens illustrates just how exciting a braise can be. "Braising," she clarifies, "is a building process. The cook adds layer upon layer of flavor, nuance, and character to a dish at each stage." Although braising is a relatively simple cooking method, Stevens takes her time explaining it, drawing on food science to explain not just how, but why (for example, "Give food plenty of space," because "If the pan is too crowded... the released moisture can't escape and will cause the meat to steam, not brown"). Aside from Stevens's sometimes superfluous prose and ho-hum anecdotes, the book contains interesting tasting notes and cultural information, and Stevens's lengthy instructions will be particularly valuable to beginners. Photos, line drawings.

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-Al

[slamdunkpro]

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Just got recommended this cookbook by several friends and picked up a copy, looks good:

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking

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Excellent book. Her recipes are really solid; it's one of my go-to books

[guids]

I just got the CIA: The Professional Chef, and The essentials of classic Italian cooking. Teh CIA book is MAMMOTH, and great for giving you a complete basic overview of everything you need to know about cooking, from any cut of meat/seafood, to hwo to use equipment. Its a big book, that imo, is just best read cover to cover, rather than skipping any parts. Essentials, has a great introduction taht describes the different regions of Italy, and how the geography comes into play as far as the types of food within each fo the regions, the rest is just a bunch of recipes, so basically I just read the beginning, and skip around to recipes as needed.

[mikeczyz]

sitting behind me is my cookbook bookshelf. i've got about 150 back there. you might call me a cookbook fiend.

i'm a huge fan of ethnic cooking. i love bold brassy flavors and i find that mexican, chinese, indian and SE Asian food give me what I'm looking for. For SE Asian, I love hot, sour, salty, sweet. bayless and kennedy for mexican food. fuschia dunlop is my new favorite author for chinese...her two books on szechuan and hunanese cooking are must-haves.

[Jeff W]

Can anyone comment on A New Way to Cook by Sally Schneider? Thanks.