Reviews (9)

mixed bag, cook at your own risk!
I've tried many recipes in her Modern Classic I book and I have to say it's a love hate relationship with her books. They are gorgeous and inspiring to look at (5 stars), but instructions or results can sometimes be disappointing (2 stars). I always recommended her books to friends with a warning (great looking books but the measurement and instructions can be inaccurate, cook at your own risk!). Some instructions are so streamlined to the point of skipping seasoning all together, and dishes came out beautifully to the eyes but are totally bland to the taste. Her Asian recipes are not authentic either, when cross referencing other books with the same recipe.

Very happy with Donna Hay's recipe books.
They are beautiful, they have elegant and -- more important -- easy recipes with an international flair.I am considered a gourmet cook by others...and I couldn't be happier with this and her other books.

Perfect
I first discovered Donna Hay's work about two years ago, and I just love her books!The simplicity is blended with her amazing creativity, and every recipe is a knockout!I have always loved simplicity, and I love how it shines through in this book, and isn't lost with the goal to prepare amazing dishes fast.Donna Hay has another winner with this one! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Methods - General    5. Quick and easy cookery    6. Reference    7. Cooking / General   

Editorial Review

Professional cooking schools have used Madeleine Kamman's Read more

Reviews (18)

A great resource
Quite the informative book on cooking, which is just what I need. It explains the science and techniques of cooking which is what I have been looking for for a very long time. Recommended to all who love the sweet pleasures of cooking!

The Greatest Cookbook Ever Written
There are only half a dozen or so cookbooks that I trust implicitly and recommend without hesitation; this book is one of them, and is clearly king of the hill. That makes this cookbook the best ever written. Not until I re-read this second edition did I realize what a terrible cook I am. Now, when I wish to know how something should be done, this is the book I reach for. This is not a comprehensive collection of all common recipes you will ever need, so I do not always find the recipe I need here. Note that many 'standard' recipes are absent; recipes are chosen for training value. Upon reading this book, it is rather hard not to be inspired to go out and become a better cook, no matter what your skill level.
Superb Text and First book on cooking. Buy It!
`The New Making of a Cook' by Madeleine Kamman is hands down the very best first cookbook for everyone from rank beginners to experienced amateurs who learned cooking at their mother's knee. If you do not own a copy of this book and are serious about cooking, stop reading this review now, go to the top of the page, and click on the button to add this to your shopping cart.
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Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. General    5. Methods - General    6. Cooking / Culinary Arts & Techniques    7. General cookery   

Reviews (5)

A good start, but...
I bought this book looking for something to pass along to employees and friends that dealt with food-styling and decoration.Specifically I was looking for tips on decorating steam tables and the food contained therein.
Disappointed
This book was very disappointing. If you are just starting out in the food service industry, then I guess this is okay for you; but if you are Veteran in the business, you probally already know how to arrange a table for presentation. This book also contained far too many recipe, perhaps it should be classified as a cook book. Definetly not worth the money!

Not especially helpful with garnishing
I agree with the other reviewer.While this is a lovely book, it was not what I was expecting or hoping for.I found it lacking in illustrations. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Methods - General    4. Quantity Food Production And Service    5. Table setting and decoration    6. Tablesetting    7. Cooking / Culinary Arts & Techniques    8. General cookery    9. Hospitality industry   

Reviews (8)

good recipes, no fluff
I really like this book, for , as stated by others, it is a hearty collection of soups and stews, with a great variety ranging from vegeterian to meat-filled to cold and even some fruit.I have some definte favorites, especially the smoked salmon chowder (just straight up chowder, nothing weird like peas or cocktail onions like another recipe I have seen!), but I do have to say that not all recipes have worked out for me.It could have been my taste, but I think a little more instruction, or perhaps tips/recommendations, from the author on the selection of certain ingredients would have helped the bad recipes turn out better.I would definitely recommend this book, especially with soup season starting up soon!

Delectable Book
I got this one for Christmas and have tried perhaps 18-20 recipes since (I'm addicted to soups and stews).
NOT MUCH BETTER THAN A GOOD BOWL OF SOUP
I'll admit..I'm mainly a soup person only in the fall and winter months when it's cooler and you don't mind a nice pot of soup simmering on the stove for several hours.Soup and winter just goes together even though this book contains many lighter receipes that can be enjoyed all year round.
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Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Courses & Dishes - Soups & Stews    4. Methods - General    5. Soups    6. Stews    7. Cooking / Soups & Stews    8. Soups & starters   

Editorial Review

Braising--cooking food slowly and at low temperatures in a closed pot with a little liquid--produces deeply flavorful food. Molly Stevens's Read more

Reviews (15)

Bestcookbook I own
Molly Stevens' book is the best cookbook I own, and I own quite a few. I especially like her braised pork recipes.Her "Red-Cooked Pork Belly with Bok Choy" is the best braised pork I've ever cooked.It is truly authentic Chinese and it tasts heavenly. Buy yourself this book and a Le Creuset Dutch Oven and start braising!

NOT - uncomplicated but....WOW
The recipes in this book are often somewhat complex, but they are easy to follow and the results are wonderful. Braising does not aways take a long time either.One of my favorites is Soy-Braised Chicken Thighs with Star Anise and Orange Peel - 40 minutes total.

Great resource
I fell in love with the style of this book immediately, but we all know that can be deceiving!I then tried several recipes and they lived up to my expectations.The techniques are well explained, offering you the chance to explore new flavors and combos.I think it's a great mix of classic dishes with more modern ones.In particular, I am blown away by the vegetable braises.It is so rare to see such a large number of braises that don't use meat!I can't wait to make my way through the entire book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Braising (Cookery)    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Meat Cookery    5. Methods - General    6. Specific Ingredients - Meat    7. General cookery   

Reviews (2)

A cure for sleeplessness
I know that Dr. Cullen knows what he is talking about, I know that this book is the standard to which other books on management are held, and it is almost always required reading, but this book is instant somnia. Some of the information also seems a little dated and cliche now that every manager in the country uses these techniques. Reading it in conjunction with The Chef Manager really helped me plow through.

Read this book
I've met Dr. Cullen. He really has his stuff together and knows what he is talking about. Truely a wonderful text. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Business/Economics    3. Careers - General    4. Cooking    5. Cooks    6. Food Service Management    7. Industries - Hospitality, Travel & Tourism    8. Methods - General    9. Methods - Professional    10. Business & Economics / Hospitality, Travel & Tourism   

Reviews (6)

Cook's Illustrated Test Kitchen
Even though I subscribe and have many Cook's Illustrated books this was worth the purchase.Yes, some of the info is repeated from other pubs but often tweaked a little and some new stuff also.A very good read, too!

Avid Cook
I ordered the first volume of the series and was very pleased with my purchase.This is a fine addition to my cookbook collection.

Excellent book but could use a better index
This book is OUTSTANDING.America's Test Kitchen is like the Consumer Report's of recipes and cooking products.I enjoy learning WHY certain products and techniques work.They try and try until they get a particular recipe to be the best it can be. Then they share what they learned.The one disappointing aspect of this book is the Table of Contents and indexes.For example each "chapter" contains several recipes, but you have to go to the chapter in order to see what all the recipes are within that chapter.But the book is so very excellent that I can forgive this flaw. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Courses & Dishes - General    5. Entertaining - General    6. Methods - General   

Editorial Review

If you're not sure what all those cooking utensils in your kitchen drawer are for, Read more

Reviews (11)

Awesome Find
This book is an awesome find. I discovered it over seven years ago when I was in college and still refer to now that I'm more experienced with cooking. It explains the basics and assumes that you know nothing. It leaves nothing to chance and most of the recipes have a short list of ingredients so you aren't stuck with extra stuff that can't be used again until you repeat that dish. If you are debating between this book and another, this is the one to buy.

Helped Me Change My Life - Really!
This book has been wonderful!As a 29 year-old bachelor I have never learned to cook and lived for years on pre-made foods.As I'm settling down now with my love, I decided I had to learn to cook.But in the past I found cookbooks and friends who tried to show me to cook very frustrating because rather than truly teaching, they assume that you know a lot of things and haphazardly tell yuo what to do on a certain recipe.
fantastic
This is the best cookbook I have ever owned. It was one of the first cookbooks I bought, and my experience with it (rave reviews) convinced me cooking was not hard and I could master this art and really go to town for guests. I have just emerged exhausted and humiliated after exploring the high end, fancy, haute-cuisine cookbooks in an attempt to impress, and after disastrous attempts at bistro cuisine, realize that its back to the basics with Elaine for me- her recipes are delicious, foolproof, and because I grew up refusing to learn how to cook, a true lifesaver. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Methods - Beginner's Cookery    5. Methods - General   

Reviews (3)

Must buy culinary students
I'm a culinary student and found this book very helpful for converting units into metric units.It helped me with my baking class because it showed how to convert measurements properly and with great accuracy.I also used the following to study for the National Servsafe Test which is also on amazon.com: Great for pros and home chefs
This book clears up the math questions for all levels of preparing foods. From the diference in dry measure to liquid measure to getting the quantities right for the number of guests you are feeding. Bravo!!

Finally...
This is what I've been waiting for.For those of us who aren't too good with numbers and measurements (foodservice math), this is a god-send.It's got great information and it makes the whole subject of "culinary math" reasonable and understandable. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Mathematics    5. Methods - General    6. Cooking / Culinary Arts & Techniques    7. General cookery   

Reviews (10)

A book to enjoy, use, and learn from
Please don't race to the kitchen with this cookbook. First, sit down and enjoy reading Simply in Season. Within its pages you will find philosophy, an ingrained dependence on God, wonderful ideas, a challenging new way of considering food, and, of course, a lot of tasty, tempting recipes which will feed the body and spirit with nutritious food.
Useful tool in the kitchen
I got this book in a box set with two other World Community Cookbooks. This is the one I use the most, and there are great recipes for every season-enough to inspire readers to adopt local grown, in-season cooking practices. Doing so is supposedly good for the planet, because if enough people do it it means less gas burned to transport produce across country or from overseas. This is a great recipe book for CSA subscribers or habitual farmer's market shoppers.
Big Punch in little packet
This book has great simple recipes. Let's you look at cooking in a new light. I have enjoyed this book much more then I was expecting. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery, American    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. General    5. Health & Healing - General    6. Methods - General    7. Reference    8. Seasonal    9. General cookery   

Reviews (10)

Outstanding Book!
This is a great book on how to make sushi.I haven't been able to make every recipe exactly as described since it is tough to find many of the ingredients where I live, but the food has still come out great and the book is very helpful.I strongly recommend it if you have never tried making sushi before.

Review of Mineko
I have to say I have not read this book, but I took a class from Mineko Moreno last night and she is delightful!The dishes she made were delicious.Who ever thought of handrolls with roastbeef and Daikon!!Not me, but I plan to serve it soon.

The best sushi making instructions
After getting tired of spending $8 for two pieces of sushi at the local sushi bar, I decided to learn to make sushi at home.
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Subjects:  1. Cookery (Fish)    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Fish    5. Japanese Cookery    6. Methods - General    7. Regional & Ethnic - Japanese    8. Sushi    9. Cooking / General    10. Food & Drink / Cookery    11. Japan   

Reviews (22)

the cookbook of your life
This cook book has EVERYTHING in it. Not just recipes for everything, either. You can pretty much learn how to cook from this if you're a beginner, or at least have a great reference if you're an experienced chef. At first I was hesitant to buy it because of the price, but it's worth every penny. And if you're planning on buying it, you might want to go ahead and get two because after you look through it you'll probably want to give it as a gift as well.

Superb
This new 75th anniversary edition is the best yet.It is the perfect cookbook for the beginning cook as well as for those of us who have been cooking for years.The first section is an invaluable reference section called "Cooking Basics," which includes everything from measuring ingredients and stocking your kitchen to planning meals and table manners.The cookbook is broken down into the typical categories, with an index at the beginning of each to assist in finding a particular recipe quickly.There are the expected beautiful photographs that BH&G is famous for and lots of them to tempt you to both try new recipes and remind you of old favorites.Best of all, the selection of recipes included in this book is right on target for the way we all live today.It includes all the must-have recipes for comfort foods most Americans grew up with to ethnic and regional favorites that we all now enjoy.
A Real Treasure
If you like Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks your sure to love this one.Has all the typical sections: appetizers through vegetables and fruits PLUS has a special section for 75th Anniversary Recipes.A total of sixty-six pages of classic recipes (1930s through 1990s).
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Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. General    5. Methods - General    6. Cooking / General    7. Food & Drink / Cookery   

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Entertaining - General    5. General    6. Methods - General    7. Reference   

Editorial Review

Rich and silky, fresh foie gras is one of the world's great foods. But until the mid-80s, due to importation restrictions and without domestic production, none was available here. Michael A. Ginor, proprietor of Hudson Valley Foie Gras, was among the first to establish production of domestic duck foie gras, which excited the livers' current popularity.Read more

Reviews (13)

Foie Gras: A Passion
Chill your bottle of sauterne!Your mouth will be watering - makes abeautiful coffee table book or great hostess gift for a "foodie".

Stop being ridiculous
This is not a forum for open discussion about the method of making Foie.This review section is about a book and how well it was written and the information you get from it.This is a great book about the preparation of Foie and some really nice pictures as well.I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in Foie.

interesting...why the love?
You have to be a very shallow and uneducated person to eat a product which causes such cruelty to a living thing.I am not an extremist....just a person with a warm heart and head on my shoulders.Common sense people...many other foods out there who do you think you are creating a demand for such a cruel product? ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Courses & Dishes - Appetizers    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Foie gras    4. Methods - General    5. Cookery by ingredient    6. Cooking / Culinary Arts & Techniques    7. Cookery    8. Cooking    9. Foie gras (Foie gras)    10. Cookery (Foie gras)   

Reviews (1)

More Vegetarian Recipes
Stephanie Ashcraft and Janet Eyring love to cook and also love teaching. They enjoy sharing their recipes and if you tried the recipes in their first book, this one might become another favorite cookbook. There are recipes for beverages, fondues, dips, soups, stews, vegetarian delights, turkey, chicken, beef, pork and desserts.
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Subjects:  1. Cooking    2. Cooking / Wine    3. Electric cookery, Slow    4. General    5. Methods - General    6. Methods - Special Appliances    7. Cooking / Courses & Dishes / General    8. Gadget cookery    9. Main courses   

Editorial Review

A collection of essays by one of America's best known food writers,that are often more autobiographical or historical than anecdotal musings on food preparation and consumption. The book includes culinary advice to World War II housewives plagued by food shortages, portraits of family members and friends (with all their idiosyncrasies) and notes on her studies at the University of Dijon, in France. Through each story she weaves her love of food and passion for cooking, and illustrates that our three basic needs as human beings--love, food and security--are so intermingled that it is difficult to think of one without the others. The book won the 1989 James Beard Cookbook Award. ... Read more

Reviews (23)

Defines the word "classic"
"The Art of Eating" recountss the tale from post World War I to World War IIFrance in gastronomic terms. This is a collection of several books. "Serve It Forth," first published in 1937, is a history of gastronomy.In "Consider the Oyster" written in 1941, Fisher finds her voice."How to Cook a Wolf" published in 1942, when wartime shortages were at their worst includes recipes for stretching the smallest of ingredients to meet nutritional needs and the needs of the spirit."The Gastronomical Me" is this reader's favorite, which recounts Fischer's life in France. If you have any interest in good food, well-written memoirs or French culture, you really must read this book.It defines the word "classic."

Delicious, with a Wee Aftertaste
Even in paperback this is a thick and heavy book, which is a compilation of several of MKF Fisher's individual works offering different aspects of her thoughts on food in terms of origin, recipes, culinary preparation, and history. In addition, it divulges her own observations on the whole dining experience that we as humans go through in terms of customs, etiquette, ambience, socializing and so forth. But what makes this book stellar is the eloquent, imaginative, and sometimes even haunting style of Ms. Fisher's writing. She expresses her own thoughts and oftentimes outspoken opinions, mixing them with historical facts, tempting recipes, and home-cooked tales. With such a satisfying horn of plenty within the confines of two book covers, it is easy to understand why she still reigns as the queen of prose inspired by food and dining. I wish I had her ability to master in writing such joi de vivre and enthusiasm for food, eating, and drinking, which after all are such basic elements to our very existence.
Needs more stars!
I found this book in a stack of books on sale outside of a Harvard Square book shop, selling for $1.00 in hardcover when I was a poor student.I think that I bought it mainly because it was a thick fat book and the paper quality was was so good.A few hours later I opened it to peruse while sitting in Hamburger Cottage and have never looked at food, human appetites, memories, and other hungers the same.Fisher is now a cult figure but, back then, was barely still in print.Just try reading only a few pages of her writing.If you're a poor student, read the chapter about how to keep the wolf from the door, written during the Great Depression in America people had to work hard to keep their spirits up and did it...even in style. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Essays    5. Gastronomy    6. Methods - General    7. General cookery   

Reviews (2)

A wonderfully imaginative cookbook
Lynn Gigliotti is a lecturing instructor in Culinary Arts at the famous Culinary Institute of America and draws upon her many years of experience and expertise to put together "One Dish Meals: Flavorful Single-Dish meals From The world's Premier Culinary College". One-dish meals are designed for kitchen cooks who are under limitations of time but want to grace their family's dinner table with nutritious, delicious, and interesting meals that would please the palate even as they satisfied the appetite. Beautifully illustrated throughout with color photography of finished dishes, the "kitchen cook friendly" recipes comprising "One Dish Meals" range from 'Vegetable Soup with Radish Salsa'; 'Saigon Beef Stew'; 'Veal Braised in Asti Spumante'; and Frittata with Bacon, Corn and Pasta'; to 'Mushroom-Cauliflower Cury'; 'Potato Salad with Tuna, Olives, and Red Peppers'; and 'Gyro with Tsatziki Sauce'. A wonderfully imaginative cookbook, "One Dish Meals" is especially recommended to novice chefs needing easy to prepare and inspiringly served meals for any occasion from daily family fare to special occasion dining!

Another Hit from the CIA
This beautiful book, filled with more than 150 recipes and 100 color photographs, is not your typical casserole cookbook.It takes one dish meals to a whole new level.The recipes prove that one dish meals aren't only for cold weather.They range from long simmering rich and savory winter-type meals to light fare for hot summer days.They also run the gamut from dishes that take hours to cook to ones that take 15 minutes to prepare on those busy days, though casseroles and baked dishes predominate.
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Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Methods - General    5. Methods - Quick & Easy    6. Transportation / General   

Editorial Review

Is it safe to let a biochemist into your kitchen? If it's Shirley Corriher, extend an open invitation. Her long-awaited book, Read more

Reviews (95)

Great Background on Chemistry of Cooking
I am new to cooking and let me say I really njoyed Cookwise.In fact I've already read it al the way thru - twice.In truth I didn't buy it for the recipes (I've only tried two).What I bought it for was the indepth look at the science of cooking.I personally enjoyed all the details and followed the book no problem. Topics I enjoyed most were the discussion on eggs and how to keep vegetabbles fresh in the fridge.I constantly refer to this book and always get something new out of each reading. This book is good for those interested in the whys of cooking and not just cooking itself.It would also be good for young people interested in chemistry.

A "must-have" for serious cooks and lovers of cooking
Second only to the classic "On Food and Cooking" by Corriher's good friend Harold McGhee, Cookwise is a pragmatically focused book on the science of cooking applied to actually doing it. I've read other reviews here that complain they don't like the recipes (Corriher's baking, for example "is too sweet") - this isn't a recipe book gang. Its a book that helps you apply the science of cooking. Corriher's recipes are illustrative of the physics, chemistry and process she's discussing (and frankly, most are wonderful). They're Southern in their approach, so there's a regional bias - its fine.
AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the best cookbook I have ever bought, it is worth every penny! I have underlined and highlighted so much of this book. This book gave me confidence to try new things. I have learned so much from her, i wish she would write more books because I would be the first one in line to buy them. She teaches you in simple English the hows and whys of cooking. If I could only have one cookbook I would choose this one. It teaches you how to cook rather than just how to follow a recipe. AMAZING BOOK! God bless you Shirley! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cookery    2. Cooking    3. Cooking / Wine    4. Methods - Baking    5. Methods - General    6. Reference    7. Cooking / Reference    8. General cookery   

Editorial Review

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