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Great for beginners and experts alike. The chicken dishes are the best and my family can't wait until it's chicken Sunday again. Have had this book for several months now. Every recipe I have tried has turned out just as promised.
I found a perfect copy of this new edition at an independent bookseller on Amazon. I recently used it to make the Glazed Lemon Cake page 360, with lemons from my yard. When I was learning to cook way back in the early 1980's this book was recommended to me by several friends who's cooking I admired. It arrived quickly and in perfect condition. As usual, the raves poured in. It was the first non-gourmet cookbook that did not rely on cream of mushroom soup as so did so many home cook oriented books of that era. My original copy was stained, dirty and ultimatley tore in half after 25 years of use.
The book is published by Workman Publishing of New York in a sturdy softcover. 4 1/2 Stars.This cookbook is a revised version of an earlier edition which was not illustrated with the finished dishes as this one is. One of the authors notes that her cooking is in the style of Julia Child and I agree. About any cook could use it with some frequency in preparing meals for the family.Highly recommended.
The signature recipe is Chicken Marbella on page 105 -- Here are the ingredients:-- 1/2 cup olive oil-- 1/2 cup red wine vinegar-- 1 cup pitted prunes-- 1/2 cup pitted Spanish green olives-- 1/2 cup capers with a bit of juice-- 6 bay leaves-- 1 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed-- 1/4 cup dried oregano-- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste-- 4 chickens (2 1/2 pounds each), quartered-- 1 cup brown sugar-- 1 cup dry white wine-- 1/4 cup fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley or fresh cilantro, finely choppedSubsequent to the prep, the dish is baked. If this sounds like something you'd like, this is pretty representative of the approach of most recipes in this edition, so you can gauge from that.While this is not a foundational cookbook with lengthy "how-to" sections, it is surely a general one. Wine is a frequent ingredient. There's a lot of emphasis on using fresh vegetables as well.
The clerk gave her the two copies (I guess they had plenty). Not all the dishes are illustrated which was a minor disappointment but the recipe instructions are clearly written so that most cooks will end up with a suitable end-product.Here are the chapters:-- To Begin A Great Evening-- Soup's On-- Pasta Perfect-- The Main Course-- Great Garden Vegetables-- Salads-- Cheeses And Breads-- Sweets-- The Brunch BunchThese recipes are simple enough although some of the ingredient lists get a little lengthy. It was generated by two gals who have operated what amounts to a high-end yuppie restaurant in New York City. The pages are of very heavy and high-quality stock so the book is pretty hefty.
I review MANY cookbooks and I was quite surprised at the quality of this one, given that it was a free promotional item.It contains about 350 recipes within its 452 pages, which includes the index. She mentions The French Chef Cookbook in particular, one of the great cookbooks of all time.My wife acquired two of these cookbooks at Christmas-time when she made some purchases at Elder-Beerman's. and I'm gratified to have ended up with one of them in my oversized Christmas stocking.
Love these women's recipes. I had the original cookbook, but I wanted an updated version with color photos. Makes great cookies and homemade granola. Also bought their Rough and Thick Oatmeal. I gave my book to an up and coming youngster (9 year old Alexander Edwards) who is interested in all things culinary. We are cooking and baking together.
Only drawback in this book: the amounts are meant for entertaining (10 lbs of meat for chili). My best find in this book: the curried butternut squash soup (which I'd never had before), and I love the sesame ham-and-cheese bites. and need to be significantly scaled back when cooking for two. I first bought a copy of this cookbook for my mom, then one for myself, and now one for a friend. It's a great intro to "american" cooking and entertaining.
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