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How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food
by Authors:
Mark Bittman
Hardcover
Mark Bittman, award-winning author of such fundamental books as Fish and Leafy Greens and food columnist for the New York Times ("The Minimalist"), has turned in what has to be the weightiest tome of the year. There are more than 900 pages in this sucker--over 1,500 recipes! This isn't just the big top of cookbooks: it's the entire three-ring circus. This isn't just how to cook everything: it's how to cook everything you have ever wanted to have in your mouth. And then some.
Bittman starts with Roasted Buttered Nuts and Real Buttered Popcorn, and moves right along, section by section, from the likes of Black Bean Soup (eight different ways), to Beet and Fennel Salad, to Mussels (Portuguese-style over Pasta), to Cream Scones--and he hasn't even reached seafood, poultry, meat, or vegetables yet, let alone desserts. There are 23 sections in this cookbook (!) that reflect directly on the how-to of cooking, be that equipment, technique, or recipe.
Every inch of the way the reader finds Bittman's calm, helpful, encouraging voice. "Anyone can cook," he says at the beginning, "and most everyone should." More than a few college kids are going to head off to their first apartments with Bittman's book under arm. More than a few marriages will benefit with this book on the shelf. And anyone who loves cooking and the sound of a great food voice is going to enjoy letting this book fall open where it may. No matter what the page, it's bound to be a tasty and rewarding experience.
Average Customer Rating:
Simply Splendid!
For years, I thought that 'real cooking' was for people with unlimited time. Having spent my adult life as a working mother, AND a non-creative 'eater', my cooking has long been limited to basic, efficient, but not very inspiring meals. When I decided that I wanted to become a better cook, I checked out Amazon and found this book. I wish (as does my family!) that I'd found it years ago. From scratch? with fresh foods? Make my own soups? Mark Bittman made me a believer with his down-to-earth, clear writing, unpretentious style, and chrystal-clear instructions.
Don't like some of the ingredients in an interesting recipe? He offers 5, 7 or even 15 variations in near-by list! Bake my own bread? I've been doing it now for 3 weeks and I am hooked at the ease of making low-cost, delicious sour dough bread. Pizza dough. Broiled chicken pesto. French Onion Soup. Making great stuff out of things I'd throw away (shrimp stock with 30 seconds of work and 20 minutes to simmer turns into a fabulous pasta sauce a week later. -- my great-cook brother was amazed and chagrined to learn this trick from his 'can't-cook' sister!)
I could go on and on. I'm buying 3 more for Christmas gifts for each of my kids. What more can one say??
A novel for casual cooks
I've owned this book for about a year now, and today when I realized how often I consult it for cooking and baking, I had to write a review. This cookbook offers far more than recipes! It offers basics of food preparation, suggestions and ideas for alternatives to standard recipes, some background information on where particular dishes originated, and just general helpful hints. I use this book whether I'm creating something on my own in the kitchen, trying a recipe from a friend or another cookbook, or preparing one of Mark Bittman's dishes. Today I was looking for a recipe for pizza dough, and found myself caught up in reading an entire section! The instructions are clear and concise, and the language draws in even cooks with the most casual interest. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys food preparation - regardless of their skill level. This is a fantastic reference and cookbook, and would make a great gift!
A Great Cooking Core Book
I come from a restaurant family and am an avid collector of all types of cookbooks from vintage to Martha and I consistently grab Bittman's How to Cook Everything for how to "cut to the chase." His writing style is terrific for: explanations, definitions, useful tips and information, technique and recipes that I can't find in my vast collection of cook books. I must have in anyone's cookbook library.
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