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The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition with 1,000 Recipes (平装)
by Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine
| Category:
Cookbook, Gastronomic science, Culinary Arts & Techniques |
| Market price: ¥ 378.00
MSL price:
¥ 338.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Not just a cookbook - a cooking education! Great recipes, plus the science, with excellent organization. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 9 items |
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B. McCollam (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
I feel I need to refute the previous reviewer's allegations. I've had this book for a year and a half, and while I've always enjoyed cooking, this book has taken me to a new level, in both enjoyment and skill. I read it front to back (and have since subscribed to the magazine) and found it fascinating reading. I love the explanations on the development of each recipe. I've made at least a hundred of the recipes in here, and very few have failed me. Most have been amazing.
Because I have not made either the Osso Buco or Beef Burgundy recipes the previous reviewer mentioned, I cannot attest to their quality specifically. However, one of the goals of these recipe developers is to take culturally traditional food and make it accessible to the American home cook. Many traditional recipes include ingredients and equipment that are not practical or available, and the recipes in this book do their best to work around this and still produce fantastic food.
I have however baked both the Baguette and Rustic Italian Bread recipes from this book. When I removed the baguette from the oven, I realized that I had finally made a great baguette, after trying many other recipes. The crust was great and the crumb was perfect. (The taste was bland-I forgot to add the salt.) I've made the Italian bread several times and gotten a ridiculous amount of compliments on it.
I've found their equipment testings valuable, even more so because they do not advocate buying tools that will be useful for only a specific food. Since reading this book, I've put my breadmaker, egg cooker, and deep fryer in storage, because the stove and oven can do it all. I've also found their tastings useful, especially because the magazine does not accept advertising. The science explanations peppered throughout the book have really wet my appetite for more kitchen science.
I will admit that this book is not for everyone. A lot of people aren't interested in the "best" recipe, they're interested primarily in the easiest or healthiest recipe. Also, there are no color pictures. I don't find this too detrimental because a lot of the focus of the book is on developing the best recipe for classic dishes, like mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli, and I know what those are supposed to look like. There are line drawings to help explain techniques, and these are helpful.
For me, this has been a great book. It's a large resource of recipes from a source that I trust, and because every recipe starts by explaining their goals, I know what to expect from the finished product. I've also been able to take what I've learned here and apply it to everything I cook. Perhaps most importantly, it makes me excited to learn still more about food and cooking. |
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Laura Stokes-Gray (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
This hefty volume is so much more than a collection of recipes. Technique reigns supreme, not only telling and showing us the "how" but explaining the "why". It's the quintessential reference tool for the beginning cook, the expert and everyone else in between. It's a scholarly canon replete with scientific elucidation: how an autolyse works, why people vary in their tolerance of chili peppers (citing a psychophysicist at the Yale School of Medicine), instructions on how to keep your potato salad from developing Staphylocuccus auerus, and a two-page spread entitled "Eggs 101". There are ingredient and equipment recommendations and a panoply of handy tips for streamlining tasks. There aren't any glossy photos, but 800 elegantly drawn illustrations which are far more useful. No, you won't find every recipe you're searching for, but many of the basics are covered: Beef Burgundy, Coq au Vin, Chocolate Cake, Black Bean Soup, Hummus, Scalloped Potatoes, Shrimp Scampi, and a knock-your-socks-off Pasta Bolognese that can be made in just 45 minutes. The baking section is outstanding. A quick technique for removing the extra water from canned pumpkin yields an especially luxurious cheesecake. I've used the Pumpkin Cheesecake from Gourmet Magazine for years - but this extra step has improved that recipe - proving that the techniques gleaned in this tome can work across other recipes as well.
Above all, these recipes are RELIABLE. You can actually prepare dinner and dessert for guests, having never tried these recipes before, and they will be perfect. To the reviewer who didn't care for the "Osso Buco" and it's seemingly large amount of canned tomatoes, check Marcella Hazan's recipe for Osso Buco in her Book, "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking". That recipe contains 1.5 cups of canned tomatoes, although the recipe proportions are slightly different. Similar instructions are given in Julia Child's "The Way to Cook". Remember what Hazan says? "Reduce, reduce it, reduce it!" If you find the Beef Burgundy or Coq au Vin not complex enough, then by all means, add your own homemade "glace de viande", if you have that kind of time.
Why didn't I give this book 5 stars? Well, I'd give it 4.5. The book is huge and unwieldy and might have been better as a two-volume set. I can just hear Martha Stewart saying, "...and at nearly 5.5 pounds, this book makes a handy doorstop too!". There's no chapter entitled "Veal". "Osso Buco", which makes use of veal shanks of course, is in the "Beef" section. Yes, we all know beef and veal come from the same animal but somehow this seemed odd - and there are no other recipes using veal specifically: Veal Scallopini, Veal Stew, or Veal Chops. So many people are up in arms about Veal, myself included, but I buy my Veal at Whole Foods so I know the animals aren't mistreated and I know what they eat. There isn't a "Vegetarian" designation, either, although there are plenty of vegetarian offerings and other recipes that can be adjusted as such. The index could have been easier to read with a larger font - do the editors of Cook's Illustrated really believe that everyone who cooks and bakes are under he age of 40? Increasing the font size would add a few pages, but at this point, what's the difference? Sadly, two of my favorite Cook's Illustrated Recipes: Easy Multigrain Sandwich Bread and Old-Fashioned Chocolate Layer Cake appeared in the Cook's Illustrated Magazine after this book was published - so keep buying the magazine! WORD OF WARNING: Nearly all of the recipes found in Cook's Illustrated's "Baking Illustrated" are already in this book. If you buy both, it will be redundant, with the exception of a few helpful extras and a book which is not quite so hefty. |
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Renee Gleason (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
I am an avid home cook and baker and I LOVE Cook's Illustrated. I subscribe to their magazine, their website, I watch their show "America's Test Kitchen" on public television, and I own several of their cookbooks. This cookbook is one of my favorites, as it's a very comprehensive book of their very best and most sought after recipes. You will find sections on Starters, Main Dishes, Vegetables, Grains, Breads, Pastries, Pies, Cakes, etc. What I like about Cook's Illustrated is that it doesn't just throw recipes at you, but instead exhaustively tests a recipe to arrive at what they feel is the very best version before they publish it. Along with the recipes they provide a detailed write up of their test kitchen experiments and how and why they arrived at a particular recipe. For some people this may seem extraneous and needless, but for anyone who is serious about cooking and baking and wants to better their skills in the kitchen, this is a wonderful tool. It provides valuable information about the science behind the cooking, which is very useful knowledge. In the two years that I have been reading their material, I have learned so much about cooking and baking, and my skills in the kitchen have been much improved as a result. This book also contains countless tips and useful tools scattered throughout the book that I find very welcome. For example, product reviews, equipment reviews, cooking tips etc. If you could only own one cookbook, then this one would surely be a contender. It is a trusted, comprehensive and well-rounded source. I must admit, however, that in my opinion, Cook's Illustrated is much better at baking than at cooking. I have made a couple dozen baked goods recipes and every single one has been UNBELIEVABLY GOOD. (By the way, if you are more interested in baking than in cooking, then spring for "Baking Illustrated" instead of this book. It is THE BEST baking book.) I attribute this to the fact that baking is way more of a science than cooking, and is much more exacting, whereas cooking is a more subjective art. I have never had any "flops" with their cooking recipes, but my tastes are not always on par with theirs. I do think that is common since individual tastes vary so much. That being said, I still think they are the best source around for trusted recipes and helpful kitchen information. I can honestly say that Cook's Illustrated has made me a much better cook and baker. And for that I am thankful. |
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Yan (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
First of all, to assume that you can even compile a book of the "Best Recipes" is a bit presumptuous--everyone likes their food cooked differently, it's all a matter of taste. Looking for the best gumbo recipe is a bit like looking for the best baroque-era violin piece, everyone's going to have a slightly different opinion.
That said, I used this book with somewhat mixed results. I've tried a good number of varied recipes, including the shrimp and sausage gumbo, the potato-crusted salmon, the spaghetti marinara, and the orchietti with broccoli, to name a few. Although the salmon came out absolutely delicious, the rest were varied from decent to well below average. The orchietti was bland and lacked any real complexity. The gumbo tasted more like shrimp broth than anything else. Although I love how they explain in such detail their experimentation techniques (although they could do well to tone down the pretentiousness in their tone), the recipes were ultimately lackluster. I'm far from the most skilled or the most experienced chef, but I feel that a good cookbook should be able to compensate for that. Frankly, I've had better success from epicurious.com.
THE BAKING RECIPES however were FANTASTIC and the only reason I am still giving this four stars. The lemon cheesecake was absolutely perfect and got rave reviews from all my friends. The same with the New York cheesecake, the chocolate chip cookies, the apple pie, and the chocolate macaroons. Thanks to this book, I am now the official baked-goods provider of our weekly hang-out nights (like it or not :P).
My recommendation: If you're looking for good daily food recipes, either purchase something else or use this as a foundation for your own personal creations. If you want to bake, however, either spring for this book or get BAKING ILLUSTRATED, another book by the same editors that covers solely baking. |
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Betsy Baumgartner (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
If you are looking for a pretty picture book with vague recipes this is not it. If you are looking for an in-depth cookbook that will teach you the science of cooking and why to do things then this is for you!! He thoroughly explains why each recipe is the "best" and how he arrived at the final recipe. You also learn about different products and which is the best to use. Since he does not accept advertising you actually get an unbiased viewpoint, which is something Cooks Illustrated prides themselves on. I keep spreading the word on this cookbook and I keep getting rave reviews back. |
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Amelia Earhart (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
It may be a little premature to write a review on this book given that I've only tried two recipes from it but my disappointment needs an outlet. Cook's Illustrated Magazine was truly a godsend in that it was entertaining, informative, and their attention to detail made every attempt (to-date) an unqualified success. For this cookbook, however, the economies of quantity (of recipes) versus quality (of details) means that the beginner chef must fill in the blanks herself.
The waffle recipe, when followed literally, resulted in a curdled wet mixture as the melted-but-cooled butter was mixed with a yolk and milk. I had some thoughts of perhaps also allowing the milk and yolk to warm to room temperature, but I decided that substituting oil was the way to go. Afterall, I wasn't in the business of running a test kitchen and authoring cookbooks! It's also not practical (and positively impossible) to beat a single egg white in a stand mixer (a common household tool now). I don't own a hand mixer (just as I don't own a VCR) so I ended up beating two egg whites and just using half of the resulting product.
As a minor detail, perhaps because the book was printed in 2004, the lasagna recipe does not reflect that no-boil lasagna noodles (from Barilla for example) now come in packages of 16 to be placed 4 at a time per layer width-wise instead of 3 length-wise. Their spreading of the cheese mixture is also prescribed on a per noodle basis thus adding to the confusion. Maybe they need to be more thorough in their market research or make their recipes noodle-distribution proof (i.e. cheese mixture measurement on a per layer basis). Also, while they make disrespectful comments about packaged pre-shredded mozzarella cheese, they don't make any suggestions as to how to effectively shred gooey fresh mozzarella cheese. Needless to say, it was a lot easier evenly distributing the dry parmesan.
Of course I still love reading the cookbook (especially the sidebars) but it is not as thorough and thus not nearly as reliable as their magazine articles. I'd still recommend the book but look elsewhere to pick up the "common sense". |
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Ted (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
I don't have experience cooking and I sure don't know much about cooking technique. I have personally made all the recipes my family has enjoyed from this book with "technical" help from my wife. When my wife has made "new" recipes from other sources, we don't know what the final product will be like. With this book, not only do they tell you what the final product should be like, it most likely will turn out that way. I've watched America's Test Kitchen and thought that I could make some of the recipes they prepared. I like how detailed the instructions are on the show and the book is even more detailed. I've seen Cook's Illustrated magazine in the book store and this book is similar though slightly condensed (explanations of the testing they did and why the final recipe is the way it is).
While they have incredible detail on how and why, they do have to assume you have some rudimentary knowledge of cooking technique. So, when I tried the brownie recipe and it told me to "fold" the flour into the batter, I was clueless - fortunately, my wife supervises. As others have stated, they purposely change their recipe from "classic" recipes to make it more likely the average home kitchen has the tools required along with the ingredients being available at your supermarket.
The brownies are incredible - the difference between out of the box brownies and the "classic" brownies is why people make food from scratch. Light and fluffy pancakes came out just the way they describe it...not the dense version I usually generate from packaged mixes (my wife had to give me a lesson on flipping pancakes - that's how inept I am in the kitchen). BBQ spare ribs with the BBQ dry rub - just like the ribs I had at "Smokey Bones" in the Atlanta area (the book tells you how to cook grill recipes for charcoal and gas grills). Cheese Straws drew rave reviews at a party (although not as pretty because my daughter and I couldn't get the twists described in the recipe so we just laid it out flat - the guests didn't care). Fallen chocolate cake (molten lava cake) was better than the local Chili's. Every recipe I've made has come out they way they said it would.
As a totally novice cook, if I can get good results, then anyone should be able to do the same. As a novice cook, I do run into problems when timing is important when making a recipe the first time - like frozen dough becoming too warm because I took too long with something else before getting to the dough. They assume the average cook can get something done in X minutes while someone like me takes double the time. Fortunately, from America's Test Kitchen, I knew to just throw the dough back into the freezer when it got too warm.
On my wife's advice, I am writing all over the book with my own notes on each recipe I make with any adjustments on spices or time allotments so each recipe will be MY Best Recipes.
It's a great book. One day, maybe I'll let my kids use it and they can personalize it with the stains/spills they've put into the other recipe books we have (yeah, the books where the results are hit and miss). |
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Naomi Manygoats (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
I just reviewed many cookbooks (and I mean many hundreds) in order to find ONE that was the BEST. My purpose was to use that one book, pretty much exclusively, for the next 5 years - until both of my kids are out of high school. Why? Because we are now a 'cooking family'. My two teenage daughters seldom helped in the kitchen, except with desserts, which are pretty rare. Now, we are rotating who is cooking each night - one parent- one or more kids. NOBODY complains when they have helped cook!
The kids will both be very familiar with this book- so that when they are out on their own, they will know exactly what they like to cook, where the recipe is, and how to do everything. It is all explained in glorious detail. Both of the kids will of course get a copy of the book. My husband has some things he cooks, and does not like to use recipes for- but reading this book about the techniques, and the HOW to do things better - has even improved his cooking.
I have to say- our first recipe was a disaster- Chicken Marsala. Not because it was a bad recipe- but because I asked the kids to read through the recipe first, then prepare the ingredients, carefully measuring them. They whined and moaned, and even CRIED about how mean I was being to them- so I said ok then- we will just plunge in and do it- so it was a great lesson - we had no idea what we needed next, how much, or what to do. Things were burned and under-done. But we discussed why this had happened (and it was actually pretty good despite our many mistakes), and next time, they can't wait to get it right!
I do love the variety in the book - it has of course, all the basics - and appitizers, rice and grains, chicken, beef, etc. but also baking- pies, bread, and cakes. I wish there were more bread recipes- I did buy the Baking book as well for weekend baking to go along with this (same authors).
My only real complaints are that I wish there were at least some color pictures. I have their Family cookbook - and it is ring bound. It does have wonderful pictures and illustrations - BUT the cheap ring-bound paper is thin and tears at the drop of a hat. What we really need is the two books combined- nice hardback binding, but lots of photos.
My second gripe is that I wish there were a section of main dishes that are vegetarian. I suppose you could say it is covered with the rice, grain, and pasta section, but many of these recipes do have meat. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-11-25 00:00>
I have never been a fan of white meat on chicken, even at restaurants breasts always seem overcooked and unenjoyable. But after preparing the Chicken Parmesan recipe in the book, I was able to taste the best chicken meat to ever grace my tongue, all prepared by my own hands. Really... I'm not exaggerating.
About Ingredients:
Although this book requires a well stocked kitchen, it does not frequently require exotic ingredients like many other gourmet cookbooks do. I have found that when I buy ingredients for the dishes in this book, I can usually use them again in other recipes.
About Meals:
This book does a good job at helping you prepare whole meals. Many of the directions include instructions for the main dish and a side dish, leaving only a salad for you to come up with on your own. Proportions are usually on the hearty side, and I have fed five people with a recipe for four a couple times.
About Instructions:
I find the instructions to be a bit wordy for my tastes, but they are never unclear. Just be prepared to read a paragraph for an instruction that could just as easily have been stated in one or two lines.
About Extras:
This book is chalked full of kitchen advice. For a new cook like myself there are things in here that have opened my eyes. It's section on grilling taught me more in one hour that I learned from my father during my whole life.
Give the gift of a helper.
This was my Christmas gift for my girlfriend who enjoys cooking but, like myself, is still new to it. It is difficult to match the satisfaction I receive from working with her for an hour in the kitchen and preparing meals that outdo those of both of our parents. If you give this as a gift, expect to spend many hours in the kitchen with the recipient, and expect to enjoy them. |
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1 Total 1 pages 9 items |
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