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 : The Perfect Recipe

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5973
EAN: 9780618132690
Edition: 1
ISBN: 0618132694
Label: Houghton Mifflin
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 380
Publication Date: April 25, 2001
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Studio: Houghton Mifflin




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Editorial Review:

Amazon.com:
Have you ever felt a little besieged by recipes? Ever opened up the newspaper to the food page and found yet more recipes that may or may not taste like anything you might want to have in your mouth? Ever longed for simplicity, for that one recipe you know is going to work time and time again? And not a recipe for some weird combination of foods that don't belong together on a plate, but for the kind of dishes you put on your table over and over again? Ever wondered what cookbook to send off to college with your child, the one who has been eating you out of house and home but for whom cooking is pouring milk on cold cereal? Pam Anderson, executive editor of Cook's Illustrated, has your answer.

"I wanted a stir-fry formula that I could commit to memory and make with meat, vegetables, and flavorings I had on hand, and a number of different sauces," Anderson writes. "I wanted a chicken pot pie that I'd actually have time to get on the table on weeknights, and macaroni and cheese that both my kids and I would eat. I wanted foolproof coleslaw and potato salads that would go with all sorts of dishes.... I wanted answers to questions that had been dogging me for years. Which cut of beef is best for stew? When mashing potatoes, which comes first: the butter or the milk?"

The Perfect Recipe answers these and many, many more questions. Anderson sets herself the task of finding the perfect recipes for, say, chicken stock, and explains how she got to her result. You end up learning a little bit about the science and chemistry of cooking. Then she gives you several delicious, and perfect, recipes for chicken soup. Or clam chowder. Or beef onion soup. She walks you through chicken and, after having roasted 40 turkeys, she shows you how to get perfect results every time. Her brownies are every bit as fudgy, chewy, and cakey as she claims. Her muffins are divine.

While most of these recipes are for everyday foods (and what could be more important?), there are a number of recipes dedicated to entertaining--how to cook the perfect prime rib even though you only do it once a year, for example. Anderson truly delivers the building blocks of good, sound, flavorful cooking--the kind of cooking you can always count on. --Schuyler Ingle

Product Description:
Pam Anderson roasted more than 40 turkeys, steamed and boiled more than three dozen lobsters, cleaned and cooked more than 100 pounds of greens,
baked more than 50 cobblers — all so you can have the perfect recipe . . .

Which comes first when mashing potatoes — the butter or the milk? What grade and grind of meat make the best hamburgers? How do you roast a turkey so the breast meat is as moist and juicy as the legs? For the tenderest muffins, should you use buttermilk, yogurt or milk? At what temperature should you cook prime rib for the most succulent results? Is it possible to create a fudgy, cakey, chewy brownie all in one?
Most of us don't have time to figure out the answers to questions like these. We need somebody to do the work for us and get our favorite recipes just right. In this book, Pam Anderson, the food editor of USA Weekend magazine, does just that. Painstakingly conducting test after test, Anderson arrives at not only the best recipe but frequently the most convenient and sensible one:
• A simple formula for a stir-fry that can be varied with different combinations of meat, vegetables and sauces
• French bread so easy it can be baked every day
• Chicken pot pie for weeknights, made with convenient chicken breasts rather than a whole chicken
• Macaroni and cheese as effortless as boxed, but three times as satisfying
• Pizza dough that rises in just one hour or throughout the day
• A cobbler that can be prepared with dozens of different fruits, making it 40 desserts in one.

THE PERFECT RECIPE includes more than 150 recipes in all, with dozens of step-by-step illustrations of techniques, comparisons of products and useful tips.



Customer Reviews
Average Rating:  out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Perfect fun book
If you love cooking this is for you. I just love reading her cookbooks. What a great Gift this would be. And great recipes too.



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Simply the best cookbook you will ever buy!
This book is full of test kitchen recipes that you really can use daily. The ways that they are explained and the mistakes they have made and show you how to avoid are priceless. My sister loved my book so much I had to buy her her own copy! Don't miss this one it is my favorite cookbook on the shelf and I collect them in the dozens!



Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - Very nice "entry level" book for potential "Cook's Illustrated" fans
This book's style and editorial format has a lot in common with Shirley Corriher's "CookWise" and the output of the Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen group, which isn't surprising since Anderson was once affiliated with CI. Anderson brings much of that same chatty, educational style to "The Perfect Recipe"; some people will like it, some people will hate it, depending on what they want from their cookbooks. I happen to really enjoy this kind of cookbook style, so I quite like it.
... Read More



Rating: 3 out of 5 stars - Get the "Best Recipe" instead from Cooks Illustrated.
Pam Anderson was the editor at Cook's Illustrated for years. Her 1998 book, while it won the Julia Child Award, has identical recipes in "The New Best Recipe" and also in "The Best Recipe", printed in 2004, both by Cooks's Illustrated, with WAY more recipes than Pam's book.

Get the "New Best Recipe" instead from Cooks Illustrated, with over 1000 tested recipes, because it has:

1. Way more recipes to choose from
2. Costs about the same as Pam's book
3. Most ... Read More



Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - my favorites from this book
This book is easy to read and follow. There is enough information without being overwelming. I haven't tried all of the recipes, but the ones I have tried are now THE recipe I use. The meatloaf is outstanding and special enough to serve to guests. (Try making it free-formed). The apple pie solves the double-crust problem and is the BEST apple pie recipe. When I make it, I mix it up and use an assortment of apples instead of one variety. The pancakes are very good and is my Sunday morning staple (with ... Read More







 






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