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| The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition | 
 enlarge | Author: Cook's Illustrated Magazine
Creators: John Burgoyne, Carl Tremblay, Daniel J. Van Ackere
Publisher: Americas Test Kitchen
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy New: $21.99
You Save: $13.01 (37%)
New (29) Used (12) from $19.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  210 reviews
Sales Rank: 350
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 2nd
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 5.3
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.7 x 2.4
ISBN: 0936184744
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.5
EAN: 9780936184746
ASIN: 0936184744
Publication Date: October 15, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
These Recipes Consistently Deliver January 6, 2005
48 out of 48 found this review helpful
I consider myself an experienced cook but I have had frustrating experiences with cookbooks and recipes I'd find in magazines and newspapers. Something would sound wonderful, I'd buy ingredients, spend hours cooking and the results would be...OK. Not terrible, not inedible, but a disappointment none the less. Even cookbooks that I love and contain recipes I think are wonderful would also have recipes that I found pretty so-so. In fact, in many cookbooks the ratio of successes to non-successes is pretty small. Finding The Best Recipe (the edition that preceded this one) was a revelation for me. Each recipe I tried was a success. When The New Best Recipe was published, I bought one immediately and was thrilled to find so many new recipes.
This is now my go-to cookbook, the first place I look when I want to find a recipe, and a book I check other recipes against when considering recipes from other sources. I use this book in the way my mother used the Joy of Cooking when I was growing up in the late 60s and early 70s. And just as Joy was the book she used when she needed a recipe for a classic like beef stew or a then fashionable food such as quiche or cheese fondue, The New Best Recipe has recipes for classics (spaghetti and meatballs, pot roast, coq au vin, shrimp scampi) and also has recipes for foods that have hit the American culinary radar more recently such as pad thai, beef fajitas, and pozole. In fact the huge range of foods is one of the things that makes this cookbook so wonderful; for instance, the pasta section includes recipes for lo mein, tuna noodle casserole and ravioli.
This is a great book for beginners because of the detailed explanations of how the ultimate recipe was achieved which include discussions of different techniques that were considered or used and why they were rejected, as well as the many sidebars which give information on technique and equipment. Plus there is nothing that teaches you to cook like cooking, and nothing that keeps you cooking as much as having success. But it is a book that an experienced cook will find just an interesting and useful. I have been cooking for years and I have learned from this book.
This is not (and does not represent itself to be) a low-fat cookbook. The recipes are about achieving maximum flavor and taste. It is also not (and does not represent itself to be) a cookbook full of fast recipes. However, this book contains so many recipes that low fat and fast recipes can be found among them. The recipes are always clear and easy to follow, and the results will speak for themselves.
I love cookbooks and have many but if I were forced to have only one cookbook, this would be the one
GREAT WEDDING GIFT! January 5, 2005
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a spectacular cookbook. It isn't so much in the recipes, but in the descriptions. It helps you understand WHY instead of just how. Great for a starter cook who wants to expand their knowledge because the information will be helpful in creating their own recipes and basic knowledge of COOKING, as opposed to making food. We all know the difference between a GOOD COOK and someone who can cook well. This book helps nurture that distinction.
Fun to read January 4, 2005
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Enjoy reading "Cook's Illustrated"? If so, click the Add-To-Cart button immediately, because "The New Best Recipe" presents you with hours upon hours of happy reading in that style. Each recipe is accompanied by an article describing the testing, the failures, and ultimately why the success was successful.
While the book is highly enjoyable for the reading alone, even better are the recipes themselves once you hit the kitchen.
Outstanding.
Be the most amazing cook ever, right now! December 16, 2004
28 out of 29 found this review helpful
Would you like to be a fabulous cook? Can't afford a ritzy cooking school? Ever wondered if the mortals in your kitchen could learn to cook like GODS??!!Wonder no more...this cookbook comes to us courtesy of the team at Cook's Illustrated magazine, which while not widely known, is the single best source of cooking information and recipes on the planet. Cook's takes classic recipes, deconstructs them and puts them back together, streamlined for the home kitchen but sacrificing nothing in terms of knock-your-socks-off flavour. Bonus: these recipes don't fail, unlike those in most other cookbooks. I was always a decent cook, but after finding Cook's Illustrated I became an amazing cook...this book will make you one too. I didn't know food could taste this good; you will produce dishes that rival 4 star restaurants, I kid you not. The directions are crystal clear, and you get lots of expert advice on how to choose ingredients and equipment. Most recipes show you master-chef level tips and tricks that are easy to learn. I can personally recommend the Coq au Vin p. 341 (my family literally begs for it), and if you cook the steak and Madeira pan sauce p. 389, they will probably name a religion after you. Other highlights, French Onion Soup p. 43, various pastas with garlic and oil pan sauces p. 238, Fresh Tomato Sauce for pasta (INCREDIBLE!!!) p. 241, Molasses Spice Cookies p. 785, Lemon Pie p. 907, Key Lime Pie p. 908, Creme Caramel p. 958. Well, you get the idea...I could go on and on, the recipes are so utterly delicious. This cookbook is kick-ass, world class. Everyone you cook for will wonder where you learned to cook like that. I have lots of cookbooks and almost never look at any of my old ones any more. This one is just that good! Get it, get it now, you will be so very happy you did, and so will any cook you get it for. The Best Recipe rocks.
Yet Another Great Cook's Illustrated Book December 8, 2004
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I didn't even think that it was possible to improve on the first Best Recipe, but sure enough, the crew at Cook's Illustrated has done it again. This is the book that I go to first on my cookbook shelves when I'm looking for a basic recipe. This is good, basic cooking that you feel pretty confident that it is going to turn out great. The information in the book is enough to satiate any Foodie. Not only are the recipes good, but reading how they went through all the different trials to get the perfect recipe is entertaining and educational. You can learn from their mistakes...and your kitchen will be a lot cleaner and a lot less chaotic as a result.
This book could easily replace many of my cookbooks in my collection, it's that invaluable. Of course, I wouldn't part with any of my cookbooks, but you get the idea. :)
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