5 comments about Gourmet Shops of NY: Markets, Foods, Recipes.

1. This book is amazing. First, they cover all 5 boroughs of New York. They have researched gourmet food shops that are so committed to a given food legacy and they offer recipes for the products sold. It is a treasure trove of great finds. My husband and I plan to make outings to visit so many of these places, especially in the outer boroughs. We know the selections must be great because some are quite consistent with those we know to be the most genuine and the best. The writing is nothing short of great. The photos are scrumptous.



2. For a gourmet cook like me, this is an amazing resource. One tends shop near home and I know quite well all the best providers on the Upper East Side. However, for many products, the best suppliers are in other parts of town that I am much less familiar with; I cannot wait to visit some of the wonderful shops that are described. Extra bonuses are the recepies and, particularly, the wonderful photographs. Great for the kitchen, the coffee table and gifts. A must for every Manhattan resident.



3. Consider this visual treat a must-own for serious foodies and cooks alike. Stunning photography best likened on a full stomach otherwise the hunger pains become woefully apparent. Here's an excellent gift for a friend who shares your love of foraging. Wish "Gourmet Shops of New York" had a glove-compartment size edition for my travels throughout the wonderful & exciting boroughs of NYC. Susan Meisel and Nathalie Sann have written an endless quest for the best.



4. This book is the ultimate secret weapon for a successful meal. all the insider tips on where to find great ingredients have helped make even my 'cooking' taste good!



5. This is a beautiful and excellent guide to gourmet shops in New York. Unfortunately, the authors failed to include a map or "cross streets" in addresses of the shops. I recently returned from a week in New York where my plan was to visit some of the shops listed in the book. Thats when I realized that in order to do that, I would have to call each shop I planned to visit and find out the cross street of their location and then plot it on a map. For example, there are several shops listed on Madison and Lexington, but without a cross street reference, you could be walking for days to find a specific shop. It would have been so simple for the editors to include a map by neighborhood in the back of the book...similar to how Zagat does their shopping guide. Maybe when they reprint, the editors will think to do this. I had planned to visit about 25 of the shops over the course of my trip, but since it took so much time to call each shop, I only got to about 10. They were fabulous just like the book stated....I just wish I could have gotten to the rest!

No comments about The Complete 15-Minute Gourmet: Creative Cuisine Made Fast and Fresh.

5 comments about The Soup Mix Gourmet: 375 Short-Cut Recipes Using Dry and Canned Soups to Create Everything from Delicious Dips and Sumptuous Salads to Hearty Pot Roasts and Homey Casseroles.

1. This cookbook is one of the best I have come across. I love cookbooks and I'm always trying different recipes. But this cookbook has really got me trying one recipe after the other.
   If you like to cook and like tasty and delicous food and most of the recipes are pretty easy to prepare you should purchase The Soup Mix Gourmet.



2. This cookbook is one of the best I have come across. I love cookbooks and I'm always trying different recipes. But this cookbook has really got me trying one recipe after the other.
   If you like to cook and like tasty and delicous food and most of the recipes are pretty easy to prepare you should purchase The Soup Mix Gourmet.



3. "The Soup Mix Gourmet" puts Rachael Ray&her 30 minute meals to shame. Do you want something simple&delicious? This cookbook is perfect! I've worn out my copy to the point that pages are on the verge of falling out. I've never had the misfortune of making a flop recipe from this book. It's foolproof.
   
   "Ballpark Sausage and Peppers" combines Italian sausages with Lipton Garlic Soup Mix to make recipe magic. It's great for a tailgate/Super Bowl party...or just to enjoy at home. "Hot Browns" are delicious grilled turkey sandwiches,like Welsh Rarebit,topped with Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup. I'm not a fan of French cooking,but "Friday Night Bistro Chicken" is tastefully simple with its combination of chicken with condensed French Onion soup. The Pasta with Tomato Basil Salsa&Quickie Farfalle with Mushroom Ragout are yummy quickies to make in the kitchen! I've made almost every soup in the soup section,and they're simply marvelous in their simplicity!
   
   "The Soup Mix Gourmet" makes gourmet everyday,even if you've never gone to the Cordon Bleu for cooking lessons. It shows that homecooking can be as fine as any restaurant.



4. There is a recipe for a hambuger with hamburger meat, onion soup mix and cream cheese as the ingredients, and it is the best hamburger I have ever had. This is a great cookbook, and she even has little notes off to the side where she makes comments on the recipes - like "I double this recipe because it is so popular," or "this is my son's favorite." Highly recommended if you like good and easy recipes.



5. This cookbook has a variety of recipes that use both dry and wet soup mixes, and there are easy to hard recipes and fancy to simple meals in it. This is one of my more favorite cookbooks and it is so splattered with ingredients you can easily find the most frequently used recipes in my copy. It really is handy. You could be making your famous mashed potatoes and say I'm missing whatever the ingredient and you can get some great ideas from the Soup Mix Gourmet.

5 comments about Live, Love, Eat!: The Best of Wolfgang Puck.

1. I am a stay-at-home mom, so I look for cookbooks that are easy to follow. Even though my girlfriend recommended this book, I was hesitant to buy it because I figured Wolfgang's food would be much too hard and fancy to make. But she was right, the recipes were easy and had really cool step-by-step photos. I have made his Chicken Pot Pie, Fettuccine Wolf-fredo, and Potato Salad so far, and they were all outstanding. My husband said jokingly that he is going to kiss Wolfgang for making his wife into a good cook. I definitely think this book should be in every home kitchen.



2. I eat at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe in Evanston a lot, and have been to the Spago in Chicago for a special occasion. I love the food at both places. But I never thought I could cook Wolfgang's great food at home until I picked up this book and saw how simple he makes it. His instructions are really easy, and he includes step-by-step photos to show you exactly how. And the finished food pictures look mouthwatering and aren't fussed up like lots of cookbooks. I've made several of his chicken dishes, all delicious, and some incredible soups. My family went crazy over the bacon-wrapped meatloaf and his garlic mashed potatoes. The cheesecakes are the best ever. And his chocolate cupcakes with the warm melting centers are [super].



3. In this cookbook, Wolfgang Puck brings together all his favorite recipes and dishes from his famous restaurant. The cookbook is divided into different sections such as Appetizers, Soups, Pasta etc. The sections helped me find what I was interested in cooking that day, without having to do too much searching.

   I thought that this cookbook was very nicely laid out and the design was beautiful and tasteful. Some of the recipes were also interesting and made a nice presentation when cooking for friends.

   Now that I¡¦ve told you some of the good things about this book, here was one thing that I didn¡¦t like about this cookbook: I think the recipes lean towards the elaborate side of cooking things. Most of the meat dishes take more than 30 minutes to cook without the preparation time and require extra steps that I normally would not take for everyday cooking just for myself. Most of the time while I was cooking I felt that there would have to be an easier way to do some of the steps. It would be best not to follow the instructions blindly and do a little modification when cooking with this book.




4. to be able to enjoy this cookbook, because,

   ONE, All the recepies are much more complicated versions of classic dishes that I have prepared in the past .... ie. I tried to fry the spaetzle dish to a golden brown ... good luck ...

   TWO, Some of the recepies just don't even cut it as far as taste is concerned...... I have for years made Salmon tartare from an old Russian recepie so I was pleased to try the Tuna tartare in this book ... but .. even sticking to the ingredients ... there was a lot left over after the party ....

   I think this book and the recepies would be great in a kitchen where you have more than 1 cook preparing the meal ..... sorry ,,,,,...




5. On the face of it, Wolfgang is unquestionably one of the best-known names in the world of culinary celebrities. To the great general public, he is probably the only name and face to outshine Emeril Legasse. But, the celebrity of both men seems to be based more on media exposure than on sound culinary achievements. While chefs such as Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Daniel Boulud, and Tom Colicchio are less well known, their reputation with foodies is soundly based on culinary achievement, even if only known through their writings and reputation through media reviews. Puck's reputation to the world at large is based primarily on his position as caterer to the Academy Awards and other high visibility Hollywood events. He has a fairly large network of successful restaurants, including some middle end chain style establishments. I have always had the suspicion that he stole some thunder from Chez Panisse in the popularization of `California Cuisine', especially since Jeremiah Tower, the self-proclaimed inventor of this movement looks down his nose at Puck in his book `California Bites'. Similarly, Tower buddy Jim Villas, not known for having any California stripes, thinks little of LA's Puck while praising New Orleans' Lagasse. Lastly, Wolfgang has gone the budget route in lending his name to a low end line of cookware, competing with Martha Stewart's everyday ware rather than with Emeril's high-end All-Clad lines.

   So does Wolfgang have real chops in the kitchen?

   The evidence of this book is that his written cuisine is at least as good as Emeril's, his teaching approaches the quality of Jacques Pepin, and his creativity with the fusion of Latin American and Oriental cuisines with European concepts appear no less tasty than those of Norm Van Aken. The only thing the book lacks is that little twist most celebrity chefs give their books nowadays. The twist here is simply that it is from Wolfgang Puck.

   The good things about this book are:

   1. Listing of all recipe names in the Table of Contents. This feature automatically makes a good cookbook more valuable, especially a mid-sized celebrity chef book like this. This fits the best use of the book as a resource for finding dishes for entertaining to fit a particular theme or taste.

   2. The emphasis on the sensory queues to the progress of cooking rather than on blind timings. All good chefs repeat this principle, but Wolfgang puts it front and center. This is a central skill of the professional chef whose work would be simply impossible if she worked by time with half a dozen dishes fired at a saute station at the height of service. It is also one of those professional tricks which should be learned by the home cook. The problem of the amateur is that while the recipe may have been written using a gas range and a zinc clad copper saute pan, the cook at home is probably using an electric range with a Teflon coated aluminum pan. And that is just one of the variables.

   3. Puck's chapter on basics is first rate, including very useful pictures at all the right places. It covers all the usual techniques for artichoke surgery, but it also includes recipes for court bouillon, puff pastry, and fish stock. I am of two minds with material like this. There are books which include a few pages of worthwhile material and try to give the impression that this is all you need to know, when people such as Jaques Pepin and James Peterson have written whole books on this subject and have not exhausted the subject. So wouldn't the author have been better off devoting this space to more recipes? On balance, I think Wolfgang did us a service and his material here makes me want to seek out his earlier books to find more of the same material.

   4. Wolfgang's recipes are a pretty fair mix of the traditional, such as the oft repeated Pasta Puttanesca and the chicken pot pie, to the trademark neuvo Pizza with smoked salmon and caviar.

   On the negative size, Wolfgang's English writing seems to have the same Austrian accent as his speech. I'm really surprised that a publishing house such as Random House couldn't supply a copy editor to smooth out some of the more mangled wordings. Also, the subtitle of this volume is `The Best of Wolfgang Puck', but it doesn't make clear whether that means the best material from his earlier books, the best recipes from his restaurants, or the best material from his TV shows. This is a small matter, but it would have added value to the material.

   As someone, like Wolfgang, of Austrian background, I am often disappointed that the second most prominent Austrian-American (after Arnold Schwarzenneger) who also happens to be a famous chef does not do a book of Austrian food. But, this book is no slouch. I would recommend it to anyone who has few cookbooks and is looking for an entertaining menu resource or simply for a wider variety of recipes. It is just slightly pricy at list price for 125 recipes, so look for it at a discount. For foodies, this book gives good value in honing one's pantry ingredients and prep skills.

   As other reviewers have noted, these are not quick or easy recipes, but they are worthy of anyone with the time and interest in improving their cooking skills.

2 comments about Larousse Gastronomique.

1. This classic is definitely encyclopedic. As thick as a major metropolitan phonebook, nearly every possible food is listed with a brief description, history, simple preparation instructions, and the occasional recipe. Obviously, the contents have a French cuisine slant, but the majority of the alphabetical entries are global in origin. For example, persimmons and pumpkins have long entries, even though they are New World fruits. This book works best if you have an ingredient or technique in mind, and then research what to do with it. This book will not be the back bone of your cookbook collection, but it answers the questions that are too far-ranging for more focused texts. Well worth the money, and no experimenter should be without it.



2. What a find! The orginal book has a great deal of information lost to the editing of new editions and you can't beat $8. Wonderful reference for classic cuisine.

5 comments about The Storm Gourmet: A Guide to Creating Extraordinary Meals Without Electricity.

1. We had Ms Nikolopoulos speak at our public library here in Broward County, Florida (she lives close to us). Everyone enjoyed her presentation very much. She demonstrated three of her recipes for our audience and let us taste the results. We had the Vichyssoise, the Chipotle Chicken Soft Tacos and the Peach-Raspberry dessert (last dessert in that section). They were VERY good and were so simply made. Normally just saying 'chipotle' will put me off and I probably wouldn't have made the dish--that would have been a mistake because it was really good!
   I can speak from experience that her recipes are delicious and the suggestions for planning and pre-purchasing are very good. Since other parts of the country can experience power outtages too, folks might consider buying this one!



2. This book was written by a Floridian, and there are several recipes in this book that would only do for Floridians. My power is more likely to go out during a blizzard or ice storm than a hurricane, which means that avocados and fresh herbs are out of the question. ("Quick, run to the store for avocados and cilantro! There's a blizzard coming!")



3. I was very disappointed in this book. I was hoping for recipes that appear somewhat familiar. My family would be more traumatized if I tried to feed them hearts of palm and guava nectar then 2 dinners in a row of beanie weenies. The appendix charts repeats information freely found on many disaster survivor web sites. Bottom line, instead of buying this book, use the money to add to your food storage.



4. Interesting recipes that I may actually use, but as far as cooking after a natural disaster... the ingredients are not things I would normally have sitting around my kitchen.



5. Interesting recipes and some good ideas for emergency preparation. Not realistic in terms of ingredients. If a tornado just blew through and there was no electricity, I'm sure I would not be using fresh citrus juices, fresh ginger, chardonnay vinegar and tamarind paste. I happen to be a great cook but I generally go get ingredients like that, not stock them.

1 comments about Healing Gourmet Eat to Beat Diabetes (Healing Gourmet).

1. Early stage diabetes can be managed easily with a disciplined
   approach consisting of diet control and daily exercise. The
   authors point out that an increase in blood glucose damages
   nerves. In addition, the BMI or Body Mass Index is a good
   indicator of the optimal weight loss objective to achieve for
   dieters. The plasma/glucose ratio should be well under 126 after
   8 hours of fasting.
   
   The book identifies optimal foods for dieters and persons
   desiring to control sugar. These foods are as follows:
   
   - low glycemic index foods are all bran, lentils, nuts, soy,
   yogurt, most fruits and veggies, beans, brown rice, pita bread
   
   - red grapes, celery, green tea, berries, bulk, soy and flaxseed
   
   - Omega 3 fats reduce inflammation
   
   - Vitamin Biotin,Ca., Mg., B1 , 3, 6, 12,Folate,A,C,E, Se.
   
   
   
   The acquisition would be perfect for a wide constituency of
   health professionals and dieters everywhere. It is a solid
   value for the price charged.

4 comments about Endless Feasts: Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet (Modern Library Food).

1. "Endless Feasts: Sixty Years of Writing from Gourmet" is a fine sampler of essays that appeared in Gourmet Magazine. This magazine, which deals with cuisine and travel, offers some of the best prose outside of literary magazines like the New Yorker or Atlantic Monthly.

   I already am a fan of M.F.K. Fisher (who isn't?), Paul Theroux and Laurie Colwin. But there are many other authors here whose work I wasn't as familiar with. I was very very glad to read Mary Cantwell and William Hamilton in particular.

   If you love travel and food, this book is sure to appeal to you. But these authors are SO good that really, this book is about how we react to the most basic of activities, eating and drinking and how they are inextricably mixed with our emotions and memories.

   The list of authors reads like a literary prize list, not only those authors I previously mentioned, but Anita Loos and E. Annie Proulx as well. The essays may deal with eating and drinking in some way, but each of the authors has a very unique way of dealing with the subject. In particular, I loved the story by William Hamilton. His childhood memory where he was promised a mysteriously alluring treat "jellied consomme" is one that recreates childhood emotions with uncanny accuracy and a lot of wry humor.

   I happen to be a fan of the publisher, Modern Library. I love their compact format, and the typeface clear and readable. If you love good writing, this book is a real treat.




2. This collection of essays from food writers of Gourmet magazine brings the reader to different places and times, from the summer of 1939 when M.F.K. Fisher stumbled upon a cozy Swiss inn, to 1970 when Richard Cassin writes about a dinner intivation in Taos, New Mexico.

   My favorite essays were "The Garlic War" by E. Annie Proulx (author of The Shipping News), where the author recounts her Uncle Herbert's eventual acceptance of garlic, and "An Indian Reminiscence" where Madhur Jaffrey fondly writes about her experiences with food as a child growing up in North India.

   To keep the historical accuracy of the essays, recipes that are included in the book have been kept as they were first printed. This provides us with a peek into what people ate and how they liked their food through the years. This book will definitely be a great addition to a food-lovers' library.




3. `Endless Feasts' is a collection of writings about food, drink, travel, biography, and fiction from the pages of `Gourmet' magazine from the magazine's founding in the late 1930s to the present. The selections were made by the magazine's current editor, Ruth Reichl, who has, in many ways taken over the throne of leading American culinary editor long left vacant after the passing of Craig Claiborne.
   
   My first reaction, as someone who very much likes to read about food, cooking, and culinary personalities, is that this collection shows the ephemeral nature of a lot of magazine writing, especially some pieces written under less talented editors than Ms. Reichl. In a nutshell, I found this book difficult to read from front to back. In this day of the Food Network, the Discovery Channel, and the Travel channel, pieces written about Umbria or Mexico, or Tibet or Shanghai seem just a bit lifeless on the page. When they were written, most pieces were not intended to be memoirs, but the passage of time has turned them from travelogues of today into faded snapshots of a world which is no longer there.
   
   That is not to say there are no good pieces here. There are selections written by M.F.K. Fisher, Madhur Jaffrey, Pat Conroy, Ray Bradbury, Anita Loos, James Villas, Paul Theroux, Elizabeth David, George Plimpton, and James Beard. Part of the problem is that pieces by these writers are in the minority. It is also true that in some cases, as with Madhur Jaffrey, for example, her travel memoir takes her out of her primary area of expertise, so I found her piece on India to be just a bit on the dry side. Many of the pieces by the less well-known writers are good, but maybe not great. Part of the interest of a piece by Elizabeth David is that her great reputation for being a superior culinary writer will mean that when you read her piece, if you encounter a questionable statement, you are wise to question your own judgment on the matter rather than question the author. For most other authors, if you encounter a questionable statement, you may feel a bit up in the air unless you have an unimpeachable authority for your opinion.
   
   While I consider this a forest of trees with a wide variety in their value, one may also raise the issue of the value of the forest. How does an interest in Epicurean pleasures fit into a complete life? Is it possible that `Gourmet' interests by their nature influence a life to wander into a less than productive fields? One piece of evidence is Jim Villas' piece on the life of Lucius Beebe, who was a wealthy epicure who turned himself into a journalist with a disdain for the ordinary which makes H. L. Menchen's poor opinion of the boobiesee (sic) look like a mild tic. Since Beebe embraced a style that required the support of significant wealth, are we of normal means to admire or disdain this sybaritic aesthete. Is not a life made good on average means much more interesting to study?
   
   In a sense, I'm just thinking out loud here. There is definite value in knowing about the lifestyle of Lucius Beebe, just as it is interesting to know of the dinosaurs that took evolution in a direction that could not adapt to a cataclysmic change in their environment. Beebe's preferences for value and competence are commendable. They are also taken in the wrong direction by reliance on great wealth.
   
   One problem with this book for the dedicated reader of culinary writing is that we are likely to have encountered many of these pieces, or many of the same material in other sources. Does one really want to know what James Beard has to say about pasta when we have read everything that Marcella Hazan has written on the subject?
   
   Ultimately, I think this is not the kind of book you read from cover to cover. It is the book you take with you to doctors' waiting rooms when you are between novels or your interest in that latest Rose Levy Beranbaum `bible' is flagging.
   
   Thus, I recommend this book with a caution. A great book to buy at a discount. A not so great book at full list price. For great culinary writing, be sure to complete your reading of M.F.K. Fisher or Elizabeth David or James Villas or even Ruth Reichl herself before spending money here.



4. The best of writing from the Gourmet Magazine of the 60's and 70's. Writing from the Goumet we know and love.

4 comments about Gourmet Mustards: The How-To's of Making and Cooking With Mustards (Creative Cooking Series).

1. Collaboratively written by mustard experts Helen Sawyer and Cheryl Long, Gourmet Mustards: The How-Tos Of Making & Cooking With Mustards features more than 125 recipes showcasing the versatility and diversity of mustards. Whether making a mustard or utilizing it in one of the delicious, health-friendly recipes, the preparatory instructions are clear, concise, and "kitchen friendly". From classic standards like Honey-Lemon Glazed Chicken; Curry Mustard Fish Fillets; and Champagne Mustard; to newer culinary creations like Creole Remoulade Sauce; Herbed Mustard Butter; and Dill Mustard Seafood Sauce; Gourmet Mustards truly lives up to its name and is an enthusiastically recommended addition to speciality and gourmet cookbook collections. Also very strongly recommended is a companion cookbook from Sibyl Productions, Marsha Peters Johnson's newly revised and expanded Gourmet Vinegars: The How-Tos Of Making & Cooking With Vinegars (1889531057, ...).



2. This book was not what I was looking for. I wanted some basic mustard recipes, but this book only had one or two, then used those recipes as the basis for others (i.e. you make dijon mustard, then use a cup of that to make another mustard). No truly basic mustards were included. I've not used a single recipe out of this book.



3. If you like mustards this is an easy to follow book. We have enjoyed eating our own creation.....some are warmer than others so beware if sharing with small children.



4. i love to can all summer this book will come in handy thanks for the fast shipping

1 comments about Cast Iron Cooking: 50 Gourmet-Quality Dishes from Entrees to Desserts.

1. So many times we drag through the same recipies for the cast iron products. Knowing that I had alternatives and how to do them has enlarged my cooking base. I now give extra treats to my family. These dishes really are great.