5 comments about The Florida's Keys Cookbook: Recipes and Foodways of Paradise.

1. Tasty recipes are interspersed with tidbits about the ingredients (pineapple, crab, papaya seeds, etc.). Vintage photos of Key West and interesting bits of history round out the book. The Chef's Note at the end of each recipe offers substitutions for hard-to-find ingredients. Key West is a melting pot of Cuban, French, Spaniards, Bahamians, and many other cultures, so the cuisine in this book reflects that diversity.
   
   Here's the Table of Contents:
   Food Customs, Cultures, and Traditions of the Florida Keys
   Cocktails, Coolers, and Finger Food
   Soups, Bisques, and Chowders
   Salads and Vegetables
   Rice, Beans, Tubers, and Pasta
   Fish and Seafood
   Meat and Poultry
   Grand Finales
   Bread and Breakfast
   Stocking the Tropical Pantry



2. Reviewed by Debra Gaynor for Reader Views (7/06)
   
   Victoria Shearer is a travel and food journalist. In "the Florida Keys Cookbook" she combines history, culture and recipes. This book is as versatile as the variety of ethnic influences of the Keys. Mix "Afro-Caribbean and Cuban to Spanish, Asian, British, German, and Italian-and the result is a diverse and vibrant culinary scene."
   
   Ms. Shearer walks us through history beginning with the ice age and advancing to the 21st century. The residents in the 1800's had to be a tough lot. "They endured hurricanes, mosquitoes, sand fleas, extreme heat, isolation, no fresh water, no refrigeration, no electricity, no modern plumbing and no medical aide." They battled "large roaches, and ants." They did have "clean air, warm sunshine, and the riches of the sea."
   
   I found of particular interest the discussion of water. Water was a precious commodity. Cisterns were built and houses equipped with a method of collecting rainwater.
   
   The Keys' becoming a popular vacation spot in the 1980's, was instrumental in a change in cuisine. Floribbean, was "colorful, ethnic, and bursting with new flavors, it swept the nation." The new cuisine has unofficially been dubbed "Conchfusion", "takes advantage of the increased availability of unusual ingredients from around the globe, fusing them with the bounty of the sea and the tropical jewels of the dooryard garden."
   
   The recipe for "Pulled Pork Barbecue" intrigued me. I could hardly wait to give it a try. It was worth the wait. The recipe reminds me of southern barbecue. The taste is tangy and rich, well worth the effort. Of course no Florida Keys Cookbook would be complete without recipes containing key limes. "Key Lime Cheese Cake" is delicious. I plan to hang on to this one and use it for special occasions. "Key Lime Cake" is a winner with my family.
   
   Anyone that has dreamed of a warm tropical nights with a gourmet meal, a fruit drink and palm trees swaying in the breeze will want a copy of this book.



3. The Florida Keys Cookbook is one of the five best Florida/Gulf Coast cookbooks out there. Well, that's my opinion. I've been updating my Amazon "So You'd Like to Guides" and I have one on Key Lime Pie. Take a look at it if you want. Anyway, I've included fifty cookbooks (the maximum Amazon will allow) in all my guides, so I've had a chance to go through my collection. And quite a collection it is, I've got hundreds of cookbooks and I go through them all the time. That's my problem, how to organize them. While going through what I wanted to include in my guides, I started separating them into piles, the ones I couldn't live without and the ones, if I absolutely had to, I could give away as gifts, you know, like if we moved into a very small place.
   
   The Florida Keys Cookbook is one I could never part with. I love the food and the atmosphere of Florida and the Gulf Coast, have spent a lot of time there, as I'm a sailing lady. I'm also somewhat of a gourmet chef. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, or galley, depending if I'm at home in the States or on our boat in the Caribbean. The recipes here will make your family, or even just yourself, if you live alone, drool. They are mouthwatering good and that's the truth.
   
   Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne



4. How many cookbooks do you buy, look at them once or twice and then forget about them? This cookbook is packed with genuine Florida Keys recipes including my favorite, "Chardonnay Shrimp." Since most of the recipes come from Keys restaurants, the book also acts as a restaurant guide. Interspersed with old photos and the history of the area, the book gives new meaning to "flavor of the area." A must have for those who love food and the Florida Keys.



5. Great book!!! The recipes are simple, easy to follow and delicious. No hard to find ingredients. It includes recipes from different Int'l cuisines. The prelude to the recipes, history, anecdotes, etc...was interesting to read as well. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Matzoh Ball Gumbo: Culinary Tales of the Jewish South.

1. Fascinating subject matter as I grew up in an area where Jews were a vocal and very assimilated minority. The author's extensive research came to the same conclusions in every chapter: it was hard to keep Kosher in the South and black household help did much of the cooking. As a Jewish woman I am proud of our reputation for a sense of humor and delicious cooking. There are very few recipes; even those were not particularly tempting or typical. The book's major flaws lie in the author's dry, labored, one-note writing style that had me laboring to stay awake.



2. This book is a wonderful compilation of Jewish history of the South and Jewish food of the South. Fascinating reading about the history and excellent eating. Enjoy!



3. Good book if your into a history lesson but I was looking for more receipies.



4. As a Deep South Jewish expatriate, I can't say enough about how thoroughly Marcie Cohen Ferris did her research. There is no doubt that she has covered the differences-and similarities-of the various southern states with great heart and accuracy! The sheer volume of names of those she got family information from is more than admirable. The book belongs in every Jewish household-northern and southern! And non-Jewish readers will get a wonderful picture of the influence food had in Southern Jewish homes-part of American culinary history.



5. This was a wonderful topic for a book -- how Southernness and Jewishness came together in the Jewish kitchen. Cohen Ferris, herself a Jewish woman from a small town in Arkansas, has done exhaustive research, no doubt a labor of love, and has perpetuated many people's memories.
   
   The problem with the book is that it is quite repetitious. Ferris Cohen correctly points out that the culture and history of Atlanta, New Orleans, the Mississippi Delta, and so on are all distinct from each other. Then, however, she spends much of her time recounting menus of long-ago occasions and concluding, over and over again, that the balance between kosher and non-kosher food and between European and American Southern delicacies was important and hard to navigate, because food is so important in daily life.
   
   It is not so much a question of Ferris Cohen's writing style but of the fact that she seemed compelled to put on paper all of the results of her painstaking interviews. Perhaps a more insightful historian could have made more of Ferris Cohen's material, but this book just seemed too long.

5 comments about Are You Hungry Tonight?: Elvis' Favorite Recipes.

1. What a great time to be buying cookbooks! While we have for a long while had access to recipe collections and representations of the cuisine of various nationalities and popular restaurants, recently there has been a growing library of culinary tomes that give us the skills for producing creations of our own minds. Titles such as Sauces by James Peterson, the 1-2-3 series by Roxanne Gold, Culinary Artistry, Great Wine Made Simple, and now this book provide us with the information about tastes and combinations of flavors and textures to deconstruct, reconstruct, and just plain construct familiar and novel dishes.

   Are You Hungry Tonight provides a brief introduction to the celebrity subject's theory of flavor. Editor Butler broadly groups flavors into four categories based on the purpose they serve in a dish. Thus, Tastes That Push represent the well-known seasonings that we use to balance sauces, for example: Salty, Sweet, and Picante. Tastes That Pull represent those taste elements that highlight underlying flavors. The authors include here Tangy, Vinted, Floral/Herbal, Spiced Aromatic, Funky (pungents or musky flavors), and Bulby (what have commonly been called Aromatics such as onions and garlic). Taste Platforms represent the textures upon which dishes are built. These include Garden Platforms, Starchy ones, Oceanic ones, and Meaty ones (what the Japanese call umami). Finally, the fourth category is Tastes That Punctuate, basically bitters that stop tastes and cleanse the palate.

   This model is very useful one. Ms. Butler seems not to have done her research in examining precursors to this model, and makes little reference to other cuisines than the one Elvis constructed during his lifetime. She neglects to include several important items, especially in the Platforms section (breads, pastries, soy products, seitan, and mushrooms as a basis for other flavors, for example). There are similar, usually less complex models, already in the literature. Butler and Presley's model is more extensive than most, however. Surprisingly, there is little space given in the book to theory. The majority of pages is devoted to recipes that demonstrate their combining philosophy. Butler does not describe how Presley took the elements of taste and mixed them to concoct these dishes. (A reader must refer to Culinary Artistry for such guidelines.) She does, however, provide tasting notes after each recipe that dissect the elements used in the dish.

   The recipes are very complex, involving multiple steps and sub-recipes. Even a cook enjoying kitchen challenges would be hard pressed to prepare a full meal using this book alone-- one would run out of burners and pans before the dishes were complete. For example, the Honey Glazed Celeriac involves making the glaze, which is a reduction of wine and acids with sauteed aromatics sieved and kept warm, plus Celeriac slices baked and then broiled, plus a garnish of sauteed zucchini with chives, plus Ginger Curry Sauce, a mayonnaise of reduced wine and aromatics whisked with other ingredients.

   The writing is an interesting, not entirely successful juxtaposition of aw-shucks, down-home attitude, sophisticated epicurean philosophy, and fancy foods. The recipes are heavy on the Meaty and Oceanic food platforms, making this definitely a carnivore's cookbook. Produce usually stands as garnish and accompaniment to the flesh. In the end, the most special part of the book represent a few precious pages and is underdeveloped. Perhaps a follow-up volume will expound on this interesting culinary model.




2. Elvis loved to eat. Who doesn't know that? This was a good concept for a cook book, and the recipes are quite good. It's comfort food but they made a point to include a chapter on vegetables subtitled with "Yes, the King ate vegetables". There are many typically Southern foods (grits, biscuits and red eye gravy, fried chicken, etc.), but the main dishes are crowd pleasers.
   
   What prevented me from giving this 5 stars is the fact that these recipes are old fashioned. Elvis lived in the days before time saving cooking devices (the microwave, for example) and a lot of prepared foods. No doubt as the child of sharecroppers in Post Depression Era Mississippi they probably spent a lot of time cooking, canning and storing foods than the average person would today. These recipes are more labor intensive than even the most experienced cook is used to.
   
   It includes the famous peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Deep fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. This sandwich is the singular staple of Elvis's diet that has taken on a life of its own. They're good eating, for sure. Lisa Marie said recently about this odd phenomena that will this will never die, she never once saw Elvis eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich (at least not in front of her).
   
   To me, the crowning achievement of this book was the release of the Elvis and Priscilla wedding cake recipe, but it was also the most ridiculous. This is a tremendous project, and they recommend that if you've never prepared something like this before to not only pick up utensils and ingredients at a wholesale bakery shop but to set aside at least 3 days to assemble it. Why someone who would want to replicate this would do this in their home kitchen is beyond me.



3. It was really fun learning about Elvis....Also, I have made some of the recipes and they were really good....I really enjoyed this cookbook....



4. Excellent recipes that surprisingly never call for lard. These are all wonderful, from the burnt-bacon BLT to the ham and apple sauce. The chicken-pot-pie, meatloaf and gravy, biscuits, fried chicken, and corn recipes are standard favorites. There is a false note in the "blueberry pie" recipe, since Elvis was from the river delta (the flatlands), not the hills (the foothills beginning near Jackson, Tennessee, where the author is from). The recipe for Elvis and Priscilla's wedding cake is no doubt attached for the "completists' only of Elvis fans, and adds little practical to the book, but is a welcome curiosity of kitsch. The famous fried-peanut-butter and banana sandwich (not deep fried, it is pan fried, BTW) is actually a common winter staple grilled sandwich for certain southern homes: a real kid pleaser. Banana pudding with Nilla vanilla wafers is here too (although true authentic details are left out). And Elvis's love of thick slices of fresh beefsteak tomatoes is alluded to throughout (the one food item everyone aggress on that he loved).
   
   The combination of author's devotion and the wry art production make this an excellent example of hidden humor. Check out the recipe for glazed donuts and the photo of Elvis making the "ok" sign with thumb and forefinger, and you know for what to look for in the rest of the book. The spaghetti and meatballs recipe with Elvis giving a meatball smile is also too rich to ignore.



5. Very few recipes, very few pictures of Elvis, very much a slap-dash cobbled together effort. Nothing unique here other than the wedding cake.

5 comments about Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook.

1. I've seen this cookbook sold in book collector's magazines, but always lost track of how to get it. I am so glad to add it to my collection of cookbooks. I plan to try most of the recipes, but will leave the possum recipes to the Darlings.



2. I think the black and white episodes of the Andy Griffith Show are probably the best examples of American TV ever made, so I was thrilled to order this book. There are no photos at all which makes it tedious to flip through. Also, every recipe insists on having a character's name in the title. It's cute for the first few pages but gets tiresome very quickly. I can't imagine Ernest T. Bass cooking anything and if he did I don't believe I would want to try it. However, there are many, many pieces of dialogue reproduced exactly as they were said on the show and it is delightful to read them! How funny simple American dialect can be... This book is a fun momento of the classic Americana sitcom, but don't expect to cook much from it.



3. Being from a small town and now living away from it this book is like having my little aunties giving me their secert recipes... God rest their soul! I wish I had been old enough to ask them for them personally, but I found a lot of them in these two books. This is one of the two Mayberry cookbooks I own.



4. I bought this book from amazon last year and was very let down. First of all, the quality is poor- the pages are very thin- it looks like cheap copy paper printed at a corner shop (the print quality is not great), especially with the cheap plastic ring binders.
   
   This book is not an official recipe book filled with actual recipes used on the show. It's not even all Southern cooking since some of the recipes are not even from the south. Many sounded very unappetizing. Too many recipes called for canned soups and other ready made items as opposed to being made from scratch. I didn't see many recipes that looked like it would produce what Aunt Bee served on TV. I agree with the reviewer who said that using character names for the recipes got very old.
   
   I gave my book to Goodwill.



5. This is an awesome book. I made the "honest Cherry Pie" and the family ate it up. Serve with whip-cream or Blue Bell Homemade vanilla. (Blue Bell is a Southern/Texas brand of ice cream.)I also gave each of my step daughters a copy along with my daughter. The book show you "Down-Home cooking" at it's best.. Bravo Aunt Bea!!

5 comments about Emeril's New New Orleans.

1. I was very excited to find this book, in perfect condition, at a garage sale for $1.00!!! What a treasure! I was more thrilled to see the recipe for the Banana Cream pie that my husband and I had at his restaurant in New Orleans. I decided to make it for a special occassion. I knew something was wrong when it said to mix 3/4 c. corn starch with 1 cup cream. I stopped there and looked up the recipe on-line. I found other mistakes but it was to late...we are having banana soup on mushy crust for my husband's 45th birthday today. This wasn't the first recipe errors I've found in this book, but the most expensive. (Price vanilla bean right now and you'll see what I mean.) Now I understand why this 'treasure' was put out for 'trash'. Quantities are wrong and important directions are omitted. What a waste!



2. Emeril's New New Orleans cookbook is the best of his long list of cookbooks. Each recipe boasts bold flavors and New Orleans' style, while reassuring us that "this aint rocket science" and encouraging us to be creative with ingredients. When anybody asks me what my favorite cookbook is, I show them the sauce-stained NNO and suggest they buy their own copy.
   
   In post-Hurricane-Katrina days, these recipes help keep the beauty of New Orleans alive in our kitchens.



3. This is a great cookbook that I use all the time. Emeril's "Big Easy Seafood Okra Gumbo" recipe is great! I usually substitute chicken for fish and crabmeat to make it a Chicken and Shrimp gumbo. It keeps the cost down and it still tastes great. His "Dr. E's Get-Well Chicken Vegetable Soup" recipe is to die for, especially in Chicago winter days. If you are tired of your same-old dinner menu, give Emeril's recipes a try. It takes time to prepare, but you will not regret every minute you spend on it!



4. 
   Thanks to the person who mentioned Chef Prodhomme's book as being the best basic Louisiana cookbook.
   
   I qualify my comments because I am experimenting with Louisiana cooking for someone who likes the cajun flavors.



5. I have been cooking Louisiana food for a while, so this cookbook is great for me. All the recipes I cooked turned out great! I especially like the chicken soup recipe and the seafood gumbo (no rue, so it's lighter than regular gumbo) recipe. However, Emeril usually underestimate cooking time in this book for soups and gumbos. But I think this book is too complicated for people who are not familiar with Louisiana cooking-- too many ingredients and steps for all the recipes. But if you are a NO foodie, you must own this one.

5 comments about Party Receipts from the Charleston Junior League: Hors D'Oeuvres, Savories, Sweets.

1. The Party Recipes from the Charleston Junior League is my favorite cookbook. Of all the cookbooks I own I always buy the ones that have lots of pictures. I usually like to see what it looks like first before I make anything. This cookbook was the exception, as it does not have pictures of the food. I looked through the cookbook and immediately saw at least 30 recipes that I knew I wanted to make. I couldn't put it down, as there was such a collection of recipes that I always wanted to try. Whenever I need a recipe for a party or gathering, this cookbook is always the first one that I pick up.
   
   I like the short comments with each recipe from the recipe contributor. I especially like the spiral binding as the book stays flat on the table while you are using it. The people of Charleston, South Carolina know how to throw a successful party. I'm glad they shared their most popular recipes in this book.
   
   Recipe categories in the book:
   Accoutrements: Nuts, Nibbles, and Beverages
   Cold Dips and Spreads
   Hot Dips and Spreads
   Cold Hors d'Oeuvres
   Hot Hors d'Oeuvres
   Lowcountry Shrimp, Crab, and other Seafoods
   Southwestern Favorites
   Sandwiches and Baked Savories
   Sit-Down Starters
   Cookies, Cakes, and Confections for the Buffet Table



2. This is geared towards party recipes--- from drinks to demitast soup to finger deserts to all kinds of dips and snack mixes.

   Many will find here the ole reliables, and as I can determine, just about all of them--from Party Mix fame to Wassail to many ways of serving crab and shrimp dip.

   I particularly am attracted to the unusual, and there is plenty of that here. I enjoy such as Escargots A La San Diego, Goat Cheese Tortillas, and Papaya Stuffed with Curried Crab.

   This will assist those looking for some easy but delicious things to serve the party guests that will bring raves.




3. This is by far the best hors d'oeuvres recipe book I've come across. I use it time and again. And like it so much I've given it as gifts many times over!



4. My mother swears by all the Junior League Cookbooks which she always relies on for parties and gatherings. This was one of the first of many I tried!!!! Filled with endless choices of creative and easy to prepare starters including cold and hot plates and some ample first courses such as shirimp, crab cakes, cheesecakes, quiches and more--All the ingredients are easy to find and common to most well stocked pantries- so you always can find something at the last minute to prepare!! Also, many of these receipes can be made in even less time if you use pre-chopped veggies,pre-cut meats, etc.
   
   The only thing I am not crazy about is that many of the dips and cold startes use commercial cream cheese, sour cream or similar products to create the base of the receipe--just doesn't seem to heart healthy to me...But none the less, they are all yummy in the end if you don't focus on that.
   
   Whether for work gathering, faimly and friends you will be cetain to find one or many starter you can rely on again and again for stress free entertaining!



5. The dozen or more recipes tried from this book have been terrific. I am primarily interested in appetizers that can be made ahead, frozen and re-heated. A large number of the recipes fit this criteria. I have bought several copies as gifts for friends based on the recipes I have tried and I've enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy my new beverage of choice. Made from 100% organic soy, taste just like coffee and no caffeine. Finally, I got rid of that wired up feeling all day and feeling great. Look for it on the net by googling "s o yfee".
   
   A wide variety of outstanding "receipts" from elegant to casual. A collection of recipes that allows the hostess [or host] to theme a party or go eclectic. This book has the original party mix that includes Cheerios. Enjoy!!!

5 comments about Shuck Beans, Stack Cakes, and Honest Fried Chicken: The Heart and Soul of Southern Country Kitchens.

1. This cookbook is an absolute delight to read and to use. I grew up on this food in Louisville, KY. My Dad was a city boy and a firefighter and my Mom was a country girl. We lived on a combination of firehouse/country food and there is no more delicious combination of cuisine. Like a prior reviewer, the excerpt about the Cozy Theatre and the Suburban Fish Fry brought back some powerful memories. That fish was the best I have ever had. Ronni Lundy's book is the epitome of real regional food.



2. This is the best book on southern cooking I've ever found. It doesn't need the first part of the title. "The Heart and Soul of Southern Country Kitchens",is however,quite appropriate. These are the foods I grew up with and have missed for years. Thanks to Ronni Lundy's book I've found them again.



3. I spent my first 58 years in Dayton, Ohio, my mothers' people hailed from Georgetown/Lexington Kentucky- tobacco farmers for the most part. My materanl grandmother could have written this cookbook. It is the best regiional cookbook, authentic. I have ordered 4 more to share with my children.



4. This just doesn't have good old recipes, it has wonderful stories to go along with them. Makes a person homesick for that period of time when there were good cooks, good stories, and a loving family.
   
   Anyone from Kentucky will love it



5. My family has southern roots so we occasionally cook southern dishes that my mother prepared.However, my mother has passed-on and now and then, I find myself saying,"Gee, I wish I could ask Mom how she did that."
   This cookbook has solved that problem. I have glanced at many so-called southern cookbooks and ended up being disappointed with their recipes.
   This cookbook is the "real deal". Lundy knows the towns and the people my family came from.Her chili-bun recipe is dead-on for a recipe my husband and his family raved about for years after the restaurant closed. I have found other recipes here that were similar.
   The real surprise is that not only are her recipes familiar ,they are very good in quality.Her crab cakes, while not native to area, are just plain excellent.I trust her recipes as much as I trust Julie Childs.
   I have given away 4 copies of this cookbook to delighted family members. My own copy is dog-eared and stained from use.This is a "keeper".It won't gather dust on the shelf.

5 comments about Delilah's Everyday Soul: Southern Cooking With Style.

1. I have only made one recipe from this book. The mac and cheese recipe is very easy and the end result is to die for. This will be the best mac and cheese you will ever eat in your lifetime. Thanks Delilah



2. This cookbook is everything I could hope for. Chock full of good "down home" recipes with a dash of personality too.



3. A medicre cookbook at best. I bought it because of the hype about her appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show with her macaroni and cheese recipe. The rest of the book was disappointing.



4. Any reviewer rating this cookbook higher than one star is rating how Delilah's personality and the story of her success comes across in the book...it is certainly NOT because of the success of the recipes.
   
   Not enough attention was paid to documenting and testing the book's recipes. I have now tried two recipes (at great additional expense to serve the (gi-normous) macaroni and (multiple exotic) cheese casserole and bake the lemon cake only to discover that both recipes have missing steps and/or ingredients.
   
   I feel the publishers owe those who (like me) purchased this book for full price a place where we can see the corrected recipes. On the publisher's website there is no place where they receive/post the corrections, and to add insult to injury, are still selling the book for full price.
   
   Be forewarned! There is a reason why a new (non remaindered) copy of this cookbook sells for less than $2...spend the money for the back story and pretty pictures. It is not worth the investment if you seek new soulfood recipes.



5. I bought this book, after hearing about how wonderful a cook Delilah is, to add to my library. While looking through the book, I decided to test some of her recipes, well...needless to say just as other "celebrity" chefs, she left off steps to certain recipes. Interestingly enough, just as a previous reviewer found, one was the mac'n'cheese which made her famous. I believe in most cookbooks by well-known chefs, this is done intentionally, it's sort-of like giving away a personal secret.

5 comments about Ruby Ann's Down Home Trailer Park Cookbook.

1. The trailer trash thing is overdone. I was turned off by the on and on ramblings and making fun of trailer park residents. I can listen to jokes of any kind but I found this very distasteful. This is 2007 not 1950. I collect cookbooks and thought this might have some fresh ideas and purchased it based on the good reviews. Everyone can choose their own style of humor, I just happen to see this book as turning into a white elephant or into the recycle bin. I felt the recipes were unremarkable and shallow, just as the author's commentary. There are so many great cookbooks at Amazon,I would look a little farther next time.



2. Oh it had it's moments, but some references were over the top for me. I didn't save it for a white elephant. I put it in the trash. Highly over rated but to each his/her own.



3. THIS IS ANOTHER AMAZING SUPER FUNNY RUBY ANN TRAILER PARK COOKBOOK. THE STORIES SHE TELLS AND THE SITUATIONS THAT HAPPEN AT HOME IN THE TRAILER PARK WILL HAVE YOU LAUGHING OUTLOUD. THE RECIPES ARE AN ADDED BONUS AND I MUST ADMIT, I HAVE TRIED A FEW AND THEY ARE GOOD!!! ALL THE BOOKS BY RUBY ANN ARE A GREAT READ AND A FUNNY ONE TO SHARE WITH THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS.



4. I collect cookbooks, and especially love a good rural or provencial cookbook. This was given to me as a gag gift years ago, and I just love it. It's screamingly funny, and though some of the dishes are deliberately awful (I think?) and may contain a bit too much Cheez Whiz and marshmallow fluff for some tastes, who couldn't love a cookbook with a recipe for 'Slut Puppies'? Give it a as a gift for your favorite foodie, and buy a copy for yourself; you won't be sorry.



5. Purchased five [5] of these as gag Christmas Gifts !! The only problem was that I should have ordered more !! Books arrived quickly and in excellent condition !!

3 comments about Magnolias.

1. Donald Barickman's Magnolias: Authentic Southern Cuisine takes a modern approach to Southern dishes, gathered from his Magnolias restaurant in South Carolina which has been acclaimed throughout the country. If it sounds familiar, it's because Magnolias Southern Cuisine first was published in 1995 to share these recipes, and here provides a sequel to offer over fifty new dishes plus some originals. While color photos pepper the coverage, the easy dishes don't really need them and lend to home cooking success.



2. This is a good overall book, for those who want to cook Magnolia's Lowcountry inspired Southern style foods, and those who want to have a selection of Donald Barickman's "Southern style" recipes that are generally easy to cook.
   
   Start with crab cakes with panko crust, cleverly formed in long tubes within plastic wrap, then cut to create a more compact crab cake. The recipe is basic, not "messed up" with superfluous ingredients that mask the sweetness of blue crab, lightly skillet sauteed.
   
   There's plenty of "comon" recipes, such as macaroni and cheddar cheese, , creamed corn, collard greens, okra, Hoppin' John, black beans and rice, and creamy grits slow cooked in water and heavy cream. To dress things up, there's Pimientto cheese grits with seared scallops shrimp, tasso and grits, or salmon over grits, and even lobster and grits. Things get an Asian/Latin twist with Coriander-seared tuna with jalapeno and mango vinaigrette and sauteed escarole. Barickman also offers squash blossosms stuffed with scallop and loubster moussse, or a steak topped with pimiento cheese and madeira sauce.
   
   I was mildly disappoined that this lacked the "kick" in its selection of recipes to get it up to a 5 star rating, however with it's simple to moderately complex Southern recipes, good color photos, and almost too brief instructions, it will be more than sufficient for a lover of Charleston's Magnolias Restaurant to duplicate many of the older recipes. I do favor "chattier" cookbooks that give a local flavor in the side notes; this is "just the facts, ma'am" on its recipes. Authors John Martin Taylor, Edna Lewis, James Villas, the Lee Bros., and Frank Stitts have classic cookbooks books that clearly rate "5"'s in my opinion, check these out and see what you prefer to buy.
   
   This version is said to be the original 1995 book, Magnolia's Southern Cuisine, from over 10 years ago, it was updated in 2006 with 50 or so new recipes.
   
   Visit Charleston, and try this and several dozen excellent restaurants, to sample many variations of classics such shrimp and grits, fluffy biscuits, and all around great food!



3. After our extraordinary meal at Magnolias in Charleston, I knew I must have the cookbook to try some of Donald Barickman's recipes at home. The book is pretty enough to put on a coffee table and is full of wonderful southern style recipes that are easy to follow and turn out just as good as they look.