jon@msunix.UUCP (Jonathan Hue) (10/19/85)
Being somewhat new to the net, I don't know if this question has been asked before, so please, no flames! Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you would consider "safe"? By that I mean cookbooks with recipes which you would feel confident in serving to guests the first time you prepared it, assuming you blindly follow recipes as I do, at least the first time. Examples of this would be the "Sunset Favorite Recipe" books. A counter-example would be the "Gilroy Garlic Festival" books. There's a pesto recipe in the which uses 20 cloves of garlic for about 1-1/2 cups of sauce. That's what I call unsafe! Other "safe" cookbooks I know of are "Chef Chu's" chinese cookbook and "Grand Finales", a dessert cookbook (fantastic chocolate mousse recipe. Any takers?). I don't like cooking something and then saying, "Gee, I guess that *was* too many chili pods" while my guests run for the fire extinguishers. I like recipes that give you a good middle ground from which you can modify, not those at the extremes which require you to add or subtract to make something which will be satisfactory to most people. Any suggestions? Post or mail, whichever is appropriate. Thanks in advance, Jonathan Hue LMSC-Mechanisms & Servos ..amdcad!cae780!leadsv!msunix!jon or something like that
6243tes@whuts.UUCP (STERKEL) (10/22/85)
> > Being somewhat new to the net, I don't know if this question has been > asked before, so please, no flames! > never get concerned about inconsiderate boors! > > Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you > would consider "safe"? > Probably the ultimate "safe" cookebook is the (in)famous "Joy of Cooking". It has taken many lumps over the years for being "bland", "uninteresting", "overratted", but it is safe, safe, SAFE. In addition, it has so many recipes that its cost/recipe is easily the lowest of the commercial (for sale) cook books. Let me know what you think about the whale blubber recipe (no kidding). Bon Appetite'. *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR RECIPE ***
oyster@uwmacc.UUCP (Vicious Oyster) (10/22/85)
In article <163@msunix.UUCP> jon@msunix.UUCP (Jonathan Hue) writes: > >I don't like cooking something and then >saying, "Gee, I guess that *was* too many chili pods" while my guests >run for the fire extinguishers. I'd help you out with the recipes you requested, but *my* dinner guests run for the fire extinguishers when I think the Szechuan/Indian/Mexican dish I lovingly created was perfect. So it goes.
nemo@rochester.UUCP (Wolfe) (10/22/85)
[ Is it safe? (sound of drill in background) ] Jonathan Hue asks > Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you > would consider "safe"? By that I mean cookbooks with recipes which you > would feel confident in serving to guests the first time you prepared it, > assuming you blindly follow recipes as I do, at least the first time. > ... I like recipes that give you a good > middle ground from which you can modify, not those at the extremes > which require you to add or subtract to make something which will > be satisfactory to most people. Any suggestions? Post or mail, whichever > is appropriate. Rapidly becoming my favorite cookbook is _The_Victory_Garden_Cookbook_, a companion to the PBS series based in Boston. After nearly two years of use, and many recipes, I have had *no* bad or even mediocre recipes! I consider that astounding. It is primarily concerned with vegetables, but has some meat in several (O(n)) recipes. It treats the vegetable from the garden or market, through the basic ways of preparing it, to the heights to which the vegetable aspires. Many of the recipes I have deemed worthy of posting were from this book. As far as that goes, we tried the carrot cake recipe last weekend with wonderful results. Sometimes I like more spice, but the results are never insipid when made as directed (provided that good ingredients were used in the first place). It makes a great Christmas present.... Nemo -- Internet: nemo@rochester.arpa UUCP: {decvax, allegra, seismo, cmcl2}!rochester!nemo Phone: [USA] (716) 275-5766 school 232-4690 home USMail: 104 Tremont Circle; Rochester, NY 14608 School: Department of Computer Science; University of Rochester; Rochester, NY 14627
jca@drutx.UUCP (ArnsonJC) (10/22/85)
One cookbook that I never fail to have success with is the "Moosewood Cookbook" and its followup (something about broccoli, I forget the title). They are both vegetarian cookbooks, but the meat eater that I am, the meals in the cookbook never fail to satisfy both the stomach and the palate. -- jill c. arnson ihnp4!drutx!jca AT&A IS, Denver (303)538-4800 "May your eyries receive you at your journeys end." Tolkien
knf@druxo.UUCP (FricklasK) (10/22/85)
>Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you >would consider "safe"? By that I mean cookbooks with recipes which you >would feel confident in serving to guests the first time you prepared it, >assuming you blindly follow recipes as I do, at least the first time. > > Thanks in advance, > > Jonathan Hue > LMSC-Mechanisms & Servos Both of the Sixty Minute Gourmet cookbooks are great in that regard, and I've never had a recipe fail. For EASY gourmet stuff, I'd highly recommend both of these. '`'` Ken `'`'
jrrt@mtuxo.UUCP (r.mitchell) (10/22/85)
The sequel to the Moosewood cookbook is called THE ENCHANTED
BROCCOLI FOREST, after the recipe which is illustrated on the cover.
I second the recommendations for these cookbooks; although I'm not a
vegetarian I find these recipes make meals that are quite satisfying.
Rob Mitchell {allegra,ihnp4}!mtuxo!jrrt
Es un entreverado loco, lleno de lucidos intervalos.
(He is a muddled fool, full of lucid intervals. *Don Quixote*)anita@utastro.UUCP (Anita Cochran) (10/23/85)
> Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you > would consider "safe"? By that I mean cookbooks with recipes which you > would feel confident in serving to guests the first time you prepared it, > assuming you blindly follow recipes as I do, at least the first time. There are two cookbooks that I will use for fail-safe cooking: Marcella Hazan's Classic Italian Cookbook Marcella Hazan's More Classic Italian Cokkbook. We have never had anything turn out badly from these two books and some of our favorite recipes are in them. Of course, I have a pretty foolproof instinct when reading recipes so that helps. -- Anita Cochran uucp: {noao, ut-sally, ut-ngp}!utastro!anita or seismo!ut-sally!utastro!anita arpa: anita@astro.UTEXAS.EDU snail: Astronomy Department The University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712 at&t: (512) 471-1471
withrow@tonto.DEC (Robert Withrow) (10/24/85)
>Probably the ultimate "safe" cookebook is the (in)famous "Joy >of Cooking". It has taken many lumps over the years for being >"bland", "uninteresting", "overratted", but it is safe, safe, SAFE. I disagree!!! I have a love-hate relationship with that cookbook, because while it has many excellent features (the `about' sections and the `foods we eat' and `foods we heat' sections) I've found that it has quite a few errors (both typographical and other) that can destroy a dish. And many of these errors seem to persist from edition to edition. Therefore I wouldn't recommend serving anything from it to anyone important unless you have cooked it once before. Not long ago, late one night after a long session of programming, I was making a pate brisee from the recipe in Joy, and (while it seems dumb now) I followed the instructions and added 3 cups water to 3 cups flour (look it up, it was still in the editions I saw in a book store recently). After surveying the mess I calmly ripped the beautiful hard bound book into several pieces, threw them away, and went to the local tavern. Strictly from the criterion of `safety' I have found vintage '55-'65 Betty Crocker books to be the best, although they always seem to over cook things by 20%.
cindy@ada-uts.UUCP (10/25/85)
> >Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you >would consider "safe"? By that I mean cookbooks with recipes which you >would feel confident in serving to guests the first time you prepared it, >assuming you blindly follow recipes as I do, at least the first time. > > Jonathan Hue > LMSC-Mechanisms & Servos I really wouldn't want to serve something to guests that I had never tried before, but if the need arose, I would probably get out the Good Housekeeping Cookbook. This book has lots of tasty recipes, with full colour pictures of the various dishes, and completely illustrated instructions. They also give an estimate on the ammount of time needed to complete the recipe. I've also had good luck with the Betty Crocker International Cookbook. They have good easy recipes with an international flair. NET: {harpo, allegro, bellcore, ihnp4}!inmet!ada-uts!cindy ----------
seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) (10/25/85)
I second the vote for "The Victory Garden Cookbook." I haven't tried that many recipes in it (I just have too many cookbooks to make more than one recipe from each every few months, except my Gilroy Garlic Festival Cookbook!) but some of them sure look great. There's a recipe for broccoli pie that I just have to try. It sounds incredible. Sharon Badian ihnp4!mtgzz!seb
vsh@pixel.UUCP (vsh) (10/25/85)
How about Fanny Farmer? I am no great cook, but the recipes are
easy to follow and seem to work out right.
Also, my aunt co-authored THE CAMPUS SURVIVAL COOKBOOK, a good
"how to open a can" cookbook structured as a one semester course in
quick-and-easy cooking for the low-budget college student just
moving into his and/or her first off-campus apartment. The recipes
are easy, mostly foolproof, and fun.
--
Steve Harris | {allegra|ihnp4|cbosgd|ima|genrad|amd|harvard}!\
Pixel Systems Inc. | wjh12!pixel!vsh
300 Wildwood Street |
Woburn, MA 01801 | 617-933-7735 x2314ecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (10/26/85)
> I've found that it has quite a few > errors (both typographical and other) that can destroy a dish. And many of > these errors seem to persist from edition to edition. > > Not long ago, late one night after a long session of programming, I was making > a pate brisee from the recipe in Joy, and (while it seems dumb now) I followed > the instructions and added 3 cups water to 3 cups flour (look it up, it was > still in the editions I saw in a book store recently). After surveying the > mess I calmly ripped the beautiful hard bound book into several pieces, My edition (Signet, November, 1973) calls for "2 cups sifted all-purpose flour" to which you add "5 to 6 tablespoons water." Evelyn C. Leeper ...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl
ttp@kestrel.ARPA (10/28/85)
I have a second recommendation of the 60 Minute Gourmet by Craig Claiborne (claibourne?) (formerly, I believe, of the NY Times), and also another of his books, The NY Times Cookbook. Ann Thomas has two books: The Vegetarian Epicure, vol.1 and 2 (2 has foreign inspired recipes). I've made several things out of each which have varied from good to amazing. (It is a little strange to see spaghetti ala carbonara without bacon, but her vegetarian prejudice doesn't seem to get in the way). By the way, a friend thought Thomas' books were "better" than the Moosewood books, because the Moosewood recipes were too conglomerate and were more time consuming in (needless?) extra vegetable chopping. I suggest being very careful with the vegetarian cookbooks Diet for a Small Planet, and Recipes for a Small Planet. The former is okay for protein complementarity information and the latter has a reliable time chart for pressure cooking beans. Also, the Walnut Cheddar Loaf is okay, though perhaps not very salubrious considering its fat content. Too many of the recipes, for me at least, turned into grey mush. "Joy of Cooking" seems to have a lot of detail, but I rarely liked anything I made out of it (except orange-molasses bread). I found it usually emphasized time-consuming detail which in fact missed the main point (i could never make a cream sauce following it, though it seems to be in great detail). And some of the recipes are ignorant - like taco seasoning without cumin. -tom
hobs@ihu1n.UUCP (John A. Hobson) (10/28/85)
> Strictly from the criterion of `safety' I have found vintage '55-'65 > Betty Crocker books to be the best, although they always seem to over > cook things by 20%. I have the Betty Crocker Cookbooks (a gift from my Mother-in-law) and I dislike them intensely. When I start to read a trifle recipe that has as its first ingredient "1 8 oz. package of Vanilla flavour instant pudding mix" I feel that someone is cutting a few too many corners in making the recipe easy to make. As my favorite cookbook author, Robert Farrar Capon put it "I am an Anglican, or medium-high church cook. I have Henri-Paul Bellaprat on my shelf, but Fanny Farmer in my heart." (Actually, I have Andre Simon on MY shelf, but he is just as bad -- Simon has a duck recipe which contains the instruction that, after roasting the duck, one should drain off the fat and replace it with "100 grams best unsalted butter." Really now!) Anyway, Father Capon (he is an Episcopal priest) has written 4 cookbooks, of which his first, THE SUPPER OF THE LAMB, is my favorite. One Jewish friend of mine referred to it as a Christian LOVE AND KNISHES. Capon is opinionated, but he knows what he is talking about and is fun. He has a marvelous chapter on how to thicken a stew, for example, which tells you exactly what is going on in a fat and flour mixture added to boiling water. I forget the name of his second book (I don't own a copy), but his third book (PARTY SPIRIT) is very good on recipes for party snacks and meals, my only quibble with it being that he has a chapter on how to throw together a party meal from things you have in your refridgerator and pantry, and I have quite different things in my refirdgerator and pantry. His fourth book (CAPON ON FOOD) is for those who have a good feel for cooking and just want to ignore recipes. It is strong on the "add a can of tomato paste, some olive oil, and some basil and oregano if you want the sauce to go off in an Italian direction, on the other hand, if you want a more Provencal flavour,...". It's not for the beginner or the faint of heart in the kitchen. -- John Hobson AT&T Bell Labs Naperville, IL ihnp4!ihu1n!hobs
rusty@sdcarl.UUCP (rusty c. wright) (10/28/85)
In article <1326@mtgzz.UUCP> ecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper) writes: >> I've found that it has quite a few >> errors (both typographical and other) that can destroy a dish. And many of >> these errors seem to persist from edition to edition. >> >> >> Not long ago, late one night after a long session of programming, I >> was making a pate brisee from the recipe in Joy, and (while it seems >> dumb now) I followed the instructions and added 3 cups water to 3 cups >> flour (look it up, it was still in the editions I saw in a book store >> recently). After surveying the mess I calmly ripped the beautiful >> hard bound book into several pieces, > > My edition (Signet, November, 1973) calls for "2 cups sifted all- > purpose flour" to which you add "5 to 6 tablespoons water." likewise with mine, the hardcover edition, copyright 1975 (28th printing, october 1982). -- rusty c. wright {ucbvax,ihnp4,akgua,hplabs,sdcsvax}!sdcarl!rusty
reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (10/29/85)
In article <1034@decwrl.UUCP> withrow@tonto.DEC (Robert Withrow) writes: > >>Probably the ultimate "safe" cookebook is the (in)famous "Joy >>of Cooking". > >I disagree!!! I have a love-hate relationship with that cookbook, because >while it has many excellent features (the `about' sections and the `foods >we eat' and `foods we heat' sections) I've found that it has quite a few >errors (both typographical and other) that can destroy a dish. > >Not long ago, late one night after a long session of programming, I was making >a pate brisee from the recipe in Joy, and (while it seems dumb now) I followed >the instructions and added 3 cups water to 3 cups flour (look it up, it was >still in the editions I saw in a book store recently). This one got fixed in the 1980 publication. (And, presumably, in all later ones.) Or perhaps it occurred after the 1980 publication. The most recent "error" I have run into deals with the amount of molasses and honey in the recipe for gingerbread. If I had reduced it by a third, maybe it wouldn't have come out gooey. At any rate, I find "The Joy of Cooking" valuable for its basic information and basic recipes. It really does have a reasonably easy recipe for almost any fundamental dish, and some exotic ones, that you might want. The problem is that the recipes are rarely excellent, and some of them are downright bad. Definitely, don't cook one for an important occasion if you haven't tried it first. Also, one would do well to avoid the dishes that aren't standard American or French, as the recipes given aren't near authentic (at least for the ones I am familiar with) and aren't good substitutes, either. For that matter, the French dishes aren't authentic, either, but they're closer. For Chinese cooking, I find Irene Chu's "The Key to Chinese Cooking" the nearest thing to foolproof. I can't remember ever being less than satisfied with the results, the recipes are very well presented, the basic techniques and ingredients are well covered, and there are a wide range of recipes, running from easy to extremely ambitious. The only times things haven't worked out are when I scrimped on the ingredients. (Soups just won't taste as good with water or canned broth as they do with fresh stock.) I highly recommend her recipes for Hot and Sour Soup, Spicy Beef With Vegetables, Pot Stickers, Tangerine Chicken, and many others. -- Peter Reiher reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU {...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher
withrow@tonto.DEC (Robert Withrow) (10/30/85)
> Strictly from the criterion of `safety' I have found vintage '55-'65 > Betty Crocker books to be the best, although they always seem to over > cook things by 20%. I should have known that someone would intensely disagree with my intense disagreement on the safety of Joy. :-) I guess that shows that cookbooks are more personal than politics. I recently read two different reviews of the same cookbook in two different magazines; One reviewer loved it, and the other hated it. Often over the same points. Perhaps the best advice is that there probably is no cookbook that is ABSOLUTELY safe for all cooks, and the best bet is to `feed your mistakes to your family' before you make it for company.
shilo@t4test.UUCP (Shilo Jennings) (10/30/85)
> > Does anyone have suggestions for cookbooks (any category) which you > > would consider "safe"? > > For something that is not only "safe" but different and interesting, I highly recommend 'James Beard's Favorite Recipes'. Everything in it is VERY easy and absolutely great! Definitely something that will make a big hit with your friends, even the first time. I picked up my copy at KMART for about 4 bucks. Happy Cooking!(Attention all Kmart shoppers...) EEgads here it goes again.... -scj-
ed@mtxinu.UUCP (Ed Gould) (10/31/85)
> One cookbook that I never fail to have success with is the >"Moosewood Cookbook" and its followup (something about broccoli, I >forget the title). The second one - equally as good as the first - is _The_Enchanted_Broccoli_Forest_. -- Ed Gould mt Xinu, 2910 Seventh St., Berkeley, CA 94710 USA {ucbvax,decvax}!mtxinu!ed +1 415 644 0146 "A man of quality is not threatened by a woman of equality."
bulko@ut-sally.UUCP (William C. Bulko) (11/03/85)
[] The various cookbook suggestions are all good, depending on what food tastes you have. However, if the person requesting the suggestions is a total novice (like my "better half", the owner of this account! :-)) I suggest purchasing a companion volume of Craig Claiborne's book on techniques (I don't remember the exact title). I'm sure everyone out there will agree that knowing how to chop, mince, etc. is just as important as the ingredients used in a recipe, and this book illustrates them well. Joyce c/o bulko@sally
briar@drune.UUCP (MohlerSG) (11/12/85)
A while back someone was looking for good local cookbooks, and I lost track of who requested that. After I moved to Denver, the Colorado Cache Cookbook was recommended so much, that I got a copy. It really is a good cookbook so now I recommend it to others, i.e. the NET. There are over 700 recipes along with lots of hints and suggestions. One thing to keep in mind is that these recipes were created at altitude. To get a copy send a check or money order for $12.95 plus $1.30 postage & handling. Make the check payable to the Junior League of Denver. Send it to: Colorado Cache The Junior League of Denver, Inc. 3372 S. Broadway Englewood, CO. 80110 Sue Mohler AT&T-IS drune!briar