Chocolate and other food groups

I had heard a lot about this cookbook. Apparently, the author is known for a food column by the name, The Minimalist, because he goes for simple, easy recipes with few ingredients. So I got this one from the library to see what I thought. At first, I was most impressed by the size. It's huge! But don't be fooled by the title. It won't really tell you how to cook everything . It does, however, teach basic cooking principles which would help you create your own recipes or analyze someone else's. But after trying several recipes from the book, I am not sure it's worth it. The first one I tried, Kale and Potato Soup, was good, but not great. I put that down to the fact that I used canned broth instead of homemade. The next one, Easy Tomato Sauce, was too bland. It was easy, but it wasn't as good as the stuff from a jar. I also made the Bruschetta, and that was good. Then I tried the Bitter Chocolate Sorbet. It sounded so easy - just cocoa powder, sugar, and water. W...

Review for Top Secret Recipes Lite I would really give this about 1 1/2 stars. It was written in 1998, and you can tell. That was when everyone was still into the low-fat craze, before everyone started talking about 'good fat' and 'bad fat.' This book seems to be designed to cut all the fat possible out of every single recipe. Only once does the author acknowledge that some fat, namely Omega-3 fatty acids, is in fact good for you. There are two main problems with the book. First, that he doesn't seem to realize that too many calories, too much carbohydrates, other kinds of junk, those are all bad for you. Fat alone is not the bad guy. Second, I am not about to use Butter Buds or whatever instead of real butter! Maybe lite margarine, but that's as far as I am willing to go. And fat-free cheese is disgusting! Low-fat yes, but fat-free is more like plastic that actual food. I just can't recommend this book. There are a few recipes that sound pretty good - he ha...

I am a big fan of Alton Brown's show on The Food Network, Good Eats. So I looked forward to reading his cookbook. But I have to admit this is not what I expected. The book is organized by cooking method, which seems a little strange to begin with. Then there are no pictures of any of the recipes. There are fun little sidenotes, and interesting tips, but the recipes are constructed in a rather strange way. Still, I did find a few recipes and note a few tips I plan to try. Here's the most basic one, and yet, the easiest to try! A Perfect Baked Potato Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry potato. Poke holes in it with a fork. Then rub lightly the entire potato with a little canola oil. This makes a crunchy skin on the potato. Sprinkle the outside with salt. Place the potato directly on the rack in the oven. Cook for about 1 hour. I haven't tried it yet, but since I love baked potatoes, I will try it soon!