Barbecue! Bible : Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes

Barbecue! Bible : Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes
Average customer rating:

You will never buy "grocery store" BBQ sauce again....

Great book

BBQ BIBLE - RUBS ETC

Good book for beginners

Loves it

Barbecue! Bible : Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes
Steven Raichlen
Manufacturer: Workman Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Barbecuing & Grilling | Outdoor Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The Barbecue! Bible

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ASIN: 0761119795

Amazon.com

Steven Raichlen, whose name needs no introduction to fans of The Barbecue! Bible, has spent years tasting the best barbecue the world has to offer. This global exposure is deliciously evident in his newest "bible," Barbecue! Bible Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades, Bastes, Butters, and Glazes. Raichlen's latest cookbook offers a lively introduction to such saucy American standbys as Kansas City-style and Texas-style barbecue while paying due respect to such international grill classics as Indian tandoori, Argentinean chimichurri, Korean boolkogi, and Indonesian satay (the recipes for these, by the way, are carefully authentic as well as delicious). The most important lesson Raichlen offers is his careful explanation of the components of great barbecue, which builds upon different layers of flavor. Variously referred to as wet rubs, marinades, cures, bastes, glazes, or slather sauces, these layers are clearly defined and supplemented by dozens of recipes. How to deploy these layers? According to personal taste, says Raichlen, but he helpfully offers a peek at the structure of a "championship barbecue," which might start with a long deep soak in marinade, followed by a dusting of spice mix, before being basted and glazed during the cooking process. When the meat is ready to be eaten, it is served with a finishing sauce, slather sauce, dipping sauce, or chutney. Raichlen provides fascinating recipes for every step, from the Only Marinade You'll Ever Need to recipes for homemade ketchups and mustards, both classic slather sauces. Novices who have yet to light their first grill and seasoned smoke hands alike will find this guide inspiring and indispensable. --Sumi Hahn Almquist

Book Description

STEVEN RAICHLEN IS THE WORLD'S LEADING AUTHORITY...on international barbecue. The recipes in this book are finger-licking good...try them all! --Rich Davis, Creator of K.C. Masterpiece Barbecue Sauce

Transform meats and seafood into world-class barbecue with the flavor foundations, wet and dry, that give grilled food its character, personality, and soul. Chili-fired rubs, lemony marinades, buttery bastes, and pack-a-wallop sauces, mops, slathers, sambals, and chutneys - in over 200 recipes from around the globe, master griller Steven Raichlen shows how to add the expert touch to every dish in your repertoire, from a simply steak to an exotic kebab. Includes a short refresher course in grilling and a step-by-step guide to building a signature sauce.

Customer Reviews:

You will never buy "grocery store" BBQ sauce again...........2007-09-02

.
This is the perfect addition to the The Barbecue! Bible. Some of the recipes are repeats, but most are new.

I like grilling so much that I give a sampler set of some homemade rubs and sauces from this book to family and friends that enjoy grilling, and a select few that didn't...they do now.

After buying this book, you will never settle for store-bought again. That's a promise.

Great book.......2007-05-27

This is just another great book by Steven. I highly recommend purchasing all of his books as there is a ton of info in them as well as more recipes than you can enjoy in a lifetime.

BBQ BIBLE - RUBS ETC.......2007-02-08

IF YOU BBQ....YOU HAVE TO HAVE THIS BOOK - BUYING IT SAVED ME FROM STEALING MY FRIEND'S DOG-EARED STAINED COPY.

Good book for beginners.......2007-01-18

If you are a beginner to BBQ sauces then this book is for you. If you are a serious BBQ Hound like myself, its OK.

Loves it.......2007-01-09

Hubby got this one for xmas and he loves it! Thinkgs he is becomeing a true grilling master now! Thanks for the Great book!

Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, & Glazes: Revised And Expanded

Average customer rating:

Not just for the grill, problem solving techniques, darngood buy
Looking for more recipes on smoking meats and fish.....
A VERY Scholarly BBQ Book
It's alright
MARINADES- RUBS ETC

Marinades, Rubs, Brines, Cures, & Glazes: Revised And Expanded
Jim Tarantino
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining: Spirited Recipes and Expert Tips for Barbecuing, Charcoal and Gas Grilling, Rotisserie Roasting, Smoking, Deep-Frying, and Making Merry

ASIN: 1580086144

Customer Reviews:

Not just for the grill, problem solving techniques, darngood buy.......2007-09-02

While grill chefs will be very happy with this book, it has a broad appeal for all cooks. Take poultry. Poultry is actually more difficult to cook well then most beginning cooks realize. It is easy to overcook and dry out chicken, undercook and deliver unplesantly bloody chicken or just end up with bland results. This book provides the key to solve those problems through .....marinades, rubs, brines, cures and glazes. All of these methods can be used prior to or in conjunction with standard indoor cooking techniques. Try a brine before preparing your next pork chop in any manner

What I particularly appreciate it that the author takes the time to explain the reason the techniques work. He clarifies what can and cannot be expected from each technique clearing up much confusion on these top ics.The presentation of this material is easy to understand and informative. People who enjoy Alton Brown will enjoy this aspect of the book.

If you like, however, you can skip this material and go directly to the recipes. The recipe section is full of spice and herb combinations that are novel and imaginative, and that is coming from someoe who owns nearly 100 cookbooks.

Darn good buy.

Looking for more recipes on smoking meats and fish............2007-08-23

This is a good book for the price we paid.....however, we were looking for more recipes on rubs for smoking meats and fish.....

A VERY Scholarly BBQ Book.......2007-06-06

I have ALL the Raichlen books and quite a few other BBQ and grilling classics / how-to's etc.

Jim is not only a fascinating read from a food history / science point of view, but his recipes are very do-able, and delicious. Granted, I'm the kind of BBQ geek that reads these books cover-to-cover like a novel. But even the most avid BBQ addict falls into a rut, relying on the same old batch of rub and tried-and-true classics.

Tarantino's book inspires you to want to try new things. It would serve a newbie outdoor (or even indoor) chef well, but I recommend it most to the seasoned Griller / BBQer who has become lazy and needs some fresh ideas.

It's alright.......2007-05-26

This book contains TONS of recipes for marinades, brines, etc etc. I have tried several recipes but none of them have "wow-ed" me. Overall I'd have to say the recipes give an average taste, but I have yet to discover anything spectacular in this book. There is quite a lot of information on what affects marinades, cures, rubs etc and how they work, which I found interesting and very informative.

MARINADES- RUBS ETC.......2007-02-08

THIS IS A BIBLE- ONLY HAVE ROOM FOR ONE BBQ BOOK? MAKE SPACE FOR THIS ONE

The Sauce Bible: Guide to the Saucier's Craft

Average customer rating:

Nicely informative, Poorly organized, Recipes aren't great
A great guide for sauces
Excellent Professional text and reference. Buy it if you make sauces!
extremely inaccurate and ill-researched
Inaccurate Facts

The Sauce Bible: Guide to the Saucier's Craft
David Paul Larousse
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Hospitality, Travel & Tourism | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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Professional | Professional Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0471572284

Book Description

A complete contemporary reference on the subject of stocks and sauces, including complete instructions for creating ``arabesques'' of sauce paintings. Features anecdotes, miniature biographies regarding several major and minor contributors to modern cooking techniques as well as historical and linguistic references to specific dishes. Numerous sauces and accompaniments created by other culinary professionals are also included.

Customer Reviews:

Nicely informative, Poorly organized, Recipes aren't great.......2007-07-06

Preface: I am a novice sauce maker:

I read the chapters covering history, stock, and the mother sauces. I enjoyed the history and the basics covered on the mother sauces and stock were covered in a satisfactory manner.

My first indication that I didn't like the book was the recipe for veloute. It wasn't until after a few batches of experimenting that i managed to get a reasonable roux going. Also, some things like final liasons and glaces aren't covered too much. In fact a lot of things are mentioned but never discussed in depth.

Some of the recipes are great though, and there are a ton of them.

Try something else before this book.

A great guide for sauces.......2007-05-13

There are many more sauces than I ever imagined in this book. My husband and I have had a great time choosing an appropriate sauce for whatever meal we are planning. The key is to have a good mother sauce to start with and then you will have a succesful small sauce.

Excellent Professional text and reference. Buy it if you make sauces!.......2006-05-03

`The Sauce Bible' by culinary educator, David Paul Larousse is one of those very few books you find which are specifically written for culinary professional. The first clue is the high list price of $54.95. The second is that textbook specialist, John Wiley and Sons publish it. The third is the fact that the book began as an essay on sauce painting, which the average foodie will admire, but, to my knowledge, will virtually never try to reproduce. The fourth clue is that the quantities for many of the recipes are a lot larger than one would need for a dish for four or six. The fifth clue is the large amount of narrative and graphics devoted to explaining the relationships between members of the various sauce families, based on the famous French `mother sauces'.

That is not to say the average cooking enthusiast couldn't get something from this book. The biggest question is whether this book is better than the standard modern work in English, James Peterson's `Sauces'. The very first comparison I did was on the two books' treatments of `beurre blanc' or white butter sauce commonly used for fish and often used as an exemplar of `nouvelle cuisine' cooking, although the recipe is much older than the 1970's. I think the treatment of this by the two different books is a good indication of the books' relative strengths and weaknesses. While Larousse has, by a very rough count, 480 recipes to Peterson's 350, Peterson gives more details on the techniques used for each individual recipe, while Larousse spends more time on general material. Peterson's recipe, with introduction and variations, takes up over three pages, including tips on saving the sauce for later use. Larousse' recipe for basic `beurre blanc' takes about half a page, although later recipes such as Bercy and Chambertin are variations. Oddly, Peterson includes in the basic recipe a step to strain the solids, primarily the shallot, out of the final product, while Larousse give no such instruction until we get to the recipe for the Chambertin sauce.

So, for the amateur chef, Peterson may really be the better book, since he is more detailed in his recipes for very common sauces, even if he is a bit fussy for the amateur. But, I really think that a dedicated foodie will want both books. While Peterson is probably the better quick reference, Larousse is better in understanding the relations between all members of the sauce families. And, he certainly covers more different classically named sauces. Peterson, for example, gives no mention or recipe for Chambertin sauce, at least it is neither in his list of recipes or in his index. And, you will certainly want Larousse if you wish to understand sauce painting the way they do it a fancy restaurants and on the `Iron Chef America'.

I have seen at least two less expensive trade paperback books on sauces and while I believe both are decent, I strongly recommend one of these two books for the dedicated foodie in preference to a shorter book. I am especially respectful of Larousse's tutorial on the making of stocks. His recipes and techniques are certainly useable by the home cook, although they would meet no one's notion of quick cooking, as the longer ones take from eight to twelve hours for optimum results. The only thing I missed in this volume was the concept so artfully stated by Deborah Madison where she proclaims that stocks should be crafted to meet their specific uses.

Highly recommended for the professional and the dedicated foodie.

extremely inaccurate and ill-researched.......2005-01-17

I was given this book as a gift, and as a professional chef in Washington, DC, I was very disappointed. The inaccuracies and bumbling research do not warrant a reader's funds nor time. In my opinion, this book is useless to both professional and pedestrian cooks.

Inaccurate Facts.......2004-04-17

Everyone's heard the old adage about "where there's smoke, there's fire". If I discover inaccuracies in a text that I know are inaccurate, it makes me wonder how much of what is stated in the text about matters I don't know about is accurate!

Example 1: He states that a peppercorn when ripe is pink, and that is soaked in water to remove the pink shell to reveal the white peppercorn. This is not true. The "pink peppercorn" is not related to black pepper at all. (Ref: The Professional Chef, 5th Edition)

Example 2: He states that tomatoes were introduced into Italy in the 1600's. I had always heard that it was Thomas Jefferson who ate tomatoes when no one else would because tomatoes are related to the Deadly Nightshade (Belladonna) family and were generally thought toxic. Jefferson introduced them to the Italian Ambassador who brought them back to Italy in the 1700's.

Example 3: He gives a recipe for Chutney sauce which requires Mango Chutney as an ingredient. However, there is no Mango Chutney recipe in the book that I could find!

OK, Example 3 is an omission rather than an inaccuracy, and yes, I'm not positive which story in Example 2 is historically correct. But Example 1 alone would cause me to be skeptical, because it is so widely known that pink peppercorns are not a member of the black pepper family. Actually, white pepper is inside black pepper, and breaking off the outer shell reveals the white peppercorn. Green peppercorns are merely just that: green when they're ripe.

Also one recipe, I forgot which one, called for 1 Basil, and left out the unit of measure.

Haven't tried any of the recipes, but just reading through some of them, they appear to be fairly sound. The proof will be in the tasting.

DR

Average customer rating:

A sauce for every occasion

Excellent

Numerous variations to try in a lifetime!

The Complete Book of Sauces

One simple books adds fun and life to almost any dish.

The Complete Book Of Sauces
Sallie Y. Williams
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Herbs, Spices & Condiments | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0028603605

Book Description

The Complete Book of Sauces
"...for those who like to jazz up grilled chicken, fish or meat with a sauce or salsa, take a look at The Complete Book of Sauces." âLos Angeles Daily News

It's Easy to Make a Different Dish Every Night With over 300 recipes, The Complete Book of Sauces can help you turn your ordinary dinner into a delicious meal. Author Sallie Y. Williams includes white sauces, wine sauces, marinades and barbecue sauces, salad dressings, sweet sauces for desserts, and fruit sauces. A variety of new, mouth-watering sauces to enhance your favorite dishes-like JalapeÃ±o Vinaigrette, Dijon Yogurt Dressing, Fresh Vegetable Salsa, Garlic and Honey Marinade, and Gingered Pear Sauce-are a snap to create. Classic recipes-such as Hollandaise and BÃ©chamel-are represented here as well, some with quick blender versions, and all of them reworked for ease of preparation. Other features include step-by-step instructions, storage advice, special sauce tips, and a cross-indexing section that pairs sauces and dishes to make meal planning a breeze.

Customer Reviews:

A sauce for every occasion.......2007-08-11

This book really is "The Complete Book of Sauces". It would be hard to imagine what sauce recipe ISN'T in it. Not only does it contain virtually any kind of sauce recipe you could want, but it offers helpful ideas on what to serve with what. Also, the recipes are "doable" rather than some I've seen in other books that are so complex no one but a professional chef would even attempt them. In addition, the price was right, and it arrived very promptly in pristine condtion.

Excellent.......2007-01-10

Just the book I was looking for! Excellent coverage of sauces for beginners to "old hats"! Thanks!

Numerous variations to try in a lifetime!.......2000-11-06

There are definitely more sauces in this book than you can possibly try. They are divided and arranged by type and purpose, which makes it easy to pick out the sauce that you need. Some of the ingredients are somewhat hard to find, but most recipes can be prepared with minimal fuss. My favorite part of this book is the marinades chapter.. you can combine a marinade with a similar sauce and end up with something spectacular. Another useful chapter is the fruit sauces chapter, which proved to be very valuable on that special occasion when you wanted to enhance the flavor of your desserts. No photos in this book though.

The Complete Book of Sauces.......1999-12-04

This book is excellent, I have had success with every recipe I've tried. I refer to this book almost on a daily basis to make my dishes more interesting. If you buy only one sauce book this is the one to buy.

One simple books adds fun and life to almost any dish........1998-10-10

It's now Oct 1998. I bought the book in 1990 when it first came out. I'm a business man, not a gourmet, but with this Sallie Williams book, polite lovely ladies have almost tackled me to get 'my recipes'. I have fun cooking because of this book, more than with any other cookbook. I pick a meat or vegetable, and pick a sauce. It always works, and leaves me feeling like I'm creating by selecting the combination of some dish with a sauce, plus dreaming up ways to display the food. So far it never seems to get boring, and after nine years there are still a lot of sauces I've not yet tried. I think the book will be with me for the duration. Highly recommended. The only downside is that 'favorite' sauces are easy to find in the book, and thus you have to avoid the temptation to stop exploring sauces not yet experienced.

Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops, and Salsas

Average customer rating:

Bad recipes
5star BBQ Book!
Excelent Discussion of flavor Contruction
Learn from a master
Excellent and indispensable!

Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces: 175 Make-Your-Own Sauces, Marinades, Dry Rubs, Wet Rubs, Mops, and Salsas
Paul Kirk
Manufacturer: Harvard Common Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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Peace, Love, & Barbecue: Recipes, Secrets, Tall Tales, and Outright Lies from the Legends of Barbecue

ASIN: 155832125X

Amazon.com

Paul Kirk has been participating in barbecue competitions for 15 years. He has been named World Barbecue Champion seven times. If you are really serious about barbecuing, Paul Kirk's Championship Barbecue Sauces will help you learn about slow-cooking meat over smoke and teach what you need to know to start approaching barbecuing like a pro. Along with teaching about all the ingredients useful in making rubs, marinades, sauces, and salsas to accompany barbecued meat, Kirk's approach gives a sense of what barbecue competitions are all about. (One of Kirk's goals for this book is to help those who are interested join in and compete.) Recipes are bold and bursting with flavor.

Book Description

The author offers up 175 recipes that impart bold zesty flavor to every cut of meat!

Customer Reviews:

Bad recipes.......2007-07-05

I know Paul Kirk won alot of competitions but for the most part I think these recipes are horrible.

5star BBQ Book!.......2007-06-08

This is probably the best bbq book I have ever bought. It covers making a sauce, marinate and mop in a simple and easy way to understand!

Excelent Discussion of flavor Contruction.......2006-11-30

This book is focused on helping you make the most out of what Paul knows. It talks about the barbeque flavor profile and gives the basic construction. Then it takes you through making your own rubs, sauces, etc. As a cook that loves to experiment, I totally dig this book! I can experiment until I'm blue in the face. I've used several of his base flavors and created my own rubs and mops with amazing results. If you are just looking for recipes you'll only use about half of this book. If you like to experiment, you'll never put it down!

Learn from a master.......2004-07-20

You can buy lots of books on how to cook barbeque, but very few from accomplished masters such as Paul Kirk. Only two things surpass his ego in this book: His willingness to share some great recipes and insights, and his recipes themselves.

Pretty much every sauce, marinade, and relish I tried from this book turned out great. It's no surprise to me that Paul Kirk is so accomplished with several bold and unique recipes. Don't miss the orange-chile marinade, which he used to win a barbeque contest in Ireland.

I should mention that the book has a strong Kansas City-style slant to the barbeque, although Paul Kirk does make an effort to include different regional styles.

In addition to the recipes, Kirk provides "Master Classes" on barbeque sauces, rubs, and marinades. I took this opportunity to develop my special secret rub with secret spices reflecting my partly Greek heritage. Following Kirk's "Master Class" on rubs, I concocted a rub that I hoped would create gold in my Weber kettle. Have I developed a killer rub to take the barbeque contest circuit by storm? Well, probably not, but it was fun giving it a whirl, and if I say so myself, the results were pretty good.

But if you ask me, most of the fun of barbequing is coming up with secret recipes, and putting your own stamp on things, and Paul Kirk has got me going.

Excellent and indispensable!.......2004-05-22

This great little book covers every aspect of preparation for barbeque. If you think barbeque is nothing more than tossing a few burgers on the grill, this book will open up for you a myriad of possibilities. Even experienced cooks can find plenty of good suggestions from which they can develop their own rubs, sauces & mops. I have the most fun putting together my own recipes based on his suggestions. If you aren't interested in devoting that much energy to perfecting your slow-cooking, stick with the recipes, which display an impressive variety. It doesn't hurt that this book is extremely affordable. I cannot recommend it enough.

Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and More

Average customer rating:

Excellent recipes!
Loved it!
From a Long-Time Canner
Real Life Success With These Recipes
Many great answers

Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams, Jellies, Marmalades and More
Linda J. Amendt
Manufacturer: HP Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Canning & Preserving | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1557883610
Release Date: 2001-06-12

Amazon.com

If you've been laboring under the illusion that your grandmother just smashed berries into a jar or that pickles grew on exotic pickle trees, prepare to be enlightened with Linda J. Amendt's Blue Ribbon Preserves: Secrets to Award-Winning Jams, Jellies, Marmalades & More. Canning, as shown in this exhaustive edition, is as much a science as an art, and this book includes every detail to educate the uninformed on what it takes to make great preserves.

Her recipes include the standards, such as strawberry jam, and the obscure, such as Garlic and Onion Jam. Amendt also does the public service of explaining the real difference between jams and jellies. Special caution about food safety holds a prominent place in Blue Ribbon Preserves and Amendt teaches us how to chose optimal foods for canning as well as how to safely store preserves to avoid potentially lethal food contamination. Be prepared for a bit of a chemistry lesson, which can be a long and sometimes didactic read, but it's well worth it for the critical food-safety information.

So complete is the book that Amendt, herself a recipient of countless state-fair awards for her preserves, includes pointers on how to succeed at such competitions (in a very thorough chapter which includes insights into how judges pick their winners). Blue Ribbon Preserves covers everything that goes into a ball jar and more, and in the process earns not only a tight seal of quality but its own blue ribbon. --Teresa Simanton

Book Description

Blue Ribbon Preserves features the award-winning recipes, canning tips, and methods for making preserves that have made Linda J. Amendt one of the top prize-winning cooks in the nation. This handy and helpful volume explains how to make the finest jams, jellies, marmalades, preserves, conserves, butters, curds, fruit, vegetables, juices, sauces, pickles, vinegars, syrups, and specialty preserves. Plus, it has a complete canning guide with the latest methods and safety precautions.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent recipes! .......2007-08-28

Finally! A canning book that has recipes that I have never seen before! Awesome!

Loved it!.......2007-01-15

I have several canning / preserve books. I had originally picked up a copy of this book at a second hand book store. I was interested in making some liquor reciped for holiday giftgiving and this book had several. After looking through the book, I became more endeared to it. It reviews how to make each recipe in the best way in the hopes of winning the "Blue Ribbon" at teh fair. I am not interested in participating in the fair. I am interested in preparing delicious, beautiful canned items for myself as well as gift giving. This book gives great recipes. I loaned my original book copy out to a friend who shares the same love of cooking as myself. Knowing the friend, I realized I may never get the book back (she's a little crazy and I knew she would love it too!). I let her keep my copy and used this as an excuse to purchase a nice new copy for myself. If you are interested in canning/preserving/gift giving, I recommend this book for yourself or as a a gift for someoone else.

From a Long-Time Canner.......2006-11-06

I have been putting up jams and other preserved food for more than thirty years, and of the many books I have on preserving, this is my favorite. It would probably be overwhelming for first-timers, who should buy the Ball Blue Book to start, but for anyone with experience these recipes are wonderful.

I cannot vouch for the pickling sections - my husband cannot eat pickles so I don't make them, but the jam, jelly and marmalade recipes are fabulous. The nectarine jam recipe alone is worth the price of this book - I made several batches of nectarine and next year I will make more - these jars are flying off the shelf. The "Peach Melba" recipe, using the classic combination of peach and raspberry is incomparable, and the Apricot-Plum and Apricot-Pineapple recipes are just excellent. I have not been disappointed in any recipe, and I envision using a number over the coming seasons for which I didn't have time this summer.

Real Life Success With These Recipes.......2006-08-12

Here's a news story from my local paper about this book:
"The road to blue ribbon recognition began appropriately enough for Jane Radford, when her best friend Sarah gave her the book Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda J. Amendt as a Christmas gift.
"Canning is a lost science and I've always thought it is sad to let this tradition fade," says Radford.
So for a few months she read up on the art of canning and then when her husband and son gave her a canner as a Mother's Day gift she was off and running.
Radford entered in 68 categories in the fair. She came away with 50 ribbons, 29 Blue 1st place (19 in Food Preservation; 10 in Baked Goods and Candies; 13 Red 2nd place; 7 White 3rd place and 1 Yellow 4th place ribbon.
She also took five Grand Champion ribbons:
Jellies (Blackberry); Pickles- (Spiced Sweet Peach Pickle); Collection of 5 Cannings (Fruit); and Candies (Butterfly Mints)"

Many great answers.......2006-07-10

This is a wonderful book for people who are familiar with the canning process and who want to move to the next level. It has good recipes but I found it most helpful with lots of easy-to-understand technical information most books are completely lacking. This is a must-have book for anyone who is serious about canning and preserving.

Average customer rating:

Excellent, creative food, fast and easy to make!
Something I can actually use!
helpul to any health-seeking or dieting cook
Great for those who hate to cook!
Inspiring! You'll never go back to bottled dressings. :-)

The Saucy Vegetarian
Joanne Stepaniak
Manufacturer: Book Publishing Company (TN)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Quick & Easy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1570670919

Book Description

Here is a fresh approach for enhancing the flavor, attractiveness and healthfulness of even the most ordinary dish. This rich repertoire of recipes for nocook sauces and dressings was designed to release your creativity in the kitchen while keeping time and effort at bay. You'll learn the secrets for making either hot or cold nocook saucesfrom curried to Italianstyle, sweet or spicy, smooth or chunkyas well as a variety of dressings that will add zip to any simple meal of beans, pasta, rice, potatoes or veggies. Both novice cooks and experienced gourmets will find these recipes enjoyable.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent, creative food, fast and easy to make!.......2006-12-02

I have used this cookbook for years, and have found it delightful. Many other veggie cookbooks offer run-of-the-mill fare - we've all seen chili, tabbouli, hummus, and macaroni-and-cheese more times than we can count. In contrast, this cookbook offers something new and delicious on nearly every page. The recipes are creative and unique, and very easy to make. Generally, I can turn out a meal in the time it takes to boil a pot of rice. The author has good taste - her flavour combinations are reliably tasty, for carnivore and vegetarian alike.

Something I can actually use!.......2006-11-10

My partner has started asking me _not_ to use this cookbook because I have been making so many recipes we are getting bogged down in leftovers!

In contrast to most cookbooks, the recipes are just as quick to follow as they look; the focus is kept tightly on simple uncooked sauces and you will learn how to make all of them. Preparation time is pretty minimal for most recipes so it really is possible to whip up something to put over quinoa, potatoes, spaghetti squash, crusty bread, etc. etc. in ten minutes or so. And it tastes good. If the thought of a cold sauce turns you off, just microwave it for a couple of minutes and you will never know the difference.

The author does a good job of both explaining the principles you need to improvise sauces without following a recipe, and supplying plenty of good recipes to try while you are getting there.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quick and straightforward guide to adding flavorful sauces, dressings, spreads, and dips to their food, vegetarian or not. You probably will need to buy some foods you would not likely have in the kitchen otherwise (unusual nut butters, specialty vinegars, etc.) but most of these keep well and are good values.

A word on blending - a food processor is not likely to be enough. At first I was hesitant to make anything for fear of the cleanup involved in a full-size blender full of sticky goop. Then I realized that a hand blender with a tall, narrow blender cup works excellently: nothing splatters if the cup matches the blender properly, there is no issue over cleaning food out from around the blades (just lift the hand blender out, _unplug_, and lick it off!), and it is easy to store leftovers by just capping the blender cup and tossing in the refrigerator. My Osterizer blender just broke recently but I will look for a new, sturdier one.

helpul to any health-seeking or dieting cook .......2006-08-25

the other reviews pretty much sum it up, however in addition I would like to add that all of these recipes are made from entirely "healthy" calories and can bring joy to any otherwise boring meal. If a less caloric sauce is desired, the sweetener is easily replaced with the according amount of STEVIA*, and the fat may be replaced with an equal amount of soymilk and thickener (i.e. xanthan, arrowroot, agar, etc...) resulting in a virtually calorie-free and equally satisfying topping for your gastronomic needs.

*stevia is a naturally occuring non-caloric sweetener, I recommend KAL brand of pure organic stevia extract 1 tsp = 1 cup of sugar, so be sure to adjust accordingly.

Great for those who hate to cook!.......2006-03-14

I'm a vegan with a gluten intolerance who hates to cook. Rather than starve to death, I bought The Saucy Vegetarian! This book allows me to create really great-tasting meals without slaving over the stove. The sauces require no cooking, so they are ready in less than five minutes. I prepare a grain, like quinoa or brown rice, a protein like beans or tofu, and one of the sauces in the book, mix them together, and voila! I have a yummy, healthy, meal! Many of the sauces in the book make good salad dressings, too. In the margins of the book are suggestions of what each sauce might taste good with. I use the suggestions as a springboard to try all kinds of combinations. If you own a wire whisk and a bowl, this book is for you!

Inspiring! You'll never go back to bottled dressings. :-).......2005-03-20

I have several shelves full of vegan and vegan-friendly cookbooks. The Saucy Vegetarian is one of my favorites, not just for the delicious 100% vegan recipes, but for the creativity it inspires. The recipes generally involve processing about 6 to 8 no-cook (with occasional stove-top roasting) ingredients in the blender, and in some cases a food processor. Using this simple technique, I've made many awesome sauces and dressings, both Jo Stepaniak's recipes, and variations based on her recipes. A couple of ingredient substitutions I make that work well are 1 tablespoon chopped onion for each teaspoon powdered onion, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup for each teaspoon sugar. Unlike Jo's earlier works, some of these recipes call for sugar rather than a more natural, lower glycemic index sweetener. Fortunately, this isn't a problem as the maple syrup works fine, and there is a section listing recommended sweeteners and describing how they work in recipes.

My favorite recipes from the book include:
* Instant Alfredo Sauce - Very cheesy and smooth. And you would never know it contains only 13 calories per tablespoon and 0 grams of fat!
* Walnut Pesto Sauce - Delicious and very quick to make. No need to chop the walnuts first, just pile them high in the measuring cup. Works well with 1 to 2 teaspoons of Bragg Liquid Aminos (similar to soy sauce) in lieu of the salt and water.
* Carrot-Dill Sauce - I add a secret ingredient of celery seed and cut down on the water a bit for a thicker sauce. Delicious over rice and vegetables.
* Tahini, Tamari & Onion Dressing - I was afraid when I first made this raw onion dressing it would be overpowering, but the tahini and olive oil combine with the onion to make a mild oniony dressing that won't make your eyes tear. I always double this one and cut down on the water a bit to thicken it. I imagine that with mint or dill, it would make a great falafel sauce.
* Herb and Onion Vinaigrette - Makes a restaurant-quality house dressing. I double this one and substitute an equal quantity maple syrup for the sugar. Works great with balsamic vinegar in lieu of the wine vinegar.
* Sunflower Seed Dressing - This makes an interesting ranch-style salad dressing or dipping sauce. But it excels as a sandwich spread or pita bread filling with vegetables.

Of the dozen or so recipes I've tried in the book, there's only one I didn't like--the Miso Citrus Sauce. Tasted like salty orange juice.

Two helpful features with each recipe are the nutrient listing (calories, protein, fat, and carbohydrates) and the listing of foods in the margin to try the sauce on. But, this cookbook contains an amazingly helpful feature rarely found in cookbooks: In addition to merely giving you her recipes, Jo teaches you how to put together the six basic tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, sour, pungent and astringent) to develop recipes of your own. She goes into a lot of detail about these tastes, which raw ingredients to use, styles of no-cook sauces and dressings, and even how to correct flavors if you don't like the concoction you invented. She also provides information on planning vegetarian menus, along with sample menus. Whether you're a novice or experienced vegetarian or vegan, it's worth reading the nearly 40-page educational section to get the creative juices flowing. Then follow Jo's advice to be innovative and consider her recipes as a starting point, altering as you see fit. That's what I do, and receive a lot of compliments in the kitchen. :-)

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making

Average customer rating:

More of a textbook than cookbook
Must have for cooking.
EXCELLENT
sauce james
SAUCES: CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SAUCE MAKING

Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making
James Peterson
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Herbs, Spices & Condiments | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0471292753

Amazon.com

Back in 1991, when the first edition of Sauces was published, it's as though James Peterson said, "Okay, this is what we know so far. Where do you want to go from here?" The "what we know so far" part started with the Greeks and Romans, moved through the Middle Ages, into the Renaissance, through the 17th and 18th centuries, and right on into time as we know it, time that can be tasted in the sauce.

The "where do you want to go" part continues to evolve, as it always will, but remains just as evident in the way we sauce our creations, both elegant and fundamental. In the second edition of Sauces, released seven years after the first, the "we" has expanded beyond Frenchmen and their disciples, and now includes the broader range of flavors experienced by Italians as pasta sauces, as well as New World cooks and their counterparts in the Middle East and throughout greater Asia. The solid base from which all this grows, however, remains the lessons learned in the French kitchen--and a better kitchen for such lessons has never been developed.

To cook is one thing, to sauce another. The right sauce lifts the right dish to a wholly different plateau of dining than would be the case if the cook didn't bother. This can be a humble pasta sauce created as a perfect balance of ingredients on hand, or a carefully considered sauce the ingredients of which have been developed at the stove over days, not mere hours.

In the sauce can be seen the reflection of the cook. There is no room to hide. In the well-crafted sauce can be found the ultimate expression of simplicity, which leaves even less room to hide. It is James Peterson's great talent that he can draw the home cook and professional cook into his dialogue on sauces, and teach them both how to stay afloat in such shallow waters.

Peterson gives the reader--in close to 600 pages, mind you--the continuum on which sauces have been based in culinary history. He gives the reader the kitchen science that allows sauces to work. He gives the reader the techniques necessary to follow along where many a cook has already whisked up a splendid creation. But most of all, he gives the reader permission to go ahead and be creative, to cut loose with knowledge and technique in hand and discover for oneself the way an inkling of a flavor idea can find its way to a dish and make the combined ingredients lift off the plate. Or not. Finding out what doesn't work can be just as important.

This is a book that can be taken to bed and savored, page by page, sauce by sauce. It is a book that should be on the shelf in any kitchen, professional or homebody alike. It is not a book to ever gather dust and need dusting. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

"Here is yet another cookbook that can stand among the best reference works. I suspect it's a harbinger of kindred books to come as publishers begin to respond to a growing audience of cook-readers who hunger for connected, nuanced, reliably researched information…." —Gourmet Magazine "James Peterson has done for sauces that which Escoffier did for the cuisine of La Belle Époque…. Sauces is a manual for the professional cook and, as such, it will rapidly become a classic and indispensable reference…." —Richard Olney, From the Foreword "It's the single contemporary reference on the subject that is both comprehensive and comprehensible. I love Jim's recipes (and there are gems all over the place here), but what's special about Sauces is the text: It reads so well that this is the kind of book you can take to bed." —Mark Bittman, From the Foreword "This is a book I wish I had written myself…. Every few decades a book is written that says all there is to say on a subject, or has all the information and passion that sets the standard for professional and amateurs alike. Sauces is one of the best culinary books of this century in English…." —Jeremiah Tower, Stars Restaurant "The art of sauce making is the cornerstone of serious cooking. This book is a must for the new generation of creative cooks who wish to build on the classical French foundation with contemporary, delicious variations." —Daniel Boulud, Daniel "It is a special reference book—comprehensive and inspiring…." —Alice Waters, Chez Panisse

Customer Reviews:

More of a textbook than cookbook.......2007-06-26

I was looking for a book on sauces, and I got one. Every sauce since history, most of which are impractical if you are not a chef, but an ocasional good cook at home. It was an amazing book though I read it cover to cover (it's huge), but I'll probbly only ever use 1/3 of it. Worth it if you read cookbooks like history, skip it if you want to learn to make these sauces.

Must have for cooking........2007-03-14

I ordered this hoping it was what I wanted. A book to guide me and help me understand how to make different types sauces. This book delivered big time. I now consider it a part of my cooking basics.

EXCELLENT.......2007-02-07

you will be the ruler of all sauces with this great book. only complaint that it is so good my friends and colleagues constantly ask to borrow it.

sauce james .......2007-01-19

we bought this book for my son- he is in his first year of culinary school in dallas. he wants to specialize in sauces and was thrilled with this book. it is the best sauce book on the market.

SAUCES: CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SAUCE MAKING.......2007-01-09

THIS IS A FABULOUS "BIBLE" OF SAUCES. IF YOU WANT IT ALL, HERE IT IS. I WAS SO DELIGHTED WHEN I RECEIVED IT AND DUG RIGHT IT. NOT ONLY ARE ALL THE SAUCES WITH THEIR HOW-RECIPES IN THIS BOOK BUT ALSO SOME HISTORY ON HOW THEY CAME ABOUT. THOSE GREAT SAUCES YOU SOMTIMES RECEIVE IN FANCY RESTAURANTS, THE KIND YOU WISH YOU KNEW HOW TO MAKE...ARE ALL HERE PLUS MORE. ANY COOK WISHING TO BETTER HIM OR HERSELF SHOULD PICK UP A COPY OF JAMES PETERSON'S SAUCES; CLASSICAL AND CONTEMPORARY SAUCE AND MAKE IT REQUIRED READING.

Average customer rating:

Great Italian Cookbook
Great Pasta!

Ultimate Pasta
Julia Della Croce
Manufacturer: DK ADULT
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0789420864

Customer Reviews:

Great Italian Cookbook.......2007-01-15

This cookbook is incredible! It has very straightforward directions for mixing and rolling your own homemade pasta, as well as a number of dishes that use fresh and dried pasta, as well as gnocci. The recipes are somewhat laborious, but I have yet to make anything I didn't like from this book.

Great Pasta!.......2003-11-05

This book is wonderful! It explains almost everything you want to know about countless numbers of pastas, the different types of equipment you may need, and has great colourful photos as well. The gallery of pasta, as in every gallery section of the DK books, makes your mouth water. I also enjoy the fact the measurements are also listed in both the metric system and U.S. measurements. One thing I must admit is that many of these recipes are labour intensive, but absolutely well worth it. Every recipe I have tried has had rave reviews. I have really enjoyed this book and hope you will too!

Get Saucy: Make Dinner a New Way Every Day with Simple Sauces, Marinades, Glazes, Dressings, Pestos, Pasta Sauces, Salsas, and More

Average customer rating:

Great book
A home cook's go-to book
Highly Recommened Time-Saver!
very thorough collection, inviting and approachable
Extremely broad collection of recipes. Weak writing.

Get Saucy: Make Dinner a New Way Every Day with Simple Sauces, Marinades, Glazes, Dressings, Pestos, Pasta Sauces, Salsas, and More
Grace Parisi
Manufacturer: Harvard Common Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Quick & Easy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

The Complete Book Of Sauces
The Book of Sauces (Book of...)
Cooking School Secrets for Real-World Cooks: Tips, Techniques, Shortcuts, Sources, Hints, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Plus 100 Sure-Fire Recipes to Make You a Better Cook
The Big Book of Sauces: 365 Quick and Easy Sauces, Salsas, Dressings, and Dips ("The Big Book of...")
Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making

Product Features:

Get Saucy by Grace Parisi
HARVARD COMMON PRESS

ASIN: 155832237X

Product Description

Get Saucy is bursting with 500 simple and flavorful sauce recipes to help you inject variety into dinner every night of the week. If you can your own fresh fruits and vegetables, you'll now have even more sumptuous ways to use them. This comprehensive and contemporary collection covers them all, from Alfredo to zabaglione, from Asian dipping sauces to Southwestern salsas. What's more, these sauces are a healthful yet convenient alternative to preservative-and sodium-laden commercial sauces and dressings.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-05-13

the book covers every kind of sauce you could imagine, so it's a great reference as well as a "recipe" book. I love to make my own sauces to that I can control the additives, and this book takes the guesswork out of figuring out quantity as well as quality.

A home cook's go-to book.......2006-06-22

Quite frankly, having no more than 30-45 min. after work to fix dinner for a family everyday, I will invariably go for the dish with the least amount of work. As such, roasting, quick sauteeing, grilling, etc. are what meats, poulty and seafood are subjected to nightly in my kitchen.

Having "Get Saucy" is of tremendous help to me. I'm able to vary and improve the tastes of our everyday fare. I'm not making the same spaghetti sauces or the same gravies week in and week out. I've made about a dozen sauces, pestos, marinades, etc. from this book and each one has been simply delicious. I will usually prepare the sauce the night before, stick it in the fridge and warm it up or incorporate it with what's cooking for dinner next day.

As to whether the sauces in this book are authentic or not hardly concerns me. If it's quick to prepare, reasonable in cost, tasty and complementary to the main dishes and sides I cook, then it's a keeper for me.

Highly Recommened Time-Saver!.......2006-01-22

This gem threw itself at me in my local cooking store and I have been very happily "saucing!" Sure, there are many wonderful books on sauces already, some very sophisticated and some not. This book is a mix of both worlds. It is like someone has gone through all my cookbooks (and there are many...) and pulled out most of the sauces, from classic to fusion. It is well organized, directions are clear, ingredients are easily obtained (and if you are a card-carrying foodie like me, you already have almost ALL the ingredients already...) and it has a great pairing section for easy, no-brainer combinations of sauces for salads, pork, fish, beef, desserts, etc. This book helps spiff up whatever you are serving from salad to dessert.

My very first experience with the book successfully hooked me. Having scored a counter-top, electric roaster for Christmas, I have been experimenting with the cooker to see what it can and cannot do by using larger roasts, chickens, etc. Granted my 16 year-old is 6'1" and eats eight meals a day, but left-overs are not his cup of tea. After you slice off lovely large pieces of a six-pound pork roast for Sunday dinner, what the heck do you do with the rest to make it interesting and different and creative without a degree from the CIA? Grab this book: Sunday, I roasted the six-pound roast and served it with the "Creamy Sherry Vinegar Pan Sauce"; Monday, I cubed some of the meat and served it over rice with the "Sweet-And-Sour Stir-Fry Sauce", pineapple and some green peppers; Wednesday, the rest of the roast got shredded and mixed with "Smoky Texas-Style BBQ Sauce" and was served with coleslaw on hamburger rolls to my son and two of his friends. The plates were clean.

Now, THAT's economical, and fun! Three meals for the cost of one pork roast (on special, by the way) all very different and very tasty. This is not gourmet cooking, I know, I know...but at 5:30 pm on a week-night when my creative juices are well, not as "juicy" as I'd like, this is just fine by me.

My only complaint was that my book is a paperback. But Amazon has again saved the day: Just ordered the hardcover for myself and my daughter will get this one.

very thorough collection, inviting and approachable.......2005-06-08

I've been a subscriber to Food and Wine magazine for years and have really come
to depend on Parisi's recipes. So when I read about her book Get Saucy
recently, I was very excited for its release.
I found the collection of recipes to be thorough and the recipes themselves
concise and totally approachable. I've nearly made my way through the pesto
chapter and particularly loved the Wild Mushroom and Herb pesto, Scallion
Macadamia Nut pesto, Green Chile Scallion pesto and Romesco. The fact that
these are not included in the pasta sauce chapter was initially a little odd,
but upon closer reading, the reason becomes clear. Pestos have multiple uses
that most of us wouldn't ordinarily think of. To put that to the test, I tried
the Green Chile pesto worked into meatballs and inside quesadillas and it was
super!My only quibble is that I wanted more than the recipe made. Next time
I'll double it.
I also liked how the author begins a chapter with a standard type of recipe and
then makes numerous variations. If my pantry lacked a certain ingredient, I
always felt like there was something else I could make or find some
approximation since she offers lots of alternatives to harder to find
ingredients.
Based on my level of cooking, I'm sort of glad Parisi didn't include the dozens
of classic French sauces she could have. Though interesting historically, I'd
never make most of them anyway. She makes a good point that the ones she did
include probably have the most universal appeal or at least are the most
indicative of the technique.
I quite enjoy reading the informative, quirky and anecdotal headnotes. They
make good reading and spark my interest. One issue I have with the organization
of the book however, is that the side bars, recipes contained in boxes and
other tips aren't included in the index. You have to read through a chapter to
find that information. It would be helpful to have those recipes at least
included in the index. I tried the Stir-Fried Beef with Scallions and Mushroom,
a recipe that shows you how to use a stir-fry sauce and it was delicious. There
is a page at the back that lists all those recipes, but it should be easier to
find them. The index otherwise is so overwhelmingly complete. The Sauce Index
by Suggested Use breaks down the food groups and pairs food with them.
Brilliant.
It seems fitting (though maybe a bit contrived) to end the book with dessert
sauces. But I'm never too full at the end of a meal to have something sweet and
I guess the same could be said of reading and using this book.

Extremely broad collection of recipes. Weak writing........2005-05-28

`Get Saucy' by food writer Grace Parisi is based on a really terrific idea and it has a great value as a multiplier of diversity in familiar dishes with relatively little effort spent learning new recipes. The biggest problem with the book is that this general subject of sauces has already been addressed by James Peterson's classic, award winning book `Sauces' which was so good and so popular, it warranted a second edition, something very uncommon in the world of cookbooks.

Ms. Parisi's book would not suffer much in comparison with Peterson's work if Parisi had not gone too far in simplifying great classic recipes, possibly in the interests of making recipes easier for the amateur cook. But then, this means that you think you are getting a pedigreed dog when you are actually getting a half-breed. The best example I found of this is in the comparison of Parisi and Peterson's recipes for `beurre blanc', French for `white butter', a relatively simple, extremely useful sauce of butter flavored with shallots, wine, and vinegar. The great value of this sauce is that it is a relatively crude emulsion similar to a vinaigrette which can be whipped back into shape easily instead of going through a lot of high maintenance procedures to bring back mayonnaise or hollandaise. It is most notable in being the darling of `nouvelle cuisine' because it was much lighter than bechamel or veloute. I say all this to emphasize that cutting corners in the presentation of this sauce is a more serious shortcoming of this book than one may think.

One can argue that while Peterson's book was written for professional cooks and Parisi's book has been written `for the rest of us', I will only recommend Parisi to those who simply want a quick and easy reference book for lots of common sauces which appear day in and day out in magazines, newspaper columns, and TV cooking shows. Having all these recipes in a single place with the added value of lots of cross references telling us what sauces are good for what dishes and ingredients. If you are a foodie or simply a serious amateur cook of any stripe, get James Peterson's book instead of this one.

For example, Peterson spends four pages discussing `beurre blanc' versus Parisi's half page column. Where Parisi gives an abbreviated (incomplete) recipe, Peterson, after giving us the historical perspective on the sauce, gives the full recipe in six steps (versus three in Parisi) and detailed instructions on how to store leftover sauce, including tips on how leftovers can be used in future hollandaise or béarnaise sauces. In the twice as long procedure for preparing the sauce, Peterson adds tips on what to look for to prevent bad things from happening, adds the butter over high heat rather than low for quicker incorporation, and adds checkpoints to taste the sauce for any needed adjustments. The most important step that Parisi leaves out entirely is the suggestion to strain the sauce before using. I have used `buerre blanc' both strained and unstrained and I am certain the strained version is superior, especially when entertaining. The bits of shallot remind one far too much of a vinaigrette and add little to the taste. Parisi would have done well to add this step as an option.

Now such differences in a single recipe may seem a bit trivial for lowering the rating of a 440-page book that has genuine value and lots of high-powered blurbs on the back cover from Jacques Pepin and Bobby Flay. But I find minor annoying things on every other page. For example, I think the organization of chapters is poorly done. Why have a chapter for pasta sauces when you have separate chapters on tomato sauces and pestos?

Other annoyances are based simply on the lack of skill used in the writing. In one sidebar on how to fix a broken hollandaise, I found two or three redundant expressions within two sentences. In another recipe, I was puzzled when the instructions had me putting butter in a microwave safe dish, with no instruction to put the dish in a microwave.

I also found other recipes that are not as good as ones available in standard texts. Ms. Parisi's recipe for Puttanesca sauce takes 17 minutes of cooking time while what is essentially the same ingredients are cooked up within 10 minutes in the `Cooks illustrated' version in their `Italian Classics' book. Aside from being outrageously flavorful, Puttanesca's main claim to fame is the speed with which it can be made. So, Ms. Parisi certainly does not have `the best recipe'.

In the long run, I think Ms. Parisi did an excellent job of collecting an amazingly comprehensive selection of sauce recipes that perform exactly the function she intends. That is, it multiplies the amateur cook's ability to vary dishes far beyond what can be offered by just another book of recipes. My only reservation is that the amateur needs to apply just a little critical judgment in applying sauces to dishes, and Ms. Parisi does provide the material with which to make good choices. I suspect Ms. Parisi and especially her copy editors may have been just a bit less careful than they should have in checking out English usage and recipe pedigrees. The very best thing this book could have included would have been a reference to each and every recipe to books that give more information and alternatives to Parisi's material.

I will still recommend this book to people who just want a fast reference to sauces, dressings, stocks, and salsas. But, I would recommend Peterson's `Sauces' to the serious amateur.

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