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
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Barbecuing & Grilling | Outdoor Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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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.

Average customer rating:

Wasn't what I was hoping for...
A great find
Worth a Try
Good Stuff
MIxing up salsa

The Great Salsa Book
Mark Charles Miller , and Mark Kiffin
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

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

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ASIN: 0898155177

Book Description

This sparkling full-color cookbook features 100 widely varied recipes - tomato and tomatillo, chile, tropical, fruit, corn, bean, garden, ocean, exotic, and nut, seed, and herb. Includes hints on handling volatile peppers, suggested accompaniments, and, of course, a heat scale.

Customer Reviews:

Wasn't what I was hoping for..........2007-09-05

I was looking for a book that would show some really good red salsa recipes. This one has I think 2 total. The rest are not what I would call 'salsa'. But maybe that's because I'm just a hick from Missouri. If you call just about anything mixed up in a bowl 'salsa' then you might like this book, personally I didn't think it was worth the shipping cost.

A great find.......2006-10-01

If you like homemade salsa, this book may be just what you're looking for. THE GREAT SALSA BOOK by Mark Miller is all about salsa. The book includes over one hundred pages of salsa recipes. Everything from tomato salsas to chile salsas to tropical mango salsa and other fruit salsas is coverd. Corn and bean salsas, nut, seed and herb salsas, and plenty of other salsas are covered too. Miller includes color photos of all his prepared dishes as well, making this is truly a great salsa book.

Worth a Try.......2005-08-14

I have only tried 3-4 recipes to date, as I wait for my pepper crop to come in. Each recipe so far was very good, particularly the avacadoe and serrano pepper dip. I will be tweaking to my own taste, but this is a great headstart.

Good Stuff.......2005-07-28

I bought this book as a gift and they love it. It has lots of fruit, veg, and smoked salsas. They use it a lot.

MIxing up salsa.......2004-07-05

Salsa anyone? THE GREAT SALSA BOOK by Mark Miller is all about salsa. If he wanted to be cute, he could have titled his book, "Everything you wanted to know..." and not have been far off the mark. Miller's book includes over one hundred pages of salsa recipes: Tomato and Tomatillo salsas; Chile salsas; Topical salsas (Tropical mango salsa and Mango mash); Fruit salsas (Apple Pasado Salsa, Moroccan Date Salsaa0; Corn and Bean salsas; Nut, seed and herb salsas; and plenty of other exotic salsas. So you see, salsa isn't just that stuff you get at the Taco bar.

As I am trying to eat more vegetables, I find the `Grilled Vegetable Salsa' with chiles, eggplants, shiake mushrooms, zucchini squash, and asparagus, most appealing. Or, if you want something sweet as well as colorful, try is the sweet potato and pecan salsa with maple syrup and cranberries. Miller includes color photos of all his prepared dishes. This is truly a great salsa book.

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

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The Complete Book Of Sauces

The Book of Sauces (Book of...)

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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.

Salsas That Cook : Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes

Average customer rating:

Salsas that Cook
Wow!
More salsa recipes please
An important essay on salsas. Very useful for entertaining
Kitchen That Cooks

Salsas That Cook : Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes
Rick Bayless
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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

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

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

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ASIN: 0684856948

Amazon.com

There's a lot more going on with salsa than its traditional role as a dip or dunk for corn chips. Rick Bayless, author of the bestselling Mexican Kitchen, is on a mission to prove to home cooks everywhere that this spicy sauce adds oomph to pasta, zest to meats, passion to potatoes, and invigoration to vegetables. Bayless takes six salsas (which can be made in the comfort of your own home or bought via mail order) and then uses them in more than 50 recipes, including a fiery tequila chaser! His Layered Tortilla Lasagna with Greens and Cheese captures a piece of both Italy and Mexico for one tasty little number. Chipolte-Cascabel Salsa is the key ingredient, which is combined with tortillas, three cheeses, heavy cream, corn, spinach, and mushrooms. Following the simple step-by-step instructions, you can concoct this as a main course for 8 or as appetizers for 16 in less than an hour. Even salad benefits from a brush with salsa. Particularly captivating is Bayless's Poblano Roasted Vegetable Salad with Peppery Watercress. Here a colorful combination of beets, fennel, watercress, potatoes, salted farmer cheese, and the Roasted Poblano Tomato salsa make for a wild and wonderful salad. Even desserts put in an appearance, although they are salsa-free!

Full-color photographs and many innovative ideas for spicing up mealtimes make Salsas That Cook a flavorsome addition to the home kitchen. --Naomi Gesinger

Book Description

FROM AMERICA'S LEADING AUTHORITY ON DEFINITIVE MEXICAN COOKING COMES

A BRAND-NEW COLLECTION OF RECIPES BASED ON SIX CLASSIC, VERSATILE SALSAS,

EACH FEATURING THE FLAVOR OF A DIFFERENT CHILE.

Salsas That Cook is a breakthrough in contemporary American cooking. Here, Mexico's classic salsas get put to work in our kitchens in the same way we use a variety of international condiments, from teriyaki sauce to balsamic vinegar, to enliven and redefine the flavor of many American favorites. While most of us have enjoyed salsas as chip dips, salsas show great versatility when weaving complex flavor into simple dishes, from pasta to potatoes to meats, fish and vegetables.

Salsas embody the essence of Mexican flavor: the lusciousness of slow-roasted tomatoes, the full-flavored spice of chiles, the fragrance of cilantro and the mellow sweetness of garlic. Rick Bayless, the country's leading progenitor of real Mexican cooking, writes the six salsa recipes with such detail and personality that even beginning cooks will turn out masterful creations.

The uniqueness of this book, though, is in the way these six salsas are used. Here they give their pizzazz to chile-glazed roast chicken, grilled pork tenderloin and seared sea scallops with jalapeño cream. Familiar Mexican favorites have always used salsas for vitality, and many are here, from tangy guacamole to tortilla soup and grilled chicken tacos. In Salsas That Cook, the magic of Mexico transcends all borders.

Customer Reviews:

Salsas that Cook.......2007-01-11

this was listed as "good" used product. It came almost overnite and was in superb condition

Wow!.......2006-02-23

Valuable, useful, and interesting information for us chile-heads. I couldn't put the book down, and my family members were fascinated, too.

More salsa recipes please.......2005-12-07

I am a fan of Bayless earlier cookbooks and I love his TV show, but I was a little disappointed with this book. I bought it hoping to learn some new salsa recipes, but the book is more about dishes that are made with the 4 or so salsas that he teaches us at the beginning. Authentic Mexican is a much better book.

An important essay on salsas. Very useful for entertaining.......2005-06-26

`Salsas that Cook' by renowned Chicagoan and Mexican cuisine expert, Rick Bayless is not your mama's ordinary salsa cookbook. If that is all you want, go to Mark Miller's very good `The Great Salsa Book' in the noisome Ten Speed Press tall and skinny format. Bayless' book is much more than that, and, in a sense, much less.

Bayless' agenda is very much like Ming Tsai's programme in Tsai's book, `Simply Ming' in that Bayless gives us recipes for six (6) classic Mexican salsas and then shows us how to use each of these salsas as an ingredient in several other classic Mexican dishes. While Tsai's objective was to simplify cooking by making it modular by doing intermediate preparations in advance. Each intermediate can then be used in several different dishes. While Bayless' technique is very similar, his object is rather to make authentic Mexican dishes more accessible to the average American cook.

Since this book was published in 1998, I suspect many of the Mexican ingredients Bayless says may be difficult to find have become much more common throughout the United States. In these brief seven years, I have seen a great growth of Latin American ingredients in even the most provincial of supermarkets. And, Bayless himself has contributed to this change with his own line of salsas under the `Frontera' trademark. In fact, this book may in some small way be considered a promotion for that product line, except that the book is so good in its own right that this does not concern me. Bayless, in a very gentlemanly voice, says his brand of salsas may serve in these recipes, but encourages us all to make them ourselves.

The recipes in this book are presented with a very novel and genuinely useful feature in that the quantities of ingredients are given for three different amounts of final product. I simply have never seen this outside professional baking recipes. At the very least, this is a useful feature when you just want to try out a recipe and may wish to make no more than a cup or two. If it pleases your palate, you can make the eight-cup amount for your next party.

A second major `surprise' is that none of these recipes follow the familiar chunky `pico de gallo' style. This is the first of three salsa archetypes Bayless identifies. The second is the vinegary, hot, and spicy cousin to our Louisiana hot sauces. The third is based on cooked tomatoes and tomatillos and fresh or dried chiles. All six recipes in this book belong to the third class, which Bayless considers the most versatile and is based on the widest range of flavors.

Bayless also gives some thumbnail advice on preserving and canning the salsas, but I suggest you get some expert advice on the subject before plopping this goodness into your hardware store Ball jars. Even the `Good Eats' episode on preserving and canning is scary enough about bacterial diseases to make you want to be especially careful. I would be especially careful as Bayless specifically states that he uses less than the usual amount of vinegar, which makes the recipes a bit less bug resistant. While Bayless speaks often of the now famous molcajeta, the heavy mortar of Mexican cooking, he is quite happy to see you use a blender or food processor to make these recipes.

The six salsa recipes are:

Roasted Jalapeno-Tomato Salsa with Fresh Cilantro used in seven recipes.
Roasted Poblano-Tomato Salsa with Fresh Thyme used in six recipes.
Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with serranos, roasted onions and cilantro used in eight recipes.
Mellow Red Chile Salsa with sweet garlic and roasted tomatoes used in ten recipes.
Roasty Red Guajillo Salsa with tangy tomatillos and sweet garlic used in six recipes.
Chipotle-Cascabel Salsa with roasted tomatoes and tomatillos used in nine recipes.

Each recipe is enhanced with alternatives for the main chile ingredients (although I suggest you be very careful in subbing an habanero for any other chile species.) In addition to the three different columns of ingredient amounts, the procedures for all these recipes are fairly long as Bayless writes them, as his descriptions are very detailed with lots of little hints for scraping down, spreading out, and checking the taste. Even so, the procedures are pretty long even without Bayless' frequent hints. One thing I do notice is that I am certain it is Bayless who is writing these recipes, as I recognize his `chunky', slightly ungrammatical use of adjectives and adverbs I have seen in his other books.

The forty-six `used in' recipes cover Starters; Soups, Salads and Side Dishes; Egg, Vegetable and Tortilla Main Courses; and Poultry, Meat and Fish Main Courses. I certainly can't judge how authentic these recipes are, as Bayless himself is, hands down, the best expert we have for what is authentic and what is not. I also believe that if you follow Senor Bayless' instructions closely, you will be happy with the results, assuming you don't have the anti-cilantro gene or an aversion to mild to high levels of capsicum.

Almost as if there is a cookbook writer's union regulation that every cookbook must have dessert recipes; Bayless includes four desserts and two drink recipes in the last chapter. This is not quite as gratuitous as it may seem, as the recipes are specifically oriented and sized for entertaining a crowd large enough to fill your house. This fits the central point of the book that includes both small and large numbers of servings.

When I opened this book, I had the suspicion that it may have been extracted from one of Mr. Bayless' other books, but I was wrong. It does compliment his `Mexico One Plate at a Time' book in that salsas play only a very small part of that book.

This may be Bayless' most useful volume. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys cooking. Only warning is that if you want easy recipes, see Miller's book cited above.

Kitchen That Cooks.......2005-06-23

I haven't had any problems with the binding of my copy, it sits open flat and often on my cookbook stand as I make the recipes as directed and use the many varieties for those recipes that Rick includes. I understand that this book will see recipes repeated in later books, but I believe that it stands very well on it's own with Rick's other titles. I've used it at least as often as the others and many times in combination with later recipes. It's an excellent foundation book for many salsa- based creations.

The Big Book of Sauces: 365 Quick and Easy Sauces, Salsas, Dressings, and Dips ("The Big Book of...")

Average customer rating:

Great book for a beginner
A year of sauces plus color photos

The Big Book of Sauces: 365 Quick and Easy Sauces, Salsas, Dressings, and Dips ("The Big Book of...")
Anne Sheasby
Manufacturer: Duncan Baird
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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ASIN: 1844831868

Book Description

A sauce can enhance, enliven, and even transform a dish. So why rely on processed, ready-made, and bottled versions—which are probably low in taste and high in unnecessary salt, sugar, and preservatives—when it’s so easy to make one from scratch? This lavishly illustrated and spiral-bound collection assembles a mouth-watering collection of recipes that anyone can prepare. From everyday Quick Tomato Sauce to sensational specialties such as Hollandaise, rustic Italian Hazelnut Pesto, and exotic Apricot and Ginger Salsa, there’s an enormous variety of tastes, textures, and culinary influences gathered here. Each recipe features creative serving suggestions, and many also include ingredient variations and invaluable cook's tips.

Customer Reviews:

Great book for a beginner.......2007-05-17

I am just learning my way around the kitchen and I've found many cookbooks that use jargon that I am not familiar with. However, this book is great because it explains the definition of certain cooking terms. I've tried several of the recipes and they came out great! The book itself is beautiful and a pleasure to scan throuch and use.

A year of sauces plus color photos.......2006-03-13

THE BIG BOOK OF SAUCES (1844831868) profiles both sweet and savory sauces for each day of the year, accompanying the recipes with serving tips and variation ideas. Easy to use, with lay-flat binding lending to kitchen counters.

Average customer rating:

Ok cookbook
An outstanding collection of beautifully illustrated, flavorful, fulfilling, and easy-to-prepare recipes
Fresh and Tasty Ideas from Santa Fe!

Salsas and Tacos
Susan D. Curtis
Manufacturer: Gibbs Smith, Publisher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 1423600150

Book Description

Hot and Smoky Shrimp Tacos, Roasted Wild Mushroom Tacos with Queso Fresco, Fire-Roasted Corn and Poblano Chile Tacos-these are a few of the most taste-tempting tacos you'll ever put in your mouth. And what to top them with-of course, it must be the perfect salsa!

Customer Reviews:

Ok cookbook.......2006-11-04

I admire the SF School of Cooking, but was disappointed in this cookbook.

An outstanding collection of beautifully illustrated, flavorful, fulfilling, and easy-to-prepare recipes.......2006-06-06

Salsas And Tacos from the Santa Fe School of Cooking is an outstanding collection of beautifully illustrated, flavorful, fulfilling, and easy-to-prepare recipes. Providing kitchen cooks with easy-to-follow guidelines and unique information on a specialized regional cooking style, Salsas And Tacos showcases recipes ranging from Chargrilled Fish Tacos With Caribbean Seasonings; Adabo Pork Tacos With Grilled Pineapple; and Tropical Fruit Salsa; to Creamy Chicken And Almond Tacos; Roasted Pepper Relish With Raisins And Pinon Nuts; and Steak And Mushroom Tacos With Green Chiles. Salsas And Tacos is very highly recommended for all fans of the Mexican style cookery and for those aspiring gourmet cooks who are searching for an inspired compendium of dining ideas with a bit more spice and a lot more taste.

Fresh and Tasty Ideas from Santa Fe!.......2006-04-12

Many people are surprised to find out that we don't just cook Cuban. Yes, we actually enjoy dishes from many countries. Of course, we do have a natural affinity to Spanish and Latin-American cuisines. The Santa Fe style of cooking, an amalgam of Spanish, Native American, Mexican, Southwest, and New Age cuisine has always intrigued us. When we want to "kick it up a notch" on the hot and spicy meter, we like to cook Mexican food. And we love tacos and freshly prepared salsas.

A new book from the Santa Fe School of Cooking has re-energized our taco skills and given us a new appreciation for the flavors of the Southwest. We especially enjoy the variety of inspired salsas -- everything from roasted corn and Anasazi bean to cherry pistachio. For our Cuban audience, the grilled pineapple and grapefruit-orange salsas are right up your alley, offering flavors and a heat level that isn't far removed from Cuban cuisine.

Two taco recipes really knocked our socks off: Hot and Smoky Shrimp Tacos and Roasted Wild Mushroom Tacos with Queso Fresco. Not classically Mexican, these fusion dishes really deliver some unique flavors. We were also delighted to find a recipe in the book for apple pie tacos -- again, we never saw this one in Mexico, but what a great idea for dessert!

Salsas and Tacos is a nice little book in a beautiful package with enticing photographs and easy-to-follow instructions. A perfect gift for the food lover and at this price, why not buy several and make several people happy?

Also recommended: "Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban" and "Three Guys From Miami Celebrate Cuban."

Williams-Sonoma Mastering: Sauces, Salsas & Relishes (Williams Sonoma Mastering)

Average customer rating:

Williams-Sonoma Mastering: Sauces, Salsas & Relishes (Williams Sonoma Mastering)
Rick Rodgers
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Culinary Arts & Techniques | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0743267370

Book Description

Rich Hollandaise Sauce, tangy Cranberry-Lime Relish, classic Vinaigrette. With this book, you will learn to prepare these recipes and many other popular, but sometimes intimidating, sauces, salsas, and relishes, the finishing touches that elevate home-cooked dishes from the everyday to the extraordinary.

Williams-Sonoma Mastering Sauces offers a complete cooking course in a single volume. The opening describes the many types of sauces you can make, including pan sauces, reductions, butter sauces, emulsions, salsas, and relishes, and the ingredients you will need to make them. Basic recipes and key techniques illustrate dozens of indispensable building blocks, such as how to make stocks or how to thicken sauces with a roux. Troubleshooting tips show you what can go wrong and how to fix it without having to start all over again.

The recipes lead you step-by-step, with friendly text and instructive photographs, through every stage of preparation. The variations in each chapter help you to continue practicing your newfound skills, building your repertory and your confidence at the same time. Finally, a guide to equipment and a glossary of ingredients will help you stock what you need to make a great sauce every time.

In these pages, you will discover more than fifty classic recipes that tell you, in both pictures and words, how every sauce you make should look and taste from beginning to end. Whether you are new to cooking or an old hand at the stove, this book will teach you the secrets of how to create a memorable sauce for nearly every dish you make.

Average customer rating:

Excellent one topic book

This book cooks!

Macho Nachos: 50 Toppings, Salsas, and Spreads for Irresistible Snacks and Light Meals
Kate Heyhoe
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Appetizers | Meals | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
International | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Mexican | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Wings Across America: 150 Outrageously Delicious Chicken-Wing Recipes: 150 Outrageously Delicious Chicken Wings Recipes

Maui Tacos Cookbook

Burgers: 50 Recipes Celebrating an American Classic

Uncle Bubba's Chick Wing Fling

Rosa's New Mexican Table: Friendly Recipes for Festive Meals

ASIN: 1400050421
Release Date: 2003-12-30

Book Description

The nacho has universal appeal. It’s a finger food, it crunches, it’s Tex-Mex, it’s tasty. It’s quick and easy, yet it’s still satisfying. Anyone can make a good nacho. It’s casual enough to eat on the couch in front of the game, but it can be gussied up for any occasion: like hamburgers, pizza, and other wildly popular casual foods, nacho variations are vast, and techniques are important.

That’s where Macho Nachos comes in handy, beginning with the fundamentals—what cooking vessel to use, what temperature, which cheeses and chips work best (and which really don’t), how to make cleanup easier, and how to avoid bad results (soggy on the one hand, burnt on the other). Then on to recipes: Speedy Nachos (the easiest recipes) such as Traditional Tex-Mex “Nacho’s Nachos”; Smoked Chicken, Roasted Peppers, and Asiago Cheese Nachos; and Nachos de Carnitas. Then there are Uptown Nachos, for those social situations when it might actually be necessary to tuck the shirt into the pants and perhaps entertain the fairer sex: Jamaican Rum Chicken Nachos; Popcorn Shrimp Baja Nachos; and Crabmeat and Spinach Nachos. There are even Breakfast and Dessert Nachos.

And of course Macho Nachos is a rich source of homemade condiments—the pièce de resistance (if you will) of the well-appointed nacho—for those chefs too advanced to settle for a jar: from classic Pico de Gallo to Ginger-Watermelon Salsa, from Avocado Crema to Chipotle Mayonnaise, here’s everything you’d want to drip, drizzle, or pour over your macho nachos. Don’t leave the couch without it.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent one topic book.......2005-07-26

I own thousands of cookbooks, and this is one of the better one topic books I have run across. All the recipes are easily prepared with easy to find ingredients, and of the 10-12 I have made so far, all have been very tasty. This book will get you out of the typical beef and bean type nachos and into a new world of taste. A lot of the combinations also make excellent pizzas.

This book cooks!.......2004-01-06

I'm not a great cook but I thought I knew how to make nachos. Boy, was I wrong! The recipes in this book take nachos to levels I never dreamed of. Now I can make them not just as a snack but as a full meal. Even my girlfriend wonders where I suddenly learned how to cook.

If you want to salivate, buy this book just for the photos.

Average customer rating:
Sauces, Salsas, Dips, Relishes, Marinades & Dressings (Lorenz)
Christine France
Manufacturer: Lorenz Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Sauces, Salsa & Garnishes | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0754806006

Book Description

How to make everything from a basic white sauce to a simple marinade that will make a culinary masterpiece.

Average customer rating:

Fantastic book - have had it for years and it gave me my first salsa recipe

Salsas, Sambals, Chutneys and Chowchows
Chris Schlesinger , and John Willoughby
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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

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

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

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0688123376

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic book - have had it for years and it gave me my first salsa recipe.......2006-07-02

Tons of recipes of flavorful dishes and has the best salsa reciple I have ever tried - Big Red Table Salsa. Amazing stuff. I have tried 5 or so of the recipes and each one never fails to please. Highly recommended.

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