Customer Reviews

American Classics: More Than 300 Exhaustively Tested Recipes For America's Favorite Dishes

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I fell in love with Cook's Illustrated magazine -- I've subscribed since the charter issue ten years ago. So I bought Chris Kimball's COOK'S BIBLE when it appeared. It included many of the same recipes lifted from the magazine, but that was okay, because it made searching for a particular dish easier. Shortly after that came his YELLOW FARMHOUSE COOKBOOK. More of the same. Meanwhile, the magazine is issuing individual-theme "booklets" for $15. It's up to a couple dozen by now, and all of them simply riffs on previously published material in the magazine. Then came Pam Anderson's (she was former exec ed and her absence is sorely missed) THE PERFECT RECIPE, which contained 30 of her COOK'S magazine articles. More repeats of the same information. A year later Cook's puts out THE BEST RECIPE, virtually identical to Pam's. More repeats of the same classic American fare. Now we have the BEST RECIPE SERIES, up to four at last count, the most recent being, AMERICAN CLASSICS, yet ANOTHER spin redux on mac-cheese and lemon meringue pie (by the way, if you want the ultimate lemon pie recipe, buy Anderson's PERFECT RECIPE, which contains the EXACT same lemon meringue pie recipe as the one featured on the cover of AMERICAN CLASSICS; confused? -- the COOK'S marketing machine no doubt hopes you are, so you'll end up buying all of their books, no matter how superfluous ). All of this is perfectly legal of course. You can't be arrested for plaigirizing your own recipes. But is it ethical? How many more printed versions of the same roast chicken recipe do we need? You can find nearly the same one in all of the COOK's books. Furthermore, I've begun to notice that there are odd discrepancies creeping into their recommendations. A recent chocolate dessert recipe, for instance, advocated using one of two different brands of chocolate -- these two brands, in fact, being the only two "not recommended" of the dozen taste-tested in an issue the previous year. For me, this wholly undercuts the credibility of the magazine, making me doubt the judgment of Cook's staff, which is really the main thing going for it since their shtick is testing and then declaring the best, whether it's an ingredient or technique. It's no wonder that so many recipes are simply dragged and dropped from one book to another -- there's no way that the relatively small staff of the magazine could produce this amazing and tireless flood of COOK'S products. It's a shame because, for me, all this marketing and mercenary publishing have made me mistrust an old friend.

I have tried nearly every recipe in this cookbook. All of them came out well, and the explanations that come with the recipes are excellent.

You can find more recipes in the Joy of Cooking, but you won't be as assured the food will taste good. Cooks Illustrated runs through several iterations to create the "perfect" recipe. Most of the ingredients are simple and readily available. The instructions are easy to follow.

This is an excellent cookbook for inexperienced and experienced cooks alike.

Did it ever occur to the whiners writing reviews about duplications that these might exist, not because the editors don't "have enough" recipes, but because some recipes BELONG in more than one cookbook? A grilling recipe from the Test Kitchen series might be appropriate in the Best Recipe: Gilling and Barbeque book. In fact, the Grilling and Barbeque cookbook might be lacking a key technique or dish without it. The Best Recipe (1999) was the first of its kind, and since it contained "best" Italian recipes, chicken recipes, and soup recipes, a few of these would be entirely appropriate in cookbooks that claim to cover all the basics in the sub-categories. And I wouldn't want an incomplete Perfect Vegetables cookbook, for instance, just because a recipe had been perfected during the Test Kitchen television series. The 1/3 figure is much too high, by the way.

These books are great! I love my Cooks' Illustrated Books and use them all the time. Many of the recipes from this book have become favorites. My one and only complaint is that they have now published the Best Recipe series and now the Test Kitchen books and they don't have enough recipes to fill them each one with enough unique recipes to distinguish one book from another.

A few repeated recipes is forgiveable, but they have gone way over the top. If you buy more than two of their books, the third is bound to be composed of a third the recipes from each of the first two. Same test info, everything. This only leaves 1/3 of the recipes as original.

Because of this, I say look carefully before deciding which from this series you purchase unless you want multiple copies of the same testing articles and recipes.

I spent time in the States when younger, and some things that I ate were a little eclectic for British Tastes. However, when I saw this book reviewed in the British press, I knew it would have all the recipes I would need. I wasn't wrong! Not many pictures, but clear, concise instructions, and reading it has made my tummy rumble! Can't wait to try the stuffing recipes - so much different to British stuffing, and the Coca-cola glazed Ham. This will keep me busy for ages!

About two years ago I received a copy of THE BEST RECIPE from a dear friend as a gift. An avid baker, I immediately turned to all of the desserts and started baking away. Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies and Cheesecake Brownies are among just a few of my favorites.

Since that day, I have expanded my repertoire to SOUPS & STEWS, AMERICAN CLASSICS, and my husband's favorite, GRILLING. I have my favorites in each book including my latest of Blueberry Buckle Cobbler and Chewy Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownies from AMERICAN CLASSICS.

Now, my Williams Sonoma cookbooks are in the attic along with the dozen or so other cookbooks. I keep my Cook's Illustrated cookbooks out at all times and have NEVER ONCE been disappointed.

Since that day two years ago when my dear friend gave me the copy of THE BEST RECIPE, I have passed on this same gift experience to my mother, grandmother, aunt and friends. Every single one of them has become hooked on the Cooks Illustrated Series and the quality of our cooking has improved immensely.

So, to the complainer in California...why not stop looking for similar recipes and start trying the hundreds of original recipes in each and every Cook's Illustrated book?

I agree with 'sharvell's' review completely. This is a cookbook about comfort foods. I liked the idea that the recipes were worked out thoroughly by the tester's to make sure the final results were perfect. How to keep the crust from becoming too soggy while creating a moist cheesecake; how not to serve the 'shoe leathery' Sunday dinner roast by knowing which cut of beef to use, etc. These are the things we as cooks had to do by trial and error before, now this cookbook eliminates all that. I'm more than happy to save $$$ and time by using a winning recipe from the pros at Cook's Illustrated. And, I can use the saved $$ to buy more cookbooks!

Some other reviewers have complained that this book seems to have a lot of repeats of recipes or feature things that don't seem very new or original. In this book though, that is the very point. These are the old fashioned recipes with which all Americans are familiar. There is no attempt to dress them up, only to make the best comfort food you ever had -- using ordinary ingredients. Cook's Illustrated continue with their high standards of performance and this is one of my favorite cookbooks ever.

I own The Best Recipe and now own American Classics and I love them both. Is there some duplication? Yes. Do I mind? No, because there is enough new material and the focus is--as the title implies--classic American fare. Having these great themed recipes together in one volume just makes it that much easier to create a meal that reflects American cuisine.

As with their other products, the staff at Cook's has done a fabulous job of painstakingly researching their recipes and presenting them with wonderful background information and a transparancy to their thinking process that provides useful insights and understanding that I apply to other cooking endeavors.

I have yet to be disappointed by a single recipe in this book, and am looking forward to a long summer of dining with American Classics.

If you take any interest at all in cooking, you will LOVE reading this book! But the proof is in the pudding, of course, and time after time, the recipes I use from this book have been successful. For instance, my husband and adult son agreed that the macaroni and cheese I made from this collection was the absolute BEST I had ever made. You may think I was an average cook to begin with, but that isn't the case. The editors were right, evaporated milk was the key to a smooth cheese sauce. And who would have thought of using fettucini instead of egg noodles in the tuna casserole, but once I did it, I would never use anything but.
I read the long, ranting and complaining about this and other books by one reviewer and thought it was petty. I consider this American Classics book to have two solid attributes: excellent discussion of testing and methods as well as reliable recipes. Not only did I purchase the Italian Classics and the Best Recipes books (both of which I enjoyed as well), I plan to purchase the large basic cookbook by the same publisher as gifts to my adult children this holiday season.
This book has given me a HUGE boost of energy and enthusiasm for cooking, and we're all enjoying the benefits.