Customer Reviews

Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings: The Best Sandwiches in America

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

American Cuisine at it's Best

I originally decided to buy this cookbook because of the Oprah sandwich and all that I heard about it. And then the other day I also saw another recipe from this book in the Washington Post. Oprah AND WA PO - pretty high recommendations in my opinion. Well, I did the O sandwich recipe and my family loved it - I mean loved it. Even my daughter who doesn't usually like chicken thought it was "awesome!".

What I love about about Beautiful Breads /Fabulous Fillings is that everything I've made so far is easy, unique, and most importantly, delicious. And those I haven't yet tried also appear to be just as easy and tasty. (Also you don't have to go to Chinatown looking for some herb or ingredient you've never heard of. You should have most ingredients already stocked in your kitchen.)

I was also delightfully surprised to find that there were a variety of recipes in BB and FF, not just sandwiches. In fact I made the Lamb dish (Lamb with Real Mint Sauce) last night - we had friends for dinner and it was a hit - everyone raved about it. I thought her brief food facts and and tips at the end of many of the recipes were fun, interesting, and useful.

By the way, the desserts are also noteworthy. I made the Lemon Meringue Pie. If you're having guests this pie is refreshing, light, and mouthwatering. It not only tastes fabulous, it also looks impressive!

I think this cookbook should be a staple in every American kitchen. It's American Cuisine at it's best.

BTW - The only criticism I have of this book is that the title is so long! Beautiful Breads and Fabulous Fillings: The Best sandwiches In America...so now I just call it BB and FF, and my pals know what I mean.

(I did read B. Marold's review which I thought was bogus. Marold obviously didn't actually "make" or even try any of the recipes and had this scholarly snobby POV which has nothing to do with passion for food and eating well. Reviewing really should involve actually making and tasting the recipes in my opinion - but I actually USE cookbooks, I don't just read them.)

This is a great little book with lots of tasty recipes. The two ton chocolate cake is incredible for any chocoholic. The breads are not to hard to make and have interesting to complex flavors. I think the instructions could be a little better for some and that is the reason for 4 stars. For example putting 16 cups of flour and 8 cups of milk in a stand mixer is only going to work if you have an industrial size mixer. Cut that in two and your Kitchen aid will knead it wonderfully. Also I suggest you cut the filling recipes in half until you bake a loaf or two and see if you like it.

If this were called 'The Sandwich Book' it wouldn't receive nearly as much attention - but Sky's productions are so much more, and naming it BEAUTIFUL BREADS & FABULOUS FILLINGS is a masterpiece of strategy that more aptly highlights her unique productions. Bright color photos on every page accompany such recipes as Chicken Salad in Minty Yogurt Sauce on Brown Harvest Bread or Reuben with Reuben Sauce on Herbed Rye Bread. And, the dishes are surprisingly easy to put together - even the fresh bread.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I had high hopes for this little book and I really wanted to like it. On the positive side, it's visually attractive - and unfortunately this gives the impression that the recipes are better than they actually are. It boasts more than 100 color photographs, most of them full-page. For a volume of 256 pages, that's more than generous. It's written with a friendly, conversational tone which makes the author likeable (pretense in a cookbook is rarely a good thing). The fonts are quite readable - even the index - and the layout is eye-catching, if not downright charming. The book is a handy size too, making it a welcome respite from the prevaling wrist-breaking leviathans. Certainly the recipes are creative, providing truly flavorful alternatives to your everyday Ham & Swiss on Rye. So what's wrong with this book? Inconsistency, lack of instruction, unwieldy recipes and poor editing.

Nearly every book published has an error or two in the form of typos or mistakes in grammar. "Beautiful Breads" is no exception. On page 17, a line reads "Sweet dough is the firt dough I created." The "firt" jumps right out as it leads the recipe. A similar introduction on page 135 says, "...my parents would make a turkey..." One cannot ever "make" a turkey - only nature can accomplish such a daunting task. One can "fix"; "prepare"; "roast"; "grill"; "cook"; or "deep-fry" a turkey - but I promise you, you cannot "make" one. There are other errors, as well - mistakes that should not have been missed by the editor, Geoff Stone - who wasn't as "masterful" as the author stated.

Now - for the recipes (which include salads, soups, sauces, sides, and desserts as well as breads and fillings). The heart of this book - and Sky's reputation - is bread, yet there's very little written about the nature and technique of crafting bread. Serious bread bakers know that overnight starters and longer rise times translate to more flavor - but these breads do not have the benefit of either. Their flavors come from the add-ins ("filled breads") - some of which are delicious. Nevertheless, the breads themselves are quite ordinary (the "Concord Grape Bread" is an inedible gummy mess and not worthy of any filling) and there's nary a sourdough to be found. Sky sings the praises of white bread, feeling that it is "underrated". Whole grain is so much better and "white" whole wheat flour is now widely available - why not use whole wheat for more of her breads? Sky also fails to detail the type of yeast to be used - Should we use "Active-Dry", "Instant", or "Rapid-Rise"? There's not much offered in the way of instruction.

ONE OF THE MOST ANNOYING INCONSISTENCIES ARE THE YIELDS. Some bread recipes yield one loaf, others yield as many as nine! The "Basic White Bread" uses 16 cups of flour and eight cups of milk and half-and-half. The "Basic Whole Wheat Bread" uses 18 cups of whole wheat flour (TOO LARGE FOR THE AVERAGE HOME BAKER!) The Kitchen Aid Artisan stand mixer has a 9-cup "Flour Power" rating. Even the Kitchen Aid Pro 600 only has a 14-cup "Flour Power" rating. Unless you have a Viking 7-Quart mixer or a Hobart commercial machine, you're going to be mighty tired after hand-kneading such large recipes. No suggestions or instructions are offered to cut the recipes in half. WARNING: IF YOU'VE NEVER WORKED WITH A DOUGH THAT CONTAINS ONLY WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR (NO WHITE) YOU'RE GOING TO GET VERY FRUSTRATED. THIS TYPE OF DOUGH TAKES SOME EXPERIENCE. IF YOU FORGE AHEAD, CALL THE KING ARTHUR BAKING HOTLINE FOR HELP - YOU'RE GOING TO "KNEAD" IT - PUN INTENDED.

Among the soup recipes, some yield six servings, some eight to ten. The "Pumpkin Soup" yields a whopping 12 -14 servings, employing four cans of pumpkin and five cups of maple syrup (this soup is very sweet and tastes more like pumpkin pie than soup. A savory garnish of crumbled bacon saved the day) - yet there are no recommendations for freezing such an excess of soup! The "Minty Yogurt Sauce" is fine - although painfully obvious, but the "Real Mint Sauce" and "Creamy Candied Carrot Sauce" are awful - each using a large amount of sweetened condensed milk. They are far too saccharine and the flavor of cooked milk predominates. Sky also seems to use "Lawry's Lemon Pepper" in virtually everything. There are some odd combinations, such as Hershey's kisses in a fruit salad and a full teaspoon of almond extract in both the Marinara and Rosemary-Sage Sauces. The large amount of butter in Sky's recipes didn't concern me nearly as much as the seemingly large amount of sugar - maple syrup, sweetened condensed milk, powdered sugar, brown sugar, and grape jelly. Ugh! We don't need more fat, sugar and white flour in our diets!

Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, and Mayonnaise are used - with no suggestions for the lighter versions of each. One sandwich recipe, "Stuffed Strawberry, Granola, Cream Cheese, and Brown Sugar English Muffins" contains one full cup of cream cheese per sandwich! Sky peppers the book with "health messages" (sometimes erroneous) at the bottom of many recipes, yet the book is full of fat and sugar! Further, the Butterscotch and Lemon Meringue pies employ traditional meringue, in which the egg whites are not fully cooked to 160 degrees. No mention is made of a safer substitute such as "Just Whites" or other pasteurized pure egg white products. Sky knows the dangers of Salmonella, as she mentions it in the introduction. A caveat urging those who may be immune compromised to avoid raw eggs is woefully missing.

The best I can say about "Beautiful Breads" is that it might serve as a source of inspiration for all kinds of interesting and tasty sandwiches. A first-rate chicken salad sandwich can be food of the gods. Before you part with a few dollars to buy this book, borrow it from your local library - try before you buy. There are better bread and sandwich books to be had, including Nancy Silverton's sandwich book, which is a far better choice.

I bought this book used, but I'm still annoyed that I spent that much on it. I ilke that the recipes inspire the cook to make sandwich combinations that they might otherwise not dream up. But, as other reviewers have stated, the portion sizes are way off. In addition, everything is way too sweet. I made the "O" sandwich, thinking that somehow the insane amount of honey inside would end up being okay. Luckily I didn't stir everything in before just trying it with just a little bit. The curry sauce is 3 cups of honey and 1 1/2 cups of mustard, plus spices. So, two sandwiches are supposed to have 2 cups of this sauce, which means that one sandwich has 3/4 cups of honey (plus what is in the bread) which is just crazy. Can you imagine eating 2 cups of chicken and 3/4 cups of honey just on one sandwich? Anyway, I will be getting rid of this book- I like that the recipes are fresh and original, but I feel that an average or better-than-average cook can come up with better stuff on their own.

As I see it this book is a great tool for the more experienced cook, not for beginners. It has some wonderful and tasty recipes and ideas, but the sheer amounts she suggests you make are a little ridiculous (18 cups of flour??). Now I say its for a more experienced cook because basically if you know your way around a kitchen and have done a lot of recipes you can pretty much figure out how to properly cut the amounts in half and "tweak" some of ingredients so it works for you (I like to omit the Lawry's Lemon Pepper that is in almost every recipe)and I know how to store breads properly even though she does not go into detail about that. So I would say it is lacking in proper instruction and the amounts are far too great for the average home cook, but if you can work around those things, it is a handy little book.

I love this cookbook and find myself using it again and again. The author is obviously a creative spirit, which makes for an abundant supply of imaginative recipes. Every recipe is unusual and fun. They are extravagant and call for a lot of ingredients, but if you're in the mood for something unusual and delicious, the outcome is worth it.

A few critiques: Serving sizes are enormous. You could easily make a fraction of what's called for. Also, yes, some recipes are a little vague and you have take your best guess. I can overlook that for the inspiration and fun the cookbook offers.

This is a gorgeously written and mouthwatering cookbook---I'm so glad Margaux has decided to show the world how to make her delicious sandwiches and soups, as well as the sandwich that Oprah has made famous! Keep up the good work!

I want for anybody who loves BUTTERSCOTCH to know that the BUTTERSCOTCH MERINGUE PIE in this book is OUTSTANDING!!!!

I first read about the butterscotch meringue pie in "O magazine" and knew when Ms. Sky's book came out, I had to try that recipe.

It IS the living end!!!

Based on this pie alone, I'm willing to bet that every recipe in this book is worth making. You know, there are some places (I guess I should tell that I'm a pie nut!) where I'll buy an entire pie for $12.00, which to some people might seem alot. I got this ENTIRE book for not much over the cost of a great pie! Unbelieveable!

Pie lovers.....GET THIS BOOK! The Butterscotch Meringue Pie is SO worth it!

The author has got to be kidding: two pounds of salmon or two pounds of chicken or 16 slices of bacon for two sandwiches-what is she thinking or is it just really sloppy editing? And why does almost every recipe include Lawry's lemon pepper. This book is a mess-nasty-looking and sounding breads and ridiculous fillings!