Customer Reviews

The Best American Recipes 2002-2003 (Best American)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After 26 years of cooking turkeys, I finally cooked one that everyone including myself loved. It's the cider-brined turkey in this book which is as good as the authors say. I also made the great pumpkin and goat cheese gratin which is delicious. Now I'm sorry I didn't make thw whole meal from the book. Everyone at our Thanksgving table wanted this book for Christmas.

The polenta recipe alone is worth the price of the book. It is a no-stir recipe, and very easy.

There is also a great chili recipe with lamb and beans. It is a very eclectic collection with some unusual and delicious dishes. It is a cookbook well worth having.

Having gotten this great cookbook for Christmas, I've been cooking from it almost non-stop since. I have a large collection of cookbooks and think of myself as an accomplished cook, but I have never had a bookbook like this one in which all the recipes not only work but are delicious. My only regret is that I can't ask the authors to dinner; they sound delightful.I just had a dinner party for 6 very discerning friends and made the stracotto oflamb with olives and oranges and the oven-baked polenta. For dessert we had the butttermilk panna cotta with lemon jelly. My guests were in heaven! At New Year's I made the strawberries in Champagne Jelly which was quite a hit. And if anyone is still making cookies out there, make sure to include the apricot walnut biscotti. A big thank-you to the talented authors!

My daughter gave me this book and already I have made seven of the recipes. They are just as good as the authors promise! I especially loved the Manly Meat Balls, the Tandoori-style cornish game hens, the cheddar and pepper scones and the lemon almond pound cake. This is a delicious collection!

This recipe book is perfect as a gift for someone who does a lot of entertaining. All of the recipes are fairly simple to make and do not take a lot of time. Each recipe also comes with a great introduction.

A great collection of 110 marvelous recipes. What "Best American Recipes" lacks in photos (only 9) it atones for in proven, field tested, recipes. From thousands of recipes, from a plethora of sources (magazines, newspapers, Internet, cookbooks, etc.) McCullough and Hamlin edited down to these select 110. And their selections are all top drawer. I have used a half dozen so far and every one of them have be very good to great. Do try the "Jamaican Rice and Peas" along with "Flamed Roast Fish a la Sophia Loren" - Excellent!

I do wish they would have included more photos, 9 for 110 recipes is very skimpy - this is the only reason that the book is not "Highly Recommended". However, this book is so impressive that I have already ordered "The Best American Recipes 2000".

A friend faxed me the recipe for"The Amazing Five Hour Duck" early in November and, as cynical as I am about anything that sounds like hype, this is truly the best duck that I--or anyone I have served it to--has ever had. Incredibly moist meat and that crisp, crackling skin that is almost impossible to acheive. I finally bought a copy of the book for myself a couple of weeks ago and I strongly recommend the Black Bean Burgers and the Mussels in India pale ale. Like the wine suggestions, too...

An extraordinary achievement,which in the hands of lesser editors could have been a culinary joke or worse, a disaster. The care that Hamlin and McCullough put into the book is everywhere evident: graceful headnotes for each recipe, and tips about cooking based on real experience not only with these recipes, but a lifetime of food exploration and cultivated taste. A wonderful pastiche of ideas, from fine French chefs to able American home cooks. We have the editors to thank for scanning books, magazines, newspapers and newsletters, the net, and any other print-capable media, to choose these 100+ gems. As an experienced cook, I don't normally work from recipes, but I find myself developing a new discipline in the kitchen: following the recipe to the letter, based on trust and admiration for Hamlin and McCullough. Truly, these are the Best American Recipes. Bravo!

This review refers to "Best American Recipes 2000." I noticed that Amazon hasn't always segregated these reviews by year, so I include this information. The review for the 1999 edition is at the bottom, due to Amazon's silliness with this.

I have trusted Fran McCullough ever since she co-authored "Great Food Without Fuss," another book full of easy-but-perfect and unusual recipes. I also loved McCullough and Hamlin's "Best American Recipes 1999," so I bought this for my birthday. WOW. I have had it for 2 weeks, and I cannot stop cooking from it. Just from browsing all the books in "Best American Recipes" series so far, I get the feeling that McCullough/Hamlin is the best co-author team in the series, but I haven't had the others as long, so I'll report back when I've cooked my way through the later ones.

So far, I have made:

Stuffed French Toast with Lemon-Cheese Filling and Blueberries: impressed even the most jaded of palates
Puffy Maine Pancakes: the classic Dutch baby pancake
Fresh Fig, Gorgonzola, and Walnut Salad with Warm Port Vinaigrette: worth the price of the book for the salad dressing alone (requires reducing 1 cup of nonvintage port)
Pasta with Baked Tomato Sauce: so easy, creamy, and lovely, but without any cream
Watermelon Salsa: a salad, actually. My husband and I devoured the recipe that "serves 4," and not because the recipe was skimpy!
Wine Grapes, Walnuts, and Olives: a magical transformation of basic high-quality ingredients. Great as a side dish, or on pasta.

All have perfect directions, incredible flavor, and helpful notes. Main dishes come with a "serve with" menu, with all the recipes included in the book. I love that! Who can resist a foolproof, perfect dinner party menu?

Both this book and the 1999 book have a whole menu for Thanksgiving dinner, including the turkey. Most years, I scour my hundreds of cookbooks and cooking magazines for the perfect menu, never trusting that a particular side dish or dessert will come out as promised. This Thanksgiving, the only hard thing will be deciding between the 1999 and the 2000 menus from the "Best American Recipes" series. From me, this is strong praise, as I have never in my 30+ years of cooking made a whole menu as written from a book or magazine.

Enjoy!

1999:

This review refers to "Best American Recipes 1999." Amazon sometimes prints a copy of the review under a different edition.

McCullough and Hamlin are a great team. They went to great lengths emailing everyone in the food world asking for the best recipes published in the preceding year. They came up with some real winners.

Lately, I'm addicted to the Watermelon Milkshake (yes, where else would you get a recipe that sounds so bad and tastes so good?) I have been freezing the watermelon so I can use Greek (drained) nonfat yogurt and still get that thick and frosty, made-with-ice-cream mouth feel. Lest you think I only like the book for inspiration and doctor/change the recipes, this is not true. I'm sure the vanilla ice cream version would blow my mind (and my diet!).

The Blueberry Lemonade is wonderful, and again, I never would have thought of it. Why not make a lighter, fresher version of blueberry pie in a glass? It's hot today, so I made mine in the blender with ice cubes instead of water.

Obviously, I really appreciate that every year of this series includes some non-alcoholic beverages that delight the taste buds. Enough of sickly-sweet punches!

Actually, clear and consistent goals are things that make this series great. Clearly, there is a Thanksgiving menu. Clearly, there are the nonalcoholic drinks. Clearly, there are summer salads and winter sides. Consistently, there are lovely brunch/breakfast specialties, often with the comment that one is perfect for the morning after Christmas. McCullough and Hamlin know how real people cook, what recipes they need, and they deliver!

Butter and Egg Soup For Newlyweds was as good as any "amuse buche" at a fancy restaurant, and I made it at the last minute on my own birthday!

This book has enticing recipe after recipe, with clear descriptions, clear directions, and perfect results. The "cook's note" next to each recipe helps, as does the suggested "serve with" menu and wine selection.

The suggested menus and wines disappear starting in 2003. I DO hope they are back for 2005!

I WAS RECENTLY GIVEN THIS BOOK AS AN EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT AND WHAT A JOY ITS BEEN LOOKING THROUGH ALL THE INCREDIBLE RECIPES. I HAVE READ SUZANNE HAMLIN'S ARTICLES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES SO I KNEW I COULD TRUST HER JUDGEMENT. IF ANYONE IS SERIOUS ABOUT FOOD THEY SHOULD GET THIS BOOK. I KNOW I'M GOING TO GET A FEW FOR GIFTS THIS HOLIDAY SEASON