2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enthusiastically recommended, October 7, 2006
This review is from: Best of the Best from Missouri: Selected Recipes from Missouri's Favorite Cookbooks (Plastic Comb)
"Best Of The Best From Missouri Cookbook: Selected Recipes From Missouri's Favorite Cookbooks" is a spiral-bound collection of hundreds of recipes drawn from a large number the most beloved cookbooks published in the "Show Me" state by private individuals, non-profit organizations, and small presses. From Plum Bread, to Gooseberry Salad, to Chicken Dijonnaise Strudel, and so very much more, these wonderfully diverse recipes combine flavorful explosions of favorite local ingredients, easy how-to instructions, and the solid stamp of approval that comes from the test of time. The "Best Of The Best From Missouri Cookbook" is enthusiastically recommended as a 'kitchen cook friendly' addition to any home and community library cookbook collection! Cookbook collectors are encouraged to visit the Quail Ridge press website for a complete listing of all of their "Best of the Best" series of cookbook compilations.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
AN OKAY BOOK I SUPPOSE, November 17, 2008
This review is from: Best of the Best from Missouri: Selected Recipes from Missouri's Favorite Cookbooks (Plastic Comb)
There is really not a lot to say about this particular book. Yes, the dishes that are featured are cooked in Missouri, but to be quite frank, I have run across the same recipes in just about ever state of the Union. To be honest, there is not one thing in this book that I have found so far that is uniquely Missouri! The recipes have been taken from many, many other cook books from across the state and someone made the arbitrary decision as to which were the best of the best in these five books. Personally I feel the title is a bit misleading in this aspect. Most dishes associated with this state are not necessarily limited to this region. Missouri is sort of a cross roads and melting pot, and has been for all of its history. Just about ever major group that inhabits North American, or has passed through has contributed something in the way of food and how it is prepared. Here in the Ozarks, the S.W. corner of the state, each individual community, and indeed, each individual family group have their own eating and cooking traditions which for the most part are variations of already known dishes. My own wife, and excellent country cook and gourmet cook (when she feels like it), was very much influenced by her two great-grandmothers, both Osage Indian, and both "hill folk." Most families here have similar backgrounds.
That being said, this is not a bad cookbook at all and there are many very good dishes to be found between its pages. There are hundreds of recipes in this volume which consists of over 300 pages. The recipes are quite complete and the directions are simple to follow. The measurements are quite concise and cooking times, for the most part, quite accurate.
It would be difficult to find a taste that could not be satisfied with at least some of the various concoctions found in this volume as they are quite diverse. We have personally prepared at least twenty dishes from this book. Most were excellent and were put into the "let's do this again file." Some were not to our taste, but were not actually "bad." I suppose some of the dishes that are made for the Microwave are our least favorite, but that is probably personal prejudice on my part, as I hate those things for anything other than just warming up leftovers and reheating my morning coffee when it goes cold.
All in all this is a decent book and I am sure there are many other dishes in it we have not tried that would be great. I am giving this one four stars due to the fact that I feel the title is misleading. I would give it three due to that fact, but there are some fine things to cook up in this book and if you can get a copy, I am sure you will not regret it. On the other hand, again, to be honest, I doubt if the experienced cook or cook book collector will find anything particularly unique about this one.
Don Blankenship
The Ozarks
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