Customer Reviews

The Complete Canadian Living Cookbook: 350 Inspired Recipes from Elizabeth Baird and the Kitchen Canadians Trust Most

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For those who only have a basic collection of cookbooks, consider adding this up there right next the the Joy of Cooking. All these recipes are tried and true, not elaborate, and tested for good results, "Tested Til Perfect", in their test kitchen. Many are basic fare recipes but each recipe delivers an incredibly good dish. Yes, some are more tropical or ethnic in flavour. Canadian Living, with its magazine and television shows, produces & tests over 500 recipes each year. What you have here is a selection of the 350 best. However, this is not just your boring old basic Cooking 101 cookbook. There's a real focus on both regional specialties and ingredients and dishes that celebrate Canada's modern multicultural mosaic.

Re: Comments Below, If you were looking for "Canadian" recipes and didn't like the ethnic ones, then you've missed the point. Canada is as multicultural as it gets, the folks very openminded about ethnic food, so why wouldn't this cookbook have "tiramisu" or curried dishes or fusion dishes? Besides the "truly Canadian" dishes such as saskatoon berry pie would be impossible to reproduce if sasks don't grow in your area.

This is the cookbook that I go to the most (and I collect cookbooks, so I've got a million of them). Every time the recipes are perfect. It's quite like Mark Bittman's How to cook everything, but I seem to go to this one quite a bit more then the Bittmans.
I use it so much that it's filthy with spilled sauce stains!
No pictures, but the best basic 'how to cook anything' book.

The best recipes for great eating. Not for simple or easy or fast cooking.

i've used quite a few recipes from the book and while a lot of them turned out really great, there have been a few that have turned out pretty bad (like the butter tarts - runny and tasted like corn syrup). some of the recipes in there though are SO good (like the black bean soup, old fashioned chicken pot pie, slow and easy real barbecued ribs, etc).

This cookbook is great. The only thing I would've preferred is having it in hardcover. With the paperback version it's really flimsy, and I think that after a while it's going to bend and get ruined and what not.

This is a fantastic cookbook. Some recipes are provided as a base, and you are given the option to do it in 5 other variations. If you are just starting out in the kitchen and want an all-around reference guide, this is a good start.

Some great recipes:
1) Mac and Cheese. I vary it with whole wheat elbow macaroni and whole wheat bread crumbs.
2) The dough for the pork dumplings/pot stickers are also fantastic. It's a great base for other types of filling. Just use your imagination!
3) Chicken Pot Pie: I make sweet potato biscuits as a topping versus puff pastry

Once you get your feet wet and want to push your comfort level, you can adjust each recipe to your taste. The instructions are clear and concise.

A small con: I wasn't a big fan of the Pad Thai recipe. I found it to be bland, but each recipe is really subjective to the chef's tastes.

Overall, if I'm unhappy with only 1 or 2 recipes, the book is still a great buy.

Had a hard time finding this cookbook...which I already knew was excellent. The price at amazon was better than elsewhere...my sister paid more for a used one on ebay...this is simply one of the best cookbooks out there.
Ellen
Calgary

Don't waste your money. If you want to make Thai food, Sushi, or Fetuccini Alfredo then buy a Betty Crocker book. Doesn't have Canadian recipes like I was looking for.