Customer Reviews

Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook: Home Collection

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

...Top reasons why I turn to this cookbook more than any other:

* The recipes WORK! And they are GREAT! Some recipes I've tried: Shrimp Bisque (amazingly, in comparison to a recipe I tried from Cook's Illustrated, the one here is a bit simpler AND tasted better!), Apple and Parsnip Soup (great Thanksgiving soup!), Duck Salad with Plum Dressing (if cooking this for appetizer, I would use a lot less duck breast than asked for in this recipe--7 oz per person is too much), Duck a l'orange (awesome! My guests loved it!), Cider Apple Chicken with Mushroom Sauce (delicious--I substituted regular brandy for Calvados, a French apple brandy which I couldn't find), Roast Pork with Prunes and Armagnac (truly a hit when I cooked it as the entree for Christmas), Pears Poached in Red Wine (better than a recipe I got from a class).

* Each and every recipe is beautifully illustrated with a picture of the dish. For me, the "occasional but serious home chef", the pictures inspire me and quickly give me an idea of what to create for the finished product. None of the other books have such beautiful pictures for every recipe.

* Each recipe comes with an estimate of Preparation Time and Total Cooking Time. This gives me a quick idea of how complicated the dish is gonna be. A word of caution though: the given times are for pros! When I first started cooking French, I found that I had to DOUBLE the times given in this book; now I add an extra 50%! However, on a relative scale, this feature is still helpful.

* It's mostly adjusted for ingredients available in USA (at least in Northern California) and terminology is mostly American.

Like Lindas review below, I think Adrianas review below is unfair--the book does state that it is a collection of Le Cordon Bleus best recipes-thats one of the reasons I wanted it and do not have an issue with it being a copycat. Ultimately, I am grateful for this book because it has helped me create many successful menus and dinner parties. So much so that it compelled me to write my first review on Amazon.com! Bon Appetit!

I am giving this 5 stars (I own it, and the recipes are actually within the reach of the home cook unlike the first Le Cordon Bleu cookbook I bought) partly to offset the "copycat" review of Adriana. It is clearly stated in at least two places that this is a collection of the best of the previous single-subject cookbooks, both in the Forward and on the back flap of the jacket. This is exactly the reason I bought it. I really like the fact that only the best have been included from all the previous books. It's not fair to imply that they were trying to pull a fast one on consumers when they made it clear what they were doing.

How many cookbooks do you have on your shelves where you might cook just one or two recipes from the book, and the rest don't appeal? I am fussy about buying cookbooks since there are so many "free" recipes available through friends, magazines, newspapers and the Internet. But I have not regretted buying this one and I also bought a copy for my son, a francophile.

The roast quails with rice stuffing (page 215) initially looked daunting but the glossary gives step-by-step instructions on how to bone out a quail. Amazingly, it worked and I presented this dish recently to a dinner party of eight. I doubt I have ever served a more impressive looking course or one that tasted so superb. The sauce was to die for.

The poussin recipe in herb butter was also wonderful (my son served it to us one night and then I served it to guests, knowing in advance it would be great), as was the chicken en croute. So far I have not been disappointed with anything I've tried.

Awesome Cookbook!!!! This should be in every serious cook's collection. Directions are easy to follow and there are pictures for every recipe. Bon Appetite !!

I'm a self taught professional cook who always looks for new creative ways to prepare meals. This book is full of traditional methods to broaden anyone's knowledge base. The full color pictures were wonderful and I don't buy a cookbook that doesn't have them. My book arrived earlier than was posted and it was a good shopping experience

I have used this book SOOOOOOOOOOOO much since i bought it, so many recipes, each has a piture so you can see how to present the dish, sooooo tasty, easy to follow,
there is even a section about cooking tools needed.

great book for someone who wants to go alittle further with the home cooking.

Bottom line is, it's a good cookbook. Everything I've tried is good. Some of the recipes are really good. The book provides a thorough and comprehensive list of recipes for all occassions. That's important especially if you spend a lot of money on the book.

Most of the recipes use ingredients easily found at the nearest grocery store. I just won't run all over town looking for recipe ingredients.

When I find a book with recipes and instructions that make me look like I much better cook than I really am, it's a pretty good book. I would definately recommend it, even at the $80.00 price tag, for anyone that really enjoys inviting friends into your home for a good meal.

I picked this book up at a used book shop some years ago and it now is probably my favorite cookbook in my collection. I just even like flipping through it. It has a lot of great recipes. Seafood Paella... yummm. Although it appears that you do need to modify some recipes. The baguette recipe not only stripped gears on a KitchenAid Artisan mixer due to being far too dense, but it also came out like a bland brick. So I will be looking at other cookbooks for bread recipes.
Overall I am very pleased. I would spend $20 on it, but highly doubt that it is worth the $80 as Amazon is listing right now for a new one.

A classic must have!
All classic recipes that will impress your guests and yourself.
Very accureate and foolproof instruction, never failed with this book.

This book was a big dissapointment for me! I love cordon bleu books, have most of the ones they have published, and use them very frequently. When this book came out, I immediately bought it, only to FIND OUT THEY COPIED THE EXACT SAME RECIPES FROM THE BOOKS IN THE HOME COLLECTION SERIES (the series broken up into subjects like chicken, seafood, italian, etc. with a total of 24 volumes). The book even has the same pictures!

So, if you are just buying books from cordon bleu, buy this book, it has wonderful recipes. But if you already own the books in the series they published in 1998 or 1999, then do not waste your time or your money.

Maybe cordon bleu and whoever is responsible for their publishings should be a bit more serious and quit recycling photos and recipes. If they are planning to publish a book, they should do much more than just copy, paste and change the font and the background!