Customer Reviews

The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's unfortunate that when talking about Jeff Smith, there's always the issue of what did or didn't happen in his personal life, but for those of us who were fans of the show we will always remember him for what he was, one of the top voices in food television long before anyone ever even thought of the Food Network. He had intelligence, humor, and a warmth of personality that only a handful of people could ever communicate through cathode rays, and those same traits are to be found here in these pages.
The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American is hands down my favorite of his cookbooks, and one of my absolute favorite cookbooks ever. It's a wonderful lesson in American cuisine and full of wonderful recipes. I frequently find it sitting on my coffee table, and it gets read, even when I'm not looking to cook anything.

This is a great book, not only in the recipies (which are all wonderful), but in the stories BEHIND the recipies: where it all came from. I used this book quite a bit in the States, and now that I live in Germany I don't know what I would do without it. Our friends are always asking me for TRUE American dishes (not just the hamburgers everyone associates with the States.)

The Frugal Gourmet' Jeff Smith shows us some great American standards with interesting historic information to boot with this authentic American cook book! This is an excellent cook book for everyone. Jeff Smith has another winner here! It's full of great recipes and stories by a very talented cook and writer. This one focuses on American cooking. I have used many of these recipes and found them to be very good. Being a home grown cook myself and having a mother who is a fantastic cook, I found this book to be very helpful in expanding my culinary taste buds.

Jeff Smith entertained us for years on his PBS program 'The Frugal Gourmet'. Not only did he teach us many savory dishes, he also educated us. Not satisfied with just cooking delicious meals for his viewers, he would give detailed history lessons about the origins of the dish and made it all a lot of fun!

This may be Mr. Smiths best cook book and it is a worthy edition to everyone's cook book library. I own and have read many, if not all of his cook books, not only for the man's knowledge of cooking, but his incredible wit! This guy was funny and I would have loved to have hung out and throw a few beers down with him.

Unfortunately, this man had some very seriously bad press released about his personal life and well..... I am not one to spread rumors.....he seemed like a great guy and sadly he died before he was able to clear his name.

R.I.P. Frugs!

I've revisited two Jeff Smith cookbooks this week, the Cooking with Wine one and this one. I'd forgotten just how informative, charming and instructive they are.

Cooks American contains the best recipe for sourdough bread, starter and all, I've ever found. It was that dim memory that led me to dig the book out and dust it off. Leafing through its sauce stained pages has been like catching up with an old friend. There are many dishes in this book that deserve to be resurrected in my kitchen and so they will.

For information, clear instructions and encouragement there's nobody like The Frug. No matter what his personal demons, American kitchens and contemporary TV chef/entertainers owe him a huge debt.

First off, I'm a big fan of Smith, nevermind all the scandal. I watched his show religiously when I was a kid, and his were the first cookbooks I ever really read. He got me into cooking, for sure. This is one of his better books. Interesting lessons, great recipes, both unique and familiar. Some of my best versions of things, like chicken and dumplings, jambalya, barbeque, biscuits, and chili come directly from this book. Like all his recipes, they're straightforward, and always turn out well. I love his writing "voice", he always made me feel welcome in his world, and I view this book as a comfort, these days. It's like slipping into a favorite sweater. Even if you don't cook from it, it's worth reading just to read.

I really love all thoseHistory stories about GeorgeWashington, Thomas JeffersonThe Pilgrims Etc. that went along with the recipes.I hope that Jeff Smith will return to Television very,very soon.

What a great cookbook! Interesting to read with great recipes that are easy and delicious. Some are pretty weird, but they make great reading.

I've read this book so many times, just read it like a novel, that it is falling apart. I like it more for the history and stories than the recipes (I read more recipes by far than I cook). We've moved a lot around the US and every time I'm in a new area, I pull out this book to help me understand the culture. I love knowing that the Pennsylvania Dutch balanced their meals with equal "sweets" and "sours" and that Martha Washington cooked a ham every day. Tonight I tried pickled hard boiled eggs.

I bought this for my husband and he loves it. He is a history teacher, and has used some of the recipes in the book to help his class come alive - eg. the peanut soup that was George Washington's favorite.

This cookbook was superbly written and has been a gem in my kitchen for many, many years. I became hooked on Mr. Smith's PBS shows and enjoyed his style of cooking and his excellent repartee with the camera. His cooking skills and the history that he provided with each recipe in this book makes it a classic to have around your children. Since so many schools had taken away the home-ec class due to financial cut-backs, teach the young with this book. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, the history of our own roots is brought to amazing life, and the down home appeal of great food that is far far better than anything that can be purchased in a restaurant is outstanding.