Customer Reviews

Hotter Than Hell

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1 star:		(2)

 

 

I purchased my "Hotter than Hell" cookbook in 1987 and have since that time, purchased several others for friends who have tasted the recipes I prepared from the book. I have had requests that I prepare "Double Cilantro Roast Pork" when I have invited someone for dinner after having served it to them previously. The ingredients for recipes in the book are: onions, potatoes, garlic, olive oil, different vegetables, cheese, etc. The different peppers, herbs and meat are the only things that someone might have to make a trip to the grocery for. I can't imagine what the "reader from Texas" uses to cook with if she feels the ingredients are "exotic." For anyone who enjoys cooking and trying new recipes, I recommend this cookbook. I am purchasing three(3) today for gifts by request.

A terrific cookbook that I have used since 1987. Wonderful dishes. One of the best queso recipes I have ever run across. I have no idea why "A reader" wrote what he or she did since my experience has been the opposite. Jane Butel's directions are clear and very easy to follow and the tastes are authentic. The mole poblano (listed as Turkey Mole) instantly took me back to Old Mexico where I fell in love with the sauce. I have never written a review before and have not felt compelled to do so until now. Jane, if you read this, thanks for all the great dishes!

I love hot food! Marry the intensity of heat with flavor and you have a winning meal at my table. What I enjoy about this book is the diversity of dishes from appetizers through entree's and desserts to drinks that give you a wide vareity of hot and spicy choices. The author, Jane Butel, entices the reader with "I gotta make this titles" like Bitchy Beef Bourguignonne, Dante's Downfall, Tracy's White Trash and Hot to Trot Tarts. All recipes are very readable and easy to make. If you are a seasoned HEAT eater or seeking adventurous cooking, then grab Hotter Than Hell and spice up your culinary life.

Fans of hot, spicy food need look no further for flames than Jane Butel's new edition of Hotter Than Hell: Hot & Spicy Dishes From Around The World. Now in a new and expanded edition, Hotter Than Hell: Hot & Spicy Dishes From Around The World is an exciting cookbook packed cover-to-cover with tasty and extra-hot cuisine applying spicy ingredients from the Southwest to the Far East. Step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs clearly lay out tongue-on-fire recipes such as Picante Pesto-Topped Oysters on the Half-Shell, Double Mustard-Coated Baked Chicken, Hot Green Beans Vinaigrette, Poppy Seed Torte, and so much more. While heat is the unifying factor, dishes come with quite a bit of added flavor, color photos, and excellent introductory descriptions. A brief guide to (spicy) ingredients and an easy-to-use index complete this zesty cookbook especially recommended for those who like fire in their flavor!

We have had this book in our collection of cookbooks for about ten years now. We use it quite often and have prepared a number of recipes from it, all quite successfully. The primary reason we value the book though is for the chapter which covers condiments and sauces...especially the sauces! This chapter includes such delights as:

Hot Salt
Hot Oil
Hot Pepper Butter
Hot Tempura Sauce
Very Hot Shrimp Cocktail Sauce
Margarita Jalapeno Salsa
Ranchero Sauce
Green Sauce
Beer Garden Spread
Jalapeno Hollandaise
Chile Mayonnaise
Jalapeno Jelly
Pickled Jalapenos
Piccalilli Relish (New Mexico Style)

Among our favorite dishes found in this book are Jugged Hare (Hasenpfeffer), or a variation on the traditional dish. I cannot say it is as good as my mother's preparation, but it is tasty. The Sassy Stroganoff, Mediterranean Roast Pork and Pollo (Mexican Almond Chicken in Green Sauce) are some of our favorites. Note that this book contains more than Hispanic dishes...India, Oriental, African, etc. are all given a nod.

Now potential buyers and readers take note here. This IS NOT a recipe book for beginners! My wife and I have been cooking together for about 47 years now and do have a bit of formal training; picked up here and there. (We are by no means expert chefs, but then again, we did not just fall of the back of a turnip wagon either). Everyone has to start somewhere and this book is probably not the best book to begin a cooking career with. Many of the recipes here are a bit complicated. Many require a tremendous amount of prep work; prep work done right, to make the dish come out the way it is suppose to. There are some ingredients required that may be difficult for some to find. A good example of this is fresh rabbit! Even some of the onions needed (In most cases nice, fresh, hot-flavored yellow onions. are sometimes difficult to come by if you do not raise your own. The beloved sweet, flatter and softer Bermuda type of onion simply will not work. Another example would be the Scallop dishes offered here. There is a big, big difference in fresh Scallops and frozen ones; they taste different and they cook different!

Also, the author has assumed, at times, that the potential cook knows their way around the kitchen and can be rather vague. This can cause problems, even for experienced cooks.

Now this is not to say that everyone cannot glean something from this book. For hot foods; hot foods that are NOT "quick meal" type stuff, this is one of the better books in our arsenal.

Just be aware of what you are getting before you buy this wonderful work.

Tip: Try the Bagel Sandwiches with the horseradish sauce...good grief! (But don't forget to grate your own fresh horseradish...it will not taste the same if you use the processed stuff...we tried once...we failed.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

This book contains an intriguing gumbo recipe, Jane's Great Grandmother's Gumbo. Here is her comment about that recipe:

My Swedish grandmother's mother got this recipe from one of her helpers whose home was in Louisiana. The original recipe was a real kick -- it called for a 10-cent soup bone, a sack full of freshly picked okra and so on -- but I tested and retested it with modern measurements, finally achieving the true flavor of Grandma's gumbo.

I've tried 3 recipes from this book. Of the three, one worked, but wasn't spectacular. The other two were time consuming messes that were largely inedible, and not because they were too spicy. The recipes are very short, as if they assume you are watching the recipe being made in a class. Thus, doneness language, visual cues, and other important information is missing. If you're not a confident cook, this one will certainly dent your ego...

Do NOT do like I did and buy this book strictly by what the synopsis says about it! I love hot and spicy food, and I thought this would make a great addition to my cookbook collection. Unfortunately, almost all of the recipes are unusual and difficult, and certainly not even close to being what "common" cooks would like. I guess if you were having a fancy-schamcy "hot and spicy" dinner party, and had a chef to prepare the recipes, the book would be okay. Otherwise, don't waste your money on it!