The Gourmet Cookbook: More than 1000 recipes [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

John Willoughby (Adapter), Zanne Early Stewart (Adapter), Ruth Reichl (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 22, 2006

For the past six decades, Gourmet magazine has shaped the tastes of America, publishing the best work of the foremost names in the world of food. To create this landmark cookbook, editor in chief and celebrated authority Ruth Reichl and her staff sifted through more than 50,000 recipes. Many were developed exclusively in Gourmet's test kitchens. Others came from renowned food writers and chefs and from the magazine's far-flung readers. Then the editors embarked on an extraordinary series of cook-offs, testing and retesting each dish to ensure impeccable results.

This collection, the only one of its kind, spans a vast range of cultures and cuisines. With it, you can go back to the time when Beef Wellington ruled the table or prepare something as contemporary as Crispy Artichoke "Flowers" with Salsa Verde. And whether you're cooking a simple supper for two or throwing a cocktail party for fifty, you'll make every dish with more flavor and more flair using The Gourmet Cookbook. It includes

* 102 hors d'oeuvres, dips, chips, pâtés, and first courses

* exciting vegetable dishes -- more than 120 in all -- using everything from artichokes to yuca

* versatile recipes for every available kind of seafood, with many suggested substitutes

* hundreds of simple but exceptional dinners

* festive dishes for every occasion, including a perfect roast turkey with stuffings, the ultimate standing rib roast, and even a gorgeous (but easy) wedding cake

* definitive versions of all the classics, from Chicken Kiev to Crème Brûlée and from Bouillabaisse to Pad Thai

* more than 50 pastas and risottos, from quick everyday meals to party dishes

* scores of soups, salads, breakfast dishes, and sandwiches, including the editors' all-time favorite pizza

* a wealth of sauces and salsas, to transform ordinary meals into spectacular ones

* more than 300 desserts: cookies, pies, tarts, pastries, buckles, crumbles, ice creams, puddings, mousses, and cakes galore, including cheesecakes and the nine best chocolate cake recipes Gourmet has ever published


With engaging introductions to each chapter by Ruth Reichl, entertaining headnotes, indispensable information about ingredients and techniques, hundreds of tips from Gourmet's test kitchens, and an extensive glossary, The Gourmet Cookbook is the essential kitchen companion for anyone who wants unforgettable recipes and spectacular results every time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Gourmet magazine opened shop in 1941, it addressed a small epicurean audience. In those days, fine dining was French, seafood specialties always seemed to include cream and sherry, and game made the meal--or so the magazine preached. The bill of fare has changed since then, and fine dining now includes dishes from the world's four corners, commanded by a broad, food-aware audience. Over the years, Gourmet has chronicled all this, changing to reflect a wider, more democratized food scene that has also, paradoxically, raised the bar on what's expected of the average, too-busy cook. The Gourmet Cookbook is the most comprehensive of the magazine's recipe anthologies--a mega-tome offering more than 1,000 formulas drawn from Gourmet since its birth.

The statistics are indeed impressive: more than 100 hors d'oeuvre recipes; an equal number of vegetable dishes; 200 desserts--21 chapters in all, touching all courses and including stops at breakfast and brunch specialties; breads and crackers; plus sauces, salsas, and preserves. Included are recipes from Gourmet contributors like James Beard and Jean-Georges Vongericten, and hundreds of sidebars like "Salad Greens Primer" and "Blind Baking," all useful and informative. There are classic dishes like onion soup gratiné, gefilte fish, corn fritters, and peanut butter cookies; "new classics" such as fried calamari and spaghetti alla carbonara; and the "modern," including oatmeal brûlée with macerated berries and grilled lobster with orange chipotle vinaigrette--"every recipe you'd ever want," says the text, something of an understatement.

Cooks should know, however, that this is not a basic cookbook, despite its Noah's ark of formulas. Rather, it's a Gourmet cookbook, which means that, notwithstanding some rudimentary recipes, the focus is on the stylishly up-to-date (which is not to deny the excellence of the formulas), resulting, often, in refinements. Thus its recipe for mac and cheese calls for dijon mustard and panko; its beef stroganoff requires cremini mushrooms; its grilled chicken calls for brining; and so on. Recipes can also run to over 450 words, and require unusual ingredients. (A list of sources is provided.) Of all its chapters, those for sweets are the most immediately attractive.

For all the praise, though, there's one major goof. The recipe titles are printed in a light butter-yellow color, making them almost illegible. For many readers, this will be a deal-breaker; others will find it merely annoying. Should you own the book? For dedicated cooks and foodies the answer will be, How can I not? --Arthur Boehm --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The monthly magazine Gourmet played no small part in the birth of America's gastronomic renaissance of the late twentieth century. Through pictures and intelligent articles by noted food and travel writers, Gourmet made its readership aware of refined food traditions that made everyday American fare seem narrow. Editor Reichl and staff have painstakingly compacted Gourmet's vast reserve of recipes into an anthology of just 1,000 recipes sure to inspire cooks to get to work in their kitchens. The book's coverage of world cuisine is breathtaking, but it has a few omissions, most notably the cooking of sub-Saharan Africa and South America. An exhaustive index serves admirably to guide the reader through the recipes' complexities, analytically referencing recipes by major or unique ingredients. (One of its rare missteps is its conflation of Georgia the nation and Georgia the state.) Both recipes and their instructions are clearly laid out and easy to follow for the knowledgeable cook. A few line drawings illustrate special techniques, but recipes such as that for individual b'stillas could use illustration to give the cook an image of the finished product. The only serious triumph of aesthetics over practicality, the low-contrast pale yellow type of recipe titles burdens anyone with even minor vision impairment. A glossary and a directory of specialty food and equipment distributors round out the volume. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1040 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin; 1 edition (September 22, 2006)
• ISBN-10: 061880692X
• ASIN: B001F7ATTE
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8.4 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,233,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive "Everything" Cookbook May 27, 2011

By HipChickDigs

Format:Hardcover

It's hard to compete with online recipe websites that allow you to search and browse 24/7. That said, I have stilled pulled out this cookbook often over the last couple years of owning it. I use it more as a reference for basic recipes that I know are going to be solid. In comparison, I use online recipe sites when I have a few ingredients and need to round out a meal or when I'm browsing for new ideas.

When I cook for a holiday gathering, this book is the book I use because I know the recipes have been tried-and-true. Exhibit A: Bourbon Cheesecake. It was a huge hit at Thanksgiving and I think I am now required by my family to make it every year.

When I want a good, classic recipe, this is the cookbook I use as well. Exhibit B: Hepburn Brownies. I have probably made those about ten times now and it is the best brownie recipe I have ever made.

The recipes are not old-boring-classic, but rather tested-over-time-classic. Gourmet lives up to its high standard of using excellent ingredients in innovative ways and not cutting corners. Sure, you could find a recipe for bourbon cheesecake or brownies online. But a Gourmet recipe from this book calls for ingredients, preparation and care that shows in that finished bite. A recipe making it into this book trumps any number of online recipe reviews. Excellent addition to the epicurean bookshelf.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book January 24, 2009

By Lorna E. Schipp

Format:Hardcover

Good price and the Chef I gave it to was very pleased!
Fast delivery, too!