Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods (Penguin Viking Plume General Books) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: dill pickle slices, thin patty, top bun, United States, Burger King, Dairy Queen (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Todd Wilbur has baked, boiled, digested, fried, and tested--all in the name of duplicating some of America's favorite convenience foods. He now shares 41 of these naughty but nice gastronomical delights in Top Secret Recipes. If you've ever craved a McDonald's Big Mac at 3:00 A.M. on a Sunday morning, then Wilbur has just the recipe for satisfying your junk-food desires. Even better, no cordon-bleu expertise is needed for this particular clone--just simple frying and chopping skills! Simplicity is the key to all of Wilbur's replicated recipes--all are composed of rudimentary ingredients available at any store, needing only minimal preparation. These recipes are fun and fast--two dozen Snickers Bars in less than 10 minutes (plus cooling time), a delicious Orange Julius in less than 60 seconds (that's considerably quicker than waiting in line for the real thing)! These culinary creations are organized in alphabetical order by manufacturer or restaurant, and illustrated with simple pencil drawings. Top Secret Recipes is a chatty and informative guide to recreating the burgers, candy bars, and cookies of your strip-mall dreams. --Naomi Gesinger

From Library Journal

Sort of the junk-food version of Helen Witty and Elizabeth S. Colchie's Better Than Store-Bought ( LJ 5/15/79), this offers recipes for Hostess Twinkies, Cracker Jacks, Wendy's Chili, McDonald's Big Mac, and other such favorites. These are not, however, top-secret formulas cadged from the companies but Wilbur's own recipes, some more successful than others, along with architectural cross sections of such constructions as Egg McMuffins. A novelty item, but some cooks are sure to find it fun. Literary Guild selection.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Plume (June 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452269954
• ISBN-13: 978-0452269958
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #122,502 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Top Secret Recipes Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cooking fun for the whole family, July 26, 2000

By	J. Austin "jodylync" (Dublin, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love cookbooks so when this came out on the market, I thought "Sure, I'll bite," but I didn't except any of the recipes to taste like the real thing. That was before I made the Chick-Fil-a and the Wendy's Frosty. These 2 recipes were really great and became favorites in my household. The next couple of recipes I tried, LJS Battered Fish and KFC Original weren't as dead on as the other two were, but they were tasty dishes nonetheless. I haven't tried every recipe in the book so I can't say what the ratio is to real versus Top Secret, but I did enjoy this book enough to buy the rest of the set.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not always the "Kitchen Clone" but worth the purchase price., February 21, 2000

By	Dave (Fort Thomas, Kentucky) - See all my reviews

I collect cookbooks. I have everything from THE JOY OF COOKING, THE I HATE TO COOK BOOK and everything in between. This is a gem! The recipes in this book don't always taste like the product they are modeled on, but they come very close.

The KFC cole slaw recipe is great. But here's a hint. Mix up a double batch of the dressing and put it in a squeeze bottle. Then run how much every cabbage and carrots you want for the slaw needed and add the how much of the dressing you like.

It is a great book, and while I haven't (and won't) tried them all -lets face it, if I want a Big Mac, I'll go to McDonalds- I have ordered the other books in he series.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Top Secret Recipes" are my favorite cookbooks!, October 28, 2001

By	Jo Ann Jones (Andalusia, Alabama) - See all my reviews

I have all of the Top secret cookbooks.These are the recipes I would highly recommend: Tony Roma's ribs,(on this one it is more the technique than the recipe, I took the time to cook the Barbeque sauce but it wasn't worth the effort, so bottled is fine) Red Lobster Broiled lobster( My husband can cook it better than the restaurant!!), Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Shoney's Low-Fat Chicken Fried Steak with white gravy, (this one is a family favorite!).The Olive Garden salad and Fettucine Alfredo are also great. I love to try new recipes and collect cookbooks, these are some of my favorite books.