On a pizza, in a casserole, sprinkled on top, or stuffed inside, melted cheese makes an ordinary meal into a decadent delight. It's a staple ingredient in plenty of our favorite comfort foods—from a gooey macaroni and cheese to a spicy quesadilla—but never before have so many hot and delicious cheese recipes been brought together in one place.
Clifford A. Wright's Hot & Cheesy offers more than 250 recipes covering fritters, pastries, casseroles, pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, breads, and almost anything else you could top, stuff, or sprinkle with cheese.
The book presents an exhaustive collection of cheesy comfort food recipes from around the worldAuthor Clifford A. Wright is the award-winning author of such cookbooks as Bake Until Bubbly, The Best Soups in the World, and A Mediterranean FeastLike all of Wright's books, this title also includes historical and cultural notes on each recipeFrom imported artisanals to the pride of Wisconsin, from gouda to gruyere, there's something in Hot & Cheesy for every cheese lover.
Clifford A. Wright is a cook, cookbook author, and independent culinary historian who won the James Beard Cookbook of the Year award and the Beard award for the Best Writing on Food for A Mediterranean Feast in 2000.
There are some really fun, cheesy, easy recipes in this cookbook. It also has great side bars on how to make the great fondue, how to bake a soufflé, and other helpful tidbits of information.
I love cheese. I grew up in Western New York where if something isn't deep fried it comes with cheese. Sometimes it is deep fried cheese. There are two reasons this cookbook did not receive an A rating from me. One, there were no pictures. No cookbook, no matter how good should be without pictures. Not hand-drawn hokey, homey ones either. We're talking full color photographs. Two, a lot of the recipes were for things WITH cheese and not OF cheese. If you look at the sections below you can see just how many of them mention "with cheese." Disappointing, that. Some of the tips about cheese in general that peppered the recipes were awesome and useful. I'll be making or trying over 50 of the recipes in this book and it is well worth it to get it if you like cheese.
Sections: Soups. Sauces & Dips Fritters with Cheese Savory Crepes & Pancakes with Cheese Pies, Tarts, and Quiches with Cheese Pizzas, Calzones, and Breads with Cheese Sandwiches with Cheese Quesadillas, Enchiladas, and Burritos with Cheese Eggs and Cheese Cheese and more cheese Pasta with Cheese Rice and Polenta with Cheese Vegetables with Cheese Meat and Seafood with Cheese Sweets with Cheese
The arrogant snobbery of the author was amusing (you simply must use this particular Alpine sheep's milk cheese or the recipe will be absolutely ruined, that kind of thing), so the book is worth a read for comedic value alone. Some of the recipes do have their own appeal though. Even my poor suburban market has the ingredients for a quattro formaggio. If anyone in your family is allergic to eggs, be warned that a high percentage of the recipes involve egg. I am sure the sauces are creamier with egg, but I prefer a husband who continues breathing. If I ever change my mind, I'll be sure to pick this book back up. ;)
Hmm...there are no pictures whatsoever in this cookbook. Can't figure out why except that the publishers may have wished to keep the production value down. I don't expect a picture for every recipe but a couple of pages of pictures could have been nice. As a result, I couldn't feign interest in the recipes at all. Too bad. This book had such great potential...
The title grabbed me as I walked by this book in the library. I love cheese, but I didn't find many of the recipes to be something I had to try. Maybe if there had been pictures, the recipes would have been more enticing.