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The Perfect Recipe
Pam Anderson roasted more than 40 turkeys, steamed and boiled more than three dozen lobsters, cleaned and cooked more than 100 pounds of greens, baked more than 50 cobblers — all so you can have the perfect recipe . . .
Which comes first when mashing potatoes — the butter or the milk? What grade and grind of meat make the best hamburgers? How do you roast a turkey so the breast meat is as moist and juicy as the legs? For the tenderest muffins, should you use buttermilk, yogurt or milk? At what temperature should you cook prime rib for the most succulent results? Is it possible to create a fudgy, cakey, chewy brownie all in one? Most of us don't have time to figure out the answers to questions like these. We need somebody to do the work for us and get our favorite recipes just right. In this book, Pam Anderson, the food editor of USA Weekend magazine, does just that. Painstakingly conducting test after test, Anderson arrives at not only the best recipe but frequently the most convenient and sensible one: • A simple formula for a stir-fry that can be varied with different combinations of meat, vegetables and sauces • French bread so easy it can be baked every day • Chicken pot pie for weeknights, made with convenient chicken breasts rather than a whole chicken • Macaroni and cheese as effortless as boxed, but three times as satisfying • Pizza dough that rises in just one hour or throughout the day • A cobbler that can be prepared with dozens of different fruits, making it 40 desserts in one.
THE PERFECT RECIPE includes more than 150 recipes in all, with dozens of step-by-step illustrations of techniques, comparisons of products and useful tips.
Which comes first when mashing potatoes — the butter or the milk? What grade and grind of meat make the best hamburgers? How do you roast a turkey so the breast meat is as moist and juicy as the legs? For the tenderest muffins, should you use buttermilk, yogurt or milk? At what temperature should you cook prime rib for the most succulent results? Is it possible to create a fudgy, cakey, chewy brownie all in one? Most of us don't have time to figure out the answers to questions like these. We need somebody to do the work for us and get our favorite recipes just right. In this book, Pam Anderson, the food editor of USA Weekend magazine, does just that. Painstakingly conducting test after test, Anderson arrives at not only the best recipe but frequently the most convenient and sensible one: • A simple formula for a stir-fry that can be varied with different combinations of meat, vegetables and sauces • French bread so easy it can be baked every day • Chicken pot pie for weeknights, made with convenient chicken breasts rather than a whole chicken • Macaroni and cheese as effortless as boxed, but three times as satisfying • Pizza dough that rises in just one hour or throughout the day • A cobbler that can be prepared with dozens of different fruits, making it 40 desserts in one.
THE PERFECT RECIPE includes more than 150 recipes in all, with dozens of step-by-step illustrations of techniques, comparisons of products and useful tips.
380 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 1998
4 people are currently reading
66 people want to read
About the author
Pam Anderson
27 books13 followersPAM ANDERSON is the author of the best-selling The Perfect Recipe, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, and the New York Times bestseller The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. She has been the food columnist for USA Weekend for the last eight years, is a contributing chef to Fine Cooking and Runners World, and writes a weekly blog for the Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Times.
For more about Pam, please visit www.threemanycooks.com."
For more about Pam, please visit www.threemanycooks.com."
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 2, 2008
My rating of this book would really between 2 and 3 stars. I was not really impressed with this cookbook and will not be keeping it. Yet the recipes were not bad and would be perfectly acceptable to many other cooks. It is not bad, but I have books that are better and there is nothing new in the book from my perspective.
Her technique for soup and stock is probably good if you otherwise would be using a canned stock or none, but I find that I get better tasting results by using the classic techniques of stock-making (although the author claims not to). The technique for roasting chicken works at high heat works well, but can be found elsewhere and I prefer Barbara Kafka's book on Roasting. The other recipes are good and work, but again nothing special.
The recipes do work however and yield acceptable, if not outstanding, results. I would recommend this book to someone who was learning to cook, or not particularly interested in spending time cooking but who wants good basic recipes.
Her technique for soup and stock is probably good if you otherwise would be using a canned stock or none, but I find that I get better tasting results by using the classic techniques of stock-making (although the author claims not to). The technique for roasting chicken works at high heat works well, but can be found elsewhere and I prefer Barbara Kafka's book on Roasting. The other recipes are good and work, but again nothing special.
The recipes do work however and yield acceptable, if not outstanding, results. I would recommend this book to someone who was learning to cook, or not particularly interested in spending time cooking but who wants good basic recipes.
December 17, 2008
i LOVE this cookbook. While it doesn't have a million recipes, it takes a few serious favorites, offers several ways to make each, and hones each down to the perfect recipe. My two absolute favorite recipes in this book are the lemon meringue pie (perfection!) and the strawberry shortcake biscuits. I turn to this book first and hope it has what I'm looking for. I love the commentary on each recipe on why you should use certain ingredients instead of others.
November 18, 2009
This cookbook is fashioned in the same style as America's Test Kitchen (and she happens to work for them, I believe). It takes the most common recipes and perfects them. AND EXPLAINS THEM!! Which is just great for a novice like me.
January 10, 2012
I appreciate the author's dedication to her craft and making a recipe; sometimes even forty times. This book had a lot of good recipes that anyone could make and be a good cook. I especially liked her section on stir-fry.
December 8, 2012
Very meticulously researched. I'm sure all the recipes will turn out remarkably well. Sadly, there are no photos to inspire you. Still, I will hang on to this so that I have the best basics when I need them.
July 30, 2013
Helpful- similar to her How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart.
June 23, 2007
like A.Brown without the puns
February 22, 2011
The chicken pot pie is excellent, as well as her stuffings.
April 9, 2015
I love this book. I bought it years ago and I still use it several times a month. Some of our family favorites come from this book.
February 20, 2010
My "search is over" perfect brownie recipe came from this book. I love Pam's intro to each recipe.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews