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The New Basics Cookbook: member book reviews

(3 reviews)

I received this as a gift and have not made nearly enough out of it yet. Seeing all of the recipe reviews on this book I can not wait to try them!! I will have to revise this review when I made more things.

(edited 3rd May 2010) report

I first discovered this cookbook in college when one of my housemates suggested we take the week-end and jointly make Sheila's cassoulet (p. 533). It was an ambitious and expensive undertaking for neophyte cooks and financially-challenged grad students, but we had a blast -- and an amazing meal on Sunday night ... and Monday and Tuesday nights. And I learned just what a pleasure it can be to cook with others -- and then share the results.

After I married, this was the first -- and for a long time only -- cookbook I used when we had guests. I took it along on road trips just to read -- many many useful charts and buying guides for ingredients. After two decades, this remains one of my go-to cookbooks with recipes that really hold up...although I had not realized until this holiday season how long it had been since I'd made something from it.

The New Basics section at the rear of the book (p. 766-800) is really helpful. And the book is still a pleasure to read. Wonderful bibliography that will send you off in new directions if you are in the mood for some culinary adventures.

Two additional features make this cookbook a delight - the pen and ink illustrations (by the multi-talented Ms. Lukins) and the many food-related quotes that pepper the pages.

I do have one unfinished goal when it comes to this book. I have yet to make what is probably the most famous recipe in the book, the Chicken Marbella. But I plan to do so soon and when I do I will lift a glass to the late, great Sheila Lukins.

(edited 1st January 2010) report

My very first cookbook as a "grownup". A classic, and helped give me the love of cooking (and cookbooks) I have today.

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