Synopses & Reviews
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, executive editor of the highly successful magazine Cook's Illustrated, 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 chicken breast rather than 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. More than 150 recipes in all, with dozens of step-by-step illustrations of techniques, comparisons of products and useful tips.
Review
"Pam Anderson is not only a wonderful cook, but a genial kitchen companion. She delivers more than 150 surefire recipes that taste great every time you make them-which will be often. Owning The Perfect Recipe is the next best thing to having your own private cooking teacher." -- John Willoughby, coauthor of License to Grill and Thrill of the Grill
"The Perfect Recipe is Pam Anderson at her best: curious about the whys and hows of cooking and passionate about comparing techniques and ingredients. This is no-nonsense American cooking presented with warmth, humor and Pam's generous at-your-elbow, down-home style." -- Christopher Kimball, editor and publisher of Cook's Illustrated and author of The Cook's Bible
"Pam Anderson's new book has quite a title and makes quite a claim. In short, it promises perfection. She lives up to every word. The really fun part of this book, however, is that Anderson tells you exactly how and why she came to the conclusions that she did.
Take simple macaroni and cheese, for instance. Anderson's three pages of explanation before her recipe for "The Best Macaroni and Cheese," relate her search for the best recipe for this classic. She found one in John Thorne's "Simple Cooking," and then put it through its paces by taste-testing it in comparison to both a béchamel-based and a custard-based version. Once Anderson determined it was indeed the best-tasting recipe, she studied it: "I wondered if the dish really required evaporated milk. Was this an idiosyncrasy of the late thirties when the recipe was first published? Wouldn't regular milk or half-and-half work equally well?" She determined that indeed, the versions made with evaporated milk were the smoothest. Then, she went on to experiment with different varieties of cheese. Anderson is executive editor of the very successful "Cook's Illustrated" magazine and this book follows a similar format: clean, simple and text-based. The illustrations -- by Judy Love -- are not slick, four-color glossy variety, but simple and useful in showing exactly which way to pinch the dough when making French bread. The book includes all the old standby recipes -- mashed potatoes, cobblers and apple pie -- plus the basics such as soup and stocks. There are also entertaining basics: cooking that holiday turkey just right. It's not as easy as the "turkey folks" would like you to believe. Yes, the brining of the bird really does work. Her method of cooking prime rib turns out perfectly (as promised) every time. Every recipe has been tested and retested hundreds of times with every possible variable tried until she came up with her idea of the perfect recipe. While that's the strength of this book, it also makes for my only quibble. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder; sometimes a recipe that meets Anderson's standard of perfection produces something unfamiliar. For instance, I think Anderson's recipe for muffins are one of the best I've ever had. But, as pointed out by one of the ucook.com staff members, they are sweet and cake-like in texture. While a very good product, they probably do not actually fit the criteria of the "traditional muffin," or at least that taster's criteria for a muffin. That aside, I think it is a great book, and I am not alone.
The book won the Julia Child Cookbook Award in 1999. This is the kind of book that makes a "perfect gift" whether the person on your list is just learning to cook or is just like Anderson herself, an accomplished cook looking to make every recipe perfect." -- Annie Russell ucook.com
Review
"Delightfully witty . . . Every recipe I've tried has become one of my favorites." - Phyllis Richman The Washington Post
"Surely the funniest book ever written about food - anyone who has been blue lately, or has spent more than five minutes in the kitchen, should buy it." - Corby Kummer
Atlantic Monthly
Review
"This book emerges as a truly personal collection of tried-and-true formulas for classics... There is...something very enticing about trying these recipes... So if you've been looking for that perfect pot roast or carrot cake but haven't quite found it, or you need a dish you can count on to serve to a crowd, give Hodgman's recipes a whirl." -
Publishers Weekly and#160; "The book I have probably recommended more than any other...more than a cookbook, it is a humor book and a self-help book and a security blanket and a kind of a bible."
-Elizabeth Berg on NPR
"Beat This! is the funniest, most engaging book about food I've ever come accross."and#160;
-Vanity Fair
"Anyone who has been blue lately, or has spent more than five minutes in the kitchen, shoudl buy this."
-Corby Kummer, The Atlantic
Review
"I like Hodgman's amiably resilient approach to feeding the young, and her prose is equally engaging. She really faces facts -- facts like Vegetables vs. Kids, Parents vs. Fast Food vs. Kids -- and she does it with good kid-oriented dishes that still have some grown-up flair. (Roz Chast's hilarious pictures are precisely right too.) Myself, I'd like to eat my way through the book, and I think any kids who don't go for at least three-quarters of Ann Hodgman's dishes should be sold as slaves." -- Peg Bracken, author of THE COMPLETE I HATE TO COOK BOOK
"I've always believed that useful information has no place in comedy, but Ann Hodgman has written a very funny book that would have made my childhood much nicer." -- Conan O'Brien
Tired of arguing over every last nibble? Comfortable with loading your cupboards with cream of mushroom soup and boxed muffin mix? This hilarious book could be the answer you've been looking for. Filled with tasty comfort food that's sure to delight folks of all ages, One Bite Won't Kill You reminds parents of the sure-fire tool for dealing with those advanced picky eaters: a sense of humor. Author Ann Hodgman, a former food editor from Spy magazine, is also the mother of two finicky eaters. Most of the recipes are fairly simple, and often rely on canned sauces and soups for key ingredients. Each recipe begins with a short tale of how the recipe came about, and the pages are filled with hilarious moments in the lives of picky eaters of all ages. The recipes have names like Taco Thing and Mud Puddle Cake and many are easy enough for older kids to tackle themselves. While this friendly, funny book is smart enough to make no promises about ending fussy eating permanently, it does a great job providing kid-tested edibles and adult-endorsed reminders that meals don't need to become battlegrounds. --Jill Lightner
Amazon.com
"Ann Hodgman is that rarest of creatures: a humorist and a cookbook author whose recipes really work." Newsday
Review
"Delicious recipes . . . spiffed up and presented in an easy format and with witty comments." The San Francisco Chronicle
"[Hodgmans] brash attitude and obvious skill are a winning combination." The Miami Herald
"Ann Hodgman is that rarest of creatures: a humorist and a cookbook author whose recipes really work." Newsday
Synopsis
Here is a challenge few cooks can resist: put these recipes up against the best of your own. In this book, Spy magazine's original food columnist throws down the gauntet with a solid collection of can't-fail recipes that most readers will find irresistible - and unbeatable. Whether it's for cheesecake, crab cakes, chicken salad, blueberry pie, beef stew, or fudge, the author takes all-time North American favorite dishes and pulls out all the stops.
Synopsis
Do you think you have the absolute best recipe for apple pie? Maybe your neighbor claims to make the best meatloaf around. Did your Italian grandmother serve the best spaghetti sauce this side of the Atlantic? Well, unless you or that neighbor or your grandmother is Ann Hodgman, youand#8217;re wrong!
The book that the editor in chief of Vanity Fair called and#8220;the funniest, most engaging book about food Iand#8217;ve ever come acrossand#8221; has now been revised and updated: more than half the recipes are completely new, and many of the originals have been and#8220;oomphed upand#8221; to make them even more shamelessly delicious.
Beat This! Cookbook contains more than a hundred all-time favorites, from Burnt Sugar Ice Cream and White Chocolate Raspberry Pie to Chili-Cheese Casserole and Onion Rings. Each one is guaranteed to make people take a bite, stagger with joy, and beg you for the recipe.
Synopsis
Do people take one bite of your food, moan with delight and beg you for the recipe? Do they exclaim, "Out of this world!" and "Beyond perfect!" when they taste your cooking? When you cook from BEAT THIS!, they will. In a book that has become a classic for its unique combination of irresistible recipes and hilarious prose, Ann Hodgman throws down the gauntlet, with more than 100 recipes that she guarantees to be better than anyone else's. Recipes include: Apple Crisp, Baking Powder Biscuits, Beef Stew, Blueberry Muffins, Caramels, Chicken Salad, Clam Chowder, Deviled Eggs, Fudge, Fried Mushrooms, Gingersnaps, Guacamole, Lemon Squares, Lime Sorbet, Molasses Cookies, Onion Soup, Pesto Torta, Plum Pudding, Potato Salad, Shrimp Salad, Spaghetti Sauce, Sugar Cookies, Tomato Soup, Vinaigrette, White-Chocolate Raspberry Pie, and Whole-Wheat Bread.
Synopsis
In BEAT THIS!, Hodgman taunted readers: "Are your recipes better than mine? I can't believe it. But if you think your potato salad will make me lie down and dry with shame, send in the recipe." Now Hodgeman presents the winners - including a potato salad that did beat hers. Chockablock with Hodgman's witticisms and pronouncements, this book will have readers laughing aloud as they turn out unbeatable dishes.
Synopsis
Praise for
Beat This! and Ann Hodgman
"Beat This! is the funniest, most engaging book about food Ive ever come across." —Graydon Carter, editor in chief, Vanity Fair "Anyone who has been blue lately, or has spent more than five minutes in the kitchen, should buy this." —Corby Kummer, Atlantic Monthly "Delightfully witty . . . Every recipe Ive tried has become one of my favorites." —Washington Post "[Ann Hodgmans] brash attitude and obvious skill are a winning combination." —Miami Herald
"Ann Hodgman is that rarest of creatures: a humorist and a cookbook author whose recipes really work." —Newsday Ann Hodgman is the author of Beat That! Cookbook and One Bite Wont Kill You. She has written more than forty childrens books. She has also contributed articles to The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Smithsonian, and many womens and parenting magazines.
Synopsis
The toughest challenge many cooks face each day is feeding their own children. By her own admission, the writer and humorist Ann Hodgman's kids are the worst eaters in the world, and if she finds something one likes, the other inevitably hates it. Now, for all similarly beleaguered parents, Hodgman brings together more than two hundred recipes that everyone in the family can agree on, like Nonthreatening Cheese Fondue, Taco Bake, and Roast Pork Loin with Apple Crust, many of them gathered from fellow parents. ONE BITE WON'T KILL YOU also includes: menus for holiday meals, recipes for birthday parties, suggestions for in-flight and car-trip snacks, sections on feeding toddlers, preschoolers, elementary school kids, and adolescents. With hundreds of tips and anecdotes from other parents, ONE BITE WON'T KILL YOU makes the task of feeding kids not only a little easier, but also a whole lot more fun.
About the Author
Ann Hodgman is the author of over forty childrens’ books, several humor books—most recently the self-help/humor book I saw Mommy Kicking Santa Claus--and four cookbooks: Beat This!, Beat That!, One Bite Won’t Kill You, and, in 2011, a second edition of Beat This! She has written articles for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, the Atlantic Monthly, Food & Wine, Smithsonian, and just about all the women's and parenting magazines. She lives in Washington, Connecticut.
Table of Contents
Dishes by Category
Drinks
Coquito (Coconut Eggnog)_128
Hors dandrsquo;Oeuvres
andldquo;Nothing to Be Ashamed ofandrdquo; Artichoke Dip_26
Caramelized Bacon_28
Party Cheese Crackers_67
Cheese Straws_69
Deep-Fried Dill Pickles_122
Bacony Deviled Eggs_124
Ferrelandrsquo;s Dip_129
Many-Splendored Guacamole_145
Pesto Torta_177
Pimento Cheese_179
Soups
Jim Paisleyandrsquo;s Current Black Bean Soup_36
Roasted Carrot and Ginger Soup_61
Manhattan Clam Chowder_98
New England Clam Chowder_99
Papa Bearandrsquo;s Own Lentil Soup_153
Not-at-All-Classic Onion Soup_168
Real Cream of Tomato Soup_228
Salads and Dressings
Artichoke and Mushroom Salad_25
Blue Cheese Dressing_37
Chicken Salad for Company_76
Lobster Salad_156
Modern Potato Salad_188
Davidandrsquo;s Salad Dressing_198
Parmesan-Peppercorn Dressing Just Like in Restaurants_199
Shrimp Salad_205
Vaguely Thai-Like Beef Salad_222
Main Dishes
Beef Stew_34
Carolandrsquo;s Perfect Poached Chicken-Salad Chicken_77
Perfect Roast Chicken_78
Chile-Cheese Casserole_79
The Chiliest Chili_81
Crab Cakes_111
Philly Cheesesteak Egg Rolls_126
Chicken Elizabethandrsquo;s Fried Chicken_132
A Completely Diff erent Fried Chicken_134
Donandrsquo;s Gyoza_146
Easy Kid-Please-y Lasagna_149
My Macaroni and Cheese_157
Mom-Style Meat Loaf_160
Company Meat Loaf_161
Pasta with Mushrooms_170
Pork Loin with Prunes and Madeira_184
Powerfully Better Than Any Other Pot Roast_186
Pulled Pork_192
Peppered Mapled Salmon_200
Slow-Cooked Salmon with Pistachio Butter_202
Soft-Shelled Crabs_206
Basic Spaghetti Sauce_207
Thai-Like Vegetable Stew_224
Magnifi cent Ultra-Turkey_230
Sauces and Accompaniments
Apricot Conserve_24
Cranberry Jelly_113
Neenandrsquo;s Peanut Sauce_174
Side Dishes
Savory Bread Pudding_44
The Brussels Sprouts_50
The Other Brussels Sprouts_51
Carrots with Ginger and Cumin_63
Lime and Peanut Coleslaw_108
Pan-Fried Corn_109
Creamed Onions for Our Time_115
Thanksgiving Green Beans_143
Mashed Potatoes_159
Onion Rings_166
Great Tates_196
Spinach Casserole_209
Marthaandrsquo;s Squash Casserole_211
A Really Great Stuffi ng with Sausage in It_218
Wild Rice Stuffi ng_220
Show-off Staples
Base_33
Slow-Cooker Caramelized Onions_59
Easy Preserved Lemons_191
Great andrsquo;Mates_229
Breads and Breakfasts
Best Banana Bread_30
Baking Powder Biscuits_35
Sugar Hill Blueberry Muffi ns_38
Worldandrsquo;s Best Bread_42
Cinnamon Rolls_96
Kuchen (Coff ee Cake)_102
Connecticut Gooey Butter Coff ee Cake_105
Jalapeno Corn Bread_110
Croissants_117
English French Toast_130
Desserts
Priceless Almond Triangles_18
The Best Regular (or I Guess I Should Say Classic) Apple Pie_20
Not-Controversial-at-All Apple Crisp, It Turns Out_23
Not andldquo;Not Yoandrsquo; Mamaandrsquo;s Banana Puddingandrdquo;_31
Blueberry Pie_40
Brownies_46
Layered Brownies_48
Burnt Sugar Ice Cream_52
Buttercrunch_54
Porterandrsquo;s Butterscotch Sauce_56
Pure, Rich, Great Caramels_57
Carrot Cake_64
Mom-Style Cheesecake_71
New New Yorkandndash;Style Cheesecake_74
Flourless Chocolate Cake_83
Mom-Style Chocolate Cake_85
Momandrsquo;s Chocolate Frosting_87
Chocolate Cookies_88
The Only Chocolate Chip Cookies_90
The Only Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies_92
Grandma Weldandrsquo;s Cookies_93
Chocolate Ice Cream_94
Helen Kenyonandrsquo;s Chocolate Sauce_95
Coff ee Ice Cream_100
Perfect Fudge _135
Perfect Vanilla Fudge_136
Hot Fudge Sauce_137
Lauraandrsquo;s Better Gingerbread_139
Grape Pie_140
Grape Ice Cream_142
Red Zhello for Grown-Ups_148
Corrected Lemon Squares_151
Lime Sorbet Supreme_154
Mexican Wedding Cakes, Pecan Puff s, Russian Teacakes_163
Even Better Molasses Cookies_164
Peach Pie_172
Pecan Pie_175
Majestic Imperial Regal Yuletide Plum Pudding_180
Mozartandrsquo;s Rum Sauce_183
Anita Bryantandrsquo;s Pound Cake_189
Rice Pudding_195
Browned-Flour Shortbread_203
Strawberry Gelato_212
Strawberry Pie_214
Strawberry Shortcake_216
Sugar Cookies_221
Perfected Jam Thumbprints_226
Vanilla Ice Cream_232
White Chocolateandndash;Raspberry Tart_234