Brilliant Food Tips and Cooking Tricks Paperback – 7 July 2004

A brilliant compendium of terms, tips, advice, shortcuts, recipes, etc etc that are as valid and true today as ever. It’s a US book but it’s still 99% UK relevant. Fantastic.

The Kindle edition is just a low-quality unreadable scan. Don‘t buy it!!

my girlfriend had this book on her bookshelf, new, untouched. if it had a wrapper, it would have still had it. I started to browse it while I waited to go out for dinner and I found several recipes that called my attention and were well explained. the author uses simple measurements like 1/2 cup of this or 1 cup of that, not like others that say everything in grams or used seasonings impossible to find. I also noticed the recipes looked doable for a guy like me that loves to eat well but hadn't had much practice preparing the meals. Anyway, I decided to try a few things at a time and the results were good and got better as I familiarized myself with the process. in just a few months, of mostly a weekend day, I've prepared some delicious stuff that I love to eat but thought it would be impossible for me to make it. Ah, I also like the tips, tricks and stories shared. the overnight cheesecake came out great, the double crusted apple pie... oh my mouth waters just thinking about it and relatively simple to make. I've prepared several soups including the tomato cream, the butter squash, yes,the butter squash cream, delicious! ah, my personal favorite, the french onion soup. With a little effort and wine to go with it, you'll be cooking in no time. I've already bought a new book for my college bound daughter. Von apetite. Luis

The Kindle edition is just a low quality unreadable scan. Don‘t buy

The Publisher's Weekly review very well describes this book. I have to say, it's fun to use. It's very easy to read, comprehensive, and filled with little flourishes that delight and educate. Here's a random example: For "Pie Crusts" we have sections on how:-To make a nicely browned pie crust-To roll pie pastry easily-To transfer rolled pastry to a pie pan-To prevent shrinking during baking-To trim pastry overhang-To make a free-form pie crust-To prevent excessive bubbling during baking, PLUS SIX more.Then there are "Problem solvers" (three), "Time savers" (three), "Flavor tips" (two) plus "Fascinating facts" (fun!), "Healthy hints", and two or three complete recipes. There's some chemistry, some history, and loads of helpful advice. All this under "Pie Crusts".The format makes it easy to skip over the hints you may already know to find what's relevant for you. One gets a thorough culinary education. I mean, you're not going to find secrets of molecular gastronomy here, but you will, even if experienced in the kitchen, find all the myriad little things that guarantee success. Using this book feels like having Julia Child at your side making concise, gentle observations as you proceed. I can't recommend this book highly enough. It's fun to read!

How many tablespoons of juice are in a lemon? What size dish is a "two-quart casserole"? For questions like this, you turn to "Brilliant," a truly great reference that belongs on the shelf with "The Joy of Cooking" (if you haven't ordered the latest edition, be sure to; there are lots of new recipes that no one had heard of when my first copy was published in 1963)."Brilliant" is a pure kitchen reference book that is as useful as any dictionary, encylopedia, or the Internet. Buy it and then browse through it to familiarize yourself with the contents. You'll be amazed at how often you refer to it.Here's one tip. My late ex-mother-in-law's cookies always used to have a very peculiar taste. It was years before I finally figured it out (and only because I'd used some old flour I had lying around myself): RANCID FLOUR. Yes, just like butter, flour gets rancid. These days, when I empty a new bag into the airtight acrylic containers (remind me to put those in this list), I always write the date on a removable label or on the front of the label that I cut out from the package and insert on the top of the flour in the canister. MUCH easier to remember.