The Dean and DeLuca Cookbook

This is a very useful "contemporary American" cookbook- It's well-written, informative, and full of great recipes. It's pretty ecclectic, and I find myself disappointed sometimes when I try to look something up in the index and it isn't there. It's kind of like asking your braniac friend a question and they don't have the answer- you kind ofassume that they do. This book is so good at what it does you assume it's good at everything. The biggest problem with this book is that it doesn't have all the answers. The greatest thing is that all the answers it has are correct. This isn't one of those utility cookbooks you use like "Joy of Cooking" or "Fanny Farmer." You might not find a gravy recipe, but if you want to serve a dynamite meal to guests without looking like you were trying to get all fancy, this is a great book. And let me reiterate that there's a lot more than recipes in this book- it's also very informative. The continuous use of the third-person plural (The "Royal WE") is a bit annoying, but it's clear that this is David Rosengarten having to prentend that two guys named "Dean" and "Delucca" actually wrote it. Not terribly friendly to dieters, this book is nevertheless not all about fat and carbs. Just lots of good food. Really, really good food.

Solid recipes without someone's rediculous "interpretation" of what a traditional dish should or could be. Great basic cooking techniques for the novice, some more daring for the experienced.I own 100's of cookbooks and cooking magazines - mexican, italian, asian - you name it. This one never fails, and I always go back to it.

My husband and I have been using this cookbook for a few weeks now and we just love it. We've always enjoyed cooking, but this book has all of our favorite recipes for dishes we frequently order in restaurants - with normal ingredients and relatively easy instructions. It's like a dream come true! We just dove in and started using it, but after finishing up a delicious meal from the cookbook last night, I sat down to read the introduction, and I agreed with every word. If you like cooking and trying new/different combinations of ingredients, buy this cookbook NOW. You don't have to buy fancy items from the store (I find everything I need from my local supermarket), and - at least the recipes I've tried so far - have been relatively simple and DEAD ON delicious on the first try. Suggestion: cook the dish to recipe the first time, then improvise on your own (ex. some recipes call for a medium to heavy amount of butter and oils, when you can usually get away with halving the fats and using extra wine or stock if your palate is not too refined). Our favorite so far is the mushroom risotto. Yummmmmmm.

I am still in the cooking experimentation stage (read: I usually have no clue when it comes to cooking). I love food and my philosophy has always been 'genius lies in simplicity.' This book epitomizes that philosophy. I have tried several recipes and to my utter surprise, not only were they easy, but also tasted great ! I highly recommend this book.