The Kitchen Detective: A Culinary Sleuth Solves Common Cooking Mysteries with 150 Foolproof Recipes.

I like the word "foolproof" in a cookbook. Sometimes, even with the best of intentions, and even a lot of cooking sense, a good recipe can create a disaster. Even a good chicken soup can become greasy with overdone, soggy noodles if not cooked correctly. In this book, Kimball takes food that most Americans have consumed, and breaks each recipe down into what works and what doesn't. Are you looking for ways to liven up such dishes as Tomato Soup, Greek Salad, Risotto, and Pork Tenderloin? Do you want to make a good meal fast? All of the recipes included in this book make meals from scratch...without too much fuss. Are they all as fast as cooking up a batch of Hamburger Helper? No. Are they better tasting and better for you? Yes. Even if you are only looking for new ways to jazz up favorites, this would be a good cookbook to peruse. Some of my favorite recipes include: Hearty Minestrone, Real German Potato Salad, Garlic Pasta with Butter-Toasted Bread Crumbs, Braised Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, Ginger, & Maple Syrup, Coca-Cola Chicken, Better Fried Fish, Homemade Granola Bars, and Burnt-Sugar Custard. Enjoy!

I almost didn't buy this book after wondering if it would just end up being another issue of Cook's Illustrated (the magazine founded by Kimball), but decided to go ahead and get it, and I'm really glad I did! After only having owned this book for a week, it's already my favorite cookbook. I don't know if it's my New England sensibilities or just the high quality of the recipes that I've come to expect from Kimball & Co., but I'm amazed at how many of the recipes in this cookbook I want to make. Usually when I buy a cookbook, many of the recipes are either too time-consuming, too complicated, or they require expensive or hard-to-find ingredients. As he tests different recipes to come up with a perfected version, Kimball makes note of any strange ingredients or bizarre preparation methods, favoring simpler and more straightforward methods that will save cooks time and result in recipes just as delicious as any that require hours in the kitchen.The book is divided into sections - soups, meats, dessert, and includes many helpful sidebars with interesting information about such things as the rise of Kraft Mac & Cheese or his most-used kitchen tools. Overall, this book is more than just recipes, though the recipes are all really great. The author goes through the trial and error process for you, reports on his results, and analyzes why some recipes failed and others succeeded, and gives you the knowledge you'll need to know what makes some recipes work and others turn out badly. My only complaint about this book is Kimball's overuse of the phrase 'marriage' when referring to the combination of two ingredients, tastes, textures, etc. Someone get this man a list of synonyms.