The Perfect Recipe: Getting It Right Every Time--Making Our Favorite Dishes the Absolute Best They Can Be

Having cooked for a family for the last 30 years, I have several cookbooks as well as recipes I've printed off the web in my cooking library. It was refreshing to see that in this book I could now find the answer to some age-old problems I've encountered with basic comfort foods, like roast turkey (getting MOIST white AND dark meat), (evenly-cooked) prime rib and (crisp, not weepy and soggy) lemon meringue pie. I also found it interesting to read about the processes performed to find the "perfect" recipe. This book is a find for the new or beginner cook. As a more experienced cook, I was thrilled to find solutions to those cooking "nightmares."

This is virtually the same book as "The Best Recipe" by the editors of Cooks Illustrated. I think that "The Best Recipe" is more comprehensive. "The Perfect Recipe" does seem to be laid out in a manner that would be easier to follow as you cook. You don't need both, in any case. The recipes are the SAME!

Whenever we entertain and want to make a dish that dazzles people, I turn to one of four cookbooks and this is one of them. The recipes are so clear and they work every time. Not only does the food taste great, this cookbook tells the reader what works, what doesn't, and why. I have complete faith in The Perfect Recipe. The meals also make for special dinners with your spouse.

This is an excellent cookbook for someone who wants to get their recipes "just right." As a novice cook, I learned a great deal from this book, which explains in detail the processes the author went through in trying to create the "perfect recipe" for staple dishes such as prime rib, fried chicken, meatloaf, apple pie, and muffins.This cookbook, like all cookbooks, isn't perfect (despite the title). In fact the worst thing about this book is the title, becuase it creates impossibly high expectations for all the recipes. For example, the meat loaf recipe is decent, but hardly "perfect." On the other hand, the basic muffin recipe is marvelous and is indeed the best recipe for muffins I have ever tried. The pancake and brownie recipes are similarly magnificent.So, on the whole, an excellent cookbook written by a chef who knows her stuff. Just lower your expectations and try more than one recipe before giving up.