The Complete Creative Cook [antikvár]

Complete creative cooking means putting together varied, tempting meals throughout the week and having friends and relatives over for dinner without stress. It used to mean rummaging through notebooks and clippings to find that special grandmother's recipe for beef stew or a neighbour's traditional chocolate cake. In preparing this book we have brought together such favourite old recipes and also added new ideas, which reflect the increasing availability of exotic and speciality ingredients and the evolution of the way we eat. And each recipe is brought to life, every step of the way, in pictures. It's easy to leam basic cooking know-how with the help of this book. With pictures to guide you at every stage, even a beginner can cook meals with confidence. For the experienced cook, the step-by-step photographs serve as memory joggers. You will practically be able to cook at a glance from a treasury of over 200 recipes. To start off a meal or sit down to a simple one, there are chunky soups and cold ones, plus sandwiches to eat with both hands, and appetizers both plain and fancy. The seafood recipes take full advantage of the increasingly wide variety of fish and shellfish available locally. For many people, meat and poultry are the heart of a meal, and the choice here includes long-simmering as well as speedy dishes. An increasing trend towards grains and fresh produce is reflected here, with recipes for pasta, pizza, beans and vegetables well represented. Time set aside for baking may seem a luxury these days, but with the steps simply laid out, it requires only a small amount of effort to fill the kitchen with mouthwatering smells. Here is creative family cooking in all its variety. In the category of snug, winter night's fare we have chosen such standbys as macaroni cheese, traditional chicken potpie and peach cobbler. Sometimes we put a twist on the basics, offering baby chickens with cranberry sauce, cheeseburgers with spicy avocado relish, and hazelnut sundaes with hot fudge sauce. International dishes are also given fair showing, with Mexican chicken, jambalaya, pork with sauerkraut and Spanish omelette just some of the favourites to be found here. The only thing that's missing in The Complete Creative Cook are the aromas. Still, there's no substitute for experience. Only you know the quirks of your oven and how to get the best from your utensils. Setting out all the ingredients before beginning is just sound culinary practice. Even perfect technique won't remedy a lack of flavour, so good ingredients are essential to good cooking. Stay in tune with the seasons, choosing fruits and vegetables at their peak. And remember to taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary, before serving. Our hectic schedules leave us less time in the kitchen these days, but we hope this book rekindles the pleasures of family cooking. Homemade food will make a comeback in your house with the help of The Complete Creative Cook.