Ever wonder how long to cook a whole stuffed chicken? What ARE all of those different beef cuts! How do I make Creme Fraishe (sp?) What can I do with asparagus?
It is all in there!
Ever had fruit soup? Blackberry Chicken? Homemade Guacamole?
In there too!This replaces Betty Crocker! This is my very favorite BASIC cookbook. It helps with general questions, but is also just "gourmet" enough to be exciting. I have made many recipes and given this book to every family and friend that I have! This is a keeper!!!
I turn to this often for things like roasting garlic, etc., and cooking charts per type of meat, how to do each vegetable, and what type of herbs and seasonings to use. etc. Virtual goldmine of info in one volume.
Recipes are just outstanding, e.g. Market Street Meat Loaf, or the Lemon and Ginger Pork Loin.
Get one for yourself and for those you love!Not as good as the originals. I love the first two Silver Palate cookbooks. I use them all the time and consider them to be the resource of first recourse when I need a new recipe. While "The New Basics" is a good cookbook, it doesn't come close to the originals.
You could tell that The Silver Palate Cookbook and The Silver Palate Goodtimes Cookbook were filled with recipes that Julee Rosso and Sheila Lukins had been making for years. I don't get the same feeling from New Basics. Instead, you get a sense that they had to find recipes to round-out their repertoire. Also, even though they do repeat a few recipes from the first two cookbooks, you can tell they really had to stretch in order to keep from completely repeating themselves, in part because the other two books were very comprehensive. For example, the Silver Palate Cookbook has a recipe for creme brulee, but New Basics has a recipe for "Fruity Creme Brulee". You tell me which is the more "basic" recipe.
If you already own and enjoy the other Silver Palette cookbooks, by all means get this one. You will find lots of new recipes and ideas with the same focus on fresh ingredients and practical explanation of techniques that you found in the originals. However, if you're looking for a cookbook with a wide variety of "basic" recipes, I'd recommend getting The Silver Palate Cookbook instead and working your way up to this one.
