The Well Trodden Path
Have you noticed the book review column that appears sporadically on The Sunday Times Lifestyle section?
I certainly have, since I am an avid cookbook collector, such columns are a must.
So imagine my excitment when I saw one of the books reviewed was a book which is one of my treasured collection since my Beef Barley Soup. I have not tried all of the recipes from Cover & Bake but suffice to say that there hasn't been a single recipe from Cook's Illustrated that has disappointed me to-date.
So what do I think about the review on the papers? B.O.R.I.N.G.
I am so tired of reading another reviewer saying to yield good results from using this book, or any of Cook's Illustrated books, one would need to "perish the thought of deviating even the tiniest bit from the dictatorial directions". That's what the reviewer said, but I beg to differ.
Just going through my posts, I realised that I have more than deviated from those "dictatorial directions".
Let's see ....
In my Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownie, I converted their measurements to metric. *Gasp*
In my Chicken Pot Pie, I doubled the amount of butter and I didn't pair the filling with neither the Savory Pie-Dough Topping nor the Fluffy Buttermilk-Biscuit Topping called for in the recipe ! *Double gasp*
While making my Olive Focaccia, I used the machine knead directions instead of the one tailored for hand kneading. *Triple gasp*
I made my Beef Barley Soup in a Shuttle Chef instead of a slow cooker! *Quadruple gasp*
And let's not forget about my Blueberry Scones. I have unshamingly confessed that I could almost see how the author of the recipe would shake his/her head if he/she could see how I went about rubbing in those butter instead of grating them into the flour and how I pat those squishy unfrozen blueberry onto the dough without freezing them as dictated in the recipe. *Faint*
Oh, and also my Class Beef Stew which I made in the Shuttle Chef instead of cooking it in the oven using a dutch oven . *Faint and cannot stand up*
And did my food all turned out as kitchen diseasters?
I think after reading this review, I would take book reviews with a big pinch of salt. Why take the well trodden path as so many other reviewers on books from Cook's Illustrated?
I certainly have, since I am an avid cookbook collector, such columns are a must.
So imagine my excitment when I saw one of the books reviewed was a book which is one of my treasured collection since my Beef Barley Soup. I have not tried all of the recipes from Cover & Bake but suffice to say that there hasn't been a single recipe from Cook's Illustrated that has disappointed me to-date.
So what do I think about the review on the papers? B.O.R.I.N.G.
I am so tired of reading another reviewer saying to yield good results from using this book, or any of Cook's Illustrated books, one would need to "perish the thought of deviating even the tiniest bit from the dictatorial directions". That's what the reviewer said, but I beg to differ.
Just going through my posts, I realised that I have more than deviated from those "dictatorial directions".
Let's see ....
In my Chewy, Fudgy Triple Chocolate Brownie, I converted their measurements to metric. *Gasp*
In my Chicken Pot Pie, I doubled the amount of butter and I didn't pair the filling with neither the Savory Pie-Dough Topping nor the Fluffy Buttermilk-Biscuit Topping called for in the recipe ! *Double gasp*
While making my Olive Focaccia, I used the machine knead directions instead of the one tailored for hand kneading. *Triple gasp*
I made my Beef Barley Soup in a Shuttle Chef instead of a slow cooker! *Quadruple gasp*
And let's not forget about my Blueberry Scones. I have unshamingly confessed that I could almost see how the author of the recipe would shake his/her head if he/she could see how I went about rubbing in those butter instead of grating them into the flour and how I pat those squishy unfrozen blueberry onto the dough without freezing them as dictated in the recipe. *Faint*
Oh, and also my Class Beef Stew which I made in the Shuttle Chef instead of cooking it in the oven using a dutch oven . *Faint and cannot stand up*
And did my food all turned out as kitchen diseasters?
I think after reading this review, I would take book reviews with a big pinch of salt. Why take the well trodden path as so many other reviewers on books from Cook's Illustrated?
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