If you like knowing more about what you eat and how mixing and cooking technique affects how it turns out, this is a book you will love. Well written, well organized and full of great recipes. ( )

Alton Brown's "Good Eats, The Early Years" is brilliant.

Highlights...

1. It is organized by TV episode, not by course or food grouping -- there is an index, though, so searching for a recipe isn't a problem.

2. Chock full of pictures from the show, diagrams, historical notes, behind-the-scenes tidbits, footnotes, and even descriptions of injuries sustained while making the TV show!

3. Trademark humor from the show carries over into the book.

4. Some of the recipes have been "corrected" by Alton Brown, making them better, more reliable, and more accessible to the home cook.

5. Printed in the USA.

6. A little gimmicky, perhaps, but the dust cover is actually a poster. The cover is nice and thick and more protective than the typical cookbook cover.

As for the recipes and procedures I've tried…

Vanilla ice cream: Awesome taste and ridiculously easy to make. No eggs are required, and the addition of peach preserves -- which you would not know was in there unless you told someone -- does an amazing job of punching up the vanilla flavor.

Brining turkey: Best turkey I've ever made. Just be aware that the initial roasting at high temperature may create quite a bit of smoke, so open the windows.

Steel cut oats: I didn't use the recipe, but Mr. Brown's discussion of the various types of oats made me go out and try the steel cut variety. Much better than rolled oats for making cereal, in my opinion.

I can't wait until the next book in the series! ( )