Great "basics" cookbook. ( )

This book changed my life.

I’ve never been a big cook. I think mostly because I’m a little impatient and the results are spectacular enough normally for me to get a charge of out taking the time to cook.

That may all be changing because of a book I got this weekend. The Mrs and I like to watch Good Eats on the Food network. Its just a fun show. I watch cooking shows for the same reason I was do it yourself shows. Its fun to watch people who know how to do something well do it. But I don’t ever cook anything I see on a cooking show. Because, like building a deck or replacing a sink, when you do it is harder and never works out the way it does for them.

I was at the book store and I saw Alton Brown’s book I’m Just Here For the Food.

I sat down in comfy chair at B&N and decided to thumb through it. I was going to skip the intro, but then thought Alton is pretty interesting I’ll see what he has to say. About half an hour and two chapters I was ready to buy and make a trip to Bed Bath and Beyond.

Needless to say it is the coolest cooking book ever. Notice I didn’t say cookbook. A cookbook is a collection of recipes. I’m Just Here for the Food (JHFF) is a cooking book. It talks about how cooking works. The book is organized by kind of heat application. Starting with Searing and going through grilling, frying, roasting all the way to microwave cooking.

There are some recipes, but they are more practical applications of the knowledge you just gained than ways to make a particular food. And I think it really will help when you make a recipe and it doesn’t turn out like you expected. Now I understand to look at the application of heat, how it gets into the food and how the ingredients effect that.

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Ok so Alton Brown is my tv crush but I still really liked this book. Teaches basic techniques but also gives you the why. ( )

It's "Good Eats", distilled into books. ( )

Science nerd meets food nerd. What could be a better combo? I loved the explanations, and a lot of the passages had me laughing out loud.
The recipes are probably good, too. ( )