Related Vacation Book Subjects: Washington
More Pages: Southwestern Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37
Books to read if you're planning a vacation in "Southwestern", sorted by average review score:

New Tastes from Texas
Published in Paperback by Crown Pub (October, 1999)
Author: Stephan Pyles
Average review score:

Go-To Cookbook for Texas Spectacular Food
This is just an outstanding cookbook, filled with info, unique recipes and sources for ingredients, and spectacular shots of finished dishes.

I keep making one new recipe after another for guests and compliments are on the high side of all fare I prepare and serve. Tried such creative dishes as: Cajun Sweet Potato and Sausage Casserole (becoming demanded regular at Thanksgiving);Honey-Glazed Apple-stuffed pork chops on black-eyed pea-sweet potato hash; Vine-Ripened Tomato Salad (served in a unique tower fashion) Grilled Snapper with black bean - roast banan mash, coconut serrano broth and mango-tortilla salad; Stacked Banana-Creme' Brulee Tostada.

But a few of the marvelous stuff in this volume. Listed a few to show how tempting they sound and their accompaniments. Not exactly quick or easy to make (most of them in this category) but for the medium to experienced home gourmet, these will give you that extraordinary zip to your dining experience.

Make these and you'll return to this one over and over as I continue to do.

This is a GREAT book!
I finally received my copy of this book and immediately made some home made chili powder and had friends over for dinner the next weekend. Although some have made statments on how complex the recipes are, he is famous for a reason. AND, he has chosen to share some of his recipes that have made him and his restaurant famous.

I can't wait to try-out Stephan's wonderful recipes !
I got this book for Christmas, I have wanted it for months. Watching Stephan's cooking shows have inspired me to create some SouthWestern magic of my own. There are great recipes, pictures & very interesting background information...well rounded. I bet the dinner party I'm having in a few weeks will go off without a hitch, thanks to Stephan.


Norman's New World Cuisine
Published in Hardcover by Random House (November, 1997)
Authors: Norman Van Aken, John Harrisson, and Norman Van Aken
Average review score:

Elegant but not Easy Recipes!
The recipes in this slick cookbook are neither for beginners, the lazy or the poor. One could invest a good deal of time and money in preparing some of these elaborate dishes. There are some fairly simple bread recipes in this book that I want to try; and I can testify that the Key Lime Cheesecake with a Toasted Nut Crust (page 258) is as good a cheesecake recipe as I have ever seen. I believe the secret is that the eggs are separated. The cake is as light as a souffle when done. I have baked it three times now, and my friends cannot get enough of it. (This recipe alone makes the book worth owning.) Directions are minimal, however, so you're on your own. (For example, you are never told to grease the springform pan. Neither are you given any indication as to how the cake will look when done.)

What this book does provide, however, is insight into what a meal would be like at Norman's Restaurant. Also, all information about the wonderful fresh vegetables and fruit of South Florida--complete with great photographs-- makes those of us who must drive half a day to see the ocean hungry for salt air.

Awesome Spicy Fusion Cooking
There are a lot of ways to do fusion, Norman's is simply one of the best I've encountered. But be warned, a lot of work is needed to prepare the dishes. Most of his recipes require that you prepare an additional sauce or prep-kit (like his bean kit that can be used for soups or BBQ sauce), so you have to read the recipes very carefully. If you do spend the time, you will be greatly rewarded.

Norman's dishes are all generally rich and spicy. His themes are Caribbean and South American, with Asian and European (primarily French and Spanish) influences. He uses a lot of Habanero (VERY hot), red onion, assorted tubers, and plantains, he is clearly very influenced by creole cooking (he is based in Florida afterall).

Starters: He has a great "starter" section with drinks (his delicious "Hot Lolita" is a tequila drink with honey and hot peppers) and accompanying nibblers (Norm's "Not and Nasty Nuts", peanuts baked and spiced); a great way to kick off a dinner party. His guacamole with fried plantain chips are great for picnics. He also has an eggplant with goat cheese that is simply excellent.

Soups: Very very rich, but oh so good. He has a plantain chicken soup that is to die for. Again, so rich it's good in small portions for a dinner party. He also has a gazpacho that is completely unlike any you've tasted, and a "conch" soup that he says his "patrons would riot if I took it off the menu". I believe him.

Salads and Main dishes: Tea Spiced Pan Seared Tuna and Spinach Salad has become one of my favorite quick meals (great citrus dressing). Juicy steaks (venison and traditional beef), lobster dishes, chicken (creole in nature), and others, his main dishes are a little eclectic, but generally excellent.

You'll also find side dishes (lots of peruvian potato and boniate sides), sauces, and prep kits in the back which I've enjoyed. I made BBQ oysters with his BBQ sauce and they we're superb. He has desserts, bit I personally haven't gone there yet...

If you are into the effort (for intermediate to advanced cooks) and like or want to get into (spicy) fusion then you should buy this book. I've given it away to two friends and will likely continue to buy it for others.

One of the Best Fusion Cookbooks Around
There are a lot of ways to do fusion, Norman's is simply one of the best I've encountered. But be warned, a lot of work is needed to prepare the dishes. Most of his recipes require that you prepare an additional sauce or prep-kit (like his bean kit that can be used for soups or BBQ sauce), so you have to read the recipes very carefully. If you do spend the time, you will be greatly rewarded.

Norman's dishes are all generally rich and spicy. His themes are Caribbean, with an Asias influence. There's also a little French in there (rich and buttery), which makes for a great combination. He uses a lot of Habanero (VERY hot) and plantains, he is clearly very influenced by creole cooking (he is based in Florida afterall).

Starters: He has a great "starter" section with drinks (his delicious "Hot Lolita" is a tequila drink with honey and hot peppers) and accompanying nibblers (Norm's "Not and Nasty Nuts", peanuts baked and spiced); a great way to kick off a dinner party. His guacamole with fried plantain chips are great for picnics. He also has an eggplant with goat cheese that is simply excellent.

Soups: Very very rich, but oh so good. He has a plantain chicken soup that is to die for. Again, so rich it's good in small portions for a dinner party. He also has a gazpacho that is completely unlike any you've tasted, and a "conch" soup that he says his "patrons would riot if I took it off the menu". I believe him.

Salads and Main Dishes: Tea Spiced Pan Seared Tuna and Spinach Salad has become one of my favorite quick meals (great citrus dressing). Juicy steaks, lobster dishes, chicken (kinda creole in nature), and others, his main dishes are a little eclectic, but generally excellent.

You'll also find sauces and kits in the back which I've enjoyed. I made BBQ oysters with his BBQ sauce and they we're superb. I honestly can't remember if he has desserts, haven't gone there...

If you are into the effort (for intermediate to advanced cooks) and like or want to get into fusion then you should buy this book. I've given it away to two sets of friends and will continue to buy it for others.


Betty Crocker's Southwest Cooking
Published in Hardcover by Hungry Minds, Inc (December, 1992)
Authors: Betty Crocker and Betty Crocker
Average review score:

We needed our own copy.
Our in-laws have been using the 1989 copy of this book. We have enjoyed most of the recipes. Decided to buy our own copy. Flaverful, but not overly spicey.

I Keep Wearing It Out
I find I need yet another new copy of this recipe book. I've worn out two (so far) through frequent use. The recipes are sophisticated yet are written in a manner that's easy to understand. I bought my first copy when I was first learning to cook; and I still reach for it now that I am much more accomplished. I always receive compliments when I use any of these recipes for entertaining.

the book with the best density of A+ southwestern recipes!
I've been searching for this book for two years after having borrowed it from my neighbor so many times that she had begun to believe it was my book rather than hers. I've looked in used book stores and am delighted to learn it is still in print. Of the many recipes I have tried, I have found no losers, none. All recipes strike that delicate balance between lack of complication and elegance of taste and presentation that most cookbooks miss, especially in dealing with this particular cuisine. These are the dishes you see strangers-in-the-know eating in restaurants, the dishes you wish you had ordered rather than the tame fare that is generally served (because you ordered it). Some might sneer at dear old 'Betty Crocker' in the title, but this volume contains is, without a doubt, the best tasting, most refined Southwestern food you can prepare at home short of hiring your own illegal alien to cook for you.


Cafe Pasqual's Cookbook: Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe
Published in Paperback by Chronicle Books (October, 1993)
Authors: Katharine Kagel, Barbara Simpson, and Bill Leblond
Average review score:

Great place, exuberant cookbook
Pasqual's is kitty-corner across Water Street from the St. Francis Hotel in Santa Fe; we time our trips to get into town late at night, but before the St. Francis' bar closes, so we can check in, grab a quick drink, and then roll out of bed the next morning and hit Pasqual's for breakfast. Tamal dolce, big mug of coffee, newspaper, see if the rocking horse is still in the second floor window of the store across the street (hasn't moved in four years, so far, and counting.) We love Pasqual's, its food, its Ann-Arbor-in-the-Southwest feeling ... and the cookbook is a nice souvenir thereof. The recipes? Well, plan on mail-ordering a lot of different kinds of chile powder unless you live in New Mexico. Great stuff, though, if you have the ingredients and the patience.

Yum
I make a point of visiting Cafe Pasqual's each time I am come to Santa Fe. This cookbook is excellent . The recipes are concise and delicious and the artwork in the book is beautiful. I only wish they had a second cookbook focusing strictly on the killer breakfast menu at the Cafe. Hmm...

Mexican Cooking At Its Best
I just happened to walk into Pasqual's Restaurant in Santa Fe and experienced one of the best authentic Mexican meals in town.
The cookbook reflects the author's philosophy of fresh ingredients, pure flavor and originality.


Red Sage: Contemporary Western Cuisine
Published in Hardcover by Ten Speed Press (November, 1999)
Authors: Mark Charles Miller and Rodney Weidland
Average review score:

Interesting recipes. Difficult-to-obtain ingredients.
If you have easy access to squab, pheasant, loin of rabbit, quail, buffalo, antelope, Mexican oregano, blackberries, poblano chiles, gualjillo chiles, serrano chiles, chile molido, chile carib, chipotles in adobo sauce, Apaloosa beans, calypso beans, Steuben yellow beans, fresh hoja santa leaf, dry aged goat cheese, smoked gouda, chanterelles, Silver Queen corn, fresh marjoarm, fresh epazota, pumpkin seeds, cumin seeds, dried blueberries, huckleberries, etc., then you might find the recipes in "Red Sage: Contempoary American Cuisine" the kind that will give a fresh and creative twist to your culinary endeavors. Otherwise, you are likely find very little in this book that you can put to use in your kitchen.

Good
that guy who wrote the derogatory one must live in a closet.

Red Sage
Not only have I read the book, which is well written and quite insightful, but I have had the priviledge to create many of the dishes presented. The techniques are fairly simple for a seasoned chef, and the only trick is finding the ingredients if you live in a smaller town. One item I have discovered cannot be substituted is the can of chipoltes in adobo sauce. If you find them, buy many cans, as you will be using them often! The beauty of this book is the diversity of dishes featured. Vegetarians can find many recipes to entertain, and the poultry, game, and beef dishes are quite intriguing. This cookbook is fabulous, and I consider the recipes to be invaluable. A must for any cook!


Barbecue, Biscuits, and Beans: Chuckwagon Cooking
Published in Hardcover by Bright Sky Press (October, 2002)
Authors: Bill Cauble, Cliff Teinert, Tommy Lee Jones, and Watt Matthews Casey Jr.
Average review score:

Great book.........
As a man I do not like recipes where I have to order ingredients from internet sources because they are not available in my supermarket. This book is filled with good food made with common ingredients. I have now tried several recipes and everything has been very good and a couple have been lip smacking good. I use probably thirty cookbooks out of my collection but this one I use more than any other. So go out, get a hunk of cow, and cook it like these guys tell you to.

Chuckwagon Legends!!
As a chuckwagon cook myself, I would highly recommend this book to anyone! These two men are both legendary chuckwagon cooks in Texas and it is great to finally have their recipes & techniques in print! I was very impressed with the quality of the book as well as its recipes. The history & photography are both well done!! A must have for any Texan, or anybody who wishes they were!

Beyond Barbecue-Food for Presidents, Actors and Us!
First let me make it clear that as the photographer I have a different view of this book. I have been on the inside, as someone who has enjoyed Bill and Clifford's cooking for the last 25-30 years. Whether they were cooking at their homes for friends or at a gathering for hundreds of people the food always remained the same. Delicious! And people would ask for more.
The photographs were not doctored so they would look better. After the photographs were taken the food was eaten. We didn't spray or enhance the food you see THUS when you prep these recipes in your home the food will look very similar to what you see in the book, if not exactly the same.

Friend of our community and the authors, Tommy Lee Jones, was gracious enough to write the foreword.

I think this book will be a worthy addition to any kitchen's library. Filled with a variety of recipes from main dishes-try the stacked red chile enchiladas on page 90-91 or if you want something for a family gathering I suggest the peppered tenderloin or whole rib eye pages 54-57, salads-try the cornbread salad on page 148-149, vegetables-summer squash casserole page 142-143 and the desserts-bread pudding with lemon-lime or bourbon sauce is my choice. There are also numerous other recipes that will be enjoyed at breakfast and as side dishes. The only food I didn't care for (that I had to photograph) are the turnips BUT that is because I don't like turnips.

Not only are there the many food photographs there are numerous photographs taken on ranches for the last 25 years around Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Mexico sprinkled throughout the book.

Enjoy and invite them into your kitchen! They've cooked for presidents, well known movie stars and casts of thousands of ordinary people like us.


Reaching Keet Seel: Ruin's Echo and the Anasazi
Published in Paperback by Univ of Utah Pr (Trd) (March, 1998)
Authors: Reg Saner, Sue MacDougall, and David Grant Noble
Average review score:

If you're headed to keet seel this is not the book for you
I agree with the editorial (Kirkus) reviewer; which you ought to read and pay attention to before buying. This is strictly one man's impressions of what the Colorado Plateau means to him. It is not authoritative as to the ruin's archeology or anthropology. It could better be classed as poetry.

a reflection, not a travel brochure
One of my favorite books about one of my favorite destinations. This is a collection of brief essays that is the perfect companion for a trip to the Four Corners area and the abounding ruins and sites of the Anazasi. Its not a book detailing where to go and how to get the most for your tourist dollar. Rather its a musing reflection on what its like to visit these places from the perspective of a 21st century traveler. These writings draw our attention to the feelings evoked by the experience of wandering among the reminders of another people, another culture, another cosmology and way of understanding what life is about. I have been to Keet Seel. Its a demanding walk. I appreciated having the opportunity to travel back there with someone who provided words to some of the feelings I experienced at the time. A subtext of these writings is the idea of the sacred in a postmodern world that has chased that concept into small corners of carefully bounded scholarship. The author discovers it abounding all around us and that we are desperate to recover some sense of it for ourselves. The trip to Keet Seel and the other destinations is a rediscovery of its significance and meaning for human existence.

Reaching Keet Seel is an incredible collection of essays.
I beg to differ with the reviewer from Kirkus associates. The guy's a pompous windbag and if he actually read the whole book, I doubt seriously if he understands what he read. The book is not and does not profess to be a work of anthropological science. It is a look into one man's reactions to historical places which cannot be described, but have to be experienced to feel their effects. Again and again, Reg Saner captured these effects, along with his "show me" quest, poetically with a mastery of language seldom seen anywhere. The reviewer claimed that the writing style hurt his teeth. I suggest he sees a dentist, for the writing is great. Like the places they describe, the essays need be experienced for their full effect. I won't do them the dishonor of inadequate description here. The book is an informative, thought-provoking read. As one who has been researching the Anasazi, Pueblo, and Hopi for some time, I place this book near the top of my favorites list of the last 25 books I've read on the subject. The essay, "Spirit Root" should win an award of some sort. It's fabulous. To anyone reading my review, I say get the book. To the reviewer who was so shallow, wishy-washy and unkind, I say get a life.

Shooshie


Harrison's CD-ROM, 14/e
Published in CD-ROM by McGraw-Hill (01 December, 1997)
Authors: Anthony S. Fauci, Jean D. Wilson M.D.University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Eugene Braunwald, Joseph B. Martin, Anthony Fauci M.D., Eugene Braunwald M.D., Joseph J. Martin M.D., Kurt J. Isselbacher M.D., Dennis L. Kasper M.D., and Stephen L. Hauser M.D.
Average review score:

A HIGH QUALITY E-BOOK DENTED BY USE-RESTRICTIONS
HARRISON'S is synonymous with clinical books that worth their weights in gold. This 15th/ed CD-ROM maintained that tradition. It adds the much-needed portability to some 2700-paged heavyweight. However, the air-tight use-restrictions attached to the ...price is simply suffocating. I wish that the publisher had relaxed a bit!
Overall though, there were compensations. The CD contents are superb: far better than what the textbook versions offer. Anyone with interest in medical science should give it a try. It is elaborate and easy to understand. The excellent chapters on pharmacology and infectious diseases are particularly worth mentioning.

It's wonderful book. Keep it up.
I have been reading Harrison's Medicine right from my residency. Its a fabulous book one can refer to as an undergraduate or postgratuate student. However for a practitioner one would prefer to have little more stress on management details. Adding audio to CD of the same book will make it more useful.

Mukund Baheti Consultant Neurologist Nagpur- 440 012 India

A MUST BUY for the future Internist
This book is the Bible of Internal Medicine. Anyone considering a career in medicine should have this book in their library. Comprehensive and well written, it is the gold standard of medical textbooks.


Nuevo Tex-Mex: Festive New Recipes from Just North of the Border
Published in Paperback by Chronicle Books (April, 1998)
Authors: David Garrido, Robb Walsh, and Rob Walsh
Average review score:

Interesting but not essential
I enjoyed browsing through this book but haven't been compelled to maje much. I think I'm nore Classic than Nuevo, in many senses.

deep in the heart of Tex-Mex
Being from San Antonio - I was a little sceptical when I checked this out from the library. I don't know about 'Nuevo' as a trend, but the book is a delight and I hadn't had it home for more than an hour or so before I was on Amazon ordering a copy. It is fun to read and fun to cook from and the whole layout of the book is a delight with fine color photographs.

There Isn't A Bad Recipe In The Book.
'Nuff said.


Southwestern Vegetarian: Vegetarian Southwestern Cuisine the Texas Way
Published in Hardcover by Crown Pub (September, 1900)
Authors: Stephan Pyles, John Harrisson, and Katie Workman

Related Vacation Book Subjects: Washington
More Pages: Southwestern Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37