Book Review: The New Basics Cookbook (1989) Rosso & Lukins

[Sugar Smack]

ARE YOU PEOPLE KIDDING ME? The "Basic" pantry you require includes cream of tartar and capers and "green martini" olives and imported black olives? Where the hell am I gonna put all this stuff? I have a cabinet full of beans- 2 for 99, and now you're asking me to stock my "basic" kitchen with "saffron threads"? How are you going to erase the memory of my being laughed at in Food Lion when I asked where the Hoisin Sauce aisle was? And what am I going to do with all those cans of tuna under my bed? You people are useless.

[In_The_Wind]

1. Are you packing meals_on_wheels?

ROAD TRIP

[Sugar Smack]

4. I'm Packin' baby! Like you would not believe.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[NewWaveChick1981]

2. "Basic" is relative.

Zsa Zsa Gabor considered Evian Water "basic" for her stay in jail for slapping a police officer some years ago. :P

So the "new basics" have changed, eh? Well, I've ALWAYS had saffron threads and capers in MY pantry! :eyes: NOT!!!! ... :rofl:

Yeah, Food Lion is not exactly "gourmet", even though they are starting to have a somewhat-decent organic section. You're lucky if you find good brownie mix there!

(Free association time: I worked at the Food Lion in Carrboro my junior year of college. It was the first year they were open. I know from whence I speak! :rofl: )

[Sugar Smack]

6. BWAH! Zsa Zsa! I need to be more like

Zsa Zsa. Honestly, I just opened my freezer for the sake of curiousity & self-flagellation.


INVENTORY:

1x cheddar cheese jalapenos
1x TGIF mozzarella sticks
1x frozen spinach
3x full ice cube trays
1x empty ice cube tray
1x empty vodka (Boar's Head)

FRIDGE:

1x loaf high-density Morrisville Cake lilywhite bread
1x Simply Orange (cause I'm an elitist snob when it comes to OJ-plus, it's like crack)
1x eye drops
3x French Roast Coffee
1x yellow mustard
1x Dijon mustard
1x bottle white wine (Chardonnay- Robert Mondavi)
1x half can Ginger ale


:rofl:

[AngryAmish]

3. That was my first cookbook

I was a starving grad student in 1992. I went to Jewel and found out that they had a sale on frozen dinners, so I bought 10. As I walked to the parking lot I became repulsed at myself. I decided that learning to cook was a good thing so after I dropped off my groceries at home (and eating a frozen dinner) I went to the bookstore.

I picked "The New Basics" because it was red and looked like the recipes wouldn't be too hard. I went home, read it for most of the afternoon and for dinner made me and my roommate broccoli with Italian sausage. I had to make out a list and hunt for all the ingredients. I bought fresh garlic. I had to buy a bunch of spices. Dinner was great.

I have used that book dozens of times since. It is real good on cooking times and making basic stuff (bachmel sauce etc.) Make the veggie lasagna - it takes forever and is kinda expensive but well worth it.

Learn to cook. Buy a good knife. Drink wine - it is good for your tummy.

Life is too short not to eat well.

[Sugar Smack]

7. Your post made me go:

:wow:

I feel like I LEARNED something today. Thanks.

:loveya:

[grace0418]

10. I love your post and your story.

I too am completely self-taught. I knew nothing at first. I remember thinking I could make chili out of ketchup and hot sauce. GACK! LOL! But once I got the hang of it I never wanted to go back to eating processed, bland food. I eat so much healthier too when I cook for myself.

[AngryAmish]

11. Thanks

Let me also add when you are single and dating that cooking dinner for someone is cheaper than going out and then you have already got your date inside your apartment. I am impressed when someone can cook a good meal and I think I have impressed a few of the ladies over the years.

[noonwitch]

5. I have "The Silver Pallet Cookbook" by the same authors

I don't have all that stuff in my kitchen, I buy what I need to make what I'm making. I have some things, of course, basic spices, and if I buy something like saffron threads, they last a long time and you can use them in other recipes.

Just keep in mind that these women ran a store that sold all that stuff. That is their claim to fame.

[Sugar Smack]

8. I even have a can of "pumpkin"!

:grouphug: I do realize I can use these extra accoutrements for other recipes, but I get so confused by the whole business, and it starts making me feel like a BAD Democrat. Heh, heh. ;-)

[RevCheesehead]

12. I have a can of pumpkin, too.

The vet told me to add a spoonful to the cats' canned food. Something about how pumpkin is supposed to be good for them, especially older cats.

[grace0418]

9. I'm actually not crazy about that cookbook even though I have most

of those ingredients you listed on hand at all times. I'm a bit of a chef wannabe though, so I wouldn't expect everyone to have or use saffron threads. Hoisin sauce really is readily available in the Asian food section of even most basic groceries. It should be right next to the cans of water chesnuts and bottles of soy sauce. It's not really that exotic and it really is yummy.

Anyway, I find that the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook is a much better all around basic cookbook and the recipes are fantastic. The recipes range from incredibly easy comfort food to more challenging special occasion fare. The ingredient lists range from super basic stuff that truly anyone might have on hand to pleasantly exotic (but not absurd, to the point where they'll have you flying in rare truffles from Europe or anything ;)). It's even interesting to read just as a book because there are so many great, basic tips. They actually explain why you might want to have certain, potentially exotic, ingredients on hand and how to use them. And they readily admit when a simpler substitution will work just fine. I just used their recommended cooking method to make potato salad on Memorial Day and I cannot believe how much it improved the flavor. People were freaking out about how good it was.

I highly recommend that book if you'd like to expand your food horizons in really yummy ways without being laughed out of the Food Lion. Good luck!

:hi:

[eyesroll]

13. I got into an argument here with someone who'd entered a cooking

contest...she couldn't understand how her recipe was trailing a more exotic one. "After all, who the hell has tamarind paste on hand?"

I took a look in my fridge...I have tamarind paste.

What I don't have on hand is asiago cheese, a key ingredient in her recipe.

I also have cream of tartar and capers, and martini olives -- but just regular black California olives in a can.

[Richardo]

14. Heh. 'Hoisin sauce'

You sound like Jerry Lewis, with the hoisin and the flaven and the NICE LADY!!