Elisabeth Bailey

This book makes a great gift. It has simple recipes for a variety of sauces that can turn anything into a fancy dinner. Most don’t take long to make and, best of all, they can be frozen so you always have a sauce on hand. I love that the author took the opportunity to give directions on good freezing methods. New cooks will find this especially helpful. Another very helpful section was the base tips. Pasta shape does matter when choosing a sauce. She includes tofu so this section is very helpful if you haven’t cooked with it. (In other words, I never did and was able to cook a good meal for friends who preferred it). What maillard is and the difference in maillard and caramelization is also discussed. In the appendix she gives a few recipes for flavored butter and salt. The Better Chicken Butter is definitely dressing up my turkey at Thanksgiving.
If you are experienced in cooking, you may want to borrow the book from the library to see if it brings something new for you. I’m experienced but really want this book on my shelf. If I need something quick, I can skim through it and have an idea for a meal in no time. I think that is what I enjoyed most about this cookbook..it invited me to use the sauce as the jumpstart to my ideas for meals.… (más)