How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I went to the used book store the other day with some cast-off hard-backs to trade in. I shoved several lounging cats aside, and found all 944 pages of this tome. The shiny "Julia Child Cookbook Award" and "James Beard Foundation Cookbook Award Winner" stickers intrigued me. So did the Washington Post quote, "Think of it as a more hip Joy of Cooking"

Them's fightin' words. I'm a Joy devotee. But flipping through, I was intrigued. I like the illustrations, the larger print, the informative lists and inset boxes.... So I traded in my castoffs (sorry Yiddish Policeman's Union) and brought it home.

So far, I feel a little weird about it. Like I've brought home somebody else's grandma to pretend to be my grandma. It's nice and all, maybe there's some stuff that's even better about this grandma than about my own, like maybe her recipe for Crisp-Cooked Sunchokes or Garam Masala, but... Joy is my home.

I've only tried about 3 recipes from this book so far. And I have to admit, I checked the Joy equivalent for each one. And where they differed... I sided with Joy. It's a trust thing! Joy has never let me down!

I'll keep trying this one out, but I suspect that Joy will always get the final word.


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How To Cook Everything's Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate Pudding

2 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch salt
3 eggs
2 1/2 c. half and half
2 tbsp softened butter
1 tsp vanilla

Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or small saucepan. Meanwhile combine the sugar with cornstarch and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the eggs and half and half. Stir the liquid into the powders and heat over medium heat, whistk to eliminate lumps and then stir until the mixture thickens. The recipe claimed 10 minutes, but after 25 I finally cranked the heat to medium high and got the job done in another five. Add the melted chocolate, and stir to combine. Add the butter and vanilla. Cover with plastic wrap, directly on the surface of the pudding. Refrigerate.

Rating: B-
Notes: Sad, huh! It seems so right! But the Joy of cooking vanilla recipe was just so much better. And the half and half and butter were excessive-- they didn't add anything. Too bad. Still infinitely better than anything instant, with a nice dark chocolate flavor. I'm just convinced there are better chocolate pudding recipes out there.