The Illustrated Kitchen Bible Your Bible

Every home chef should have a cookbook that not only has recipes for every meal and holiday but also chapters about methods and techniques. It should be more than a book, but a bible of sorts that can be marked up and used for reference. Luckily there is a great , epic cookbook that fits that need.

The Illustrated Kitchen Bible:1,000 Family Recipes From Around The World  (DK Publishing) is the must have book that should be in every kitchen library. Author Victoria Blashford-Snell, a Cordon Bleu trained caterer and cooking instructor has compiled a cookbook to rival the classic Fannie Farmer.It is a huge soft cover book with over five hundred pages of all sorts of recipes and detailed ,illustrated how tos. This is the perfect bridal shower gift for any couple staring their own kitchen or for the newly graduated moving onto that first job and first apartment. Home chefs should also have this as well. What I love about it is the vast array of recipes from all over the world. It seems every country under the sun is represented and it's a great way of introducing variety to family and friends. Ms. Blashford-Snell tells readers how to plan and shop, the crucial ingredients in any meal.Another plus are the how tos at the back of the cookbook.There is everything from the simple how to hard boil an egg to the more elaborate butterflying a leg of lamb. Every method is carefully explained so even novices can successfully carve a chicken or shuck oysters, peel and poach fruit or prepare vegetables like an experienced professional chef. There are even pages  on how to grill, bake and make homemade jelly and jam.

The recipes are so amazing. The chapters run from Starters and Light Bites to Desserts and are well illustrated with drool worthy pictures.There are decadent dishes and healthy ones. The starters are perfect for any summer party from the chicken satays to the shrimp cocktail Mexican style. There are the elegant mushroom vol-au-vents for evening cocktails and zucchini sticks for that Sunday afternoon  pool party. The section on bread is one of my favorites. It's not just a recipe for a loaf of white bread, there are ones for English muffins,, rye, croissants (!) and the Italian breadsticks, grissini.It's followed by sandwiches including the classic BLT. Pizza and the Provencale version, the anchovy rich pissaladiere are also represented. Home chefs with families will appreciate the section on kitchen staple dishes such as.arroz con pollo and macaroni with three cheeses. There are endless chicken recipes , from fried to tandoori style as well as recipes on the red meats,from steak and ale pie to roast rib of beef.Seafood is represented in simple baked porgy to the more elaborate salmon in puff pastry. Desserts are a sweet tooth's dream along with being a salute to the EU. There is German Black Forest Gateau to the French madeleines to the Italian panforte..US desserts such as cupcakes with buttercream frosting and muffins grace the pages as do the British treacle tart and Irish Barm Bracks. Pie and cookie recipes round out the dessert chapter.

The Illustrated Kitchen Bible, 1,000 Family Recipes From Around The World is the must have book for every kitchen. It's like having a cooking school and endless recipe file all in one book. Get this book today.It's as important as the stove or the fridge .