Has Anyone Had Success with the Cookbook Great Good Food by Julee Rosso?

[Natasha]

Hi all,

I got this cookbook as a present several years ago and initially thought it would be fantastic, as it has lots of healthy and appealing-looking recipes and a homey sort of feel. However, I found the author off-putting with her smugness and holier-than-thou attitude. (Okay, now I ll tell you how I REALLY feel... ;) :D.) Anyway, hope I don t offend anyone; this is, of course, just my little humble impression. I know the author wrote the Silver Palate Cookbook and the New Basics Cookbook with Sheila Lukins, and that those books also sold quite well, though I don t have either one.

Now I am contemplating whether to pass the book on to a secondhand bookstore or keep it. Has anyone had any success with this book? Any recipes I should have a gander at or absolutely must try? Or is it unsalvageable, given the circumstances?

Thanks in advance. :)

Natasha

[Lynn B]

Natasha,

No offense taken, sweetie :) but I really like that book! Now, I haven't read it cover-to-cover, so I can't really say that I noticed any smug attitude on the author's part (I'll look it over again though -- and if it's there, I'll find it!!! ;))

True, I don't use it everyday (I have well over 100 cookbooks!)... but there have been times when I'm looking for something and can't find it anywhere else, and there it is in that book.

I also have The New Basics Cookbook, and like it a lot, too.

So my vote would be, keep it! (Of course, I am a little bit phobic and compulsive about my cookbooks and can't bear to part with ANY of them!!! But that's just me! :)) And even if you don't use it, don't you agree it looks lovely on your shelf??!! ;)

Lynn

[ClaraB]

Well, I had a similar experience with this cookbook, except I actually bought the book for myself :o . I did enjoy reading it, but none of the recipes in it ever made it into my keeper file. I ended up giving it to our library a few years ago. So, if you decide to do the same, I for one won't be dismayed ;) .

[kennon123]

I would say keep it! I have this book as well as the other two she wrote w/ sheila. However, if you look at those books (like the silver palate) they all you like a stick of butter. He recipes are refreshing and quite good. Off the top of my head, I am trying to tell you whihc recipes I liked. I haven't made THAT many, but I have tried a few. I tried and enjoyed several recipes with ground turkey and corn. Also, they are some good bean recipes. I am soory i don't know the names of them, but i can tell you that it is a nice book. Alos, I love the little side notes on individual ingredients, spices, and cuisines. She also has grea sections on frozen yogurt, flovored vinegars and oils, greens, etc.
I hope you keep it, but if you don't i am sure someone else ca fnd some enjoyment in it!;)

[JackieO]

I can't speak to "Great Good Food" directly, but I have both the original Silver Palate Cookbook, from which I have had nothing but success (if also nothing but fat/calories) and what I believe is a later Julee Rosso book called "Fresh Start." I've tried some of the recipes from that book but use it more for guidelines when making sauces, dressings, dips, etc., in an attempt to make them lighter.

As I understand it, Julee had a falling out with Sheila, and Sheila apparently went on to be more of a "star" in the culinary world while Julee moved to Michigan and gained weight. Her "Fresh Start" book is a cookbook that basically lays out a diet plan with whole menus, plus lots of tips on how to lighten common foods, what herbs/seasonings to use to flavor foods without fat, etc. I use it more as a reference manual than a cookbook, but overall, given my experience with the two books of hers that I own, I'd definitely keep it. Unless your shelf is too crowded with other (similar) books (like don't I know THAT experience!) :o

[Natasha]

Good morning, all!!

Thanks very much for your input. I flipped through the book again last night and you re right; it is probably worth keeping. I like the pages where she discusses various fruits, veggies etc., and her little ideas here and there. So recipes aside, it s not a bad book, so I will keep it for now. Of course, if anyone has any recipes in that book they would recommend, please do share as I would still be interested.

Thanks!
Natasha

[Ralph]

We've had this cookbook for many years. When we first got it, we made quite a few recipes, of course over the course of a year or so since the book has that seasonal theme. Most all of them turned out pretty good. We'll still use it occasionally, but w/the subscription to CL and a number of other cookbooks on the shelf, we don't use it as much as we used to.

To go a step further, we knew Julee owned a bed & breakfast in Saugatuck, MI. Several years back, we took a vacation to northern Michigan, then spent a few days in Saugatuck. Unfortunately, the B&B was not available for the nights we were looking for. Plus, the woman we spoke to on the phone said that even if we stayed there, it would have been unlikely for us to meet Julee - she's rarely there. This woman just suggested we go to a bookstore in Saugatuck to pick up an autographed copy of the book!

[pammy]

I used to use this book quite a bit for entertaining. I made the chicken mole (took forever, but was yummy), and a bunch of the New Year's eve and Christmas recipes. Also, there is a recipe for carrot cake muffins that is to die for. I'll have to dig that out and post it. I've actually baked the batter in cake pans and made a carrot cake from the recipe. Also, a very yummy recipe for lemon-poppyseed pound cake. Hmmmm, thanks for bringing this up Natasha, my newer cookbooks had pushed this one to the bottom of the stacks.

[doggerham]

Pammy Thanks for mentioning specific recipes from this book. I've had it for a number of years, but don't think I've ever made anything from it -- although I have read it cover to cover -- probably more than once. I also was kind of put off by the seasonal organization - it makes looking for several recipes from a common food group difficult (that's how New Basics is organized)

Anyone else have specific recommendations from this book?

Also, I have New Basics which I like very much. I use it more as a reference tool (roasting times and temperatures in particular) than for particular recipes, though I've liked most of the recipes I've tried -- just not low fat. I also have Silver Palate and have never made anything from it because it was all pretty decadent.

Amy

[susangibbs]

I know I'm tuning in a little late here (I've been off-line for a few days!) but I have to say I know exactly what Natasha means about the Julie Rosso "smug attitude." I found it a little off-putting myself when the book first came out.

My main complaint about Great Good Food though is that there are a lot of mistakes in it: i.e. ingredients listed but never used in the body of the recipe or vice versa, and recipes that just weren't that good. It's been a few years since I've used the book, so I can't remember which specific recipes I had problems with, but I know a friend had similar complaints, as did several reviewers.

[Wendy w]

Originally posted by Lynn B
So my vote would be, keep it! (Of course, I am a little bit phobic and compulsive about my cookbooks and can't bear to part with ANY of them!!! But that's just me! :)) And even if you don't use it, don't you agree it looks lovely on your shelf??!! ;)



Lynn, are you my lost twin?;) :p ?

[breadmama]

A few years ago, our family vacationed in Saugatuck, and we wanted to see the famous B&B. Since we had small children, we couldn't stay there, but found that they had a small window of time to come in and look around in the afternoon. It was lovely, and the rooms were beautifully decorated. We thought that it would be a pleasant place to come for a getaway weekend.

That was then...don't know how it is now.

I don't use Great Good Food much for cooking, and just relegated it to the basement to make room for some new cookbooks...(You'd think I could part with it, but NOOOOOO!) I think I like the sidebars and ingredient info better than her recipes.

I like the idea of passing along cookbooks to the library. I certainly like checking out cookbooks! Maybe that would help with the book overload problem we have here...

[kathleen415]

We have all three Silver Palate cookbooks and I love them. We use the New Basics very regularly for cooking times and charts as well as recipes. I really like the seasonal approach, in fact my cooking magazines are all sorted by month rather than year (all the Januarys together etc, back to Bon Appetit in 1983). It helps me figure out complementary menus easier. I didn't like Great GOod Food initially but kept it cause I can't seem to throw it out and "maybe someday I'll use it".

[Lauren]

I have both Great Food and New Basics. Although I'm not planning on giving away either of them, I have really gotten much more use out of the New Basics. Of course, now I mainly refer to CL!