The Flavor Bible

Today's book is not a cookbook, per se, as it doesn't include recipes, but sure is a pretty nifty book to have on hand in the kitchen!

Summary: Great cooking goes beyond following a recipe--it's knowing how to season ingredients to coax the greatest possible flavor from them. Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish. Thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provide a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Readers will learn to work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients; experiment with temperature and texture; excite the nose and palate with herbs, spices, and other seasonings; and balance the sensual, emotional, and spiritual elements of an extraordinary meal. Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from America's most imaginative chefs, THE FLAVOR BIBLE is an essential reference for every kitchen. -Hachette Book Group

I was so excited to receive The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. As I mentioned yesterday, I'm not much of a chef, but I do like cooking. I enjoy playing around with different flavors, mixing different spices with things to see how they'll taste. This book is awesome with that! One of my favorite treats is pumpkin seeds. Now, I know, they're really only a fall time treat, only available when there are pumpkins available to carve. I have found that you can order them online now, and I might just be doing that. One of the suggestions in the book was caramel. I love caramel, and I love pumpkin seeds. I sure would love to try caramel pumpkin seeds to see just how yummy they are. Stay tuned. I'll let you know if I do try it. Another 'recipe' that I found that I'm looking forward to trying is Balsamic-Caramel Chicken with Brocolli and Walnuts. (Can you tell I like caramel??) While there's not a recipe for it, just the thought of the flavors sounds yummy. Oh man. My stomach is grumbling, and I just ate lunch!!

Again, I want to thank Hachette Books for this book. I hope you get a chance to try it out yourself-you might find some new combinations of flavors that become your favorite!