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Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Season 1 Cookbook Reviews
- Posted By: Anna & Kristina
In season one of our show Anna & Kristina’s Grocery Bag, we tested 13 cookbooks to see if they delivered on their promises. From French to Japanese, Italian to Indian, we tried a wide range of recipes from both legendary and lesser-known chefs. Find out which cookbooks get the A&K Stamp of Approval.
Cookbook List: Season 1
(Remember to check out Season 2. And help us out with Season 3 (airs Sept. 2010)!)
Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Volume 1, 40th Edition)
By Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone BeckJulia Child was essentially America’s first celebrity chef. She emphasized technique and made cooking a passion for thousands of North Americans. We dive into the world of French cooking and take our best shot at re-creating some of Julia’s classics. Read our review
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Pure Dessert: True Flavors, Inspiring Ingredients, and Simple Recipes
By Alice MedrichAlice Medrich’s three previous cookbooks have won some prestigious culinary awards. Since we’re both fans of chocolate and desserts, we find out if this cookbook can make us into world-class candy and cookie-makers. Read our review
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Cook with Jamie
By Jamie OliverThis is Jamie Oliver’s seventh cookbook and aims to teach readers the basics of cooking in over 175 recipes. Jamie emphasizes flavour and freshness in his local, organic, and natural philosophy. We find out if Cooking with Jamie can really teach us to be better cooks. Read our review
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Mangoes and Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels through the Great Subcontinent
By Jeffrey Alford and Naomi DuguidThis cookbook challenges you to explore the world and get outside your comfort zone. It’s full of recipes so authentic, they’re unpronounceable! We take our taste buds and cooking skills on a virtual trip to the Far East to find out if this cookbook can teach us the flavourful art of Subcontinent cuisine. Read our review
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Betty Crocker’s Cookbook: Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today
By Betty Crocker EditorsThis is the tenth edition of one of the biggest selling cookbooks of all time. The introduction of the book states it’s full of simple, fast recipes, and lots of healthy alternatives. It promises to teach you everything you need to know to cook today. One of the book’s biggest promises: twenty-minute meals. Read our review
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Nobu West
By Nobu Matsuhisa and Mark EdwardsWe’ve both been to many Nobu Restaurants around the world, and while it’s a pricy indulgence, the meals are worth it in our opinion. But can this cookbook possibly help amateur chefs like us create similar gourmet Japanese dishes? Read our review
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Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition
By Julee Rosso and Sheila LukinsWritten in the late 1980’s, the original edition of this cookbook, with recipes suitable both for entertaining and for everyday, won many culinary awards in the US. We delve into this silver anniversary edition to see if there’s anything new to celebrate. Read our review
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The New Lighthearted Cookbook
By Anne LindsayThis book is all about heart-healthy eating and cooking and is endorsed by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. We examine its recipes to see if these low-fat alternatives are as delicious as they are healthy. Read our review
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How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques
By Steven RaichlenSteve Raichlen’s, How to Grill has over 500 easy-to-make recipes from around the world. Virtually a textbook on everything you need to know about how to use a barbeque, it has tons of information in it, and even an index of all the gear you might need. We find out if that’s enough for a couple of novice BBQers like us. Read our review
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The New InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook
By Martha Hopkins and Randall LockridgeWe put our libidos on the line to try out some steamy recipes from The New Intercourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook. While the book itself appears quite sexy at first glance, we find out if the recipes really measure up to its promise to introduce sensual foods to the love-hungry public. Read our review
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Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes
By Giada De LaurentiisGiada De Laurentiis has had a cooking show for many years, but this is her first cookbook, and it’s actually a New York Times bestseller. It promises to show you how to cook delicious, beautiful Italian food with minimum fuss and maximum flavour. We find out if it really is that fast and easy for everyday cooking. Read our review
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Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook
By Martha Stewart Living MagazineThe Martha Stewart Living Christmas Cookbook has six hundred Christmas recipes. That’s a lot of Christmases. We try a range of recipes from every element of holiday entertaining – appetizers to cocktails to main courses to desserts – to find out if everyday people like us can follow her cookbook instructions to achieve Martha-level perfection. Read our review
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New Food Fast
By Donna HayDonna Hay began her career as a food writer and food stylist at 19. She became the food editor at Marie Claire by 25. She has now sold more than 3 million books worldwide and writes food articles that are published regularly in Australia newspapers. We find out whether her cookbook’s new food fast promise holds up under pressure. Read our review
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Related Links
Anna & Kristina's Grocery Bag Season 2 cookbook list
Flowers for season 1 provided by: Special Moments Flowers & Gift
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On 02 10, 2009 at 12:41:23 PM, Judy R. said:
I love your new show. It really inspired me to make more of an effort in the kitchen. I got "Cook with Jamie" and I'm definitely glad I did. It's so easy to read. Next I'm going to get How to Grill once spring rolls around (and hopefully buy a REAL bbq!)
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On 03 25, 2009 at 09:52:57 PM, Michael P. said:
I really like your new show. I was wondering what you thought of a cookbook that i bought: How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman? I am new to the kitchen and this is my first cookbook that I have purchased. I have tried a few things in it which turned out well, given my limited experience. The book goes into the basics of everything as it's introduced so people like myself have a fighting chance. I personally think this should be a gift for any bachelor (young or old) that is on his own and new to the kitchen. Again, thanks for a great show.
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On 04 15, 2009 at 11:49:10 AM, Anna & Kristina &. said:
Hi Michael, Yes, we know the cookbook "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman and definitely recommend it, especially for beginners. Though it has no photos (we love photos!), it's got so much useful information about the basics of cooking, well, everything! Once you get comfortable with it, you can then branch out and add a little spice or other ingredients to those recipes too, or jump into another book, like "Cook With Jamie" (A&K approved) or for the barbecue: "How to Grill" (also A&K Approved). Enjoy your time in the kitchen, and remember, it's ok to make mistakes!
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On 06 3, 2009 at 10:27:31 AM, Kathy W. said:
I really enjoy your new show. It's on automatic record. I just have a question. With all the cooking that you ladies obviously do with each book plus the taped segments, why do your taped segments always seem to go into disaster mode? Do you find it harder to cook together than if your were to prepare the menu seperatly? I was hoping that you would test either one of the Loony Spoons books or Companies Coming Books.
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On 07 9, 2009 at 01:12:36 PM, Anna & Kristina &. said:
Hi Kathy. When we do the cook day portion of the show, it's all very loosely scripted. The disaster mode is a common theme, probably because we don't plan for enough time or for mistakes to happen. (Will we every learn?) We do work well together, but it's often hard to share a kitchen with someone, especially when there's the stress of finishing up before a guest comes. We'll add Loony Spoons and Company's Coming to our list of potential books for review. Thanks!
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On 07 29, 2009 at 07:40:52 PM, Erin . said:
Hello Ladies! I have declared your new show my personal favourite and have the PVR set so I never miss an episode. I have similar standards for the cookbooks I purchase (i.e. lots of photos, good descriptions, easy-to-find ingredients) and appreciate you test-driving some new ones so I know what to pick up next time I'm in the book store. I was wondering how you determine the menu you will cook from each book? Some of the recipes you choose are very daring but you always make it fun! Thanks!
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On 08 14, 2009 at 02:44:08 PM, Anna & Kristina &. said:
Hi Erin, A lot of thought and planning goes into each cook day. First, we read each book from cover to cover to get a good sense of its style, information and the types of recipes offered. We then work with our production staff to choose a selection of recipes that do a good job of representing the book. If the cookbook is complicated, we stick to two or three recipes. If the recipes look simple, we may tackle as many as 8. If the book touts a seminal recipe, we’ll often try to tackle that, just to see if we can do it. (e.g. Julie Child’s Pate de Canard En Croute.) We also have to take into account timing. We only have one oven so we often have to balance stove top and oven recipes with those that don’t require heat. In addition, we often try to prepare an entire meal for our guest chef - soup, appetizer, salad, main, side dish, dessert, etc. - providing the cookbook lends itself to that. (One book we just tested on seafood didn’t include any desserts, with good reason!) To add to this mix, we take into account previous dishes we’ve made. So if we cooked pork loin recently, we likely won’t choose such a recipe again for a while. Finally, some recipes are simply begging to be made. We just finished testing a book called “Cowboy in the Kitchen” and we came across a stew called “Son of a Bitch”. How we could we resist?
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On 05 4, 2010 at 11:29:11 AM, christina c. said:
Can't wait for more shows! I could watch you guys forever. You've gotten me more interested in cooking! I'm actually kinda good now...well, at least I don't burn things as much anymore.
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