JoAnn Cianciulli

I've watched all 3 US MasterChef shows on TV. I decided to check out this cookbook with the season one contestants featured. It's an attractive, easy to read cookbook. It was fun remembering some of the contestants and some of the challenges. Oh, yeh, the vegetarian! Oh, yeh, the guy who thought he was hot stuff!

I did like some of the helpful hints - I think I'll try putting my uncracked eggs in the poaching water before I poach them to help the whites keep their shape.

I did not try any of the recipes. I checked this out from the library so it is not my copy to keep. I'm not sure that I would try any of the recipes if it were my own cookbook. Possibly, a few of them. A lot of them looked a bit more complicated than I would normally do. A few were simpler. Many had ingredients that are a bit pricey.

What looked good to me: Baked Brie with Blackberry Sauce, Chic Macaroni and Cheese (I remembered that from the show), Chef Graham's Texas-Style Chili. Which reminds me - this was the challenge where the contestants had to name all 20 ingredients but they failed. However, the TV show did not tell us the 20 ingredients. Here they all are.

So, pretty to look at and, if you're really ambitious, possibly fun to try out.… (meer)