A review by cmbohn
I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking by Alton Brown

3.0

I am a big fan of Alton Brown's show on The Food Network, Good Eats. So I looked forward to reading his cookbook. But I have to admit this is not what I expected. The book is organized by cooking method, which seems a little strange to begin with. Then there are no pictures of any of the recipes. There are fun little sidenotes, and interesting tips, but the recipes are constructed in a rather strange way.

Then again, Brown has so many little quirks and extreme preferences that I don't intend to follow. So some of the recipes are not really of interest to me. And then, worst of all, no desserts! OK, maybe that's not really the worst, but I love dessert!

Still, I did find a few recipes and note a few tips I plan to try. I keep reading about how great a brine makes your meat taste, so I plan to try that one. Here's the most basic one, and yet, the easiest to try!

A Perfect Baked Potato

Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry potato. Poke holes in it with a fork. Then rub lightly the entire potato with a little canola oil. This makes a crunchy skin on the potato. Sprinkle the outside with salt. Place the potato directly on the rack in the oven. Cook for about 1 hour.

I haven't tried it yet, but since I love baked potatoes, I will try it soon!