Product Description

A collection of the recipes of Helen Corbitt. It contains over 500 recipes, along with vintage photographs, and a chapter on Helen's life written from interviews with Stanley Marcus, men and women who attended her cooking classes, her personal friends, and her employees.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #484028 in Books
• Published on: 2000-08-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 416 pages

Review
"Declared the Best Tastemaker of the Texas Century." -- Texas Monthly

From the Publisher
Stanley Marcus declared Helen Corbitt "the Balenciaga of Food." Earl Wilson described her simply as "the best cook in Texas." Lyndon B. Johnson loved her stroganoff and wished she would accompony him and Lady Bird-to the White House to run the dining room. Helen Corbitt is to American cuisine what Julia Child is to French. Corbitt's genius was in presentations of new and unusual flavor combinations, colors, and even serving temperatures. She insisted on the finest, freshest ingredients, served with impeccable style. As Director of Food Services for Neiman Marcus, she travelled widely, bringing recipes back to tantalize Texans' tastebuds. Now, you can savor Helen Corbitt all over again-or perhaps for the first time-through a brand new Helen Corbitt cookbook. In The Best from Helen Corbitt's Kitchen, Patty MacDonald serves up more than 500 favorite recipes from Helen Corbitt's Cookbook, published in 1957, Helen Corbitt's Potluck (1962); Helen Corbitt Cooks for Company (1974); Helen Corbitt Cooks for Looks (1967); and Helen Corbitt's Greenhouse Cookbook, published after her death in 1978, as well as never before published recipes, many from her cooking schools.

About the Author
PATTY VINEYARD MACDONALD, a home economist from Oklahoma A&M married to a West Pointer, has revived recipes combined with biography in Long Lost Recipes of Aunt Susan and Spiced with Wit: Will Rogers' Tomfoolery containing more Aunt Susan Recipes. A memeber of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and American Southern Food Institute, she and her husband live in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.

Customer Reviews

Helen Corbitt Revisited
The book is a revamped version of Helen Corbitt's previous cookbooks, all of which I own. I was, however, disappointed that it did not contain more of her unpublished recipes. The chapter on Helen Corbitt's life will certainly be of interest to many people. I am a registered dietitian in Texas and actually met the fascinating Miss Corbitt. Her fabulous recipes for Sugar Cookies and the Flower Pots are included in this cookbook, so it must be more than an okay book!! These are two recipes that I constantly use. They are delicious and are always a hit!! Patty Vineyard MacDonald brought Helen Corbitt's recipes up-to-date by including oven temperatures and other information which was sometimes excluded. This is a great cookbook, especially to introduce the present generation of cooks to Helen's recipes, as well as to let the older generation relive her great artwork.

the grande dame of texas cuisine
This cookbook reintroduces Helen Corbitt, though if you have lived in Texas for years you are no doubt familiar with her. She became famous as the head of the restaurants of Neiman-Marcus department stores, and many Texans know her through her texas "caviar", hot fudge pecan balls, retro molded salads, fabulous "potluck" recipes, poppy seed dressing, and other Texas favorites. If you cannot find the original editions, this is certainly one to own. You will find yourself using it over and over again.

Helen Corbitt's ZODIAC ROOM at Neiman-Marcus
The Zodiac Room, at the top of the legendary Neiman-Marcus Department store, in downtown Dallas was my first real exposure to how wonderful food could be...my Mom was an excellent Texas cook, my Texan grandmothers were wonderful cooks as well. Their repertoire was traditional Texas fare...chili con carne, chicken fried steak with cream gravy,cream pies, fried okra, cheese enchiladas and so on...and I loved their food. I grew up in West Texas surrounded by amazing, delicious food.

But the first time I ate Helen Corbitt's Guinea Hen Madeira,her Crabmeat Chantilly, her Poppy Seed Dressing, my life changed. Her food at the Zodiac Room was amazing...it changed my life.

For the last twenty years I have cooked for a living and Helen Corbitt remains my primary inspiration.

I am so thrilled to see Helen Corbitt's recipes back in print. I place her in the late 20th century Cooks Pantheon next to James Beard, Julia Child, Adelle Davis and Martha Stewart.

Stewart Wise