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Off the Eaten Path : Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks
 
 
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Off the Eaten Path : Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks [Paperback]

Bob Blumer (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)


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Book Description

May 2, 2000
Have you ever made watermelon margaritas, baked fish in a brown paper lunch bag, or created a meal inspired by the film Attack of the Killer Tomatoes? If not, let Bob Blumer, The Surreal Gourmet, jump-start your culinary repertoire.

Bob Blumer is today's most imaginative food personality. Whether he is poaching salmon in the dishwasher on the Food Network or designing a "surreal meal" for the Salvador Dali Museum, his wholly unique approach to cooking transforms everyday ingredients into a dining adventure.

With his contagious enthusiasm, Blumer ignites the culinary creativity hidden in everyone, then demystifies the process and demonstrates how cooking can become the springboard to a higher quality of life--whether you are making an intimate dinner for two, entertaining friends, or ironing a midnight snack. Off the Eaten Path's brightly flavored recipes, casual tone, and confidence-inspiring instructions are guaranteed to transform any cook into a culinary hero. Inside learn how to create

EXTREME CUISINE: Recipes and detailed instructions for cooking in your dishwasher, on your car engine, with your iron, and in a brown paper lunch bag
SURREAL MEALS: Cocktails, appetizers, and meals concocted from one set of ingredients--but presented in unexpected and visually arresting ways
"NOT LUCK" DINNER PARTIES: Just like a pot luck dinner--but tastier! Seven friends bring a designated ingredient (and a bottle of wine), and you assemble the meal
CINEMATIC SUPPERS: Cocktails, spiced popcorn, and main courses inspired by the author's five favorite food-related movies--to be enjoyed while watching the video
WINNER DINNERS: Five deceptively simple menus--all killer, no filler

Plus--music to cook and dine by - shopping tips - foolproof wine recommendations - whimsical illustrations by the author - and more fun than a food fight


Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

For Bob Blumer, otherwise known as the Surreal Gourmet, cooking is less a craft and more performance art. In Off the Eaten Path, Blumer forgoes traditional tools and cooking methods for the extremely unconventional, like using a dishwasher to poach fish, a car engine to sizzle shrimp, and an iron to literally press a toasted cheese sandwich to crispness. Blumer wants to shock you, and if such recipes as Blackened Home-Fried Potatoes from Hell, Pyrotechnic Pineapple, and Love Me Tenderloin don't get his point across, the chapter on "Surreal Meals" certainly will. Here, appearances are meant to deceive: salmon has been cut to look like carrots, melon and prosciutto arranged to resemble ham and eggs, and pound cake cut into "fries" and served with a squeeze bottle of raspberry "ketchup." In light of all this, Off the Eaten Path seems less a cookbook than a novelty item you'll keep on your coffee table or give as a gag gift. And so it is, but you'll definitely be amused. --Sumi Hahn Almquist

From Library Journal

Known as the Surreal Gourmet, Blumer is one wacky guy--the cover features him riding a unicycle-cum-egg beater, and he has been known to poach salmon in the dishwasher. The author of two previous cookbooks, he has appeared on the TV Food Network and is an artist as well; Off the Eaten Path is illustrated with his drawings and various culinary "objets d'art" he's created. Recipes are organized under headings such as Winner Dinners (e.g., a menu for Slammin' Salmon Extravaganza), Cinematic Suppers, Extreme Cuisine (the aforementioned dishwasher technique, along with grilled cheese sandwiches made on an iron, and more), and Surreal Meals (Pound Cake "Fries" with Raspberry "Catsup"). An entertaining book that should appeal to cooks with a sense of humor as well as Blumer's fans; for larger collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (May 2, 2000)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0345421507
  • ISBN-13: 978-0345421500
  • Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,045 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

bob blumer is the creator and host of the food network's surreal gourmet, and glutton for punishment. his forthcoming book, glutton for pleasure, is due out in october 2010.

 

Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
5 star:
 (10)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.4 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Pressed-Cheese Sandwiches, anyone?, June 10, 2000
By 
This review is from: Off the Eaten Path : Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks (Paperback)
I recently got to meet Bob at a book signing and had a chance to taste two recipes- the Shrimp on the Bar-B (grilled shrimp in a chipotle dry rub arranged around a Barbie doll) and grilled asparagus. Truly AWESOME food. I've had the chance to make some of the recipes in the book already and can't wait for the next opportunity to try one. Maybe some time this weekend I'll try cooking the lemongrass shrimp on the car engine. There aren't a lot of recipes in the book, but Bob tends to emphasize quality over quantity; all of the recipes are incredibly easy and unlike a lot of cookbooks out there that offer easy cooking but leave you wishing you had made reservations instead, the results are invariably as good or better than your local expensive restaurant.

By the way, in case you're wondering what a pressed-cheese sandwich is, it's just like a classic grilled cheese except that you cook it with your iron. If you want that know how and all kinds of other great information (like taking the luck out of a potluck party), Off the Eaten Path is waiting for you.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Play With Your Food, August 13, 2001
This review is from: Off the Eaten Path : Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks (Paperback)
In "Off The Eaten Path" cookbook author, and closet comedian, Bob Blumer gives you permission to play with your food. Honest! Through very achievable recipes, several unusual techniques, and some of the most comical photos youll ever set your eyes on, he demonstrates that cooking doesn't have to be a chore. All this without using bizarre ingredients or equipment, Ok, a dishwasher might be construed as bizarre. Hey! People once thought deep-frying a turkey was weird and now look.

I'm still working up the nerve to try "Dishwasher Salmon with Piquant Dill Sauce" but I can swear by "Brown-Bagged Lemon-Tarragon Chicken with Capers". His paper bag technique may just replace the need for expensive parchment paper. I don't like creamed vegetables but "(I Can't Believe It's Not) Creamed Corn" from "Slammin' Salmon Extravaganza" is a keeper especially now that corn is in season. It is pure creamy sweet goodness.

There may be a lifted recipe or two in the "Extreme Cuisine" chapter but that's one chapter and there's so much more to this book.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Best recipe book, June 2, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Off the Eaten Path : Inspired Recipes for Adventurous Cooks (Paperback)
I feel weird about writing a review for a recipe book, but this book is so extremely well thought out and put together, that it's worth it and I must. This book is thought out and put together in both content and style. It's a piece of art, but it's packed with real substance: that is to say, the recipes are extremely tasty! There aren't a ton of recipes here, which is a good thing because the author obviously got the chance to use only his favorites. This is a beautiful, beautiful book and I urge you to buy it if you like buying recipe books, or even if you don't - make this your first! Trust me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Food brings friends together. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
surreal gourmet, popping stops, cup lightly
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Old World, Tom Maresca
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Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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