The Best American Recipes 1999: The Year's Top Picks from Books, Magazine, Newspapers and the Internet

In order to create this mixed bag of the year's 100 best recipes from books, magazines, newspapers and the Internet, McCullough (Great Food Without Fuss) and Hamlin (New York Times contributor) tested more than 500. The dishes include such intriguing concoctions as Niloufer Ichaporia King's Parsi Deviled Eggs with jalape o and lime juice, selected from the San Francisco Examiner. Notes in the margin accompany each recipe, listing serving suggestions, beverage recommendations and cross-referenced companion recipes. In an entertaining introduction, McCullough and Hamlin break down their choices (some recipes were chosen because they add a twist to a classic, while others introduce a new ingredient) and offer a clever rundown of the year's top-10 developments in food (""Comeback of the Year: Cheese""). The best recipes reflect one of these categories or trends (Perfect Brownies are an example of a perfected classic, and Dried Fruit and Pomegranate Seed Upside-Down Cake stars pomegranates, nominated ""fruit of the year""). Readers may question some of the selections, however. Do home cooks really need two recipes for dog food (including French Country Soup for Dogs)? Meanwhile, old standbys (Frozen Margaritas from KitchenAid and Linguine con Vongole, Fort Hill Style) nicely round out the selection. $100,000 ad/promo; 9-city author tour; BOMC/ Good Cook selection. (Oct.)