Each summer, thousands of cooks - both amateur and professional - compete in the Build A Better Burger recipe contest, a winner-takes-all national
cook-off at Sutter Home Family Vineyards in Napa Valley. In this collection marking the 15th anniversary of the cook-off, best-selling cookbook author
James McNair presents a mouth-watering look at the contest, including each of the 44 recipes that have won awards since Build A Better Burger began.
An impressive list of culinary professionals - from Thomas Keller and Mark Miller to Marion Cunningham and Arthur Schwartz - have judged the BBB cook-ff
over the years. Twelve former judges, including Bruce Aidells, Cindy Pawlcyn, and Sheila Lukins also share their creative burger recipes in
Build A Better Burger.
Some of the innovative and tasty burgers, representing the best of the more than 50,000 contest entries since 1990, are Tuscan Burgers Bruschetta,
Mustard-Grilled Lamb Burgers with Grilled Eggplant Salsa, Hawaiian Tuna Burgers with Maui Wowee Salsa, Casablanca Burgers with Citrus-Olive Relish
and Harissa Aioli, Cuban Pork Burgers, and San Francisco Cioppino Burgers.
To complement the burgers, Jeffrey Starr, Sutter Home's culinary director and executive chef, suggests a wine match for each one and offers general burger-and-wine
pairing tips. The winning recipes in Build A Better Burger
prove that American ingenuity is alive and well when it comes to building the perfect burger.
About the Author: James McNair has served as the head judge of Build A Better Burger since it began in 1990, heading both the regional selection process and the
cook-off judging; he is now the chairman of the national contest. The author of more than forty cookbooks, he has received an Award of Excellence from
the International Association of Culinary Professionals. McNair teaches cooking classes and gives culinary lectures around the country and has
appeared on many national television shows. He lives in Napa Valley.
Let's Get Cooking!
While there are many reasons for teaching kids to cook -- less expensive than eating out, preserves family heritage, etc, the most important
reason is that by teaching your child to cook, you're giving him a better chance to be a healthy grown-up. Enabling your child with the ability
to appreciate freshness and to transform ingredients into tasty foods opens their eyes to making wiser choices about what to eat...
Let's Get Cooking!
