Thoughts on these seafood cookbooks?

The Big Book of Fish & Shellfish: More Than 250 Terrific Recipes - Fred Thompson

Rick Stein's Complete Seafood - Rick Stein

Simply Shellfish: Quick and Easy Recipes for Shrimp, Crab, Scallops, Clams, Mussels, Oysters, Lobster, Squid, and Sides - Leslie Glover Pendleton

Fish & Shellfish: The Definitive Cook's Companion - James Peterson

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking - Molly Stevens

The only thing I cook really well is seafood, but I'd like some more complex and interesting recipes that I may not have tried before. Any thoughts on the above books?

TIA,
Joe

Don't know these particular books, but we have several others by James Peterson that are quite good.

Unprompted recommendation: Try getting them from Jessica's Biscuit, if you aren't planning that already.


Mike

Thanks, I'll take a gander.

Could never cook seafood worth a hoot until I stopped using cookbooks. But if I had to use one in an emergency it would still be James Beards' "New Fish Cookery."

Have looked at the others, and am not impressed.

Cheers, Carl

It is a nice book over techniques and some recipes. I really like it as a reference.

Francesco

Thanks, I'll take a gander.

Wow! That's really kinky.

[James Roscoe]

Thanks, I'll take a gander.

I thought you were looking for a seafood cookbook. You want goose now? I'm so confused.

Ganders aren't fish?

Maybe I was wrong about being good at seafood

[Jenise]

Joe, I'm not familiar with any of those books, either. But here's another approach: the cookery store Williams Sonoma has an extensive website that thankfully and inclusively understands categorical searches like "seafood", and they have a ton of recipes on their site along with pictures of the dishes which is great for plating ideas. Mind you, I'm not promoting Williams Sonoma per se nor am I suggesting that there's any replacement for the kind of information you get in real books, but this website could be a great resource to augment any books you buy.

Here's the link: http://www.williams-sonoma.com/srch/recipe.cfm?action=RCP&searchform=1&recipe=seafood

Joe,
The only one of these authors I've heard of is Rick Stein. I love his television program, so if the recipes are as good as the way he depicts them on the screen, then you should be onto a winner. Seafood is his forte.
http://www.rickstein.com/rickstein_biography.htm
Cheers,
Sue

Thanks guys.

I was able to get a number of these through my local library. It's unlike me to test something out before I buy (BUY! BUY! BUY!) it... I think this is a reflection of my lack of room for books rather than any blossoming rationality.