Customer Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Southern Cuisine with Twist!
Comment: Having desired this cookbook for awhile, not disappointed in the least now that its in my collection.This is rich book, with a rectangular format with big print and nice photos accompanying each recipe, which is given in adequate instructions and comments.
Knocked out by the variety and creativity of this recipe collection. They combine so many tastes and styles here --- Moraccan, Asian, Mexican, etc. Try these and you'll go bonkers as I--- Spicy Green Tomato Soup with Crab & Country Ham, Moraccan Roasted Eggplant Bisque with Grilled Chicken and Minted Yogurt, Roast Squab with Blackberry Essence & Carrot-Thyme Spaetzle, Pan Fried Mountain Rainbow Trout with Green Tomato and Lime Brown Butter Salsa on Sweet Potato, Artichoke and Crawfish Hash, or Grilled Sturgeon on Wild Rice Risotto with Butternuts, Grilled Leeks, and Cider Reduction.
Desserts are exceptional here, especially: Brown Sugar Pear Poundcake, and the Banana Pecan Crostata with Jack Daniels vanilla ice cream.
Super creative food, that takes some time and attention to prepare, but the results are worth it.
Recommended for the serious cook who likes this food which ventures to truly zap the diner with flavor, flavor, flavor. Excellent!
Customer Rating:
Summary: The Barkers are the Best!
Comment: I'm a recent transplant from New York and have been spoiled rotten by its hundreds of cutting-edge restaurants and innovative chefs. But I have to tell you, the Barkers and Magnolia Grill are right up there. As a rule, I find chef cookbooks beyond the capabilities of the average-- or even the advanced-- home cook. NOT AFRAID OF FLAVOR is the exception. Not only are its recipes inviting, they're approachable. Moreover the story of the Barkers and their Durham, NC restaurant is warm and appealing. Thanks to the Barkers (not to mention several other local chefs they've mentored), this red-clay country is no gastromic wasteland. Even my New York City friends are impressed. I've given NOT AFRAID OF FLAVOR to half a dozen of them and they're as impressed by the cookbook as they are by the cooking they sampled at Magnolia Grill. From a huge Barker fan.
Customer Rating:
Summary: The restaurant's favorites adjusted for the home cook
Comment: The author run the Magnolia Grill restaurant in North Carolina and here provides a cookbook of their dishes and Southern culinary traditions. The restaurant's favorites have been adjusted for the home cook and include fine innovations ranging form Salmon Choucroute in Creamy Mustard Sauce to Roasted Duck Breast with Sun-Dried Cherry Conserve. Color photos pepper and finish the presentation.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Beautifully illustrated, aptly elegant.
Comment: Not Afraid Of Flavor: Recipes From Magnolia Grill showcases more than one hundred Southern dishes that are simply delicious and ingredient-driven. From Spicy Grilled Shrimp with Grits Cake, Country Ham & Redeye Vinaigrette, Gabriel's Favorite Crispy Parmesan Chicken with Lemon & Capers, and Molasses Mashed Sweet Potatoes, to Pickled Pepper Relish, Deep-Dish Apple Cinnamon Crisp with Brandied Vanilla Ice Cream, and Watermelon Ganita, Not Afraid Of Flavor is a beautifully illustrated, aptly elegant, and very welcome addition to any kitchen cookbook collection.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A chef-written book for home cooks, not just a souvenir
Comment: I got this book because Magnolia Grill is a favorite restaurant. It's a gorgeous book with incredible photographs, but after seeing the authors of the Food Network the other night I am inspired to get it dirty in the kitchen. The recipes they cooked on the air were not terribly complicated and they looked yummy. I particularly like the Barkers' advice to break the rules and adapt the recipes to your own tastes and to what fresh ingredients are available.
