Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I find reviews that mention how entertaining a cookbook is without actually having attempted any of the recipes completely useless. So I'm leaving my two cents after actually making some of these dishes. I made the "Salmon with Soy and Citrusy Charred Scallions" the flavor combinations are intriguing but unbalanced. The combination of lemon/lime zest + juice + orange juice made this extremely acidic. Even when poured over salmon and served with rice your lips pucker from the amount of acid. It definitely needed something sweet, honey or mirin, something to help counter balance the amount of citrus in the recipe. The second dish I made was the braised brisket with caramelized honey and garlic. When you add the star anise, onion, garlic, ginger, chili, bay leaves and cinnamon stick to the caramelized honey the aroma is incredible. But unfortunately none of those flavors are even detectable in the dish. Using 4 cups of beef broth + 1 1/4 cups of soy sauce + 2 Tbsp of fish sauce made this a wet salty disaster. The remaining braising liquid is completely inedible and ended up having to be tossed, which is a shame, the taste fell far short of what the initial aroma promised. I followed the overnight focaccia recipe to a T and ended up with an over proofed dough that lost it's elasticity and chewiness. I'm going to have to keep the book....my son poured his milk all over it. Otherwise this would be going back.