Bon Appetit Every Night Cooking: Fast and Fun: A Real-life Guide to Getting Dinner on the Table
by Bon Appetit Editors
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bon Appetit EditorsEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-18
ISBN: 0609609211
Number of pages: 208
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Book Reviews of Bon Appetit Every Night Cooking: Fast and Fun: A Real-life Guide to Getting Dinner on the Table
Book Review: Good Recipes, but not tip-top on fun or speed.
Summary: 4 Stars
`Every-Night Cooking' by the editors and writers of `Bon Appetit' magazine is a rather ordinary looking book trying to cash in on the Rachael Ray genre of cooking instruction for people who do not necessarily like to cook or have not really put their mind to `how to cook', but still need to cook on most nights. And, as much as I tend to ignore Rachael Ray's books for my own cooking, I have to say that this is the sort of thing she does so much better than we see in this book.
The book's introduction tries to build up enthusiasm for the task by likening cooking to a game, which I can go for in a big way, since I have often compared learning cooking to learning the game of Chess. This reveals the first problem I have with the book. Unlike the real home cooking boosters such as Ms. Rachael, Jamie Oliver, Emeril Lagasse, Nigella Lawson, and even Martha Stewart, this book seems to convey little `joi-de-vivre' that I get every time I read a Jamie Oliver book.
The seventeen page introductory section gives advice on all sorts of incidentals such as what to have in the pantry, what equipment to buy, how to plan menus, how to clean up, menu planning, grilling, and feeding kids! Some of these subjects can easily require whole books in themselves. Grilling alone can fill a library, and yet grilling is not something one will typically do in `every-night cooking'. The lists of pantry items and cooking tools violates in two different ways one of my cardinal rules in the kitchen. That is, never, never, buy an ingredient or tool unless you have specific plans to actually make a dish which needs that ingredient or tool in the next day or two, and you know you will have time to make it and not put it off until the `use by' date expires on the package! I can back that up with the fact that none other than the great Indian cooking writer, Madhur Jaffrey said the identical thing on an appearance on the old `In Martha's Kitchen' show. For equipment, I can cite Alton Brown's great book on kitchen equipment that encourages one to keep things simple and weed out anything you don't use regularly.
The pantry list on page 10 of this book has many things I don't stock and several things I never use. To be sure, the authors don't tell us to go out and get one of everything. I say ignore the list entirely and only get stuff as you need them and sooner or later, if you get one extra of long lasting staples, you will build up a pantry suitable to your tastes.
The `Essential Equipment' list on page 13 is even more insidious in that it would have us all run out and buy well over a thousand dollars worth of countertop hogs such as a countertop blender, a heavy-duty stand mixer, a food processor, and a microwave oven. I will suggest that with good knife skills and no more than three very good, very sharp knives, one can easily make everything in this book with no more than a good hand-held mixer. And, if you are good with a whisk, you probably can get away without that, since there are no pureed soup recipes in this book. Even in the knife department, the list calls for too much. It suggests several paring knives. I have only one at hand in the kitchen, and I use that even less than I use the bread knife.
What we see in this book is lots of miscellaneous information, but nothing on `how to cook'! The book would be a lot more valuable if all this introductory material (except for the advice on cleaning up) were replaced with 20 pages on ingredient preparation, primarily on knife skills.
In general, I believe the recipes here are very good, consistent with the fact that they were published in a major national magazine with expert culinary and copy editing staffs to pick over the recipes and guarantee that they will turn out well in the average kitchen with an amateur cook. I am not impressed, however, with the `Do-Ahead' feature, as I find this inconsistent with the lifestyle of people who are looking for easy meal preparation. A person responsible for making tonight's meal for four will come home at 5:30 PM or later and see the make-ahead suggestion and move on to the next recipe, as this is a sure indication that the recipe will take more time than they have before the family teenagers start complaining of imminent starvation!
The variations feature, especially when the variation is a suggestion of an alternative primary ingredient is much better. The book would have been better if more were done with this feature. Another way to improve the book would have been to use the technique adapted by Ms. Rachael in her newest book, `Express Lane', where she divides up ingredients by pantry items and fresh items. This really fits my strategy of building up your pantry only by actually making dishes and stocking up on pantry items for these recipes.
So, I suspect that many of the recipes in this book are not exactly fast and the book simply does not succeed in conveying a sense of fun. A fine exemplar of `fun cooking' would be `Rick and Lanie's Excellent Kitchen Adventures' by Rick and Lanie Bayless.
If you find this book at a deep discount, its recipes make it a worthwhile purchase. Otherwise, it is just a bit thin and does not fulfill the promise on its cover.
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Summary of Bon Appetit Every Night Cooking: Fast and Fun: A Real-life Guide to Getting Dinner on the Table
Continuing the magazine?s respected series of topical books, Bon Appétit Every-Night Cooking offers recipes and ideas to help even the busiest cooks put together an appealing and imaginative dinner every night of the week.Bon Appétit Every-Night Cooking is for everyone who wants to serve dinners that make it look as if they were cooking all day, when nothing could be further from the truth.
The editors of Bon Appétit start by providing tips on stocking the pantry, shopping, budgeting, storage, menu planning, and making dinner preparation as easy as possible to help save time. They present Dinner Plans?including Instant Stir-Fries, Main Course Salads, Quick Pastas, and Skillet Suppers?in a variety of styles, all with suggestions for variations and preparing ingredients ahead of time. Why not try Breakfast for Dinner, with ideas for omelets, pancakes, and French toast? Or a night of Big Sandwiches? Health Appreciation Night and Meatless Night offer plenty of flavor along with good nutrition. Got a crazy schedule? Maybe a Make-Ahead Casserole or Back-of-the-Stove Stew will fit right in.
With so many options, preparing dinner after a long day will not only be less of a chore, it will be more delicious and fun.
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