Fabulous Little Book for the Non-Cook!
By Robin Donovan & Juliana Gallin
Viva Editions, $15.95, 198 pages
Robin Donovan and Juliana Gallin are on a mission, a mission to make everyone a cook. This book provides wonderfully simple recipes for someone who believes they cannot cook. The amazing thing is that the recipes are even intriguing to an accomplished cook like this reviewer. Part I includes the basics such as your pantry, tips for rookie cooks and the lazy gourmet toolkit. The authors suggest staple items for every pantry. The tips are practical such as “read the recipe” to “don’t stress over quantities”. The toolkit chapter advises on items such as kitchen shears and a microplane. Part II organizes the recipes by type such as starters, salad, main dishes and desserts. There are eight different categories for recipes. Each recipe begins with an overview explanation, lists the items and quantities needed followed by directions. The recipe ends with amount made or number of servings.
“Stop fretting over elaborate recipes and cumbersome techniques and start cooking the Lazy Gourmet way.”
This reviewer loved the additional information following some of the recipes such as “Make it ahead” detailing portions of the recipe that can be done in advance. Another helpful tidbit on some recipes was the “Serve it with” which details items the recipe could accompany. Finally the most helpful item was the “Change it up” notes proposing other ingredients to substitute or try instead. This information is invaluable to a newer cook and gives the cook numerous other options and a multitude of additional recipes! The book ends with a conversion chart and an index by ingredient and recipe. There are no photographs to aid the new cook in how a finished product should look but given the recipes are pretty simple, this missing element should not trip up the aspiring chef!
Reviewed by Seniye Groff
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