Customer Reviews

The Best 30-Minute Recipe

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If this is your first cookbook from the ATK/Cook's Illustrated crew, I can almost guarantee you will be very happy with it. It's a very thorough and accessible approach to some cracking good recipes. The prose style is entertaining and informative and helps a less experienced cook get some insight into the tastes and textures that make a "good" recipe.

But if you want to learn more or get further into the style, you may find that you get less geniunely new material with each subsequent purchase. While any one of their books is very much worth having, they tend to endlessly repackage and reissue their recipes in various formats. That's a little problematic for someone who is a fan of the ATK approach, but also is in no way a collector of cook books. If a cook book has 3 or 4 recipes that I haven't seen before and genuinely want to try, I'll be satisfied, and each new ATK issue just barely satisfies that criterion. But the relatively high cost of acquiring these new recipes along with the 5th iteration of, say, mashed potatoes, Chicken Parmesan and skillet tamale pie, may irritate and exasperate some buyers.

One reviewer called these folks "A cottage industry gone amok". That has some truth to it, but it may be a little harsh. A more sympathetic reframing might be that they are simply trying to package their recipes in convenient ways so as to meet the demands of a particular segment of the cookbook market: "Best Recipe" vs "America's Test Kitchen companion series" vs "Cook's Illustrated compilation". And "Quick Meals" vs "Light Meals" vs "Vegetables" and "Soups and Stews". But at some point, the typical cook will probably decide that he or she is being rather cynically exploited by some shrewd entrepeneurs determined to squeeze every possible cent out of about 350 really good recipes, supplemented with some helpful product reviews. I haven't reached that point yet, but I may soon.

So in summary: excellent cookbook, but docked a star for my purposes because I am paying "all new recipe" prices for a "20% (or less)new material" format.

This is my eighth book in my Cook's Illustrated (CI) collection and I have really enjoyed it. While it is true that many of CI's cookbooks are packed with repeat and/or repackaged recipes as other reviewers have pointed out, this book stands out from the pack in that it offers techniques in streamlining recipes so that you can get a delicious meal on the table in 30 minutes or less. And yes, every recipe I have tried has lived up to that promise (unlike other famed 30 minute cookbooks!). For people familiar with CI, this is quite a change in pace. My only real complaint with other CI books has been that the recipes can be involved and time consuming and leave your kitchen looking like a disaster area when you're finished. The good people at America's Test Kitchen didn't seem to be aware with how much kitchen equipment they had you dirtying with their recipes! This hardly made CI recipes very appealing on those weekdays when you needed a fast and easy meal on the table. This book changes all that! I can finally have delicious CI recipes even on high-stress, fast-paced days!

It is clear that CI had two very distinct goals when they put this book together...(1)every meal truly must take the average home cook 30 minutes or less to prepare, and (2)every meal must taste great. While this may sound like a given, most other 30 minute/quick meal books do not always deliver on those counts. Not only do they usually take the average cook WAY longer to prepare (do they even take prep time into consideration when they are putting together the recipes?) but even more importantly, all too often the shortcuts they take compromise the overall quality of the dishes, leaving them flat and unexciting. This is not so with CI's 30 Minute Recipe. They truly have found ways to shave time and effort off of so many of their recipes without compromising the overall flavor. How exciting to be able to deliver delicious meals even on the most stressed days! I do also love the "Got Extra Time" feature that some of the recipes come with, which gives you the option of making the meals even better if you have a few extra minutes (like using long grain rice instead of instant or adding a few other components to enhance the overall flavor) but the recipes as written are still perfectly delicious on their own. It's just nice to have that option on days that you have a little extra time to put into the recipes.

While the techniques are different than other CI cookbooks, you can still count on all the features that you come to expect from America's Test Kitchen...the product and equipment ratings, illustrations of techniques, quick tips, and detailed explanations as to how they arrived at their recipes can all be found in this book as well. Even the most seasoned CI veteran can still feel comfortable with this book--the techniques may be different but the governing principles of CI are still front and center!

In short, I love this cookbook! While I'm an avid cook and very often enjoy spending extra time in the kitchen putting together delicious and in-depth meals for my family and friends, even I need a quick, low-maintenance meal from time to time. Thanks to CI, I now have techniques to streamline my cooking processes while still delivering fabulous meals!

I love all my cookbooks from the Cook's Illustrated line. This one is great, too! The recipes truly are doable in under 30 minutes. And when they say 30 minutes, they mean thirty minutes from start to finish- NOT 30 minutes of prep time and another hour of cooking!

My family loves the teriyaki recipes! I've never had better teriyaki- fast, light and fresh. We also have made some of the braised chicken dishes and they were very good.

This book is in a similar format to many of their others: there is a discussion of ingredients and methods leading up to the recipe and then usually several variations on the actual recipe itself. I like this because it allows for some flexibility if you don;t have certain ingredients on hand. This cookbook gives tips for how to prepare the recipes in the most efficient manner (for example, it says "While meat is browning, chop the onions"). I usually find that when I've cooked a recipe several times, I'm much faster at it becase I figure out what steps to do in what order- these 'quick tips' help me get there sooner.

The resulting food is fab! This cookbok isn't just for rushed weeknight dinners, the recipes are good enough to warrant including in your regular repetoire of things to prepare for guests and special occasions. Quick doesn't have to mean lower quality, the folk from Cook's Illustrated have proven that here with this book!

Have tried four recipes and all have been very quick and easy to make and have been delicious. Have given the book as gifts and plan to give more. An outstanding book in a wonderful series of books. Never a disappointment with Cook's Illustrated books. Highly recommend to beginner or experienced cooks.

I have yet to find a weak recipe in this cookbook and have used it nightly for several weeks. The recipes are straightforward to follow, use fresh ingredients, and yield excellent results. Highly recommended for any busy person who loves really good food.

I love the "Best Recipe" series from the Cooks Illustrated authors. Each recipe has been thoroughly tested and refined so that everyone who can follow directions can mimic their excellent results. The 30-minute recipes are a collection of recipes that I have cooked (they really do take only 30 minutes and are delicious) and plan on cooking in the future. The ingredients are those that are found in well stocked grocery stores and while I find that I often only use a few recipes from most of my cookbooks, I want to cook most of these recipes in this book.

The best part of this cookbook and the rest in the series are the directions and the explanations. They take the time to explain why some choices about ingredients or techniques were made and not others. They take the time to give directions on how to perform cooking tasks; these explanations are very well written and the simple diagrams, when necessary, are effective. I especially like their reviews of products and cooking items. The carefully describe WHY they prefer one item over another in different circumstances. Reading this book makes me feel like I am in a master cooking class and gives me the confidence and the knowledge to try my own ideas in the kitchen.

A large number of great recipes and great cooking lessons. A great deal for the price!

I gave up on cooking many years ago. In the past, I would spend hours in the kitchen to make one dish that would turn out so so. I was so frustrated that my husband took over the cooking in our home. He can make up his own recipes and the dishes would turn out delicious. I do not have that skill. I have been looking for that one cookbook that had easy to prepare recipes that were fast and delicious. This is that cookbook. So far, I have made 3 meals since Christmas and they have all been easy to make and delicious. The recipes have been so good that I am actually looking forward to my next time cooking. I appreciate the written discussion with the recipes to explain some of the ingredient choices and hints to help with the recipe. With me not being an experienced cook, I need all the help I can get. I have been very pleased with this cookbook.

I agree with the reviewer who was frustrated with the amount of repackaging that Cooks does--although it is probably necessary for their business model, given that they accept no advertising. I have always been willing to pay their prices because of the quality of their recipes and of their techniques, and this book was no exception. What drove me over the edge was that, having ordered it from Cooks directly, I inadvertently got signed up for their "Automatic Preview Privilege," which meant that cookbooks just started showing up at my house. It tooks MONTHS to get them to stop. So, while I will keep buying their books and their magazine, I won't be doing it through them--will stick with Amazon, B&N, or my local bookstore.

If you're tired of the same old quick dinners, this book is for you! I have been very impressed with the variety of cuisine in this book, and so far, I have been able to make them all in around 30 minutes. I have used AMT's "The New Best Recipe" for several years and the recipes always turn out as promised. This book has the same trustworthy recipes, but without the 2-3 hour cooking time! The recipes taste great and are easy to make as long as you plan out your shopping list ahead of time as some of the recipes use unusual ingredients. I gave this book to my sister and she loves it too.

Plenty of cookbooks promise quick recipes, then either add time or skimp on flavor. Not so in The Best 30-Minute Recipe: each and every recipe here has been tested time and again - some 300 of them - and paired with overall time-saving techniques busy cooks will appreciate. The 'got extra time?' sidebars offer ideas for embellishments such as sauces which may be made when there's need for a little more zip, while recipes blend quick techniques (such as microwaving long-grain rice) with adaptations which retain flavor while speeding prep time. It also includes shopping hints as a way of speeding things all the way around. Any general-interest public library, especially those catering to busy professionals, will find it a popular lend.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch