Customer Reviews

CAN OPENER GOURMET, THE: MORE THAN 200 QUICK AND DELICIOUS RECIPES USING INGREDIENTS FROM YOUR PANTRY

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Cookbook people fall into three categories: Those who buy them as gifts for others, those who buy them for themselves to use, and those who buy them strictly to read. With the exception of the latter, home cooks will be well-pleased with Laura Karr's unique and quirky Can-Opener Gourmet, which I recently received as a gift.

I think the Publisher's Weekly review, above, misses the point of Karr's book, which is written strictly for the use of canned and packaged foods. It is a time-saver for busy people designed to enhance their quick-cooked meals, not to suggest that canned ingredients are inherently better than fresh. Further, it must have been written by someone with little experience in an actual kitchen, or else they wouldn't have asked such a question as "how hard is it to slice a piece of chicken?" Hello? It's not the slicing-you also have to go to the market and buy the chicken, clean it, and cook it before the slicing occurs. That is Karr's point in saying canned chicken is less time- and labor-intensive than fresh (and indistinguishable in many recipes-I use it all the time).

I found TCOG's premise both interesting and fun. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, and the three I've tried so far turned out great. The only problem I found was that there are more basic recipes included than there need to be. Like many recipe books, this one feels padded toward the end. I think the cookbook reading crowd would have appreciated fewer recipes and more informative chat. But that's a minor quibble.

The thing most casual cooks will have the hardest time with is the use of baby food in several recipes. Logically this makes no sense, as baby food is, as Karr points out, about the safest, most pure food product available. Logic has little to do with the palette, however, so users might be tempted to make their own purées if they can't get past the idea of using Gerber's-but again, that kind of defeats the purpose of the book. As for myself, the fewer times I have to whip out the food processor, the better-after all, strained carrots is strained carrots.

Overall, I'd give The Can-Opener Gourmet 4.5 stars, and recommend it as an excellent holiday gift for adventurous friends and family members who cook.

I am a serious health nut, and after trying out the recipes in this book, I shortened the time it takes to cook meals for my family by half. Laura Karr's recipes taught me to replace high-caloric mixes and hard-to-find seasonal produce with, of all things, jazzed-up baby food! For those of us who enjoy delicious, seasonal dishes but have a hard time finding ingredients or aren't willing to pay $4 for an artichoke when canned hearts costs a dollar, this book is a lifesaver!
My grandmother LOVES the book- I gave her a copy for her birthday and she swears by it- she doesn't have to go to the grocery store as often and she ends up saving lots of money.
Next time you are at the grocery store- go to the canned food section- you will be amazed at what foods come canned- and the have NO PRESERVATIVES. I even learned that there is very little pesticide residue in canned foods!

I saw this book featured on a Food Network show and thought "this is for me!" It was certainly worth a try. I am busy mom of 3, and dinner just never ends up being a priority. Cooking is not my thing, and making time for shopping and food prep is tough for me. The recipes from this book are simple and most come right out of the pantry... saving me the trouble of cleaning out my fridge of all the spoiled veggies from meals I never got to make. And you'd never know that the entire meal came out of cans/boxes/jars from the pantry.
I made the easy fudge recipe and took it to a party where it was a big hit (and SUPER quick to make).
Not everyone has the same issues I do in the kitchen, and I know many other moms who make elaborate meals for the families every night. This books is not for them. But I love this cookbook, it's like it was made especially for me!

I didn't have enough room in the title - but it's good for not only new / timid cooks but also folks in a hurry or with limited refrigerator space, etc - a long list, really.

I bought this book for a teenager who was living with us in the 'tween time' between home and college. She wanted to cook but was a bit intimidated by the idea of just jumping in to something complicated.

She cooked for us frequently using this book, with great success and pretty darn good flavor, too. We also used it frequently to plan menus for vacations in places that had kitchenettes - we could buy most of the food before we left home, and just supplement as needed with quick trips to the refrigerated section.

Sure - most of the ingredients come from cans and boxes, and everyone knows that fresh is best, but even cans and boxes are better than McDonald's! Besides - you can always add a salad or side vegetable to freshen things up.

A great gift for students, nest-leavers, roommates, and very busy families. New parents, too, I'd suggest!

This book is excellent. It provides easy to follow recipes using canned ingredients that turn out great. The recipes require simple easy to find ingredients. It saves time cooking and yet the meals are delicious and full of nutrients. There is not one meal I have cooked out of here that my kids have not enjoyed or my husband not liked.

I have actually put together a box of meals on the go- that is meals that can be done at the last minute and cooked by my husband or older children. They all come from this book.


Well worth the money.
Enjoy.

I've been tricked and couldn't be happier. My wife served me several recipes from The Can Opener Gourmet and I never knew the difference. Good eating is good eating. After dinner when my wife confessed the truth about the recipes, I told her they should have subtitled this book, "a busy wife's kitchen secret." As much as I enjoy eating the recipes, I know my wife enjoys the ease of cooking them even more.

I have always loved to cook. I also love to make things from scratch, so normally I wouldn't look for a book such as this. However, in anticipation of purchasing a home in the country, at least 15 miles from a grocery store, and with gas prices soaring, I decided to check this out of the library after doing some homework online. I picked this book up today and within an hour I had made, and my family consumed, the corn chowder recipe. I was expecting that "canned" taste what with the evaporated milk and cream corn but it was actually really good. Bread and a salad rounded out a nice meal. Before I decide to buy a cookbook, I make a list of all of the recipes I would be willing to attempt to serve my family, and if the list is at least 75% of the total recipes in the book, I find it worthwhile to own a copy. There are only about three or four recipes in the this entire book I wouldn't try and even then, I am only opposed to those because they use ingredients that can't really be replaced that someone in the family doesn't like, like the mushroom pate. Overall, the recipes are simple but elegant and would be easy to use for entertaining. This is the kind of cookbook that can appeal to almost anyone and is very helpful if trying to stick to a small food budget, many of the ingredients in this book can be purchased in bulk or at stores like Aldi. Five stars all the way, this may be one of the best cookbooks I have used lately.

Love this one, I'm "on the go" most of the time and this book enables me to have quick and really good meals. The Baked Crab Cakes are outstanding. Grab this one if you want good food that take less time and taste like you spent hours in the kitchen.

A busy woman's stand-by. Make sure your pantry is well-stocked and you'll always have the means to make a good dinner. My kids especially enjoy the Spanish Rice and the Quiche. A cookbook well worth having.

I love looking through any cookbook just because I love food. But this is absolutely the best one I've found for actually providing successful recipes. I've tried probably 20 different things from this book, and all were outstanding (except for the crab quiche, which was probably because I bought a funky cheap brand of canned crab). The Italian Bean Soup, the Samosas, and Tomato Olive Feta Pasta are some of our favorites. Sooooo good!

For those who have issues with some canned items, you can EASILY substitute them for whatever fresh (or frozen) alternative you want, and still have a delicious simple recipe. Like I said, I love food, but I am unfortunately very kitchen-lazy-- so, if I can make yummy food from this book, you can too.

It also has lots of menu ideas for various seasons/events, substitution and measurement charts, a nice ingredient-based index, and pantry-stocking suggestions.

Buy it-- you won't regret it!