Customer Reviews

Cooking for One (Quick & Easy (Silverback))

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

 

 

At only 64 pages, this is not a large book. But if you're looking for creative recipes that serve one, this might be the right choice for you.

A few pages are devoted to kitchen basics, but they're clearly targeted to the challenges of cooking for one person. Shopping and storage tips, basic tools and equipment -- these can be a little different when you're not cooking for a family. The advice given here is sound, and goes a long way to minimize waste.

The recipes are organized into categories: Seductive Starters, Light Snacks, Everyday Delights, Fancy Treats, and Sweet Afters. There's a comprehensive index at the end, and a very useful ingredient index near the beginning of the book. The recipes make minimal use of "convenience" products, opting instead for totally "from scratch" cooking with fresh produce and meats.

From the simplicity of Elegant Lemon Tarragon Salmon to the only slightly more complicated Sage Chicken with Cheese Potatoes, there are recipes to suit nearly every taste: vegetarian, poultry, meat, desserts, and side dishes. Most of these I would classify as "treats" -- not your average "meat and potatoes" or grilled chicken breast with broccoli. These recipes tend to be a little more upscale, but still easy to put together if you know basic cooking techniques.

Despite it's small size, this really is a good value for the money.

Whilst the recipes are for the most part interesting, and not that hard to prepare fairly quickly, they fail to take account of the predicament of the single person - it's six o'clock, been a rough day, time to think about what to fix for dinner, and here's a fun-looking dish . . . but oops, I'm missing that container of crème fraīche I saw once in a gourmet store. Wait, here's another mouth-watering meal - but I don't have a spare fennel bulb in my windowbox garden. Darn, don't have a fresh sweet fig either, so much for that one. Here's a good one! I even have half a mango left from the last recipe, wonder if it's still . . . blast, it's gone bad in the fridge. The heck with it, I'll just zap a frozen meal in the microwave and list this book for sale as a barely-used book on Amazon . . . it'll take less time than driving to the store to get the stuff I don't have. Pity.

This book is perfect for someone who likes to make dishes that are out of the ordinary. I am just learning how to cook and will probably not make too many receipes from this book.

My granddaughter has her first apartment, and finding it difficult to cut down recipes to serve one. I really wanted something basic that was not too difficult, nothing exotic, using ordinary ingredients. I think this cookbook was did not fill my expectations.