Customer Reviews

The Dinner Doctor

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am a huge fan of Anne's Cake Mix Doctors. The books got me into baking (which I was scared to do) and her recipes not only make cake mix GOOD they WORK. (Anne's Banana Cake in the first book made satisfied my nostalgic longing for a similar Sara Lee cake we used to have for family dinners in the 1970s.) So I was happy to give The Dinner Doctor a try if just for the memories (we had a lot of tuna casserole for those family dinners) but this book is not about nostalgia: It is perfect for the modern family to make some quick, easy, tasty meals using things I easily found in the supermarket. I am stuck right now on the deli roasted chicken recipes (we call them rotiserie chickens in NYC). For my money, these chix are tasty, easy, cheap, and abundant but after awhile they are just... well... roasted chickens. Anne must have at least 20 ideas and recipes for taking these chickens and just doctoring them with some fresh ingredients to make something different and, yes, BETTER. I plan on making more but we have tried and loved the Asian chicken salad and also liked the burrito bake. The brownie drops were great and the simple mushroom galette was perfect for the fall. I've only had the book for a week and already I can tell that at the very least I'll have lots of great ideas for meals to come (and a few new cakes to boot!).

I had intended to get this out of the library before deciding whether to buy it or not. But I happened upon it at a bookstore and, after perusing it for a few minutes, decided that I just HAD to have it. It is CRAMMED with terrific recipes, ideas and hints, and has become one of my all-time favorites! Almost everything is quick and easy to make, with very precise instructions. Most things are not horrifically fattening, or at least they can be made successfully with low-fat substitutions. Standouts that have become staples in our house include the Nacho Cheese Soup, Mac & Cheese, Corn/Potato Chowder, Dun-buttered muffins, Asian Chicken Salad, Sour cream-cinnamon loaf and John's Summertime Slaw. I would say 98% of the recipes I've tried have worked beautifully.
One thing I like about this book is that there are not a lot of shameless repeats and recyclings, as there are in the cake books. In this book she gives you variations on the recipe in a small box or sidebar, rather than creating a "new" recipe simply by changing the name and one ingredient. And, like the other books, it's very well written in Anne's chatty and unpretentious style. Right on, Anne!

I'm not much of a cook, really. I'll heat things up, or maybe throw some meat or veggies on the grill, but other than that I'm fairly limited in the kitchen. Thus, my wife and I resort to eating out far too much - and that gets old fast.

Enter Anne Byrn's Dinner Doctor book. The appeal was immediate and lasting. Quick receipes made from simple ingredients resulting in unbelievably tasty dishes. I fell immediately under the spell of this book and have since produced many of the recipes at home.

Unlike so many cookbooks, the results of these recipes actually look and taste like they are supposed to, and the instructions are quick and to the point. What's more, Byrn includes numerous side notes explaining ways to doctor the recipes even further and she even encourages would-be chefs to experiment with her creations.

I don't give five stars very often, but this is actually a cookbook that lives up to its promise. I highly recommend it!

The premise of `the Dinner Doctor' by Anne Byrn is that good meals can be made with less trouble than if they were made from scratch if prepared foods such as frozen ravioli or deli potato salad or canned baked beans are enhanced with extra ingredients such as diced vegetables or bottled salsa.

It is important to recognize that contrary to two different statements on the cover of the book, the author's premise is not about speed. Byrn praises slow cooking as one technique to achieve `doctored' meals with less trouble and includes an entire chapter on the subject. She also makes the point that she is not interested in holding a stopwatch to the reader to beat.

One should be clear that Ms. Byrn is not entirely a throwback to the style of cooking praised in the fifties where virtually all meals were seen as something out of a box or a can. Healthy food with only a reasonable amount of unnecessary additives is her objective.

The author to which she is the most similar is Sandra Lee of `semi-homemade' fame. Both of these writers could be compared to Rachael Ray's style of cooking, but it is important to recognize the differences. While both Byrn and Lee are concerned with `easy', Rachael is mostly concerned with quick. What is so amazing about Rachel's results is that they are achieved with so few prepared ingredients. I think Rachael succeeds so well at what she does because she relies on a certain level of kitchen skills which may be more than whan Ms. Byrn expects. Almost all of the commercial preparations Rachael uses are achieved from packaged skinless and filleted meats, cleaned and cut vegetables, and canned rather than dry beans. Ray achieves her results by modifying classic recipes to use smaller dices and grilling or stovetop braising in place of oven roasting or braising.

The differences between Anne Byrn and Rachael Ray are exactly where I have reservations about Byrn's approach. At the outset, I disagree with her suggestion that one should stock a pantry with a wide variety of dried, bottled, canned, and frozen ingredients. As I have said with every other writer who makes this suggestion, the best approach is simply to get the ingredients for dishes you definitely plan to make in the next week, so in the case you don't like that dish, you don't have ingredients you may not need. I have it on the authority of no less than Madhur Jaffrey that this is a wise thing to do.

I also have the vague suspicion that Ms. Byrn is too concerned about always creating dishes with a great complexity of flavor. I got this idea when I read her suggestion about enhancing deli potato salad with several supplementary ingredients to improve the `bland' salad. Since I happen to like simple potato salads with no more dressing than a bit of oil and garlic and parsley, I was really wondering why she thought a simple potato salad needed any help in the first place. The irony of this is that she was so proud of the story she told about a meeting with Julia Child where Ms. Child created a salad simply by washing and drying some lettuce, salting the lettuce, and tossing the greens with some olive oil, and that was it.

In spite of my reservations, this is a very worthy book for the right audience. Judjing from the number of five star ratings and review, this book has found that audience. It does the excellent service of giving estimates of how long each dish will take to prepare and cook. Also, these recipes are very easy to read and follow. If you are looking for tasty dishes with little trouble to prepare plus some general suggestions on getting in and out of the kitchen quickly, this book will work for you. Just be sure you are aware of the trade offs. This food will, in general, be more expensive, have more additives, and be slightly more fatty (note the high use of grated and processed cheese) than if you worked entirely from scratch. I give the book high marks for giving you a large number of recipes for a very reasonable cost.

If you are the type of family who eats spaghetti, frozen pizza, tacos and a few meat-and-threes a week then this is a GREAT pick for your household. My friend got hooked on this book because she doesn't have air-conditioning (big environmentalist) and needed dinners that didn't always demand a hot oven. This book has many recipes that do not need to be cooked at all. I haven't made anything that my family has rejected, and a few are even really good "girl" food. The penne pasta with asparagus and walnuts is one that comes to mind. Another, with smoked salmon in a cream sauce (that took about FIVE minutes to make!) tastes fancier than anything I've ever made. I've tried lots of "quick" "easy" "basic ingredients" cookbooks but this one is the one I use almost every day. There are several recipes that will probably excite children more than parents for picky eaters. A little warning, though: this book doesn't cook from scratch, so it is difficult to keep recipe supplies on hand. You will find yourself having to go to the grocery store every few days to pick up a few things. I'm more of a "stuff-pantry-with-the-basics" person so this took a little getting used to. Also, if you are in any way interested in gourmet food and like cooking classes and all that, you might not like this book. But if you, like me, are a busy mom with a thousand things to do besides cook for two hours a day, this will work well for you. HIGHLY recommended. My girlfriends also love it.

I put off writing this review for a while, because I really love the Cake Doctor books, which are just fantastic, and didn't want to say anything that would hurt Ms. Byrn's feelings--she seems like a pretty cool chic. This book, however, was a major disappointment. I made several recipes from it and I'd say three out of four got two forks way, way down--my family did not like them at all. The other reviewer that says she depends a lot on soup and cheese, half and half is accurate. If I wanted such meals, I'd just zip on over to Cambells.com and save myself the cost of the book. I didn't find anything in here that my family was glad to see again aside from the Ham-and-Cheese Impossible Pie, which I found out was pretty well known elsewhere.

This book also has some pretty odd recipes. It's sort of like she stuck to her own family's favorites that didn't translate well into other family's taste--their appeal is not nearly broad enough to justify their being included. Creole Shrimp with Polenta, Curried Chicken and Artichoke Casserole might be favorites in her home, but I assure you they aren't in mine. My family didn't even care for her Tuna Casserole.

I would recommend buying a book from people who write about dinner--mainly "Fast. Cheap. Good." by the Desperation Dinners writer, which also includes your grocery budget to boot (with chapters like "How To Eat On $100 a Week", how can you go wrong?). Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross cook meals that have a tried and true broad appeal, as they have a nationally syndicated column called Desperation Dinners. With all the feedback a national column generates, their substance is tried and true with a broad appeal to all.

As a frugal mom with a limited budget and limited space for books, I regret this purchase and wish I could return it. Sorry, Anne. Stick to cakes.

I liked the Cake Mix Doctor, but this book is phenominal. I typically try a few recipes from a new book, and find one or two that I like and will make on a regular basis. EVERYTHING I have tried from this has been fantastic.

I highly recommend the Tuscan Chicken, Parmesan Chicken & Biscuit Pie, Rotini w/ Prosciutto with Sugar Snap Peas, Parmesan Corn Bread Twists, Chinese Chicken, Slow-Cooker Chocolate Chip Pudding Cake, and the Mock Cassoulet. Tonight we're trying the Pork Fried Rice.

Although I've made primarily entrees from this book, the appetizers look like they'd be delicious and easy to put together. I got this book for Christmas and haven't had an occasion since to make appetizers.

I'm going to buy this for all my friends as gifts!

I didn't have very high hopes for this cookbook when I got it as a gift. I thought it would be unimaginative, uninspired, or at best contain ideas that I probably could have come up with on my own. BOY WAS I WRONG!! Every recipe in this book is interesting and mouthwatering. The dishes are a lifesaver when you are pressed for time in the kitchen. Believe it or not, even your kids will like them!

The only reason I didn't give it the full 5 stars is because the book didnt contain a nutritional breakdown for the recipes.

I am also stunned as is a previous reviewer over all the great reviews of this book. It was given to me as a gift and I was so excited when I got it. I found a bunch of terrific sounding recipes and flagged them to try them out. Needless to say,almost every main dish recipe has turned out HORRIBLE not matter how good it sounded!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, not too healthy.
The desserts are OK but really, we don't eat dessert for dinner. Anyhow, I thought this book was a bit deceiving...also, it's not THAT fast. A better book is Cooking Light's Superfast Suppers so I would suggest that for healthier and more tasty meals.

Often cooks have their specialties, and I think that this is the case with Anne Byrn - her Cake Mix Doctor books are fantastic and yield consistently delicious results. But I have been testing out recipes from The Dinner Doctor for about 3 weeks now, and I have to say that I am a little disappointed.

As written, a lot of the recipes in this book don't strike me as good, HEALTHY everyday dinners. Many depend heavily upon condensed soups, shredded cheese, half-and-half or sour cream, and other high-fat ingredients. You can try substituting lower-fat versions of these same products but your results will probably suffer. Other ingredients that are easier to "doctor" are cooking sprays for all that oil, and canned beans and vegetables that either have no salt added or have been rinsed to get rid of excess salt and other additives.

Also, many of the recipes are so basic that they come out tasting very bland. I will probably be hanging onto the Creamy Potato Soup, Mexican Lasagna, and Tomato Basil Tart recipes, but I will also be making a note to add tons of extra herbs and spices for added flavor. (Hints: the soup needs paprika and parsley; the lasagna needs cumin; and the tart needs rosemary.) Unfortunately Anne doesn't give many suggestions for the types of seasonings to add - I had to come up with ideas myself, and frankly I buy cookbooks to cut corners in that department. Flavor is just as important as speed and healthiness in a good everyday meal.

Lastly, I got wildly different results as to cooking times with a number of the recipes I tried. I found the rice and pasta slow-cooker dishes I tried came out very mushy from the rice or pasta being left in the cooker too long. Other recipes I found the dish needed to bake longer, or uncovered instead of covered as stated in the recipe.

The next cake book Anne Byrn puts out, you can bet I will buy it - but I am just not impressed with The Dinner Doctor.