Customer Reviews

Get Togethers: Rachael Ray 30-Minute Meals

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When I first started watching Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals on the Food Network - I thought she was a bit annoying a little bit too "over the top." BUT ---- I gave her a couple of chances and I must confess I have changed my tune and become a full time 30-Minute Meal fanatic. I never miss an episode and find her recipes so easy to work into my everyday cooking. Ray builds her receipes around the everyday cook - with everyday ingredients - with a normal grocery store down the road and no real "special cooks tools" that other cookbook authors request.

Ray's new book "Get Togethers" broadens her collection of recipes and give so many great ideas for all your entertaining needs. I love how she organizes her books - and her friendly conversational way of explaining ingredients/techniques.

I have read other complaints that it is not possible to complete her receipes in the stated 30 minutes - but I think if you are organized, focused and have a small bit of cooking knowledge it's completely possible.

I love this new book and it's a great addition to anyone's collection.

Cheers!

As a "non chef" I am always excited when I find a cookbook that has recipes I can follow and which turn out the way they are supposed to. Rachel Ray's recipes do that and more - they are easy, quick and don't usually take a whole lot of ingredients. I have gone from hating cooking to actually looking forward to making her dishes. I have two of her books already, and just ordered a third.

I like the fact that this book actually groups recipes into meals, which Ms. Ray's first cookbook did not (it was really 30 Minute Recipes, not MEALS). Many menus I recognize from her show, which I enjoy very much. However, part of what makes Rachel's show informative is that she not only discusses the food and recipes, but how to organize in order to prepare the entire menu within 30 minutes. The cookbook gives you 3 recipes per meal, and no other help. An instructional section for each menu would make this book perfect. Something like this: 1) Preheat oven for bisquits. 3) Mix the sausage, pat out, and begin cooking. 3) Open the bisquits, top with blah blah..... But I still do recommend Ms. Ray's books for their simple, accessible recipes that introduce people to new styles of food and cooking that can still be simple and quick.

When I first saw Rachael Ray on the Food Network, I thought she was something of a lightweight appearing alongside Wolfgang, Emeril, Mario, and Bobbie. It didn't take me long to change that opinion. This book sustains that good opinion.

The book is simply 30 Minute Meals 3. It's recipes and menus are taken directly from the scripts of the Food Network show 30 Minute Meals. This is a good thing. If nothing else, it insures that the recipes have been run through with several pairs of eyes more than once and it saves one the time required to download the almost always good recipes from the Food Network web site. It also means that you have a foolproof visual aid to show you exactly how it can be done in 30 minutes. And, at a very affordable list price of $22, discounted to below $20, I'm sure, this is a very economical resource.

The book is not pure foodie fare in that it makes a judicious use of prewashed and cut vegetables, boned and skinned meats, prepared stocks, cake mixes, and frozen foods. It is not, however, a revivial of the food culture of the 50's where building meals from packages and cans was heralded as the sensible way for the housewife to prepare dinner quickly and easily. Rachael makes abundant use of fresh raw materials such as lettuce and pancetta, and makes the application of extra virgin olive oil and garlic into something of a mantra.

At the same time, this is definitely not fast food. As Rachael states on numerous occasions, her cuisine is a remedy to fast foods, which I heartily endorse. The overriding virtue of her books is that she not only presents recipes which can be done quickly, she presents whole menus which, in theory, can be done in 30 minutes, and shows how to switch from one preparation to the other, so as she does on TV, the whole meal can be done quickly. Her success in accomplishing this feat is more than worth the reasonable price of admission.

As Rachael will be the first to admit, few of her recipes are original. Many are fast lane versions of classic dishes. Many others are adapted from older books. I recognize, for example, a dish made in 10 minutes with canned tomatoes and frozen green beans which are based on a Paula Wolfert classic which can cook for over an hour. Rachael spends a lot of time reading old cookbooks!

For those who may not know of Rachael's work, there are some caveats. First, finishing a typical Rachael Ray menu in 30 minutes of real time is a stretch for the average cook. I have never seen Rachael cheat on the screen, but her pace can only be sustained by someone who really knows her way around the kitchen, has a kitchen which is very well laid out to fit her style, with plenty of work room and plenty of high end pots and pans. It also helps that all ingredients are right at hand. It also helps to be a thirtysomething who knows the recipes by heart and can keep in constant motion for 30 minutes. Another caveat is that there are several cooking techniques such as braising and roasting which simply cannot be done in the 30 minute window. Rachael relies heavily on the grill pan and the broiler. Fancy techniques are also absent, although this is probably a good thing for non-foodies. There are no omlets, but plenty of their Italian cousin, the frittata. I also have some qualms about not washing the `pre-washed' greens and some of the additives which may come along with the few prepared foods she does use.

Lastly, there are some pet peeves. First, using the `evoo' abreviation for extra virgin olive oil at every single occurrence is a REAL bother. Every other cookbook I have ever read simply says `olive oil' and makes it plain once that it always means extra virgin olive oil. Even Mario Batali isn't that compulsive about olive oil. Second, stating some measurements in two different ways, the exact teaspoon or tablespoon fraction followed by the `handful' or `once around the pan' is simply unnecessary. Giving the precise measurement is great, and far superior in a book to Jamie Oliver's glugs or Tyler Florence's counts, but the second hip measurement is unnecessary. Everyone who cooks works out their own methods for approximating precise measurements. Just say at the beginning of the book that one can use their own judgement and leave it at that. Third, the expression of fractional quantities is simply wrong. One may say 2 and 2/3, but it should NEVER be written that way. It is just distracting.

Don't get me wrong, I cook and bake for a hobby and am much closer to the ethos of the slow food movement than I am to Rachael's style, but then I'm retired and have the time to spend on it. For anyone with a job and time for no more than one trip to the megamart per week, Rachael Ray is an angel. Even if she is still a lightweight next to Mario.

"Get Togethers" contain some wonderfully delicious recipes!
One just cannot go wrong with Rachael Ray. Talented as can be, she makes Cooking fun! I never bought recipe books while raising my children, too many ingredients (so I thought) & too much work with them running around. NOT SO! The Mother/Father of today can zip up a great meal fast with the children running around with Rachaels recipe's. Try it:-) betcha like it! Jeannie!

As before, I was NOT disappointed Rachael's latest book. Her technique and enthusiasm comes thru clearly, as it does on her show. I LOVE being able to make something in about 30 min.. even if it takes ME 31 min or so (I don't chop as fast)!! BUT!!! being retired does not mean I have more time to spend in the kitchen..if anything I have LESS.. So being able to put together a meal quickly works great for me and my (also retired) husband. THANKS FOR THE LATEST EDITION of your collection of recipes and cooking techniques. WE LOVE your show and watch it all the time. You have an infectious smile... Can't wait for the next cook book ...I AM SURE one is in the works!!!!!

More fine, quick recipes from one of my favorite cooks. Rachel knows how to reduce a recipe to its basics without compromising the taste. On the day it arrived, we found a recipe that had to be shared -- the Chili Casserole. I look forward to trying most of the others. I go back to Rachel Ray's cookbooks time and again -- many of her recipes have become standards in my cooking. But she can sure multi-task! I rarely do one up in thirty minutes until I have done it several times.

Don't get me wrong, I love her shows, it is great to see how she pulls it all together in the 30 minutes without seeming rushed. The recipes, for the most part, are pretty healthy and have good variety. The lack of pictures doesn't bother me, as she's not really into foo-foo presentation with raspberry sauce swirled half-a-mile away on the edge of the dessert plate, imho totally wasting perfectly good raspberry sauce....

However, her books are *not* written to really go with the flow of her show, as in total meals being prepared at the same time.

The recipes, while grouped together as a menu, are all written separately, just like in other cookbooks. So, if you're looking to see what you should be doing *while* the water is boiling or something else is cooking, you're not going to get any help from her books, which is disappointing.

Believe it or not, it takes organization and good time management skills to get everything on the table hot (or cold, as the case may be) at the same time. Her shows do an excellent job of this--the books do not. She needs to look at redoing her books in both formats--recipes all being prepared at the same time to match her show, as well as the more conventional way if you want to mix and match. Then I would buy them.

In the meantime, watch the shows and take notes to get the process down, then get the books from the library or used from Amazon.

I watch The Rachel Ray show and also the $40.00 a day food budget ( on vacation ) Wonderful and very entertaining!!! Browse through a book of hers and came across a pork tenderloin recipe with short ingredient list, purchased pork loin , went home and made it. YES, it was done within 30 minutes ( prep & cooktime ). The wonderful thing about her recipes are the ingredients.It went very well with cous cous & French salad beans w/garlic in olive oil...YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!!! You don't go through hoops just trying to figure out where to obtain the ingredients.Majority of ingredients are found in every kitchen. Her recipes makes life in the kitchen a breeze. We all enjoyed the pork tenderloin. No complaints here!!!

Simple is a good thing. As someone in his twenties, I don't like a cook lavish meals for my friends. Ray's book is good. It has a lot of fun in it. It's like the written version of Ray's Food Network show.
I tried the tuna burger with the cocnut/white chocolate bars. I liked mixing the menus, instead of following them completley. Fun and easy foods that you'll love.