Customer Reviews

The Minimalist Cooks Dinner

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

 

 

I have three of Bittman's cookbooks: This one, The Minimalist Cooks at Home, and How to Cook Everything. The two Minimalist books are GREAT. (How to Cook Everything is good, especially if you don't have a basic cookbook.)

I have professional culinary training and cook a lot, but even beginners can use Bittman's recipes because they are simple, and he gives very good instructions. Plus, each recipe has an introduction where the author often gives tips, such as why the dish calls for chicken thighs instead of breasts. And at the end, he gives easy suggestions on how to vary the recipe -- like using different flavorings, or substituting shrimp for chicken.

I love the recipes because they pare things to their essentials without making them boring -- even though all the recipes are quick and easy, they include hints of Thailand, India, China, Italy, etc. I had not made much Thai food before because it seemed to require so many unusual ingredients, but a Minimalist recipe demonstrated that only a few key items are needed to create "Thai-type" flavors. With that foundation, I can now explore Thai food on my own.

One review of The Minimalist Cooks at Home complained that the recipes require things you can only buy in NYC. That's not literally true, but Bittman does use ingredients like fish sauce, balsamic vinegar, and sesame oil (not in the same recipe!). If you've never used such things before, the Minimalist recipes show you how without spending hours on a complicated dish.

The difference between this book and Minimalist at Home? at Home focuses mostly on entrees, with a few vegetable and dessert recipes. Cooks Dinner also focuses on entrees, but then has a back section of starters and side dishes. For each Cooks Dinner entree, Bittman suggests which side dishes would go well with it and recommends a wine. The recipes in the two books don't overlap.

The recipes alone deserve 5 out of 5 stars. However, since I own both HTCE and the two Minimalist volumes, I was chagrined to find overlap between HTCE and each of the Minimalist books. The Minimalist books do not overlap.

Save your money-- I recommend only buying HTCE. If you are interested in the other non-overlapping recipes, borrow the book from friends or libraries.

The Minimalist cooks dinner has a much more user-friendly layout, organization than HTCE and the first Minimalist book. An ideal Bittman cookbook would be all of the recipes from his books together, with the layout and organization of this volume. That would be a truly incredible cookbook, but alas, I keep on dreaming...

We love to cook, but often don't have the time to prepare complex meals. Fortunately, Bittman's _Minimalist_ has allowed us to expand our culinary horizons, without a great deal of effort.

The Roast Salmon Steaks with Pinot Noir syrup was marvelous. The salmon and Pinot sauce worked well together; the easy-to-cook syrup would work well with a variety of meats. The recipie called for only 7 ingredients, and preparation was a snap.

I'm not usually an eggplant fanatic, but the Chicken Breast with Eggplant, Shallots and Ginger was really tasty. Once again, preparation was painless, the list of required ingredients was short, and the results were impressive.

As other reviewers have noted, this is *not* an encyclopedic, Joy of Cooking-replacement, but is rather an excellent way to expand your cooking repertoire with quick, healthful dishes. We haven't been disappointed yet.

Why do you want to buy a cookbook? If you're a restraut chef or caterer who needs to add several very high quality, very repeatable recipies to their menu, then this book is likely not your best choice. However, if you're an ordinary person who buys what's on sale at the grocery store, wants to emprovise to use what they've got in the refridgerator, and doesn't mind an ocassional dish coming out only so-so, then this is a very good book. It doesn't include instructions for everything (like Joy of Cooking or How to Cook Everything), but does include about 200 very good recipies, each with explanations of what purpose the ingredients serve and suggestions for substitutions, ways to kick it up a notch, or skimp on prep time. That's what makes this such a useful book.

The only reason this book is not 5 out of 5 is that is too short.
The choices are excellent, the directions clear, the results fantastic.While not as dramatic as Flay or Lagasse, these recipes are workable and delicious. And no photos or kicking it up another notch.

My usual routine was to open a can of sauce and throw it over spaghetti weeknights, and then make something fantastic (and complicated) on weekends. Not anymore. Although the recipes in this book are delicious, easy and quick, the real value for me was in the technique lessons he sneaks into every recipe (like searing and steaming chicken breasts) and the encouragement to create your own variations of the recipes. I also liked his flavor combinations- he includes some that I've never tried before as well as the classics, but they've all been very tasty.

I can't recommend this book enough. I also liked "The minimalist cooks at home".

Before I had a baby 19 months ago, I was interested in recipes with maximum ingredients and complicated preparations. There was usually a 50/50 chance that it would taste good enough to cook again. After the baby, I stopped cooking altogether. I have started again with this book. The recipes are uncomplicated, and the results are sublime. I am eternally grateful to Mark Bittman for bringing joy back to my cooking.

Like the companion volume, "The Minimalist Cooks at Home", this is an excellent collection of recipes. His hints on techniques are very helpful, and his recipes use good ingredients and result in clear, strong, delicious flavors. If you're a vegetarian, this isn't a great choice, but otherwise, this is one of my two favorite cookbooks. We have 50 or so cookbooks, but this and "The Minimalist Cooks at Home" are the two I use the most. His recipes make sense, and they don't waste your time or effort.

This cookbook is a must for those who want a refreshing, tasty meal but do not have the hours, or the energy, to spend in the kitchen. If you work outside the home or if you live alone and do not want to go to all the effort of preparing a time-consuming meal for one, you will find the recipes here are just what you are looking for. There is plenty of flavour in each of the dishes and the wonderful part is that most recipes can be prepared in approximately thirty minutes. No more frustrated children (or cranky husband) asking, "When will dinner be ready - how much longer?" These recipes are a cinch to prepare and soooo delicious! This book is highly recommended and most deserving of a five-star rating.

I'm a fairly novice cook, but I can follow a recipe as well as anyone, and I've had excellent results from other cookbooks. I just CANNOT get anything from this cookbook to taste good, and after patiently trying several different recipes (some multiple times), I have completely given up on it. My best results were passable; the worst were inedible.

The yogurt marinade for the "Tandoori Chicken" was absolutely atrocious, and tasted nothing like real Indian food. Cooking times are consistently off -- if Bittman tells you that your chicken will be cooked through in 5 minutes, expect it to still be raw after 10. Furthermore, the recipes may be "simple" in the sense of having few ingredients and short cooking times, but they are not at all durable. Give your dish a bit too much time or heat (even if it's what the recipe calls for!) and you end up with an inedible hunk of leather.

Tonight was my final attempt. Cook minced onions on high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally? Mine were carbonized in 3 minutes, and I just gave up and called in for pizza.

If you have plenty of cooking experience, and can improvise successfully around a recipe that's simply a rough outline -- rather than, well, a recipe -- then you may get decent results from this book. However, if you're the type of cook who expects to follow a recipe to the letter and get good food, then stay away from this book.