No More Takeout: A Visual Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cooking [Hardcover]

Stephen Hartigan (Author), Jerry Boak (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Throw out your takeout menus, save money,and discover just how easy and delicious home-cooked meals can be!

"Stephen's passion for cooking and delicious recipes makes No More Takeout! a must-have guide for anyone looking to learn the basics, brush up on techniques, or expand his or her repertoire." —Colin Cowie

More than 450 step-by-step photographs show you how to cook.

Three recipe levels take you from basic eats to blowout meals.

Easy-to-follow instructions walk you through each recipe.

Gear and ingredient lists take the guesswork out of what you'll need.

Sidebars give you helpful kitchen tips and tricks.

Menus offer complete game plans for memorable meals.

"Food is Stephen Hartigan's great passion. In No More Takeout!, he's managed to translate all that love into simple, delicious, and completely inspiring recipes—even for people who eat out or order in all the time." —Calvin Klein

Exclusive Recipe Excerpts from No More Takeout!

Spinach Salad with Honey-Mustard Dressing

Satay Chicken Skewers

Review

This book offers an interesting concept: Imagine all the dishes you buy already prepared and would like to know how to make. Use the step-by-step photos here and you'll learn how. The authors are Stephen Hartigan, a private chef who has worked in top London restaurants, and Jerry Boak, a writer and web designer.
To make the lasagna pictured on the cover, you'll see how to layer the tomato sauce, the ricotta mixture, and the noodles. An eggplant Parmesan takes you through the batter stages, into the pan, and then the baking dish.
They really begin at the beginning: fried or scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes. Entrees include satay chicken skewers, meatballs, pork chops, quick chili. Desserts: lemon tart, special occasion cake.
So many cooks, me among them, assume you know how to chop an onion, turn broccoli into florets, or separate an egg. These authors assume you know nothing. An accessible volume for anyone trying to wean himself from carry out. It's never very good! It's so expensive! Put down those keys and head to the kitchen. (The Boston Globe, April 22, 2009)

These are men's cookbooks. Oh, they don't come right out and say it, but they're written by men, and those are men's hands in the photos, and the covers are a manly orange-and-brown.
So all cooking men are the same? Heavens, no. One book is for Cooking Dude, the other for Cooking Wonk.
The target audience of 'No More Takeout!' is not Cooking Dude yet. He's Reheating Dude, and he's beginning to realize he could do better. He's not likely to throw in with Martha Stewart or Betty Crocker, but a small, colorful "do-it-yourself guide to cooking" might catch his eye.
Right upfront, "No More Takeout" stipulates that no cooking experience is needed. It starts with 20 pages of equipment and glossary — and then assumes that Dude is going to skip right to the cooking. So each recipe includes an equipment list and page-number keys for relevant techniques. It's a bit annoying, having to flip to "page xxiv" for a tutorial on sweating, but it allows the recipes to have airy display on one or facing pages.
Level 1 has entry-level meals: fried eggs, baked potatoes, spaghetti with meat sauce. Level 2 is "more involved" (roasted chicken, veal Milanese), Level 3 "challenging" (pot stickers, pan-seared bass). All told, it's more than 100 recipes, including desserts, snacks and sides. "Hearty" is the most frequent description.
Personal chef Hartigan and writer/designer Boak are generous with encouragement and predictions of impressed friends. In that way, it's like the cookbooks for young brides of 50 years ago, in the days before Dudes. (San Jose Mercury News, May 5, 2009)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470169982
• ISBN-13: 978-0470169988
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #82,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Do-it-yourself Guide, May 6, 2009

By 

Jesse Millward "JR Million" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No More Takeout: A Visual Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cooking (Hardcover)

I've had this book for about a week, and I'm cooking things I didn't think I was capable of. On Monday, I made steak for the first time in my life and was able to get the precise result I wanted; it was delicious.

If you are unfamiliar with the kitchen, or even if you think you know what you're doing (i.e. chicken breast), this book will enhance the repertoire and carry you forward.

So good, so good.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal Cookbook for College Students, June 9, 2009

By 

Gourmet Girl (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: No More Takeout: A Visual Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cooking (Hardcover)

I've been teaching my little brother how to cook for the past few months, since he's going off to college this August. We went through recipes in Joy of Cooking, Bon Appetit, How to Cook Everything, Cooking Know-How, and Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy...all of those books intimidated him. Finally, we tried a few recipes from No More Takeout, and he was hooked. He actually became excited about cooking, and started to invite his friends over so that he could cook for them...very unusual for him.

As a gourmet cook, I was also impressed by the quality of the recipes. The authors have experience cooking for celebrities and top restaurants, so the food they create is top-of-the-line, without being intimidating. It's food that you can confidently make, proudly serve, and happily eat. It definitely beats dorm food!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Better Than The Kama Sutra!, September 1, 2009

By 

C. Bustamante (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No More Takeout: A Visual Do-It-Yourself Guide to Cooking (Hardcover)

I was recently married and a few weeks later my husband and I both lost our jobs. In an effort to save money and not get so depressed about looking for work, we decided to cook more at home but for two people who love their food but didn't use the kitchen beyond reheating left over take-out and making coffee, this was a challenge. I've bought cook books before but either the directions were really confusing and lacked pictures or the book was too technique oriented and whatever I made looked nothing like the picture (forget about what it tasted like). If you're taking the time out to cook something special and spending the money on fresh ingredients that maybe you've never bought before, your efforts will not be wasted with this book. This was the BEST investment purchase I've made in the last 6 months!!!

NO MORE TAKE OUT eliminates the mystery and anxiety with cooking something new because the pictures are so clear and well presented. It has made two budding chefs out of me and my husband and it's been fun fine-dining at home ever since. The recipes are delicious and include a lot of things we order when we go out so its title has proven to be well chosen. If offers up some great advice which makes even the most tentative cook like myself feel confident. NO MORE TAKE OUT has great recipes for those desiring little effort but maximum impact at their dinner parties as well - the sticky toffee pudding I made for a small dinner party was rewarded with applause! I have never received such a reaction from my guests even when I was working and could afford to drop a lot of money on a take-out dessert from some posh bakery. I wish someone had given this to us as a wedding gift instead of the 5 rubbish Kama Sutra books we got - NO MORE TAKE OUT has been much more fun and enjoyable for my marriage, and my friends and family have reaped the benefits too.