Customer Reviews

The Quick Recipe (The Best Recipe Series)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

We've had this cookbook for about one month and have made 21 recipes (several twice) already and look forward to making more. We have 17 cookbooks -- which hardly qualify us as devotee chefs -- but this is the one we reach for most often. Most of the dishes we've made come close to an hour to prepare and cook, which undoubtedly will make the term "Quick Recipes" debatable to some. But if you start with good ingredients that are well laid out and are fairly adept at chopping and slicing (which we are not) you should at least come close to the times listed for making each dish (it takes us about 15% - 20% longer than expected). Nevertheless, for the time-challenged, these recipes are certainly quicker than many we've used from our other cookbooks. And if your guest's reactions are as favorable as ours, it's well worth the time. Most of the recipes are fairly simple in structure but surprisingly tasty. Certainly for those new to the kitchen, serious consideration should be given to this cookbook. Explanations of why each recipe was formulated the way it was are interesting and may help some to avoid possible less-tasty or more time-consuming substitutions.

This has been my bible for weeknight dinners since I bought it about 3 months ago. While the book's criteria of under an hour may not be quick enough for some, the recipes are tasty and do not rely on pre-packaged convenience foods as some other "quick and easy" books out there. Personally, I'd rather make an effort to find that extra half hour for these recipes.

Many of the recipes can stand on their own as a meal, perhaps with only the addition of some bread and/or a salad (recipes for quick salad dressings are included). Examples include:

-Spicy Thai-Style Shrimp Soup;
-Warm Spinach Salad with Seared Scallops and Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette;
-Polenta with Roasted Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella;
-Bok Choy and Chinese Egg Noodles with Spicy Beef Sauce;
-Stir-Fried Shrimp and Snow Peas in Coconut Curry Sauce;
-Skillet Fajitas;
-Chicken and Rice with Lemon, Peas, and Scallions;
-Oven-Fried Chicken and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad;
-Pan-Seared Salmon with Braised Lentils and Chard; and
-Tuscan-Style Steak with Arugula and Parmesan.

The grilling chapter includes vegetables to be grilled alongside the main course in most recipes, such as Grilled Scallops with Chili-Lime Glaze and Corn Salad. Other recipes include suggestions for side dishes, frequently citing specific recipes found elsewhere in the book. This allows the cook to plan meals almost effortlessly.

The book also includes "short-cut" versions of longer recipes such as Simple Shrimp and Andouille Jambalaya, 30-Minute Chocolate Mousse, and Quick Chicken Soup. Other chapters include Vegetables; Muffins, Biscuits, and Scones; Cakes and Cookies; Fruit Desserts; and Ice Cream Desserts and Puddings. There is enough variety in here to round out any meal.

Also included are a number of "building block" recipes - basic guidelines for simple recipes that you can easily expand on yourself, such as Scrambled Eggs, Sauteed Chicken Breasts, Grilled Pork Chops, or How to Cook Pasta. These recipes use the techniques that Cook's Illustrated developed through the extensive testing of recipe variations that has made the magazine famous. While experienced cooks may find these superfluous, beginners will appreciate finally learning how to make the "perfect" scrambled eggs or sauteed chicken breast through Cook's detailed, leave-no-stone-unturned directions and recipe notes.

I personally enjoy reading the articles accompanying the recipes, although of course these are strictly optional - you can easily jump straight to the recipes if you're in a hurry. The articles describe the process used to arrive at the final recipe, the how and whys, which shortcuts were used, as well as the results of relevant equipment or ingredient tests by the magazine.

To date, I have probably made 60 or so recipes from this book, and the vast majority of them have turned out well. I now save my other cookbooks for the weekends, but this is my go-to book for quick and easy, tasty weeknight dinners with a minimum of effort to plan and prepare.

I understand where another reviewer got confused: you might assume that this book would consist of quick little recipes--fast reading and fast prep. For the Cook's staff these are quick recipes, but compared to the recent success of Rachael Ray's books these recipes aren't that quick!

I should say that I really like this collection. I turn to it often for ideas. I may have spent half a day preparing an entree only to remember that I forgot to prepare a vegetable--out comes the book! The same goes for starches, salads, dessert, etc. If I need an idea fast I pull out this book along with Joy of Cooking and possibly Bittman (though don't get me started on his shortcomings).

Let me remind potential consumers here that this is indeed a collection. You will see overlap if you have read the magazine for years. Though, strangely, they will update certain things in the book without making that crystal clear to magazine subscribers. In other words, you may think that Cook's favors a certain brand of unsalted butter based on magazine reviews. In the book you may find that they have switched brands on you!

Here are a few recipes I have tried that work:
Chinese chicken salad
Broiled asparagus
Glazed carrots
Warm spinach salad
Roasted potatoes (memorize this one)
Pan-seared salmon (high heat saute of fish will smell up your pan and your kitchen)
Quick chicken noodle soup
Stuffed chicken breasts
All forms of stir-fry
Cinnamon rolls
There are others I have tried, but suffice it to say that I really use this book. If you have an expanded definition of "quick," and you respect the Cook's Illustrated methods then you will find this to be one of their better tomes.

Five of the six recipes I have prepared have been excellent. The one that did not work may have been because I use bleached rather than the unbleached flour called for. Five good meals out of six is a far better track record than I have ever had before. I am a novice who sees value in having home-cooked meals. This is not easy since I work full time and have to travel at times. I find this book very easy to use - can find recipes that are appealing, use a reasonable number of ingredients, and have a prep time of less than an hour - half of which is usually baking time. The one complication with the recipes is that they sometimes call for ingredients not readily available standard grocery stores, such as red lentils or garam masala. This problem can be addressed if you have ready access to a large health or specialty food store. I feel confident that my time will be well spent and that meals will be enjoyable when I use this book.

I bought this book because I love the Best Recipe series and the Cook's Illustrated magazine. This book was not what I expected. I was expecting to find recipes that are delicious, a trademark of the series, but would be very fast. I assume that a 'quick' recipe is 1/2 hour. This book uses an hour as its limit. In many cases this may include the cooking time. I was expecting to find good meals that I could prepare very quickly. Apparently my definition of 'very quickly' is too fast. I also found it ironic that the editors stayed with their usual format -- a lengthy description of all the experiments that they tried to come up with a perfect recipe. This may be appropriate for the rest of their scholarly series, but I don't want to spend a long time reading the background of how this quick recipe was developed. I am here to save time. The recipes included are very good. They also cover a variety of topics, including breads and desserts. However, I did not find them 'quick' enough to warrant a separate cookbook. There also was not enough full meals in here . If I have to make 3 quick recipes at an hour apiece for one meal, then the entire meal is far from quick.

Ideally I'd give this cookbook 3.5 stars because I don't think I have made enough of the recipes to really know how good the cookbook is. I love to cook and normally average 90 minutes cooking dinner. I bought the book becuase I enjoy Cook's Illustrated and I wanted to add some quicker meals to my repertoire. I have made five dishes and only one would I not do again (the cinnamon buns that look so tasty on the cover). Another I would modify. Besides the fact that the recipes really do take 60 minutes or less from start to finish, I appreciate that the ingredients lists are basic and fairly short. You don't have to stock your pantry with all sorts of crazy items that you use only once in a while. These are fairly basic recipes--the kind you get the gist of after making once or twice and then add your own embellishments if you are in a creative mood.

If you aren't already familiar with Cook's Illustrated or the Best Recipe series, and you realize that cooking involves more than a microwave, you absolutely need to get familiar with both. The combination of real-world cooking, detailed research, clear goals, and well designed recipes makes any of the series (or magazine) well worth seeking out.

In The Quick Recipe, the focus is on dishes that can be made from start to finish in 30-60 minutes. My mouth was watering going through this book for the first time, you'd be amazed at what Cook's has managed to keep under the hour mark, without resorting to low quality short-cuts... Even Jambalaya appears in this volume!

I have tried a handful of recipes so far and haven't had any problems with them. My absolute favorite is the Banana Muffins (I've made it at least 10 times!)....people rave about them and I have to constantly give out the recipe. I've tried lots of banana muffin recipes, but it is by far THE best and the only ingredient I don't usually have is buttermilk, but I am finding it should be a staple for cooking! I tried the Cranberry Cornmeal Cookies yesterday and they were great. I love that they made the recipe makeable with only a bowl, whisk, and wooden spoon. No mixer required. I look forward to making many more of the desserts in the book and also more of the entrees that make my mouth water. A really good book for a cook like me who isn't a novice, but doesn't know many of the reasons why we use certain cooking techniques.
I will be giving this book to my family members for Christmas this year!

This is another cookbook compiled by the editors of Cook's Illustrated magazine. Like the magazine and previously published cookbooks, this is a wonderful cooking reference book with detailed explanations for what, how, and why regarding food and its preparation. The editors' and chefs' primary purpose is to create recipes that yield the most perfect culinary masterpiece, and then accurately explain to the kitchen cook how to recreate said culinary art. Everything--time, convenience, ease, efficiency, and health or reasonable caloric content is sacrificed for the sake of flavor--even in this cookbook titled The Quick Recipe.

Like previous Cook's Illustrated cookbooks, this one defines the standards the editors used in the search for the best recipe that would yield the results they were looking for. I enjoyed reading this cookbook like the magazines and other books Cooks Illustrated has published as a reference book, much like a cooking encyclopedia. I learn a lot about food and why certain ingredients do the things they do, why other options are better, worse, etc. I like these books mostly because of what I learn about food, and because I like knowing how something works, why it works the way it does, and why they established the standards they did.

According to these authors, an hour in the kitchen preparing a meal is quick. Considering that many of the recipes developed in their test kitchens require considerably more than that, an hour is reasonably quick--for them, but maybe not for us. To the modern cook, even a homeschool mom like myself, quick means start it, but not have to supervise it. Quick can even mean using a crockpot--even though it takes all day long to cook, the prep time is generally 20 minutes or less ,and dinner's ready when we are. We have softball, t-ball, gymnastics, Bible class, and piano lessons. The editors are completely honest in the intro: They refuse to sacrifice quality of flavor for ease and time in preparation. Their goal was to create near perfect recipes requiring around ten ingredients (give or take) in about an hour.

I like my dinners to taste good, be healthy, and flavorful. Some of the methods and steps they require are time consuming and superflous in my opinion since my results didn't yield significant enough difference from the traditional methods to be worth the effort. Some of their suggestions were fabulous, and I've been able to improve other recipes by incorporating their methods. The bottom line is that their standards for taste are considerably higher than mine usually need to be, and I suppose our pallets are so plebian that we don't notice a significant enough difference between the belaboured method and the efficient one. Lengthy ingredient lists don't scare me off, neither does tedium necessarily if I have time to accomplish it. But the issue is time, and tedium is antithetical to efficiency. As far as I can tell, the prepackaged consessions for the sake of time largely include canned chicken broth, frozen peas, frozen pearl onions, the occasional rotisseri chicken and canned beans (pintos, cannellini, red, black and kidney--not green or wax). All else starts with raw material. I generally do not use prepackaged mixes or canned food, anyway, because my standards for a meal also include the number of calories and nutritional value. Prepackaged foods and sauces are generally very high calorie, high sodium, high preservative contents for a small portion.

Though I normally start from scratch, I have become efficient enough to throw a good dinner without spending an hour cuffed to the stove. The recipes here are generally tedius, requiring several steps and specific timing. Neither fast, nor easy. For example, several recipes for vegetables only reqire 20-25 minutes, which seems reasonable in the beginning. Except that upon further examination, you realize you have to attend those vegetables for every one one of those 20-25 minutes. You can't multi-task--start the meat, start the vegetables, supervise the kids setting the table, wash the dishes you've used so far, turn/stir the meat, glance at the side, toss the salad, wipe off a countertop, get the drinks, stir the vegetables again, and get it on the table. You have to baby the dishes along from start to finish.

My two biggest complaints about a this cookbook labeled quick is that it calls for ingredients not generally found at a Wal Mart Neighborhood Market, or even hit or miss at Albertsons, and many of the recipes are not kid-friendly at all. I try to make things all of us will like and barring that, at least tolerate. We're talking green vegetables versus dessert, here. I make my kids eat three bites of everything. I try to have at least one thing on their plates that they like or is "normal." Let's face it: Radicchio and arugula are acquired tastes. Cilantro and curry are popular right now, but most kids don't really like them, and this cookbook has several recipes calling for them. The reasons I expect common, kid friendly ingredients in a cookbook labeled quick are because making a special trip somewhere for an uncommon ingredient is time consuming, and the majority of people looking for a quick recipe cookbook are doing so because they have kids, extra curricular activities and little time to prepare perfect culinary masterpieces. For those without children or with grown children, if they want taste-perfection in very little time: THEY EAT OUT!

I like this cookbook because of the information within. I admire the standards, goals, teamwork and tenacity in accomplishment of the Cook's Illustrated team. This is another good cookbook from them. However, the majority of the recipes require time and attention not common to most quick cooking recipe books. I give this cookbook only 3 stars because I think the title is misleading, some of the steps in the recipes are superflous for weeknight family dinners, and some of the ingredients are rather esoteric.

It's no secret that I love Cook's Illustrated and this book is no exception. It is true to the CI format that I love so much -- plenty of background material for each recipe. Whether or not you get the recipes done in under 60 minutes depends on your prep skills.

This is not a book you can just whip out the night of and plan to make a great dinner. While the ingredients are not exotic, I doubt most cooks will have them all on hand. Pick a few recipes in advance and get the ingredients on grocery day.

I have found that this book is great for entertaining. By preparing a couple of the recipes, you have a stress-free approach to a casual dinner party. Try the seafood scampi with a warm spinach salad sans the seafood.

I have to admit that with the exception of the cream scones (delicious), I haven't tried the recipes for baked goods. When I bake, I look forward to taking all day.