Rachael Ray: Just In Time (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cookbook dynamo and television personality Ray (30 Minute Get Real Meals, 365: No Repeats, etc.) is back with another collection of dishes, this time offering plenty of her trademark 30 minute meals, give or take a few 15- and 60-minute dishes, virtually all of which are within the capabilities of most cooks, provided they have a well-stocked pantry. Doubling her typical prep time, Ray's able to whip up work-intensive fare such as Crab Stuffed Shells, as well as straightforward dishes requiring longer cooking times such as Sausage, Mushroom and Polenta Lasagna, and Roasted Poblano and Sliced Steak Chili. Most of Ray's recipes are solid, family-pleasing fare, though her Grilled Eggplant Roll-Ups, in which the vegetable is stuffed with a slice of ham and a ricotta cheese mixture, may prove frustrating and messy. Still, the hits outweigh the misses, and if readers enjoy (or can at least tolerate) Ray's tendency to make up and overuse cutesy food terms ("EVOO," "sammies," "stoups," etc.), they will find this to another solid, reliable source for everyday meals.
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Product Description

In this irresistible collection Rachael continues to work her 30-minute magic with nearly 100 awesomely delicious brand-new recipes. From pasta to pizzas, soups to sammies, and chicken, fish, and meat, you’ll find a 30-minute-meal to suit every appetite.

But what if you don’t have even 30 minutes? No worries, Rachael has you covered with her quickest-ever 15-minute meals. Why order pizza when you can have Provencal Tuna Melts, Italian Surf ‘n Turf Salad- even a fabulous paella- on the table in just 15 minutes? You’ll never reach for the take-out menus again when super speedy Pea and Parsley Soup with Canadian Bacon and Skillet Tamale Pie are the delicious alternatives.

And what about those days when you want to slow things down a bit? Rachael’s got the perfect recipes for those times, too. Her 60-minute meals like Paprika Chicken Stew with Potato Pierogies, Chicken, Corn and Tomatillo Lasagna, and Swordfish Rolls with Spaghetti Squash don’t require any more effort from the cook, but they tale advantage of a little extra time in the oven or simmering on the stove to develop those great, deep flavors we all crave on lazy days. Among these dishes are some of Rachael’s “Double Duty Dinners,” recipes that you cook once, serve twice, but look and taste so different that no one will be the wiser (such as Chicken in Creamy Mushroom Sauce with Chive Egg Noodles in which the base magically morphs into Tarragon-Tomato Chicken and Bread Soup another night).

You’ll also fine fun Rachael Ray signature meals like:

BLD (meals you can eat for breakfast, lunch, or dinner)
MYOTO (Make Your Own Take-Out Meals) that feature ethnic flavors but no mystery or fats
Date Night Dinners and Fancy Fake-Outs that are every bit as elegant as the fare from your favorite little bistro
The Kids Will Eat It meals (besides chicken nuggets) that will bring even the pickiest eaters to the table

This is Rachael’s most versatile book yet, the one that will help you get the very most out of every minute you spend in the kitchen- whether you’re rushing to the beat of the clock or taking advantage of a little extra time to stop and smell the veggies roasting. Either way you’ll be dishing up some of Rachael’s most appealing recipes ever- and all on your own schedule.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers; 1st edition (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307383180
• ISBN-13: 978-0307383181
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too few pictures and print is blue - can't read it!, November 23, 2007

By	kiwanissandy "Go Bucks!" (Heart of Ohio) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I just love Rachael Ray and always watch her television shows and own every book but I think whoever at Clarkson Potter Publishers that selected the colors on this book should be fired. The print is light blue and orange on white paper, it's very hard to read. Anyone with eye trouble or bi-focals would not be able to read the print, it blends together after a few lines. The little "tidbit" note boxes are then yellow print on an orange background. And the chapter headings are blue and white print on orange...Who can read that? It causes vertigo after 4 lines. Terrible layout and design.
There are only about 8 pictures in the very front of the book, don't they have a food photographer at Clarkson Potter, or didn't they want to invest any more money into the book? Perhaps they figured Rachael's name would sell it and didn't have to make a really useful, usable, pretty cookbook. Did they think nobody would notice?
One of the 15 minute recipes calls for cooking bacon in 5 minutes. I'm not sure where Rachael gets her bacon but I've never had bacon cook in 15 minutes, much less in 5 minutes. The same recipe then calls for halving, pitting and scooping out 2 avocados then smashing and mixing with fresh lime (after you've just juiced it), slicing 2 tomatoes, slicing 4 tuna steaks into 8 and then cooking on the stove; in addition to halving baguette bread and toasting it while cleaning and slicing up a head of bibb lettuce. Then finally after all that's done you assemble your sandwiches. That's a 15 minutes recipe?
Many of the recipes are probably not family friendly. There's a pan-roasted fish with burst tomato sauce and gnocchi with tarragon-chive butter. iffy. Another Cuban Surf and Turf combines pork and shrimp with alot of cumin, cayenne, paprika, hot sauce...not sure kids could take the heat. Same thing with Greek Kebabs, it's a combination of fish and chicken with too much green olive tapenade, red pepper flakes, onions, greek hot peppers, kalamata olives...on and on and on. You'd have to get a payday cash advance to buy all the ingredients. And I don't think the kids would eat it even if you could cook it in 30 minutes.
Yet another recipe is balsamic chicken with pesto gravy and bitter greens. It's suppose to be a 15 minute meal, I'm just not sure about pesto gravy in heavy cream with bitter greens. It just doesn't sound appealing. Perhaps if there was a picture I'd be more inclined to try it??
I feel the book is full of odd ingredients that I'm just not sure that Rachael Ray use to cook like this. Just tons of recipes with piquillo peppers, tamari, dry sherry, sesame tahini paste, greek yogurt, pickled watermelon rind (where do you buy that?), boursin cheese...etc.
sigh...I wouldn't even mind all the goofy recipes if there had been pictures of the food, pictures of Rachael or even Isaboo.
It's very disappointing.

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, November 18, 2007

By	love to cook - See all my reviews

I LOVE RR but found this book to be sooooooo repetitive. I own all of her books and this one seems to be the same recipes from other books with the addition of tons of fire roasted tomatoes and spicy ingredients. Definitely disappointing compared to her other awesome books!

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Within her genre, she's still the best, December 30, 2007

By	B. Marold "Bruce W. Marold" (Bethlehem, PA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

`Just in Time' by Rachael Ray is an expected departure from her '30 Minute Meal' comfort zone, since her magazine and TV show will naturally broaden her audience to people who have either more or less time than needed for her standard timing. The expansion goes to 15 minute and 60 minute meals. The 60 minute meal category broadens Rachael's palate to include braises and roasts, which also opens the door to using less expensive meats (one of the down sides of quick cooking is that it tends to need the more expensive cuts and sources such as beef and pork fillets, fish, and shellfish, or, less `healthy' forms such as ground meats).
Rachael does not emulate her '30 Minute Meal' TV show template in her books anymore. This template involves a three course meal, with a protein, a starch, and a vegetable. She does, however, commonly make most 30 and 60 minute meals into a two-dish combo, usually a protein and a salad, with the two dishes sharing some ingredients. One thing Rachael has not done is to embrace the `cook ahead' template espoused by some of her Food Network colleagues. I applaud this, as I think the `cook ahead' strategy really doesn't fit Rachael's audience, which welcomes her `cooking on impulse' style, best exemplified by one of her earlier books, `Express Lane Meals'. She has also remained true to her understated allegiance to fresh ingredients. Legions of cookbook writers tout their love of fresh, locally grown produce, as if they discovered the idea yesterday. From her very first books, Rachael has quietly embraced the principle of using ingredients fresh from the grocery, with backup being sung by great ingredients from the pantry. Unlike the `70% store-bought / 30% homemade formula by another Food Network colleague, Rachael is virtually 100% fresh or first class pantry items such as dried pasta and canned tomatoes.
Either Rachael is getting better at writing recipes or I'm getting better at reading them, but whatever the reason, I find Rachael's recipes just a bit better written than in some of her earlier books. The most noticeable change is that there are fewer `cute' expressions held over from her stream of consciousness presentation in front of the camera (maybe she hired a better editor or recipe tester).
Another thing which has not changed is that I'm skeptical that Rachael's typical audience can really bring off a RR 30 minute meal recipe within 30, or even 60 minutes. This is mostly due to her dedication to the fresh ingredients which require more time to prep than the convenience forms of the same produce. She does not even recommend using the pre-pealed or pre-diced garlic. I've found several recipes which require prep work for eight to ten ingredients. So, if your knife skills are not up to snuff, prep chopping alone can take 30 minutes. Like the rule about quick cooking needing expensive ingredients, this leads us to the rule that quick cooking requires good cooking skills. And there lies the paradox. Does Rachael's audience like her books because of all the reasons cited above, including the chance to exercise their culinary techniques, or do they like her recipes because they believe they are a lot faster than the recipes in `The Joy of Cooking', the `Gourmet Cookbook', or the latest `Martha Stewart' cookbook. Well, they are faster than these three sources, but the 15 and 30 minute standard for the average home cook is probably a chimera. I suspect fans are lured by the promise of quick and easy, and stay because the food tastes good.
One cost of many of her quick recipes is that they are not the most diet-conscious dishes you will find. This is due to the fact that cooking with oil is a lot faster than cooking with water or air (in the oven). It is also due to the fact that many of her recipes use a lot of animal protein per serving. One burger recipe included half a pound of ground meat, plus additions. So, one must be sure you cook Rachael with one eye on her portion sizes. I suspect many of her portions are easily 50% to 100% larger than they would be if they were part of a three or four course meal.
Lastly, one really has to take many of her recipe names with a touch of humor. Many of the names are simply a spin on famous dish names, to make them attract you to dishes which are a lot easier, but which only have a modest connection with their complicated namesakes. Neither of the two lasagna recipes, for example, uses lasagna noodles. One uses quick cooking polenta and the other uses a tube-shaped pasta to give a lasagna flavor without the lasagna architecture.
Rachael also seems to have toned down her eyeball popping color schemes, but not by much. I simply find them distracting. On the other hand, she has her usually excellent aids to finding that recipe which really fits what you have in mind for tonight.
One of the best things about Rachael's body of work is that you can limit yourself to her nicely inexpensive books and have no feeling that you are missing out on anything, as there is so much of it. And, like many of the others, this has two complete tables of contents to find dishes by ingredient / style and by time to prepare. The only caveat is that you do need books on baking, for as Ms. Rachael says over and over, she has no patience for baking, which is why, like so many of her other books, there are no desserts here!