Rachael Ray's Look + Cook [Paperback]

Rachael Ray (Author)

Book Description

Release date: November 2, 2010

“Inexperienced cooks need more that just a few lines of laconic test to help them along.  Rachael Ray has coached a generation of rookies on her Food Network shows, talking and plopping and emoting her way through dish after dish.  Her latest books, Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook, shows what each stage should look like in big photos.  Betty Crocker, or more specifically, the 1976 edition of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, used to be my bulletproof go-to recipe source. But now Ray fills that role.”  — Time magazine
 

From her cookbooks to her magazine to her daily talk show, Rachael Ray’s message remains the same today as the day she wrote her very first 30-minute meal—making delicious, knock-your-socks-off dishes should be fun, fast, fulfilling, and foolproof.

Rachael now presents her best idea yet: Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook—100 brand-new recipes, each featuring beautiful and helpful step-by-step full-color photographs that illustrate how to create each meal, along with photographs of the gorgeous finished dishes. You literally look along while you cook!

But that’s not all . . . at the back of Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook, you’ll find 125 bonus, never-before-published recipes, including 30-Minute Meals; Yes! the Kids Will Eat It; Sides & Starters; Simple Sauces & Bottom-of-the-Jar Tips; and Desserts. As if that weren’t cool enough, Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook also features accompanying real-time video available online for select recipes at www.rachaelray.com.

Rachael makes it easier than ever to prepare delicious home-cooked meals as you follow along with the step-by-step photographs or even the video! Having a last-minute dinner? No worries . . . you’ll wow the crowd with Gazpacho Pasta, Fancy Pants Salmon, or Almost Tandoori Chicken. Looking for some fun twists on classic dishes that will have your kids clamoring for more? The Open-Face Turkey Burgers with Potpie Gravy and the Coconut Fish Fry are sure to be family faves! Wondering what to do with those last spoonfuls in the jars lining your refrigerator door? Check out Rachael’s Bottom-of-the-Jar Sauces and add pizzazz to any meal with Salsa Dressing, Orange Bourbon Glaze, or Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce. Packed with the value that her fans love and have come to expect, Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook has a simple-to-follow recipe to fit every occasion.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fall into Cooking Featured Recipe: Midwinter Minestrone from Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)
1/4 pound sliced pancetta, cut into 1/4 -inch dice (optional)
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch dice
3 celery stalks, chopped into 1/4-inch dice
2 bay leaves, fresh or dried
3 to 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1 large or 2 medium red onions, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 ounce dried porcini or mixed wild mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup soft sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
1 small bunch of purple or green kale, washed and dried
1 cup semolina or whole-wheat ditalini or other short cut pasta
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas
Pecorino Romano cheese, grated or shredded, to pass at the table

Place a heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Add the pancetta to the pot (if using) and cook until crispy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, bay leaves, garlic, and onions to the pot, season with salt and pepper, and cook until the veggies are tender, 7 to 8 minutes more.

Add the mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, stock, and 2 cups water to the pot, and bring up to a boil.

Hold the kale by the stems and curl up your opposite hand around the greens at the base of the stem. With a quick jerking motion strip the greens off and away from the stems and chop the greens.

Add the kale, pasta, and chickpeas to the soup pot, and cook until the pasta is al dente. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Discard the bay leaves.

Ladle the soup into shallow bowls, top with the Pecorino Romano, and serve.

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From Publishers Weekly

Just when you thought Rachael Ray couldn't make preparing dinner any easier, she offers a book of 100 simple main courses, all illustrated with step-by-step photos. Cooks who aren't quite sure what dishes are supposed to look like along the way will gain confidence from the six images that accompany each entry, highlighting ingredients, techniques, and in-progress recipes. As You Like It citrus soy stir-fry calls for shelled edamame and a seeded and thinly sliced bell pepper; photos show just how these should appear when they're ready to go into the skillet. One photo supporting the individual Florentine frying-pan pizza depicts dough pressed into a skillet and being filled before baking--so there's no question about whether the reader is doing it correctly. All recipes include a photo of the finished product, too. Chapters are quintessential Ray: "Cozy Food" (cherry tomato and ravioli soup with store-bought ravioli; shepherd's pie stuffed potatoes), "Make Your Own Takeout" (Real-Deal rellenos), "Fancy Fake-Outs" (Moroccan Lemon-Olive Chicken), " ÿYes, The Kids Will Eat It' " (chicken & broccolini with orange sauce), and, of course, "30-Minute Meals." Ray fans should find more of what they love in this book: easy meals that will please most crowds. (Nov.) (c)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter; Original edition (November 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030759050X
• ISBN-13: 978-0307590503
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.8 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #15,953 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Culinary Arts & Techniques

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

103 of 107 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking and Cooking with Rachael Ray! November 2, 2010

By Timothy B. Riley HALL OF FAMETOP 50 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I love cookbooks, I must have hundreds and my mother (from whom I inherited my passion for cooking) has thousands. A few of my early purchases were of the "Look and Cook" variety, such as French Country Cookery (Anne Willan's Look & Cook) but I have since moved on to cookbooks that rely on the reader to have mastered the different techniques that are required for each specific dish. Then I saw Rachael Ray on television cook some of the dishes from this new cookbook of hers. I must say that I was impressed with both the style of the dishes and their ease of preparation. The recipes are new, trendy and very approachable. The photos that demonstrate the preparation of the dishes do so in a step-by-step fashion are well shot and very easy to learn from. Some of the recipes in this book were posted on Rachael's website before the book was released so I had the opportunity to try out a few earlier as well as some new ones that are only in the book.

The look and cook portion of the book includes 100 recipes and is divided into 3 chapters:

1. Cozy Food - Includes recipes for some great comfort food, such as: Shepherd's Pie Stuffed Potatoes; Pimiento Mac n' Cheese; and fresh Onion and Wild Mushroom Soup

2. Make Your Own Takeout - Restaurant-style dishes that can be prepared faster than you can pick up something to-go, recipes include: Chinese Orange-Barbeque Cashew Chicken and Crunchy Tuna Tacos

3. Fancy Fake-Outs - These are simplified versions of dishes that are usually reserved for the advanced home chef, including: Almost Tandoori Chicken; Individual Beef Wellingtons; and Veal and Olive Ragu with Pappardelle

The back section of the book includes 5 more chapters (125 additional recipes), but they are in her 30 Minute Meals format and do not include photographs. There is also a link to her interactive website where you can see select dishes being made in real-time.

So far my favorite recipe is for the Chicken Cutlets Brasciole. The chicken breast filets are butterflied and pounded; the breasts are then stuffed with a mixture of raisins, toasted pine nuts, parsley, lemon zest, cheese, garlic and bread crumbs and is served atop a tomato, wine and tarragon sauce. Delicious!

This book is full of great recipes, some of which will become regular fare at my house. Although the Look and Cook feature is not really necessary if you are an advanced cook, this book is still worth having for its creativity and ease of preparation alone. It should be a big hit with the beginning and intermediate home chef as nothing is assumed and each technique and process is both shown and explained in detail. Advanced cooks will still be inspired by Rachael's ability to simplify classic recipes and to substitute easy to find ingredients for those that have been used historically in the well-known versions.

Ms. Ray has both her fans and her detractors. Some find her a little too "cutesy" with her made-up words and expressions (like EVOO for extra-virgin olive oil), but I find her somewhat unorthodox style to be refreshing (and she's not too hard on the eyes!). All in all I find this to be a very fine cookbook and one that I will be recommending to quite a few of my friends who would appreciate both the recipes and the step-by-step style of the photography and instructions. This will not become a go-to cookbook for me, but I am very glad that I own it and I will be cooking recipes from it from time to time.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars HELP! For the challenged cook... November 4, 2010

By wogan TOP 50 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Rachael Ray has published a cookbook a bit different from her others and there are 125 new recipes in it. Some of them are actually almost gourmet but yet simple. You could really wow your family or company by following these simple directions, which include step by step pictures for many of the recipes. A beginning cook or those that feel challenged by trying to create a nice meal would do well to get this book.
Even her cozy food/comfort food has slight twists in the ingredients that would impress, plus - surprise be better for you; like shepherds pie with sweet potato crust rather than just plain white mashed potatoes and made with turkey rather than ground beef, Caesar spaghetti with escarole will `sneak' some green vegetables into even a picky eater's diet. Don't miss the sausage and fish one pot for something different and easy to prepare and good to eat, as are many of the meals in here.
There are suggestions for additions to the main dish to make a complete meal and recipes for them, with the page number included.

About the only problem I had is that many pages are missing page numbers and you have to go back several pages to make sure you have found or are near the right page. Also, it is surprising how much more appetizing the meals are that have pictures; there are 86 pages without pictures and all of that print is done in red, which for some people might be hard to read, especially the ingredient list which is overprinted on a rose colour section.

The book contains recipes for: cozy food/comfort food, make your own take out, such as cashew chicken, fancy fake outs, 30 minute meals, meals that kids will eat, sides and starters, simple sauces and such to use that last bit of the jar of things such as olives or barbeque sauce and desserts.
A beginning cook or an experienced one who would just like something a bit simpler would enjoy this cookbook.

27 of 30 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Recipes so far! November 2, 2010

By MIMI J.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I pre-ordered this book cause I saw an episode on her Rachael Ray morning talk show where she was preparing a pasta and shrimp dish that looked so delicious. So I just had to try it which I did last night and it was a hit in my home. I look forward to trying some more recipes from this book.