![Sheet Pan Chicken: 50 Simple and Satisfying Ways to Cook Dinner [A Cookbook]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/A1WbD17NhlL._AC_UL160_SR160,160_.jpg)
This was a big disappointment. I expected from the title and cover to have a book filled with easy dinner recipes that could be made with ease and limited fuss on a baking sheet. The cover photo is exactly the kind of dinner that I thought the book would be filled with--an easy way to combine protein mains with sides all on one sheet pan.
Alas, that is not the case.
The first chapter is for appetizers, not suppers, that just happen to be made on a sheet pan. So, think of any appetizer that happens to be made on a baking sheet. For example, bake a wheel of brie--on a baking sheet! Or crispy chickpeas, or spiced nuts, or roasted radishes. That's the first chapter: 18 recipes that I do not need and which are not supper.
The poultry chapter does have dinner recipes. But...a good number rely on "cooked shredded chicken." I thought the whole point was to cook the entire meal on the sheet pan? And then other recipes just seem dumb or gimmicky, like cook turkey burgers on a baking rack set on the sheet pan or, hey, instead of roasting a chicken in a roasting pan, roast it on a baking sheet!
The meats chapter relies on some pretty expensive cuts--different steaks, rack of lamb (!), leg of lamb, sirloin steak, beef tenderloin, etc. I am not tempted to cook a $15 steak or $40 rack of lamb on a sheet pan. Other recipes, like cook meatloaf on a sheet pan (which has been around a long time) rather than in a pan. Fish recipes largely rely on very expensive fish that are not available in most places (e.g., recipes calling for two whole red snappers, black cod, arctic char, thick-cut halibut, swordfish).
And then some vegetarian recipes , like pasta, that require you make the pasta separately. Or french bread pizza (come on). Some strange recipes here, too, more appetizers than supper. For example, Caesar salad on garlic toast is a vegetarian supper (?), or stuffed mushrooms accompanied by "garlic knots" which are simply canned crescent rolls brushed with garlic olive oil (?).
After going through the entire book, I have three supper recipes that I wish to try that will work for my family, One is the cover recipe, and it will not be one we can have often due to the high cost and limited availability of arctic char.
What follows the mains (the suppers) is a slew of recipes that range from the obvious (standard cookies, such as chocolate chip and peanut butter) to the bizarre to the unusable. The strangest one if the the "doughnut apple cobbler." This is the recipe: toss apples with sugar, spices and butter on a sheet pan, than bake, Remove from the oven and top with 8 whole, glazed doughnuts and bake until doughnuts are warmed through. What??? Then there is a 16-step, 3-page long recipe for homemade poptarts, as well as standard recipes, such as scones, elaborate cinnamon rolls, focaccia, garlic bread, plain roasted potatoes, granola, biscuits, chocolate sheet cake, tart, or, annoyingly, desserts baked in ramekins that are SET on a sheet pan. Really? Nothing surprising, these are recipes that are always baked on sheet pans for heaven's sake. These are not suppers.
It would be ok if the "other" recipes were limited to being a few bonus recipes, but no:
Pages 6-40: Appetizers.
Pages 41-180: Suppers, most of which do not fit the model of what is on the cover.
Pages 182 through 284: desserts and biscuits etc, NOT suppers
More than half the book--61 out of 120 recipes-- are NOT suppers.
- Amazon Business : For business-only pricing, quantity discounts and FREE Shipping. Register a free business account
