Delia's How To Cheat At Cooking
by Delia Smith 2008/hardcover/
256 pages/EburyPress/$67.40
Books Kinokuniya
British foodies have been up in arms about this book. They feel betrayed. They say Smith has sold out because for years, she has been extolling the virtues of cooking from scratch.
But this new book has recipes that call for ready-chopped onions from the freezer section, frozen rounds of mashed potato and minced meat from a can.
I was ready to give her the benefit of the doubt because I've cooked from many of her cookbooks, and her recipes always work.
But I don't get the point of this book.
Many cooks use ready-made products to speed up cooking. My pantry is stocked with canned tomatoes, beans, ready-made mayonnaise and pancake mix to help make cooking easier. But why bother to cook if the entire dish is assembled from cans and packets? Wouldn't it be better to get ready-made food from a good deli?
I'm also not sure who this book is aimed at. If it's for people who can't be bothered to cook, I don't see how having to shop for long lists of frozen and canned food is going to lure them into the kitchen. If it's aimed at people who can't afford gourmet ingredients, well, these prepared foods often cost more than fresh food.
The recipes also call for specific brands, many of which will be difficult to find here.
Although I read the book twice, I couldn't find anything I wanted to make. But I'm not about to burn it, as some bloggers have. The plastic covers will surely give off noxious fumes.
If anyone had told me a year ago that British cookbook author Lawson would write a better book than compatriot Delia Smith, I'd have been incontinent from laughing.
After all, Smith is ever dependable, and some recipes I've cooked from Lawson's older books have turned out badly. Still, strange things happen.
It helps that Lawson doesn't have that doyenne of cooking tag to live up to. It also helps that so far, all the recipes I've tried from this book have worked.
The Mirin-Glazed Salmon is a quick and delicious after-work dinner to make; and Maple Chicken N Ribs, Roquamole and that luscious Caramel Croissant Pudding are good for parties.
She trumps Smith by coming up with recipes that pair pantry staples with an element of fresh, whether it's vegetables, fruit or meat. The shortcuts make sense and don't take away the joy of cooking. I mean, why use ready-fried bacon (as Smith does) when half the pleasure of eating the stuff is smelling it cook?
Just In Time
by Rachael Ray 2007/paperback/
336 pages/Clarkson Potter/$38.95
Harris Books
Pretty, perky Ray with the gravelly voice and the shouts of Yum-o! is easy to make fun of. She gets no respect from chef types like travel show host Anthony Bourdain.
But after getting a start making recipes to promote and sell food in a gourmet shop, she has gone on to write 14 books, has her own magazine and hosts multiple TV shows.
This book is filled with simple, down-home recipes with an added bonus: They are divided into those that take 15 minutes, 30 minutes and one hour.
Her recipes don't call for nearly as many convenience foods as Lawson's and Smith's, but the ingredient lists look awfully long. For example, a 15-minute recipe for Provencal Tuna Melts calls for 13 ingredients. All that, for a sandwich? A 30-minute recipe for Chicken Marsala Masala With Peach-Watermelon Rind Chutney calls for 23.
But the recipes are easy enough to make and a Sardinian-Style Fish Chowder I tried was good comfort food for a rainy afternoon.
