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45th out of 696 books
—
663 voters
How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart
by
Pam Anderson
Pam Anderson grew up watching her parents and grandparents make dinner every night by simply taking the ingredients on hand and cooking them with the techniques they knew.
Times have changed. Today we have an overwhelming array of ingredients and a fraction of the cooking time, but Anderson believes the secret to getting dinner on the table lies in the past. After a long d...more
Times have changed. Today we have an overwhelming array of ingredients and a fraction of the cooking time, but Anderson believes the secret to getting dinner on the table lies in the past. After a long d...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
April 4th 2000
by Clarkson Potter
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I stumbled across this cookbook when I was first trying to learn to cook by instinct rather than by recipe. Anderson's innovative approach in this cookbook provides the reader with techniques (how to make a pureed vegetable soup, for example), rather than recipes per se. The techniques are easy (in this example, begin with aromatice vegetables like onion, add stock or broth, then the featured vegetable for the soup, some seasoning, cook and puree), and following the base instructions, she provid...more
Great book, I definitely don't think it's just for idiots like someone else previously commented. My only criticism of the book is that I think there are FAR too many recipes or formulas with alcohol in them. I don't drink, but don't mind occasionally eating food that was prepared with alcohol- let's face it, it's nearly impossible to avoid at restaurants. However, I don't really want to support the liquor industry by buying and storing several different kinds of wine in my house even if it's on...more
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I came across a recipe years (and I mean years) ago in this book by Pam Anderson book(check out Pam's blog by the way, Three Many Cooks) for cooking cutlets (pork, chicken, whatever) and making a quick pan sauce to go with them that I've used over and over and over throughout the years...definitely worth the price of the book just for that recipe. This book is handy for making suppers from whatever you have on the shelves/in the fridge/in the freezer already and want to find a use for before it'...more
I love everything about this book. I've never met a recipe that I don't think I can do better. This book teaches you how to be a better cook. Not by adding recipes to your box, but by adding knowledge, skill, and technique to your brain. If you truly love to learn then this is the book for you. Even when I use another cookbook or recipe I have this one open to use for reference.
I felt robbed with the book title and what was actually in the book. I thought I would learn why certain ingredients effect other ingredients, how to look at items in stock and make a meal. These recipes that don't require a book are no brainers: potatoes, rice, salads, seasoning meat and cooking eggs. People need a recipe to cook eggs? Don't waste your time.
My friend, Scott, who is an excellent cook, recommended this book to me. I confess that I have not read it lately. Read it once or twice and LEARN to make really good food. For me, it was the advice on making soup that clinched it. I now make soup at least once a week and it's very good!
There are plenty of good cookbooks with good recipes, but this book teaches readers to cook a wide range of meals without having to use a cookbook. The things I learned from this book have become staples in my menus and have made meal planning so much easier!
Saw a recommendation for this cookbook on The Pioneer Woman's site. This cookbook is a great resource for anyone who cooks a little but wants to step up their game.
It's rapidly become my eighteen-year-old sister's favorite cookbook, as well.
It's rapidly become my eighteen-year-old sister's favorite cookbook, as well.
This is a great cookbook that gives you a basic recipe, and then lists all these different variations for that recipe based on your own tastes. Although I still feel like I have to reference it, I think it has made me more confident in the kitchen.
One of my favorite cookbooks. Simple, a good book for learning techniques and lots of good adaptations once you have the basics down. Plus the irony of the title isn't lost on me. A book for learning to cook without recipes... love it
This book does what it propses quite well. It teaches a set of methods so that once learned many dishes are available to a cook without having to search for a recipe. I thought it was a great concept and I have learned a lot.
I am loving this cookbook. I'm learning a lot.
Update ***Finished it! I'm going to have to make some of the recipes. Despite the title of the book, this may be a cookbook I want to buy for my kitchen.***
Update ***Finished it! I'm going to have to make some of the recipes. Despite the title of the book, this may be a cookbook I want to buy for my kitchen.***
I love this because it uses formulas for basic dinner ideas so that you can experiment with whatever you have on hand. A must-have for anybody who has to get dinner on the table after work on a regular basis.
This book was a great concept and sort of a 'meta-cookbook' in that it helps me read other recipes and break them down into changeable, dynamic meals. A must read for any beginning cook or cook on the run.
I love this book! It is the first cook book that makes any sense to me, and is truly teaching me how to cook, using the ingredients at hand. Great addition to any new cook's library.
I guess cooking for me is like playing the piano... I'll never truly be able to let go of my book and just make it or play it by heart. I get too scared that I will mess it up.
This is another book that is a great starting point for the beginning cook. Each dish starts with the basic dish and then adds different flavor ideas to change it up.
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11823451
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11823451
This wasn't what I hoped it would be; it's a little to advanced for me (who loves the Gooseberry Patch cookbooks but also isn't afraid to mod a few Food Network recipes here and there). Probably more for advanced intermediate cooks.
It is a "I've never made more than a peanut butter sandwhich - I need help" kind of cookbook.
Anyone else who knows the basics... it's a waste of time.
Anyone else who knows the basics... it's a waste of time.
I love the simplicity of this cook book! Many great recipes for sauces, including Asian, Mexican, East Indian, and American cuisine!
What I like about this book is that it taught me the basics of how to put some dishes together. I always recommend this book to beginner cooks.
If you like to cook but want to learn how to get dinner on the table without following cumbersome recipes - this is an AMAZING BOOK!!
I first received this book when I moved from the States to New Zealand to marry my husband. Not only did I gain a husband but I gained the majority of the responsibility for making dinner in a foreign country with foreign food & products. I had avoided 'making dinner' as a single person. I mostly used cheese, crackers and salad as my main ingredients for 'dinner'. Although I already knew how to cook I didn't know how to cook without using 10 bowls and at least 20 spoons. This book has been a...more
I can definitely see how knowing how to cook intuitively would save a ton of time. I just need to buy this book so that I can use the techniques often enough for them to stick.
Sep 20, 2012
Leslie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
newlyweds, new parents, anyone setting up house
This book revolutionized my cooking and saved my sanity when my youngest was a baby and I had to put something on the dinner table after a full day at work.
Great ideas for weeknight dinners that involve easy to remember methods rather than set-in-stone recipes.
I loved this book when I was just starting to cook.
Lots of good tips. I'll probably never use a vegetable steamer again. Her way is much better.
I found some tips to try out--like boiling firm veggies for pasta sauce with the pasta. And I figured out why that one sauted chicken recipe that I make all the time is so awesome. But it kinda failed to get me excited about cooking. And while I now want to know how to butterfly a chicken, I'm gonna hafta look it up, in a different book.
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| Let me know | 1 | 5 | Jan 09, 2008 11:05am |
PAM ANDERSON is the author of the best-selling The Perfect Recipe, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, and the New York Times bestseller The Perfect Recipe for Losing Weight and Eating Great. She has been the food columnist for USA Weekend for the last eight years, is a contributing chef to Fine Cooking and Runners World, and writes a weekly blog for the Asheville (North Carolina) Citizen-Time...more
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Though, I don't think this is an insurmountable problem as juice, vinegar, and broth...more
Dec 15, 2010 07:48am