The Instant Cook

by Donna Hay, Con Poulos (Photographer)

Donna Hay is swiftly becoming the source American cooks go to when they ask themselves, "What should we have for dinner tonight?" She has garnered a passionate global following for her fresh and modern approach to food -- bringing out clean, sparkling flavors with simple techniques and streamlined instructions. In The Instant Cook, she offers more than a compendium of flexible recipes; it is an elegantly simple philosophy of cooking, and of eating. Donna Hay pulls together flavor combinations and cooking skills from the Mediterranean and the Pacific Rim - two of the most luscious and quick-cooking cuisines on the planet - to create delicious meals with a handful of ingredients in a few minutes. She gives home cooks the confidence to cook with instinct and with style. Exquisite full color photographs on every page illustrate Donna’s signature look -- chic yet never fussy. It reminds you that cooking is a pleasure. Pour a glass of wine and catch up with family as you cook; shop without waste or confusion; host a weeknight dinner party with little planning and less effort. The Instant Cook is destined to be the cookbook that is never put back on the shelf.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 28, 2004

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Donna Hay is an Australian food stylist, author, and magazine editor. Her food, recipes and styling focuses on basic ingredients, simply prepared and beautifully photographed – hallmarks of her work which have set the benchmark for food publishing worldwide and inspired a whole new generation of cooks.

Reviews

[Sue Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

bought this for a novice cook. It was slightly too advanced for a complete novice, and too many meat recipes for a veggie-leaning youth of today, but it is full of clear, easy, quick, few ingredients, and easily modifiable recipes (with suggestions for modifications based on what is at hand). Pretty good at what it claims to be! Would be great for developing foundation skills and an arsenal of quick dinner ideas for anyone with a little cooking experience.

[Tracy Busse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, fresh food is always a winner and this book is one of my staples!

[Jules Iavarone · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have probably made more than half of these recipes! Always quick, easy and impressive! So tasty and I love how clean the recipes are.

[adri patamoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

este é meu mais novo livro de receitas preferido. dá vontade de fazer TODAS as receitas dele, por elas serem fáceis, rápidas, práticas, e paracerem deliciosíssimas! simples assim. o livro é lindo, grande, e com ilutrações de todas as receitas, o que torna tudo mais apetitoso. por enquanto, aida experimentei pouca coisa, mas já falo que as comidinhas são todas tão gostosas quanto parecem nas fotos! a única parte 'mais ou menos' deste volume é a seção das sobremesas -- elas não parecem tão apetitosas quanto o resto das receitas (e olhem que sou uma verdadeira formiguinha, hein!). ainda assim, o resto do livro é tão bacana que ele certamente merece cinco estrelinhas. quanto às sobremesas, tem sempre os livros do leibovitz ;-)

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book when it first was released as a present from my mother. It is a fantastic book with a wide variety of recipes that can be done so quickly and you do not need to go out and by obscure ingredients the majority of things can be found in a normal kitchen. The pictures are amazing and the food I have cooked from the book were crowd pleasers. Would recommend to people who are at all levels of their cooking skill.

[Jackie Donnelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The photos are spectacular and the book is just beautiful. The recipes are gorgeous, healthy-but-hearty bourgeois fare. I wish the book was slightly smaller; it's a bit too big and cumbersome to lay on the couch and read, and the pages have lots of "white space" and honestly could have been pared down. Some pages look almost "unfinished". But for a cookbook, it does it's job.

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! The recipes are elegantly simple and the photos are goregeous. The secret behind making these recipes taste as good as the pictures look is, I've found, using really good-quality ingredients. Just buy the right cut of meat already!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK, not truly a read, but Donna Hay's books are the best thing going right now. I recommend them all, so I'm not going to go thru the trouble of adding all of them to my list.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fab-o cookbook that's been a kitchen staple for years. Love Hay's easy and quick recipes with full-color photos for each item. Makes anyone a pro in the kitchen

[Rose Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this cookbook. The food is simple and tasty and it is used in my kitchen regularly. I would highly recommend it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

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