How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart

by Pam Anderson

Book Overview

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 day, who has the energy to look up a recipe and search for the right ingredients...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767902793
• ISBN13: 9780767902793
• Release Date: April 2000
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 3.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 7.7" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

How to cook with out a book is a good book

Very simple ideas that help make things easier and faster in the kitchen I’m glad I got it

Amazingly simple

I’ve always thought that cooking needed to be complicated and I couldn’t figure out how our family dinners when I was a kid could have been edible because they were so simple. This book this book, after looking through the pages and reading some of the ideas for about two hours I feel like I’ve been reborn, and I feel like I can actually put together a meal without stress! I am inspired by the simplicity!

Cookbook

Arrived on time Good book

Encourages you to use what you have in your kitchen.

I hate following recipes at times and just want to go with the flow and what I have in my kitchen. This is the book that works for me in putting together the right ingredients to come up with a tasty meal. Enjoyable and easy to follow.

The no flaw best !

I am a cajun and thus was raised within a strong cooking tradition that emphasizes cooking skills as much among men as women (my father and two brothers are professional chefs, another is a pastry chef and still another is a seafood merchant). Although I too began in professional kitchens I am now a college instructor but remain an avid home cook (a little catering on the side) and own over 1500 cookbooks Though this book does not have the homestyle long cooking black pot dishes cajuns are famous for; the details of seasoning and other ingredient proportions offered in this book are so accurately delicious that this information would be of value to any cuisine! Even though I have an extensive cookbook library, I have never written a cookbook review. Why now? Because this is simply the best cookbook I've ever used! Within the stated limitations of the book (ie. quick , midweek night cooking for family; the kind all of us are forced to do.) this cookbook is without flaw. This is the only cookbook my wife and I keep on our kitchen prep table. Because Ms. Anderson(a former "Cook's Illustrated" magazine editor} has taken the trouble to have each recipe taste tested by a panel before finalizing the selection of the best recipe version (The "Best Recipe" is the title of a previous volume by Ms. Anderson and is also fabulous} success is guranteed. This research is her secret to success and something that you or I or even professional chefs simply will never have access to. I would call Ms. Anderson a professional cook rather than chef but this is to her advantage since she doesn't have to waste time on food presentation and plating technique. Really good professional chefs can be fine at feeding one (a single order) or an army (buffets and banquets) and so are often lousy cookbook authors for families (2, 4. or 6). But this is precisely where the professional cook comes in and Pam Anderson is simply the best. So what's in the book? Absolutely delicious quickly prepared dishes that take advantage of the best ingedients available today. I have tried most of the recipes in this book and every one was superb which has led me to revise many of my own tried and true recipes. There are delicious soups, frittatas, stir frys; pan grilled chicken supremes, beef steaks, pork tenderloin, fish and shellfish, and a huge variety of superb accompaning sauces, butters, and salsas, vegatables, salads, appetizers and more. While each dish is complete in itself, once a recipe is learned you can put the book aside; especially when cooking your own improvisations (eg. I use her basic frittata formula, since there's none better, to make cajun style crawfish, eggplant, or chicken liver flat omeletes in addition to using her great selection of frittata recipes). Another nice thing about the book is that it is just as useful for the accomplished cook (because of the extensive compilation of tasty fare) as the beginner (very clear instructions). I have often heard

I wouldn't have gone to cooking school if I'd read this

The overall lesson about cooking in this book is THE BEST OUT THERE. She tells you the truth. I can't imagine anyone not knowing what to cook for dinner if they had this book. It breaks everything down, gives you the big picture, so you realize what those recipes you've been following blindly were trying to do. It's true she has you get pre-made sauces and chicken broth (some Asian sauces should be bought pre-made anyway) and if you actually have time to make them you'll have to open up another book for those things if you're a beginner (who has time these days anyway?). On the other hand, I am so sick of reading cookbooks where the cook writes as if they are performing on stage, which has no relevance whatsoever to what I'm doing in the kitchen. This book doesn't waste your time, gets right down to business.

This book makes weeknight cooking a breeze!

"How to Cook without a Book" is the cookbook that I have been hoping to find. It teaches you the mindset and skills neccesary to quickly prepare a healthy meal with what you've got in your fridge and pantry. The weekends are great for trying new recipes and new ingredients, but what do you do on Wednesday night at 6pm when you're tired and hungry and haven't yet given a thought to what you'll cook and whether you have all the ingredients?"How to Cook without a Recipe" teaches you a few simple techniques which can be used with a variety of ingredient combinations. For example, Ms. Anderson's saute techinique works for chicken, pork, fish, tofu, and more. So, if you have any of these on hand and a few seasonings, you've got your main dish.So far I've read a few sections of the book, and it has already improved my cooking. What the book boils down to is this: learn a few techniques, stock your pantry, make a weekly trip to the grocery store to buy whatever's in season or on sale, and you'll be able to put a "real meal" on the table anytime.Excellent for someone setting up a new house or apartment and for those who are tired of take-out and packaged instant meals. Would make a great gift for a college graduate or for a bride and/or groom-to-be.

The Cookbook You've Always Wanted!

I already own a bookshelf of cookbooks, but Pam Anderson's is truly unlike any other out there. It explains, in a concise manner, the basis for the primary forms of cooking (from scratch!) that we all love, but never cook for lack of time: those hearty soups, salads, sauces to go with that ever-present chicken, and how to expand your menu way beyond chicken, and so much more. Unbelievable, she shows us that we *can* cook these on a weeknight (most within 30 minutes).I love the concept behind this book because, while I enjoy cooking, I often don't have time for all of the recipes that are my family's favorites -- or at least I didn't think I did. This book teaches you that a soup, for example, is a few basic ingredients that you probably already have in your home, and that it can be prepared in 20 minutes! She shows you how this is true for a wide variety of meats, pasta dishes, appetizers, desserts, even stir-fry and pad thai dishes.While there are also example recipes for every category of food in the book, after reading it, you will be inspired to create your own variations, even if you never thought you could. In addition, there are tips on how to make most of this food sophisticated enough for a dinner party, including example menus.With the help of Pam Anderson's book, I now have the joy and the option of creating my own recipes, instead of constantly pulling a book from the shelf to find the answer to "What's for dinner?"It's easy to read, thoroughly enjoyable and best of all, the ideas presented will help end the feeling that cooking the nightly dinner is such a chore!