MARK BITTMAN'S KITCHEN EXPRESS

404 Inspired Seasonal Dishes You Can Make in 20 Minutes or Less

(Simon & Schuster, $26)

How fast can you cook? How fast do you want to cook?

In his new book, "Kitchen Express," Mark Bittman gives us more than 400 recipes, short and sweet, grouped together by the season and cooked start to finish in 20 minutes or less. One of the unique things about this book, and really the most fun part, is the recipes themselves.

Printed in paragraph form with no real measurements given, Bittman gives us just a hint of what you'll need. A bunch of basil, a bit of parsley, and maybe one or two tomatoes or whatever you have in your pantry may be all you need to make a great meal in 20 minutes.

Before you start the timer though, realize the 20-minute time limit works if you know all the rules. Do yourself a favor and read the introduction and the following chapters on ingredients and stocking the pantry before you begin. There is so much good and useful information. It also helps to be organized. Can you multitask? Can you chop the garlic while the oil is heating and peel the vegetables while the garlic is cooking? If so, this makes things go a lot faster.

Now before I go any further, Mark Bittman has written a lot of cookbooks. He is probably best known for the award-winning "How to Cook Everything," which has sold nearly 2 million copies and has recently been revised after 10 years. At more than 1,000 pages and weighing in at almost 5 pounds, it is full of helpful information on what equipment you may need, what ingredients to keep in your pantry, technique on chopping as well as explanations of almost every cooking term you have ever heard of. He also writes a weekly column, "The Minimalist," for the New York Times that has turned into "Mark Bittman's Quick and Easy Recipes from The New York Times," repackaged from three earlier books in "The Minimalist" series.

Like I said, he has written many cookbooks.

Mark Bittman

So you may be wondering whether you need another Bittman book if you already have one. Bittman is clearly gearing "Kitchen Express" toward people who know their way around the kitchen. You may be short on time and, like me, may need to see the recipes on the page to get motivated to get dinner on the table. What's appealing is the size of the recipes. No more than a paragraph long, they are easy to read and easy to follow.

Don’t get me wrong. I love to cook. I love to make big Sunday night dinners. I like the process of deciding what to make, shopping for the ingredients, chopping the onions, everything that goes with it; but that doesn’t mean I want to spend my entire night in the kitchen every night. That’s when I can turn to almost any page in this book and find something easy, delicious and fast to put together.

So I started in the first chapter, Summer, with Recipe Number 90, "Pasta with Spicy Shellfish." Cook the pasta in boiling water. "While you are doing that, saute a couple of garlic cloves with red pepper flakes, stir in the shrimp, cook a few minutes longer and add the cooked pasta with some of its cooking water, and in less than 20 minutes...dinner. Or Recipe Number 23, "Proscuitto, Peach and Mozzarella Salad." All it took was just a few simple fresh ingredients, and again in less than 20 minutes...instant lunch.

One complaint I have about all of Bittman’s books, though, is that they are not very visual. Not a photo to be found -- must be part of the "Minimalist" look. It’s a small complaint for "Kitchen Express," a smart book that saves valuable time for busy people who love to cook.

Photo credit: Simon & Schuster

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Personally, I like cookbooks without pictures - and if Bittman is gearing this book to experienced cooks, my guess is they too can do w/o pics. Today, a home cook looking for a good cookbook can choose between a writer who thinks they can cook, and a cook who thinks they can write - Mark Bittman has long straddled that fine line with grace, charisma, and a solid knowledge bank - he deserves success!

drfugawe , August 26, 2009