|
A Failure, Pure and Simple |
 |
|
|
|
Review: Diane Henry's new cookbook doesn't stand up to her many competitors in the easy-meal category. |
|
|
Monday, 12 October 2009 |
15:01 |
Diana Henry's "Pure Simple Cooking" is something of a letdown.
By Diana Henry
(Ten Speed Press, $21.95)
Looking at a new cookbook, I nearly always find something to get excited about -- and in the case of "Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day," it was the author. Diana Henry, food columnist for England's Sunday Telegraph, has published five cookbooks including the very popular "Crazy Water Pickled Lemons," a delightful exploration of North African and Middle Eastern food filled with fantastic and unexpected recipes. I've enjoyed many cooking successes with her previous books.
Henry’s new effort, "Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day," sadly, is not the book I had hoped it would be. It is an attractive, slim paperback with its standard table of contents and chapters on chicken, meat, fish, vegetables and desserts. It is also full of beautiful, mouthwatering photographs that will make you want to run to the kitchen and prepare the first thing you see.
That is exactly what I did. I tried the very first recipe in the book, Pacific Lime Chicken.
It looked and sounded like a winner: chicken thighs with a quick marinade of honey, lime juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, thyme and garlic all roasted together in the oven. Sounds great, right? Well, it was good, just not great. What had happened to all the wonderful sweet and salty flavors? Had I missed something in the recipe? The final product just didn’t have that depth of flavor the recipe led me to expect. I can’t figure out why all those great tasting ingredients would result in something so bland. This was certainly a dish I would not try again.
A friend who shares the same excitement for Henry’s books also tested some of her new recipes. We had the same reaction. Everything was fine, yet nothing was nearly as special as the recipes in her other books. Now I don’t cook every recipe in every book I read, and I’m sure there are some delicious recipes in this one that people may love, but when the very first recipe in the book disappoints, you have to wonder.
People are always looking for ways to get dinner on the table with little effort and a lot of flavor, and many of the new cookbooks I read over the summer were about quick and easy cooking. And there were countless similar books already on the shelves. So an author such as Henry better have something special to offer.
Several cookbooks available now offer great flavor and effortless cooking. Look for Diane Rossen Worthington’s 2002 title, "Seriously Simple: Easy Recipes for Creative Cooks." There isn’t a bad recipe in the book. Over the years this has been my go-to book for easy, every-night dinners that never disappoint. The recently reviewed, "Mark Bittman’s Kitchen Express" gets it right too. Even Martha Stewart has done it well with her book, "Everyday Food: Great Food Fast," compiled from the popular magazine Everyday Food.
There are hundreds of cookbooks available that offer quick, easy and effortless cooking -- so it's worth your time to slow down when choosing one. Read through the recipes before you buy. Make sure the recipes fit your style of cooking. Watch out for hard-to-find ingredients or ingredients that don’t cross over to other recipes.
I am still a fan of Henry. A few disappointing recipes are not going to turn me off, but I sure was hoping that her ideas on simple, effortless cooking would deliver much bigger and bolder flavors.
 |
|
Last Updated on Tuesday, 10 November 2009 06:04 |
Those often-disregarded recipes on food packaging can be a source of inspiration and nostalgia.
Traditional methods make high-end Chinese soy sauce brands perfect for Chinese New Year.
After losing his wife to cancer, Greg Brown, founder of T-Vine winery, nursed a broken heart.
Even more elusive than the subterranean delicacies is the process for infusing their essence into oil.
Brace yourself. If a friend drops by with a fox she has shot, here's how to turn it into dinner.
Part 2: Don't let the name tempt you to dismiss these treats -- luobogao are scrumptious!
Chef Pierre Thiam talks about bringing Senegalese cooking and the concept of taranga to the U.S.
A 19th-century recipe for this traditional English dessert yields a fantastic result.
Barbecued duck, caramel potatoes and red cabbage salad -- what's not to love?