Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I saw this cookbook in a bookstore and knew I had to have it. I love to cook and have done so for years but had gotten into a rut by cooking the same 10 things all the time. After all, most recipes will feed an army and it takes days to eat the end result (or it would end up forgotten in the freezer or worse still, in the trash). It got truly discouraging as even halfing most recipes still makes too much for a single or double household. Using this cookbook has encouraged me to make something different all the time and to use ingredients I did not use in those 10 repetitious dishes. While almost all the ingredients can be found in today's supermarkets, when they can't, then an occasional trip to a speciality store can be fun and, once an ingredient such as curry paste is purchased, then it's there for the next time. Another nice thing about the recipes is that the dishes, by being just enough for two, gives me a dinner and a lunch for work and NO leftovers!!! And once cooked, the dishes look, taste and smell so special (think about that good old standby, tuna and noodle casserole but with artichoke hearts!).
Goodness, who knew they even published cookbooks for singles or doubles. Anyway, once I got back to a computer after leaving the bookstore, I checked to see if Amazon.com had other "cooking for one or two" cookbooks. They do so I ordered this book and a couple others that day but this is my favorite! I've tried about half of the recipes so far and all are keepers. A minor note for those using whole grains/pasta: when a recipe (whether from this book or any other) calls for uncooked white rice, I cook brown rice 1/2 the time with 1/2 the water needed to fully cook, then add it to the recipe. It will finish cooking in the amount of time allotted for white rice.
I sure hope Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough writes another "Cooking for Two" cookbook soon.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Cooking for Two: 120 Recipes for Every Day and Those Special Nights
Tea for two. That's what it's all about, right? So how come every recipe you pick up says "serves 4 to 6"? Or more! What do you do when you want macaroni and cheese, but don't want to be reheating it for three nights? Or a couple of cookies, but don't want to be tempted by two dozen sitting on the counter all week?
Creative cookbook authors and cooks Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough have all the answers in Cooking for Two.
Brimming with 120 smaller-serving, big-taste recipes,Cooking for Two offers cooks familiar favorites such as PastaBolognese, Chicken Pot Pie, and Mushroom Barley Soup, as well as new dishes for today's tastes like Pork Satay Salad and Snapper Fillets SautÉed with Orange and Pecans.
Simply cutting down larger recipes leads to wasted ingredients. But Bruce and Mark have developed each recipe so you buy only what you need, and use all of what you buy. Instead of opening a can of vegetable stock only to use three tablespoons, use the liquid the dried mushrooms have soaked in. If an onion is too large for a recipe, chop a shallot instead.
The dessert chapters are filled with cookies, puddings, and cakes, all designed for two servings. Small-batch baking requires strict attention to detail. A regular egg can be too big for a small batch of six cookies, so they suggest quail eggs or the easy-to-find pasteurized egg substitutes, which you can measure out in tablespoons.
Truly a cookbook for everyday use, each recipe is labeled as quick (ready in minutes with minimal cooking), moderate (requires a bit more preparation or cooking), or leisurely (perfect for quiet celebrations or weekend meals) to help you decide which dish best fits into your day.
With ingredient and equipment guides, as well as tips on how to stock your pantry to avoid those there's-nothing-in-the-house-so-let's-go-out moments, Cooking for Two will surely become the cookbook you reach for every night of the week.
It's just two perfect.
