Ready When You Are: A Compendium of Comforting One-Dish Meals

Every summer, when our farmer's market is brimming with tiny eggplant and zucchini, I turn to Martha's recipe for Ratatouille. In this book she offers two recipes, one long-cooking and another, quicker version. Let me save you some time--the quick-cooking version is terrific. But what keeps this book on my limited-space shelf in the kitchen (as opposed to all the cooking tomes I keep in the library) is her recipe for "Vinaigrette to keep in the refrigerator". It's a revelation--sherry wine vinegar, a splash of balsamic, some Dijon mustard, a large garlic clove (sliced and impaled on a toothpick) salt, and EEOV. Simple but sublime. P.S. I get my sherry wine vinegar at Williams Sonoma. Get the real thing, made in Portugal. Good cooking is not difficult when you have professional help.

This really is a lovely, inspirational cookbook. The photographs are beautiful and the text is fun to read. The recipes all look very good. But my favorite aspect of this book are the instructions. Not only are they clear but they break down how far in advance you can make each part of the recipe. Many recipes include ideas on how to turn leftovers into another dish. As a stay-at-home-mom I have time in the morning to cook dinner, so the recipes in this book are perfect for me. I love to cook, and the recipes are pretty challenging, which I like. This is not a fast and easy cookbook by any means, so if you don't enjoy spending hours in the kitchen don't bother with it. So far I've made the "Soup au Pistou" which was just ok. (This is one of the reasons why I've given the book 4 stars instead of 5.) But the "Catalan chick peas with sausage" and the "Macaroni with tomato sause and goat cheese" were fabulous. The "Szwchuan braised tofu with pork and broccoli" was also very good, but this leads me to my one complaint; there's a whole section on stir frys and risotto. I'm not sure why these last minute kind of dishes are included in a book dedicated to advance cooking. Overall this is a beautiful book filled with wonderful looking recipes. If you like to cook and you have a bit of time on your hands throughout the day, then you will like this cookbook.

This is a great book for people who like to cook. All of the recipes I have tried have been really good (mustard rabbit was my favorite so far), but I wouldn't really say this is a cookbook you would use everyday to decide what you are going to make for dinner. It is more of a cookbook for Sundays. If you want to make a nice Sunday meal but don't have the time to spend all Sunday in the kitchen, the author clearly lays out how to prepare for the meal throughout the days ahead. Highly recommended for those who like to sit down to a good meal, but are too busy to prepare one!

This is a solid and reliable cookbook crafted with the author's customary attention to detail. Alas, I just couldn't get excited about very many of the recipes. They are perfectly OK, but nothing that makes you rush into the kitchen. Tamasin Day Louis's Good Tempered Food is a much better book for the same kind of food--unfussy dishes that cook in a leisurely manner.

I highly recommend this book if you a) like to cook and b) are suffering from the average working parent's harried and chopped up schedule. This is not a slowcooker cookbook or a "make it in minutes" cookbook. Many of these recipes take some time investment. However, the recipes clearly state when a portion of the prep can be done ahead (sometimes even a day) and most of the recipes "hold over" well, ie. they can be eaten for 3-4 days mostly getting better with time. The author is clearly used to implementing fat shaving techniques and successfully balances a light cooking approah with GREAT ethnic influenced home cooking. Many of these recipes I would consider refined enough to serve to company. And we are not restricted to stews here. There is a great section on pies, tortas and galettes. I made the potato and greens pie last night, using the yeasted olive oil dough. I made it with swiss chard and spinach (2 pounds), there was lowfat cottage cheese in there, 2 eggs, sauteed onions and garlic and a few ounces of various cheeses. It made a whopping 10" springform pie and was delicious. I plan to try the italian brisket later this week. I have already made the white beans and sausage with sage dish that is on the cover. I have made the veal paprikash with great success, the leftovers of which I froze succesfully for a meal another time. There is a section on rices and grains, there is winter fare and summer fare. If you are in to freezer cooking or make ahead meals then you will not want to miss out on this book! I plan on looking at other cookbooks by this author...