Great recipes for the time you have (Time to Eat - Gary Rhodes)

Member Name: mizmir

Product:	Time to Eat - Gary Rhodes
Date:	17/01/09 (58 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very useful organisation, great recipes, beautifully illustrated

Disadvantages: Haven't found any yet.

I'm not a great recipe user (my cooking tends grab what is in the fridge, chuck it in a pan and see what comes out the other side!) but we received this book as a gift and I have to say I love it!

There are 120 recipes ranging from the very simple but tasty salads to quite elaborate main courses - and of the quality you would expect form a chef like Gary Rhodes - but the thing that makes this book stand out from the rest is the way it is organised: not by ingredient or by type of dish but by how long it takes to prepare and cook.

This is wonderful - whether you are short of time and want something tasty but quick to eat - or whether you are trying to work out the timings on a three course meal for guests. And the timings so far from the recipes we have tried are pretty accurate.

The book has 9 sections:
- No time to shop (cooking with store cupboard food)
- No time to cook (mainly salads - but definitely not just a piece of limp lettuce and a few slices of cucumber!)
- Quick fixes (food that takes 15 minutes or less)
- Ready in 20-30 minutes
- Ready in 30-60 minutes
- Slow cooking (stuff that can be done in a single pot and cooked for hours)
- Cooking for pleasure (recipes to savour and spend time over)
- Quick puddings (20 minutes or less)
- Proper puddings (worth waiting for!)

The photography is beautiful and most dishes are illustrated so you know what you are aiming at. And the book is written in an informal and entertaining style with little comments about each dish and hints for each section.

My favourite recipe so far is for Crispy lemon and parsley camembert with mango and spinach (from the 20-30 minutes section). I made this when we had guests over Christmas and it was amazing - had everyone raving over my cooking - yet it was really simple and did only take about 20 minutes to prepare!

If you like cooking this is definitely a book to have. Even if you don't you'll find tasty no-nonsense recipes that might even make you change your mind!

RRP is £25 but you can get it on Amazon for £16.25 new and from £4 used - definitely worth it - or put it on your wish list!

Summary: Enjoy!