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Rating: 
Summary: Good quick recipes and ideas
Review: I found this to be a good book, while not necessarily presenting anything that out of the ordinary it did provide good solid recipes that can be prepared in short amounts of time. It's not a tremendous amount of recipe, but some of the recipes offer variations. Another good feature of this book is that it provides two pages of additional suggestions and variations at the end of each chapter. As another reviewer mentioned, the book is written for British audiences, this is a bit annoying but fortunately quantities are listed in ounces as well as grams. I haven't had too much trouble finding any ingredients listed.In case you buy it here are some translations/substitutions: aubergines-eggplant
courgettes-zucchini
lardons-crumbled pieces of crispy bacon
fresh coriander-cilantro
rocket-arugula
prawns-shrimp
demara sugar-brown suger
caster sugar-superfine sugar
double cream-heavy cream (not quite the same fat content a double cream, though) you can search the web for "ingredient substitution" to find others.
Rating: 
Summary: Sophisticated but (mostly) easy receipes
Review: I'm a pretty fair cook, but in the country style. If a recipe involves smoked breast of duck or goat cheese, I'll look for something else. Those ingredients, and similar, figure in a number of the admittedly tasty-looking dishes featured here, but there are also a number of others that are surprisingly simple and quite good -- at least, those I tried. Rather than the usual division into chapters by primary component, this book is organized into "Appetizers," "After Work," "Weekend Entertaining," "Vegetables, Salads, & Accompaniments," and "Desserts," plus a final section called "The Basics," which covers roasted garlic, pesto, basil coulis, bouquet garni, etc. I made the "Argula with Sauteed Potatoes & Bacon," which was easy and excellent, and the "Pasta alla Diavola," in which I included rather more dried chiles than called for, with great success. About one-third of the recipes are pictured (mouth-wateringly), and nearly all are accompanied by Chef's Tips and suggested variations. Except for the editors' somewhat boorish assumption that anything cooked in French fashion is better than anyone else's version -- even "Corn & Potato Chowder," which is about as American as you can get -- this is an above-average cookbook which I shall return to regularly.
Rating: 
Summary: Dont always go by reviews!!
Review: This book received excellent reviews from other readers and so I ordered it. I was very disappointed when it arrived as this is very much a beginners cookbook which is probably fine for newly marrieds. There are no new exciting recpies - most of them rehashed old ones we are all surely bored of by now...... Secondly this book was obviously written for the UK market ( I come from there! ) as it talks about several ingredients that you either just cant buy here or you have to special order them. Also anyone who has ever eaten precooked vacum packed new potatoes know how truly disgusting they are to anyone one who has even the slightest discerning palate. This book belongs in one of those close out book stores - not Amazon!
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