The Minimalist Cooks Dinner by Mark Bittman
Broadway Books, 2001

Review by Rita Daelemans with Kathleen Daelemans

"What cookbook do you want to review this month, Mom?" "Anything by Bittman." "We're always chatting up Bittman. People are going to think we don't like anyone else." "I like his books. They're straightforward and easy to cook from. His directions are clear and easy to understand. You're never left wondering what on earth you do with two remaining artichokes or where in the world you can purchase zatar by suppertime. Each recipe includes a manageable number of ingredients. The fact that he calls himself the Minimalist gives you a clue that you're going to be able to get through a recipe before the week's out.

He's got lots of neat sauces in this book that I wouldn't necessarily serve with his entrée choice like the broiled Cornish Game hens with Lemon and Balsamic Vinegar because I'm never going to fix Cornish Game hens for the simple reason that in a hundred million years, I couldn't get your father to eat them. Besides, they're too much fuss. But the sauce looks good so one of these days, I'm going to fix it.

There's another recipe for Grilled Lamb Ribs. I don't like lamb ribs but in the sidebar he suggests serving them with different toppings; pesto, cucumber salsa or mango salsa and they all look like nice things to put on chicken. You can never have too many ways to serve chicken."

I've never been disappointed in any Bittman recipe I've taken the time to cook. Mostly because overtime I cook anything by Bittman it's when my Mother calls raving about one of his recipes, "Kathleen. This is your Mother (after 40 years, I might get her mixed up with someone else). I made this really great dinner. If you call me before I forget what it was I'll tell you which page it's on."

His book, How to Cook Everything (Wiley Publishing Inc., 1998), is in my opinion as an important a cookbook as Joy of Cooking. It does in fact, teach you to cook well, with simple prose, clear instructions and short ingredient lists. It is to your cookbook library what flour is to your pantry; a can't live without staple item.

Cookbook Pros
You never have to turn the page to read the rest of a recipe. They're all either so simple the entire recipe fits onto one page or in the case of the longer recipes, they carry on to the next page but the book is laid out in such a way that you never have to stop in the middle of a recipe to turn the page only to have the whole book flip closed while the sauce burns. It should be written into the culinary bylaws that all cookbooks are laid out this way.

Mom's Favorite Features
There's a sidebar with every recipe called, With Minimal Effort, where he gives you a variation on the recipe. "Half the time, I follow the variations instead of the recipes. Your father has never once caught onto the fact that he was almost eating the same thing twice."

Mom's Cons
It's only got 100 recipes and it's 26 bucks. On the up side there's a lot of recipes in the book worth trying. Everything I've attempted has come out pretty good. None of the recipes are too off the wall. I have a zillion cookbooks with hundreds more recipes in them but I've cooked only once or twice from them because they're not nearly as reliable.

From Mom's Kitchen Notebook:
"My favorite recipe in the book is Simplest Sauteed Chicken with Garlic. You get to put a cut up chicken in a skillet with no fat. It's fun, it's gimmicky, I like it. The chicken doesn't come out greasy and the house doesn't burn down. Your father's happy and the meal is relatively healthy if you don't eat the skin."

I love the Chicken Mushroom Cutlets with Parmesan. They're really gourmet chicken burgers but he doesn't call them that because "calling something a chicken burger might make it sound like a fifties throwback or an unappealing fast food offering." I don't care what the heck he calls them, they're good and your father likes them.

Fish Simmered in Spicy Soy Sauce was really great. Mostly I tend to just put fish in the oven and serve it with lemon so I'm always looking for a really easy, different way to serve it. The recipe makes enough sauce so there's enough left over to serve over brown rice which means your father will try it.

Of Note: Rarely do we gush over every single work by a particular author but each and every one of Bittman's books are worth their purchase price. The recipes are just that quick and reliable.