's Best of 2001
The Minimalist Cooks Dinner collects two years of recipes from Mark Bittman's popular New York Times column, "The Minimalist," which cleverly caters to the modern gourmet whose expectations are high but time is limited. In a hundred-odd recipes that cover the end-of-the-day meal gamut from soups and sides to entrées, Bittman packs strong flavor into a few ingredients so that food lovers can return home from a long day at work and make a meal that's satisfying but not exhausting.

With less introductory text but more side notes than Bittman's previous cookbooks (The Minimalist Cooks at Home and the new classic, How to Cook Everything), The Minimalist Cooks Dinner commences with a section of 12 soups and stews--ranging from a truly spare miso soup to the richer Black-Eyed Pea Soup with Ham and Watercress--and then covers pasta, pizza, entrées (with shellfish, fish, poultry, or meat), salads, and starchy sides. Easy dishes such as Steak with Chimichurri Sauce (simply parsley, raw garlic, lemon juice, crushed red pepper, and olive oil), Fish Simmered in Spicy Soy Sauce (soy, sugar, scallions, and chile), or Scallops with Almonds (cayenne, almonds, white wine, and butter) are startlingly delicious, especially considering they take at most 30 minutes to prepare. But perhaps this cookbook's best asset, particularly for less-experienced cooks, are the crucial "Keys to Success" and the improvisational "With Minimal Effort" side bars, which respectively offer additional instruction and suggestions for quick ways to enhance the original dish. While not as comprehensive as Bittman's bestselling How to Cook Everything or The Minimalist Cooks at Home, this is an expertly refined collection that presents perfect, almost effortless meals for every night of the week. --Rebecca Wright


From Publishers Weekly
Recipes from the past two years of "The Minimalist," Bittman's widely read weekly food column in the New York Times, shape this latest collection from the author of the phenomenally popular How to Cook Everything. Cementing his reputation for quick, uncomplicated and rewardingly tasty fare within reach of any cook, Bittman overflows with inspiration in the basic recipes and in the suggestions that can be undertaken "With Minimal Effort" accompanying each one. For example, tinkering with Vichyssoise with Garlic, he proposes adding tomato and basil as one variation. To speed up a pasta meal, why not cook Pasta, Risotto Style? Adding stock a ladle at a time to a cut pasta yields a creamy dish without having to wait for a gallon of water to boil. Black Skillet Mussels couldn't be easier: heat a heavy skillet, add mussels and, when they open, eat. Suggested variations include a side sauce of butter, Tabasco and lemon juice. Combining unusual flavors comes naturally to Bittman, as in Roast Fish with Meat Sauce or Pot Roast with Cranberries, in which the meat quickly caramelizes with its dusting of sugar. Chicken-Mushroom "Cutlets" with Parmesan are basically chickenburgers gussied up temptingly with parmesan, porcini and garlic. The headnotes are much shorter than those in last year's The Minimalist Cooks at Home, but each recipe now brings pointers in the form of "Keys to Success" as well as suggested wines. Cooks with discerning tastes but little time will be very glad to add this to their library. (On-sale Sept. 11)Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
The Minimalist Cooks at Home, Bittman's first cookbook from his weekly New York Times column, included recipes for all courses of a meal. This time, he concentrates on easy main courses, but he includes serving suggestions for rounding out the meal, as well as a chapter on salads and side dishes. The recipes are generally sophisticated but undemanding with their trademark short ingredients lists; for those with a bit more time or the inclination to experiment, variations are provided for each recipe under the heading "With Minimal Effort." Wine (or beer) suggestions are also included. Sure to be in demand. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book Description
Back with another splendid collection, America’s most popular cooking authority and author of How to Cook Everything, presents more than 100 fast, sophisticated main courses for home cooks of every skill level.

The Minimalist Cooks Dinner showcases Mark Bittman’s signature ease and imagination, and focuses on center-of-the-plate main dishes. And, in this new volume, he also provides recipes for classic, versatile side dishes as well as recommendations for wine and food pairings. With a majority of its main dish recipes taking less than thirty minutes to prepare, this is truly the book every busy cook has been waiting for. Every recipe in The Minimalist Cooks Dinner is big on flavor, drawing on the global pantry and international repertoire that sets Bittman apart.

This inventive collection offers a refreshing new take on standards, along with ideas that will inspire both novices and experienced home cooks to branch out, making it the perfect solution for weeknight after-work meals or elegant weekend dinner parties. From Steamed Chicken Breasts with Scallion-Ginger Sauce to Korean-Style Beef Wrapped in Lettuce Leaves to Roast Fish with Meat Sauce, Bittman banishes the ordinary with an exciting range of choices. Also covering hearty pasta dishes, steaks, pork, veal, lamb, chicken, and a wide assortment of seafood, The Minimalist Cooks Dinner is the answer when you’re looking for “satisfying dishes with a minimum of effort.”



From the Inside Flap
Back with another splendid collection, America’s most popular cooking authority and author of How to Cook Everything, presents more than 100 fast, sophisticated main courses for home cooks of every skill level.

The Minimalist Cooks Dinner showcases Mark Bittman’s signature ease and imagination, and focuses on center-of-the-plate main dishes. And, in this new volume, he also provides recipes for classic, versatile side dishes as well as recommendations for wine and food pairings. With a majority of its main dish recipes taking less than thirty minutes to prepare, this is truly the book every busy cook has been waiting for. Every recipe in The Minimalist Cooks Dinner is big on flavor, drawing on the global pantry and international repertoire that sets Bittman apart.

This inventive collection offers a refreshing new take on standards, along with ideas that will inspire both novices and experienced home cooks to branch out, making it the perfect solution for weeknight after-work meals or elegant weekend dinner parties. From Steamed Chicken Breasts with Scallion-Ginger Sauce to Korean-Style Beef Wrapped in Lettuce Leaves to Roast Fish with Meat Sauce, Bittman banishes the ordinary with an exciting range of choices. Also covering hearty pasta dishes, steaks, pork, veal, lamb, chicken, and a wide assortment of seafood, The Minimalist Cooks Dinner is the answer when you’re looking for “satisfying dishes with a minimum of effort.”


About the Author
Mark Bittman is the creator and author of the popular weekly New York Times column “The Minimalist,” and a frequent contributor to the newspaper’s Dining In/Dining Out section. His previous books include The Minimalist Cooks at Home (winner of an IACP Award), How to Cook Everything (a four-time award winner, with more than 400,000 copies in print), Fish (winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award) and, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef (winner of a James Beard Award) and Simple to Spectacular. He lives in Connecticut.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Pot Roast with Cranberries

Unlike their cousin, the blueberry -- which is sometimes used in savory cooking, although almost never successfully -- cranberries are not at all sweet, and so make a much more natural companion for meat. This is a gutsy, appealing, and unusual pot roast, and one you can make quickly or slowly, depending on your time, taste, and budget.

Time: 1 1/2 hours, or more
Makes: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter or extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sugar
2- to 3-pound piece of chuck or brisket
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sherry vinegar or good wine vinegar
12 ounces fresh or frozen cranberries
1 orange
Cayenne

1. Put the butter in a casserole or skillet and turn the heat to medium-high. Put the sugar on a plate and dredge the meat in it until all the surfaces are coated. Reserve the remaining sugar. When the butter foam subsides, brown the meat on all sides --this will take about 15 minutes -- seasoning it with salt and pepper as it browns.

2. When the meat is nicely browned, add the vinegar and cook for a minute, stirring. Add the cranberries and remaining sugar and stir. Strip the zest from the orange (you can do it in broad strips, with a small knife or vegetable peeler) and add it to the skillet. Juice the orange and add the juice also, along with a pinch of cayenne. Turn the heat to low and cover; the mixture should bubble but not furiously.

3. Cook, turning the meat and stirring about every 30 minutes, for 2 hours or longer, or until the meat is tender. When the meat is done, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Turn off the heat and let the roast rest for a few minutes, then carve and serve, with the sauce.

Keys To Success

DUSTING THE MEAT with some of the sugar makes the browning process go much more rapidly, and leaves behind a caramelized residue that is deglazed by the vinegar when you add it. All of this lends complexity to the final dish.

MOST POT ROASTS depend for their flavor on the juices exuded by the meat itself; that's why tough, slow-cooking cuts like brisket or chuck are usually preferable. But since the meat's contribution here is minimized by the powerful cranberry-based combination, a faster-cooking cut like tenderloin works perfectly, reducing the cooking time to just over an hour.

With Minimal Effort
Faster Pot Roast with Cranberries: Substitute a 2-to-3-pound piece of tenderloin (filet mignon) for the chuck or brisket and reduce the cooking time to about 1 hour, or until the internal temperature is 125° to 130°F (medium-rare); you can cook it longer than that if you like.

Wine: Rioja, Merlot, or another soft red

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
Here is one sure cure for the Suppertime Blues: more than 200 simple recipes for fast weeknight meals and casual entertaining, based on Mark Bittman's much-loved New York Times column.

For those of you who can make a meal of dessert, forget it. There are no desserts here; it's strictly main-course land, along with a few soups, sides, and salads. For those of you who forgot to clip out the recipe for Bittman's Soy-Poached Chicken (or any other recipe) from an old column, you're in luck -- and so are the rest of us.

Simple, as Bittman points out, is not simple-minded: "It takes as much time figuring out a great three-ingredient, 30-minute recipe as one that includes 30 ingredients and takes 3 hours."

Nor is simple the equivalent of ordinary. Bittman draws on the global pantry and a wide international repertoire to produce dishes that take under 30 minutes, and they are all surprisingly elegant -- dishes like Korean Beef Wrapped in Lettuce Leaves; Baked Eggs with Onion and Cheese; Scallops with Almond; or Pasta with Green Beans, Potatoes, and Pesto.

Best yet, with each recipe, Bittman offers not only pointers for success but also a few variations, together with wine and serving suggestions. With little effort, Spanish-Style Shrimp can be also be served Scampi-Style or with Asian Flavors. (Bittman suggests a Rioja with the first variation, Orvieto with the second, and beer for the Asian style.) A green salad and some store-bought bread rounds out the meal. (Ginger Curwen)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Back with another splendid collection, America’s most popular cooking authority and author of How to Cook Everything, presents more than 100 fast, sophisticated main courses for home cooks of every skill level.

The Minimalist Cooks Dinner showcases Mark Bittman’s signature ease and imagination, and focuses on center-of-the-plate main dishes. And, in this new volume, he also provides recipes for classic, versatile side dishes as well as recommendations for wine and food pairings. With a majority of its main dish recipes taking less than thirty minutes to prepare, this is truly the book every busy cook has been waiting for. Every recipe in The Minimalist Cooks Dinner is big on flavor, drawing on the global pantry and international repertoire that sets Bittman apart.

This inventive collection offers a refreshing new take on standards, along with ideas that will inspire both novices and experienced home cooks to branch out, making it the perfect solution for weeknight after-work meals or elegant weekend dinner parties. From Steamed Chicken Breasts with Scallion-Ginger Sauce to Korean-Style Beef Wrapped in Lettuce Leaves to Roast Fish with Meat Sauce, Bittman banishes the ordinary with an exciting range of choices. Also covering hearty pasta dishes, steaks, pork, veal, lamb, chicken, and a wide assortment of seafood, The Minimalist Cooks Dinner is the answer when you’re looking for “satisfying dishes with a minimum of effort.”

About the Author: Mark Bittman is the creator and author of the popular weekly New York Times column “The Minimalist,” and a frequent contributor to the newspaper’s Dining InDining Out section. His previous books include The Minimalist Cooks at Home (winner of an IACP Award), How to Cook Everything (a four-time award winner, with more than 400,000 copies in print), Fish (winner of an IACPJulia Child Cookbook Award) and, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef (winner of a James Beard Award) and Simple to Spectacular. He lives in Connecticut.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Recipes from the past two years of "The Minimalist," Bittman's widely read weekly food column in the New York Times, shape this latest collection from the author of the phenomenally popular How to Cook Everything. Cementing his reputation for quick, uncomplicated and rewardingly tasty fare within reach of any cook, Bittman overflows with inspiration in the basic recipes and in the suggestions that can be undertaken "With Minimal Effort" accompanying each one. For example, tinkering with Vichyssoise with Garlic, he proposes adding tomato and basil as one variation. To speed up a pasta meal, why not cook Pasta, Risotto Style? Adding stock a ladle at a time to a cut pasta yields a creamy dish without having to wait for a gallon of water to boil. Black Skillet Mussels couldn't be easier: heat a heavy skillet, add mussels and, when they open, eat. Suggested variations include a side sauce of butter, Tabasco and lemon juice. Combining unusual flavors comes naturally to Bittman, as in Roast Fish with Meat Sauce or Pot Roast with Cranberries, in which the meat quickly caramelizes with its dusting of sugar. Chicken-Mushroom "Cutlets" with Parmesan are basically chickenburgers gussied up temptingly with parmesan, porcini and garlic. The headnotes are much shorter than those in last year's The Minimalist Cooks at Home, but each recipe now brings pointers in the form of "Keys to Success" as well as suggested wines. Cooks with discerning tastes but little time will be very glad to add this to their library. (On-sale Sept. 11) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal