Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own

Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own
by Toni Lydecker

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Book Summary Information

Author: Toni Lydecker
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-10-24
ISBN: 1891105140
Number of pages: 224
Publisher: Lake Isle Press
Accessories:

Book Reviews of Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own

Book Review: Worthwhile and accessible "middlebrow" book for the novice and intermediate solo cook
Summary: 4 Stars

Even with my limited experience, (but I've dated and lived with some very good, experienced cooks), I can tell that about half the recipes in this book are uninspired, workaday fare. They are there to fill out the pages and create a thicker book that the average cookbook shopper will think gives more "bang" for the buck.

But even with that caveat, I feel that this book deserves an extra star for its attempt to focus on the needs of an underserved American market : beginning and intermediate cooks who need (or want) to start cooking for themselves. For this audience, "Serves One" is a great choice, especially if they need to get started right away and can't wait to score a copy of "Going Solo In the Kitchen".

I am OK with the "averageness" of many of these recipes. I don't need gourmet cooking, I don't need bistro fare, I don't need Mario Batali cuisine. I can go to my local bistros for that. At this stage in my cooking career, I need simple, foolproof recipes that deliver decent results with a minimum of fancy ingredients, and I need them scaled for 1 or 2 servings so I don't waste time doing algebra in my head while I'm trying to master the basics of braising or sauteing...or else stuffing my refrigerator with more wasted leftovers than I'll ever be able to finish. I also want some variety, so I don't get bored with making the same 5 or 6 dishes again and again. It's OK if some of the food I produce is unexciting - whatever I cook and make for myself with 'Serves One" is bound to be cheaper, fresher, tastier and better for me than any pizza, takeout or drive through food around.

And in fact, some of the recipes do sound promising ( I'm looking forward to making the "Pickled,Spiced Grapes"), and a couple have rewarded my inexpert efforts with pleasant, satisfying dishes that gave me confidence in my abilities to cook proper, worthwhile meals.

So in that spirit, I would recommend this as a worthwhile addition to the beginning/intermediate cooks' library. My ex-girlfriends might turn their noses up at it, but this has been a very useful book for me, well worth the purchase price and the time spent going through it.

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Summary of Serves One: Simple Meals to Savor When You're on Your Own

This new, completely revised edition retains the spirit of the original, a deft mix of the practical and sophisticated, presented with an engaging simplicity that will fill the beginner with confidence and warm the heart of a frazzled gourmet.

Anyone facing an occasional dinner for one, making solo brown-bag lunches, or living alone will find Toni Lydecker's Serves One invaluable. She shows you how to make tabbouleh and ratatouille in modest amounts so you don't have to eat them for days. She even gives a recipe for pizza dough you can turn into perfect, single-size pies. Who needs soggy take-out when you can make your own potato and pesto pizza, or luxuriate on Sunday with a creamy Smoked Salmon Pizza? (You bake the dough, then add the topping; it's much better than a bagel!)

Lydecker tells how to make Mini Meatloaf and Oven-Barbecued Pork Ribs, just the right amount of Chicken Fingers, even your very own Shellfish Steamer, a kind of clambake. Many recipes cook in 5 to 20 minutes. When stews and soups take longer, they don't need tending. If any cookbook will ever wean you off frozen entrees and instant mixes so you eat as well on your own as with family or friends, Serves One can do it. --Dana Jacobi

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