Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking
Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking
Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the first cookbook from Stephanie O’Dea, the extremely popular slow cooking blogger: affordable, delicious, nutritious, and gluten-free recipes to delight the entire family.In December 2007, Stephanie O’Dea made a New Year’s resolution: she’d use her slow cooker every single day for an entire year, and write about it on her very popular blog. The result: more than three million visitors, and more than 300 fabulous, easy-to-make, family-pleasing recipes, including: Breakfast RisottoVietnamese Roast ChickenTomatoes and Goat Cheese with Balsamic Cranberry SyrupFalafelPhilly CheesesteaksCrme Brulee–and much more. Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the perfect cookbook for easy, quick prep, inexpensive ingredients, and meals that taste like you spent hours at the stove.
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Disappointed,
I stumbled across Stephanie’s cooking blog and ordered myself her book for Christmas (as a gift from my husband!) I was really excited about trying out her recipes–and especially thought it was cool that she writes a verdict after many of the recipes stating her opinion. I found her writing to be witty and appreciated her sense of humor. On Christmas day I scoured through the book, selecting some recipes to try–I chose recipes based off of my taste preferences as well as her positive reviews of them.
I tried the Brown Sugar Chicken (pg. 244) which she raves about. My family ate it, but didn’t particularly enjoy it. It was very sweet (which she says it is)–but there wasn’t really any depth of flavor (maybe it needed a couple bay leaves or some other herbs?) it tasted just like sugary chicken. I realize that taste is very subjective and many people may enjoy this dish, we however did not.
Next up I tried the Breakfast Risotto (pg. 48). She also raves about this dish. I will agree that the aroma was delectable. The spices were a very good combination, my complaint was that the texture was goopy. I made the recipe exactly as printed and I also got a little curdling (from the 2% milk???) which looked unappealing. This dish may actually work out if cooked on the stove top, but I don’t think the recipe fared well in the crock pot.
Then I decided to try out the Hot and Spicy Artichoke Dip (pg. 30) to bring to a New Year’s Eve party. Again, her verdict on the recipe is very positive. I made the recipe exactly as printed (there’s only 4 ingredients!)–when it was done and I give it a taste it was BLAND. Blah. I attempted to salvage the dip by adding some black pepper, Worcestershire sauce and garlic. But it still wasn’t right, way too thick and still a little bitter tasting. Well, we take it to the party anyways (maybe it’s just us who thinks it tastes gross?)–and at the end of the party (30-40 people in attendance), the dip has barely been touched. It really was not good. At this point the recipes are 0 for 3. I decide to check out her blog to see what others thought of this particular recipe. To my annoyance her rave review written in the book was not the same as the one written on her blog. The review written in her book is actually in reference to the artichoke dip sold at Costco, NOT the one I just made. I felt that this is incredibly misleading, which is why I am only rating the book 2 stars.
The only recipe which has been a “keeper” for me is the Salsa Chicken and Black Bean Soup (pg. 206) It’s very very good (didn’t add the mushrooms and didn’t thicken it).
IN SUMMARY:
If you purchase this book, know that you are purchasing a book full of recipes which have been TRIED by the author. I do not believe that the author fine-tuned/tweaked/perfected the recipes. Not all of the recipes have a verdict, and I wonder if those are even worth making since the author didn’t rave about them. There are a whole lot of recipes and I am sure there are some “keepers” amongst them that will make it into your meal rotation. If you have the patience and resources to test out the various recipes then this is a book for you. If you are like me (a busy wife and mother of 3 young children) and are looking for good recipes without all the trial and error, then this is probably not the book for you (seeing as only 1 out of the 4 I tried was a “keeper”). And if you are on the fence, check out her blog, try a few recipes for yourself and see how you like them before making the purchase.
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|Disappointing,
I wanted to love this cookbook. I’d read Stephanie’s blog and had tried a couple of her recipes. In retrospect, they weren’t great enough to remake, so I should have realized that her wonderful writing style didn’t equate to culinary ability.
Other reviewers have mentioned that the recipes are really rough–they definitely are for me. Every single one I’ve tried has been off–cooking time, spices, consistency. I’ve used our crock pot quite a bit over the years, and usually things turn out if I follow the directions in the recipe. Stephanie’s directions, even if followed exactly, don’t necessarily mean I’ll have something edible for dinner. When I get a recipe from a cookbook, I’d like to think it’s been tested at least a couple of times and produced consistently good results. Things I’ve tried:
Broccoli Casserole (p. 81)–watery, bland, my son (who loves broccoli and cheese) wouldn’t touch it
Beans and Rice (p. 121)–bland, nothing special–the crockpot kindof zaps the flavor I get on the stovetop with a similar dish
Taco Soup (p. 135)–one of her favorite recipes, but when I tried it last week, my husband asked, “Isn’t this the same not-so-good soup you tried off her website last year?” Oh yeah. We love Mexican food, but the mesh of flavors just is not good.
Apple, Cheddar, and Turkey Meatballs (p. 238)–This one I cooked on high, and everything that touched the sides of my crock burned even though it was well within the time frame she’d specified. Pretty sure she didn’t test her recipes for low _and_ high settings. I did appreciate that they were gluten-free meatballs, but we didn’t even like the middle ones that weren’t burnt.
Applesauce Chicken (p. 239)–This is not that good, and it is not tender. It’s just blah. And her “verdict” makes me think her kids agreed.
Brown Sugar Chicken (p. 244)–she promised that this was amazing. It was tender, but nothing special, and awfully sweet.
Eggplant “Parmesan” with Feta (p. 282)–I love eggplant parmesan, and this just failed to deliver. The breading doesn’t stay since you don’t fry the eggplant or anything, and it just becomes a gloppy mess.
Applesauce (p. 384)–This technically works, but it doesn’t make very much at all, and it’s way faster (and more fragrant) on the stovetop. I know you can walk away from the crockpot, but it didn’t seem worth it with how much it made.
Yogurt (p. 59)–My first batch was a failure, then I went back and read comments on her website that helped the next two batches turn out. Her recipe isn’t failsafe, and though I’ll be making yogurt in my crockpot from now on, it’s the comments of her readers that made it a keeper, not her cookbook.
I’m hesitant to try more of the recipes because I really don’t think she’s a good cook! I have several gluten-free friends that I was hoping to give this book to, but I won’t. The people giving her 5 star reviews seem as impressed with her writing and personality as I was, but I wonder how many will be disappointed when they actually try the recipes. Stephanie seems like a great person on her blog, but maybe she should write restaurant reviews or something else that plays more to her strengths.
If you’re looking at buying this cookbook, I strongly suggest trying some of the recipes on her website first.
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