You don’t need a recipe. Really, you don’t. Sam Sifton, founding editor of New York Times Cooking, makes improvisational cooking easier than you think. In this compact, handy book of ideas, Sifton delivers 100 no-recipe recipes — each gloriously photographed — to make with the ingredients you have on hand or could pick up on a quick trip to the store. You’ll see how to make these meals as big or as small as you like, substituting ingredients as you go.
This is the debut cookbook from Cooking, the popular Times website and mobile app that helps home cooks discover the world’s best recipes while also helping them become better, more competent cooks. The 256-page book features 100 vividly photographed and beautifully described meals that will make weeknight cooking more fun, creative, dynamic and delicious.
Throwing away traditional cookbooks, Sam Sifton has inspired millions of home cooks with relaxing, informal No Recipe Recipes, published in his popular newsletter, “What to Cook.” Sifton writes that cooking without following rigid recipes “is a proficiency to develop, a way to improve your confidence in the kitchen.” It builds confidence and helps you understand how ingredients work. With that in mind, the unfussy, recipe-free meals in this remarkable book are accompanied by minimal suggests of ingredients and arbitrary measurements, like a “bloop,” a couple of “glugs” or a “fistful.” Yes, loosen the apron and say hello to freestyling in the kitchen. It’s all bound to lift the creative spirits of novice cooks and experienced chefs alike during weeknight cooking.
Among the scrumptious no-recipe meals in this book: Fried Egg Quesadillas, Pizza Without a Crust, Weeknight Fried Rice, Pasta With Garbanzos, Roasted Shrimp Tacos, Chicken With Caramelized Onions and Croutons, Oven S’Mores, Fettuccine With Minted Ricotta, Smothered Pork Chops With Onions and Sautéed Greens, Taleggio Grilled Cheese With Egg and Honey, Ham and Radicchio Toast and Quick Roasted Chicken With Tarragon.
Sam Sifton is an assistant managing editor of The Times, overseeing culture and lifestyle coverage. He is also an “Eat” columnist for The New York Times Magazine and the founding editor of NYT Cooking, an award-winning digital cookbook and cooking school. Formerly the newspaper’s national news editor, culture editor, and chief restaurant critic, he is also the author of “Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well” and “See You on Sunday: A Cookbook for Family and Friends.”
This cookbook is in a flexibound format and provides protection for inside pages, enabling them to be wiped clean after a messy cooking session.
