The Instant Cook

By Donna Hay

Book Overview

Donna Hay is swiftly becoming the source American cooks go to when they ask themselves, "What should we have for dinner tonight?" She has garnered a passionate global following for her fresh and modern approach to food -- bringing out clean, sparkling flavors with simple techniques and streamlined instructions. In The Instant Cook, she offers more than a compendium of flexible recipes; it is an elegantly simple philosophy of cooking, and of eating.

Donna Hay pulls together flavor combinations and cooking skills from the Mediterranean and the Pacific Rim - two of the most luscious and quick-cooking cuisines on the planet - to create delicious meals with a handful of ingredients in a few minutes. She gives home cooks the confidence to cook with instinct and with style.

Exquisite full color photographs on every page illustrate Donna's signature look -- chic yet never fussy. It reminds you that cooking is a pleasure. Pour a glass of wine and catch up with family as you cook; shop without waste or confusion; host a weeknight dinner party with little planning and less effort. The Instant Cook is destined to be the cookbook that is never put back on the shelf.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060772921
• ISBN13: 9780060772925
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 3.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 9.0" x 12.0"

Customer Reviews

Perfect

I first discovered Donna Hay's work about two years ago, and I just love her books! The simplicity is blended with her amazing creativity, and every recipe is a knockout! I have always loved simplicity, and I love how it shines through in this book, and isn't lost with the goal to prepare amazing dishes fast. Donna Hay has another winner with this one!

Glad I found Donna Hay!

I first saw this cookbook while browsing in a bookstore. It was a beautiful book. Once I opened it, I knew I liked it visually due to so many color photographs and it's beautiful design. This book is not only visually beautiful and thoughtfully designed, but every single recipe has a photograph! I really liked that. And the focus is completely on the food - nothing else! The recipes are straight forward and don't call for many ingredients that I don't already keep in stock regularly. They are easy to prepare and full of flavor. The presentation is outstanding, too. I'm not a plan ahead, casserole type cook at night. I like to whip it up an hour or less before eating. This book does the trick and the reviews from my family are fantastic; even my 13 year old daughter loves them. I have even entertained at a dinner party using her recipes. The salads are really outstanding. Overall, although her recipes are simple, the effect is powerful. Fresh approach to cooking. I can't say enough about Donna Hay and the art director of her cookbooks. Visually yummy!!!!!!!

Love this book

I've only had this cookbook for a week and I've already made four of the dishes to much success. The recipes are simple but full of flavor. It's not a book that's going to hold your hand and teach you how to boil water, but a book that will show you successful combinations of flavors that lead to a delicious meal. I especially liked the recipes that had variations and showed how simple changes in ingredients could make a completely different meal. It's prompted me to make slight variations to the recipes based on ingredients I had on hand. Recipes are well suited to entertaining as the finished recipes are unique, easy to prepare and the beautiful photos show how to simply and elegantly plate the dishes.

Instant Cook! Instant Joy!

I can't understand why Marianne Hagan hated this book. Nowhere in the introduction does it say it's for beginners. The recipes are simple and easy, but you DO have to have be able to do more than boil water. I tried around a dozen recipes and had no problems whatsoever. All the ingrediaents are listed and what's especially helpful is the fact that the author lists different variations for some of the recipes. For example: her recipe for Carmelized Lime Fish suggest using scallops, or salmon, or even shrimp; four for the price of one! The recipes are simple and the pictures are yummy. Buy this book without hesitation.

gorgeous with great recipes

Donna Hay is a best-selling cookbook author from Australia whose signature style is beautiful, close-up, simply presented photos of food, plus easy, quick recipes. Her whole thing is the food--it should be easy to make (she likes Asian and Mediterranean flavors and a minimum of ingredients) and you should be able to see what it looks like without all the distraction of fussy napkins, utensils, flowers and stuff. Her books are over-sized so the photos are easy to see and the recipes easy to read. And her recipes are great; I've tried at least a dozen and they all work and all taste delicious. Thai Sticky Chicken was a huge hit in my house, and so easy.