The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes

by Sam Sifton

You Don't Need a Recipe. Really, You Don't.

Sam Sifton, founding editor of New York Times Cooking, makes cooking easy with this handy book of delicious dishes.

Find inspiration with more than one hundred '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 shops.

Including Taleggio Grilled Cheese with Egg and Honey, Weeknight Fried Rice, Pasta with Chickpeas and a Negroni,
Quick Roasted Chicken with Tarragon, Teriyaki Salmon with Mixed Greens, Smashed Potatoes with Bacon, Cheese and Greens, Chicken with Caramelized Onions and Croutons and gooey Oven S'Mores.

Enjoy relaxed cooking every day.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Food and Drink, Reference, Culinary

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 16, 2021

About the author

Sam Sifton is the food editor of The New York Times, a columnist for The New York Times Magazine, and the founding editor of the Times’s Cooking section, an award-winning digital cookbook and cooking school. Formerly the newspaper’s national news editor, chief restaurant critic, and culture editor, he is also the author of Thanksgiving: How to Cook It Well. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children.

(source: Amazon)

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some people cook like they’re reading complicated music. Each note needs to be played exactly as written, no exceptions. The recipes are followed to the letter, each ingredient measured carefully and added per the instructions, no room for personal tastes or substitutions. Other people walk into a kitchen, see what ingredients are there, and can come up with a dish on the fly. They can improvise like a great jazz musician, adding a little of this and a little of that, testing and tasting until the dish is just what they want.

I am definitely in the former category. Every once in a while, I’ll try to experiment. But it never tastes as good as when I follow a recipe. That makes weeknight cooking challenging, because I need time and space to plan out a meal. And most nights when I come home from work, I don’t have the time or energy to pull that off.

Enter Sam Sifton, the founding editor of New York Times Cooking, and his new collection of No-Recipe Recipes. For six years, he’s been sending these recipes out to Times Cooking newsletter subscribers every Wednesday, and now he’s collected the best ones into one small cookbook. So that cooks like me can learn the art of cooking without a recipe.

These no-recipe recipes still have a list of ingredients, but there are no measurements. There are no fussy vegetable cuts, no intricate directions. There are good ingredients, simple instructions, and a relaxed attitude that allows you to let the tension roll away from your shoulders, to riff, to use the flavors you love and let go of all the restrictions.

Whether you’re looking for a breakfast idea you can use for dinner (Savory French Toast with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil) or a filling lunch (Speedy Fish Chowder, or maybe the Ham and Brie Sandwich), you will find lots of ideas here. Maybe you need ways to add more fresh vegetables to the table (Corn Salad with Tomato and Arugula, or Roasted Sweet Potato Salad, or the Asparagus and Boursin Tart, made quick and easy with frozen puff pastry).

Need some simple pasta or rice meals for a quick weeknight dinner? Try the Pasta with Sausage and Sage or the Ham and Cheese Pasta Shells with a Handful of Peas. You can mix up the Rice and Beans with Extras and serve it over rice, or you can clean out the leftover bits with the Instant Ramen, Back-of-the-Fridge Style.

Craving seafood? Try the Salt and Pepper Shrimp, Miso-Glazed Scallops, or Teriyaki Salmon with Mixed Greens. Prefer a bird? There’s a Rotisserie Chicken Salad, Buffalo Chicken Dip, or Spiced Duck Breasts with Roasted Eggplant and Rice. Need still more options? How about Seared Lamb Chops with Lemon and Butter-Braised Potatoes, Smothered Pork Chops, Hasselback Kielbasa, Chorizo Nachos, Meatball Salad, or Sloppy Joes?

A lot of these recipes come with tips and modifications to help you personalize them or find shortcuts for making them easier and more flavorful. Add to those your own ideas, inspiration, favorite flavors, and whatever might be hiding in your refrigerator, freezer, or pantry, and you have endless ideas for meals, snacks, and desserts for you, your family, and your friends.

Almost any cookbook can teach you how to cook by number. But if you want to up your cooking game and learn to cook without a recipe, then The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes will help you learn to cook as improvisation, following flavors and making fast foods you can feel really good about.

As I said, I’m a longtime recipe reader, but I’ve been wanting to branch out and learn to come home after work in the evening and improvise a delicious dinner that we’ll want over and over. I’m looking forward to digging in with this book and learning to turn a fridge full of real ingredients into a meal that will feed body and soul. At any rate, I know that the Pizza without a Crust will always be a big hit.

A copy of The New York Times Cooking No-Recipe Recipes was provided by Ten Speed Press for an unbiased review, with many thanks.

[Jennah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the concept, ingredients but no measurements. The reader/cook can work with the ingredients and bring out the flavor they want to highlight and learn how to season, that part was good. But the actual meals reminded me of things you’d find in a cookbook from the 70’s, I wouldn’t make 80% of the book. There were a couple standout ideas that I tried but I was happy my copy of the book was borrowed from the library and not store bought.

[Savanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may end up being the cookbook that gets me out of my “reheat stuff from Trader Joe’s freezer section” pandemic funk. I’ve been a fan of Sam’s Wednesday column for years, the core theory of which being that… cooking on Wednesday sucks. You’re tired, you’re busy, but Sam knows you can throw a few things together and it will be fine. Pull a protein out of the freezer in the morning (or not, and do pasta), and then cook it in a pan with some sauce-making stuff, serve with rice and a veggie. Done.

I can handle (and, I’d argue, improve) on the basic Tex-Mex type seasonings he has here. Same with Italian. But I love to see Sifton give me staple flavors of other cuisines I’m less familiar with too.

All in all, this cookbook is for two types of people: cooks who have pretty solid chops and basic techniques, and is looking to play OR cooks who are just starting out and don’t want to get bogged down by too much detail. I’m the former, my brother is the latter. If you’re the type of person who leaves comments on blogs asking if you can substitute parsnips for carrots… you might not enjoy this book’s loose format.

[Kelli Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some cookbooks just ask to be read cover to cover.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of inspirational recipes … Extremely informal, with no amounts listed for ingredients.
"Then take your scallops, fat as field mice, and pull and discard the little tabs of muscle from their sides. Put a honking big pat of butter or a spoonful of bacon or duck fat into a large pan set over high heat and sear the scallops hard on one side, then turn them carefully and heat through."

[Alisa]

This was disappointing, since I usually find Sam Sifton's no-recipe recipe column to be playful and expressive. On the whole, the recipes here are meant for pulling together a quick weeknight meal using whatever you can scrounge up from the pantry and the back of the fridge. I appreciate this concept.

There are some are truly good ideas: a light fish chowder, or beef curry, for example. Others, not so much: peanut butter sriracha pickle sandwiches. Or how about "black bean tacos" featuring canned beans, shredded cheddar, lettuce, onion, and radish—do you really need a book to help you think of that? Incredibly, there is a separate recipe for "cafeteria tacos" and one for rice & beans served with tortillas in other sections of the book. I found a few sets of recipes like that: a variation of just 2 ingredients can surely be added as a note to the original recipe? Cowboy ragu & sloppy joes. Fried rice & kimchi ketchup fried rice.

A couple entries had me scratching my head: ravioli with duck liver mousse sauce (luckily I *always* keep a jar of duck liver mousse in the pantry), or curry with ground goat meat. I have literally never seen ground goat for sale in my life and I know where to buy pig feet and oxtail. Obviously you can sub with any other kind of ground meat, but I hope you see how bizarre it is to pitch this idea to an audience who presumably lives on canned beans and ramen noodles (yes, one recipe includes instant ramen and "fridge stuff").

Anyways, I do like many of Sifton's other cookbooks, but I will certainly give this one a pass.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Sifton is the new Ruth Reichl, and that’s saying something. I have read his Food newsletters religiously, complained to him directly when the NYTCooking Facebook group went to hell (he replied!), and still hold out hope he will be my boss someday. Only giving four stars because I’ll never be making clams for dinner, and that section is too bulky for me. Otherwise it’s pure Sifton-gold.

[vicki honeyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every morning my iPhone receives a recipe from the New York Times. Throughout the past year of shutdowns and avoiding restaurants, I've used these recipes to make meals I otherwise would not have considered creating. Not one to use cookbooks or recipes, I've always made "refrigerator meals" in which I use what's on hand in the fridge and cupboard to make my made-up dishes. In his "No-Recipe Recipes" cookbook, Sam Sifton of the NYT newsletter "What to Cook," shares this same method of using what's on hand to create meals. The book opens with a list of must-have ingredients and their versatility and function. Each dish features a simple list of ingredients and even simpler cooking instructions and a gorgeous full-page color photo of the finished dish. "Join me in cooking this new, improvisational way, without recipes," says Sifton, who also provides tips and modifications so you can truly come up with your own interpretation of his 100 delicious dish suggestions.

[Michaela]

So far the "recipes" are hit or miss - which is sortof baked into the concept I suppose. I have a few new and delicious "barely think about them" go-tos for dinner, and it's helping me shift away from my strongly ingrained need for recipe precision (I was raised and taught to cook by a home-ec teacher). On the other hand, when they fail they are really depressingly bad. I suppose that points to places I need to build intuition to know when to deviate from the guidelines, but don't take a bad fail as a sign that YOU are a bad cook. These are not guaranteed to succeed recipes, not in the way I would cook ANYTHING from a David Tanis cookbook or America's Test Kitchen's Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs and know it would work. On the other other hand, I would absolutely recommend this for an intimidated adult new to cooking, maybe for a college kid? (But I would also get them the Complete Cookbook for Young Chefs to teach them how to read reliable recipes) (And also Salt Fat Acid Heat to teach intuition, I'm working through that one now).

[hazelnuttoffee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this, given my goal to read more cookbooks this year.

Picked it up, given NYT Cooking's reputation. Understand the goal of this book - to be a more intuitive cook, but it is just not for me. Still, probably picked up a few ideas to try in the kitchen.

The photos are absolutely stunning so that is always a plus.

[Samantha M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I enjoy the NYT Cooking dept., the app, and other resources they offer, so often I ask myself, "Who actually has the money to go buy $500 of shellfish for this recipe?" This book is the answer to my cries. Even if you have that jar of capers in the back of your pantry that you were gifted 2 years ago, this book has options for everyone at every budget.
Most if not all of the recipes in this book are practical, especially on the coattails of this pandemic time. We're all craving restaurant-worthy food, and even if able to support our favorite spots, this fills in the blanks for the rest of the week. Using common staples in simple ways, with a wonderful photo for every recipe, this book gives really well-rounded menu plans depending on what you have on-hand.
When I first flipped through the book, I was able to put together the Asparagus and Boursin Tart because (YAY) I happened to have a new box of Boursin in the fridge. Puff pastry is an easy go-to, and I forgot that it can be brought over towards the savory side. It was fantastic. I made a few of the other pasta options like the Tortellini with Bacon and Peas, which also easy to have all ingredients on hand for a quick meal.
Sure for the exotic, there is a recipe for a duck mousse and even goat, but that is outside of my "back of the freezer" fare. I've received a free copy from Ten Speed Press in exchange for a free and unbiased review. The fact it is concise, workable with substitutions depending on what you have, and has a nice photo for each recipe makes it a very useful addition for any cook.

[Grace Deering · Rating 3 out of 5]

i’ll give it a 3.25. a lot of the recipes don’t sound phenomenal to me, “no recipe recipes” is a great concept but includes a lot of strange ingredients that no one (i consider myself to have a pretty decent ingredient repertoire/pantry stock) has on hand and a lot of infeasible meals. or they just sound gross period. sorry! and i don’t even know if this counts as a book on here but i’m counting it because i read it start to finish. and this is the longest review i’ve ever written!

[Helen Connelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this concept, and it is just right for someone who doesn’t plan to use the recipe anyway. The take away recipe that I got from this cookbook is fried French bread slices, fried in butter and oil, with sliced tomatoes cooked in the skillet and served on the bread with sliced basil.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this concept of buying a list of pantry items and then having lots of options.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, I DID read a cookbook cover to cover and I LIKED it.

[Sara Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiration and Affirmation!

My cooking creativity was inspired and affirmed while reading this cookbook. The “recipes” are simply ideas that you may or may not follow on those days when there is little time or energy for complicated recipes, yet you still want delicious!

[Leah Agirlandaboy]

This is DELIGHTFUL. The recipes look good, but the writing is a meal (snappy and satisfying) in itself. I hate cooking and love this book.

[Caroline Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

fantastic if you are a recipe hater like me

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can never go wrong with NYT recipes. In this case No-Recipe Recipes. Simple ingredients you have or can get easily. Beautifully photographed also.

[Sabine Ibing · Rating 4 out of 5]

«Sie brauchen kein Rezept.»

Früher hat Sam Sifton nach Rezeptbuch gekocht, dazu jeden Tag frisch alle Zutaten eingekauft. Das ist zeitintensiv und manchmal hat man eben diese nicht oder keine Lust. Dann zaubert man etwas aus seinem Vorrat zusammen. Improvisieren ist in! Dafür braucht man kein Rezept! Sam begann «bevorzugte Küchenbegleiter» wie Gewürze, Knoblauch, Hülsenfrüchte, Mehl, Eier, Milchprodukte, Grundnahrungsmittel und Dosenware zu lagern und beim Kochen zu kombinieren, rein in die Pfanne, in den Topf, was zusammenpassen mag. Dosentomaten und anderes Gemüse, Olivenöl, Knoblauch, Mozzarella, Parmesan und diverse Käsesorten, Brot, (gern auch alt), Toast, Quesadillas, Tacos, Schinken Würzsaucen und -pasten sind hier der Grundstock. Grundsätzliches Verständnis vom Kochen sollte man besitzen. Dieses Kochbuch ist ein Ort der Inspiration. Sam gibt die Zutaten vor, beschreibt, was er damit fabriziert hat, das Foto als Endprodukt und am Ende gibt es Tipps und Variationsmöglichkeiten. Amerika ist ein Einwanderungsland, und genau das kommt zum Ausdruck. Verschiedene Kulturen mischen sich auf einem Teller zu neuen Gerichten zusammen. Gegenseitige Inspiration nennt man das – nicht kulturelle Aneignung!

Alles beginnt mit dem Frühstück: «Erdnussbutter-Smothie» mit Bananen, Milch und Erdnussbutter; «Gekühlte Orangen mit Joghurt» (Braucht man dazu ein Rezept?); und einigen Varianten die süß-salzig variiert sind, wie «Kaya-Toast mit Eiern». Kaya musst ich googeln, es ist eine Kokosmarmelade heimisch in südostasiatischen Ländern wie Malaysia, Indonesien, den Philippinen oder Singapur, auch bei uns zu erhalten. Alternativ kann man jede Marmelade nehmen, so der Tipp, die dick zwischen zwei Toasthälften geschmiert wird und dazu gekochte Eier, die geviertelt in Sojasoße mit weißem Pfeffer gewälzt in einer Schüssel dazu gereicht werden. «Gegrillter Taleggio mit Honig und Spiegelei» finden wir unter «Suppen, Sandwiches, Abendessen», wobei dies Kapitel ähnlich dem Frühstück gestaltet und gegenseitig austauschbar ist. Hier gibt es diese typisch amerikanischen Variationen wie «Erdnussbuttersandwich mit Sriracha und Gewürzgurken». Sriracha kennt jeder, es ist diese sehr scharfe Chilisoße mit dem spitzen grünen Deckel. Es gibt eine Menge Banales, wie ein Toast mit Mayonnaise bestreichen, Tomatenscheiben drauf, was man bei Bedarf mit Mozzarella und Basilikum ausbauen kann. Braucht es dazu ein Rezept? Oder Pilze braten und dazu Baguette essen oder selbige mit Sahne und Senf anreichern, auf Toast mit Spiegelei.

Die Blumenkohlsuppe werde ich ausprobieren: diesen mit Olivenöl, Pfeffer, Salz im Ofen bei 200 Grad weich garen, mit Artischockenherzen aus der Dose, Milch und Brühe pürieren, geriebenen Parmesan dazu. Die schnelle Fischsuppe liest sich lecker an. Weniger geschmackvoll: Eine typische asiatische Instant-Nudelsuppe aus der Tüte mit heißem Wasser übergießen, ein Ei und Kräuter einrühren. New Yorker «Spiedies» entstammen der italienischen Küche – marinierte Fleischspieße. Hier gibt es ein Rezept, bei dem das Fleisch in einer Bloody Mary mariniert wird. Es gibt einfache Salatvorschläge, wie den «Salat aus gerösteten Süßkartoffeln» oder der «Zucchinisalat mit Joghurt und Kräutern». Zucchini in dünne Scheiben schneiden, salzen, pfeffern und mit Zitronensaft und abgeriebener Zitronenschale vermengen, Joghurt hinzufügen und verrühren, Petersilie, Minze, Samen oder Nüsse darüberstreuen, etwas Parmesan darüber reiben.

Es gibt ein paar Grünkohlrezepte, diverses mit Gemüse wie «Brokkoli mit Schinken und geschmolzenem Käse», «Mit Miso glasierte Auberginen mit Reis», interessant die «Spargel-Boursin-Tarte» aus TK-Blätterteig, Spargel, Boursin-Käse und Rucola; Ideen zu gefüllten Taccos. Beim «Reis-Bohnen-Allerlei» gibt man Dosengemüse (hier die roten Bohnen) auf den Reis mit Schinkenspeck und Gewürzen – Cowboy meets Asia. In diese Richtung gibt es einiges. Das orientalische Pilaw wird hier mit Trockenfrüchten und Mandelblättchen arrangiert, zum fertigen Brathuhn gereicht. Geratener Reis mit TK-Gemüse, und noch «leckerer»: gebratener Reis mit Ketchup und Kimchi, angereichert mit Frühlingszwiebeln, Karotten und Knoblauch. Fertige Ravioli mit Entenleber-Mouse- Soße, «Pasta mit Wurst und Salbei», mit Blauschimmelkäse und Walnüssen oder mit Kichererbsen, Amatriciana, Putanesca, bekanntes aus der italienischen Küche – wobei die Soßen hier solange köcheln, wie die Pasta braucht ... Es gibt einiges mehr an Pastagerichten.

Gebratene Garnelen, oder mit Worshestershire-Soße und Sahne, Jakobsmuschelsalat, oder mit Miso glasiert gebraten auf Reis; «Gedämpfte Miesmuscheln mit Tomaten und Chorizo», Kabeljaufrikadellen, «Gebackener Fisch mit Soja, Ingwer und Frühlingszwiebeln», es gibt eine Menge Fisch- und Meeresfrüchterezepte, die es auszuprobieren lohnt. Mariniert, gebraten, mit Majo, mit scharfer Barbecue-Soße, der Lachs hat einiges zu bieten. «Teriyaki-Lachs mit grünem Salat»; dazu schreibt Sam Swifton: «Na gut, es ist kein echtes Teriyaki-Gericht, aber es ist dennoch verdammt gut. Es ruft das Geschmackserlebnis hervor, so wie einen ein Bild von einem Lavendelfeld an die Provence erinnert. Servieren Sie Reis dazu.» Na ja – Diese aufgekochte, angedickte Sojasoße erinnert mich garantiert nicht an Frankreich oder Lavendelfelder. War Sam schon einmal in Frankreich?

Beim Fleisch steht Hähnchen an wichtigster Stelle. «Panzarella mit Grillhähnchen», beim «Supereinfaches Teriyaki-Hähnchen» wird erwähnt, dass man keine richtige Teriyaki-Sauce benötigt und auch das Fleisch nicht stundenlang einlegen muss. Aus Sojasoße, Knoblauch, Ingwer, Zimt eine Soße herstellen, die man zum fertigen Brathähnchen gibt. Hühnchenfleisch mit Tomaten und Gewürzen in den Schnellkochtopf geben und auf Tacos servieren. «Melasse Brathähnchen», «Pfannenhähnchen mit Gemüse und Wein» und dazu Couscous, überbackene Schenkel mit Tomatensoße und Mozzarella, oder «Schnell gegartes Hühnchen: Während das Hähnchen brät, kochen Sie Reis oder ein paar Kartoffeln. Auch ein Salat oder gedämpftes grünes Gemüse passen perfekt». Ein kleines Kapitel zeigt andere Fleischsorten wie Lammkotelett, Schweinekotelett. «Smashed Potats» haben mir gefallen, die frei nach Gusto belegt werden: Im Backofen garen, herausnehmen, plattdrücken und mit Gemüse, Speck usw. belegen, Käse obern drauf, zurück kurz in den Ofen, mit Joghurt, Sahne usw. bekleckern. Es folgen Hack-Gerichte.

Gebackene Bananen mit Vanilleeis, «Erdbeereis mit heißer Schokoladensauce» und andere Desserts geben den Abschluss, wobei das Eis meist aus dem Supermarkt stammt. Ein Kochbuch mit simplen Gerichten für Menschen, bei denen es auch mal schnell gehen muss. Gerichte, die aus dem Vorratsschrank zusammengestellt werden, bzw. mit einem frischen Teil (kann auch gefroren sein). Gute Ideen für den Fall, dass man das Haus nicht verlassen kann oder will. Vorratshaltung mit haltbaren Lebensmitteln ist eine wichtige Voraussetzung – und dann gemütlich die Beine hochlegen. Hier hat die Weltküche Einhalt gezogen, wird kombiniert: Pasta, Tacos, Reis, Kartoffeln, Sojasoße, Erdnussbutter, Kimchi, Kaya, Mozzarella, Taleggio, Jalapeño, Sriracha, Sahne, Worshestershire-Soße. Für mich persönlich war vieles vielleicht zu amerikanisch; zu einfach, zu banal, um es zu erwähnen, zu pampig, zu süß, zu fettig, zu schnell auf den Tisch gebracht, zu viel Fleisch. Das Frische liegt mir mehr. Aber falls man mal eingesperrt ist, kann man auf das Buch zurückgreifen. Einige Gerichte haben mir aber gut gefallen, insbesondere Salate und Fischgerichte.


Sam Sifton ist stellvertretender «Managing Editor» bei der «New York Times» und für die Ressorts Kultur und Lifestyle zuständig. Zudem ist er Redakteur für Food-Themen bei der »Times« und Kolumnist des «New York Times Magazine». Als Restaurantkritiker hat er einige kulinarische Erfahrungen gesammelt, die ihm auch als Autor von Kochbüchern zugutekommen.

[Barbara Monaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a great cookbook for those who cook. If you know the basics, this cookbook will give you so many ideas to refresh you meals. This is cooking out of your pantry at it's finest. The cloth cover is very practical for the kitchen. I'll use this book a lot. I've received a free copy from Ten Speed Press in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Chantal Lambeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Sifton's new Book No-Recipe Recipes is an answer to my frequently asked question of, "what the hell am I going to make tonight?". This really is my kind of cookbook, no amounts listed, just ingredients, giving the preparer an opportunity for creativity and substitutions based on whats available in their pantries. This open style of cooking has always been my preference, and I appreciate that I can flip through until I find a recipe that uses ingredients that I might already have.
This book may not be for everyone though; as Sam mentions it takes a certain amount of skill to cook without the specific direction of a recipe. However, if you are someone looking to improve your fly by cooking skills, get this book.
As a profession in the industry, I also greatly appreciate the quality of the paper, the skilled photography, and the beautiful food styling. Minimal propping as to focus solely on whats happening with the food. There is one image in particular that I cant stop staring at; the double page intro image for the Soup, Sandwich, Dinner section. Its a macro shot of what looks like a jambon beurre (ham and butter). I see the bubbles on the bread, and the little flecks of wheat, so close, and I can practically smell it; I can hear its perfect crackle as I press it together to take that first glorious bite. Cured ham, and velvety smooth almost grassy spring butter-- its nearly all I can think about. Well done team, these images have me flipping though this book at random moments in the day with hope that one of these delicious meals will magically spring off the pages and land on my plate.
So, I can without a doubt suggest that you get this cookbook, its worth it 100%.

Ive received a free copy from Ten Speed Press in exchange for a free unbiased review. Thank you TSP.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

The NYT has some of these recipes but this collection gives an excellent feel to making tastes work for the cook. Just “winging it” doesn’t always work but some tweaking does and Sam Sifton gives good examples and recipes to make what-you-got work.
The idea is spectacular, the “no-recipe recipes” even though simple to most cooks, helps me imagine simplified meals and quick needs for those don’t-feel-like-cooking times.
I looked through all the recipes, skimmed those I wasn’t interested in but noted and saved those that did - - so in reality I did not read the total book, but I will use it as a reference for a long time.
In fact, the no-recipes recipes worked great while in a pandemic and those ideas were only as taken from the NYT, so these are a good collection.
A good 3.5 stars, upped for creativity during a stressed life.

[Emma Whear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Local library is a slammin' place, so each week I'd like to grab:
-A cookbook
-A graphic (illustrated) novel
-A financial book
-A fun read

This cook-book caught my attention with its cover and title. It did not disappoint.

Never, ever have I circled or wrote down more recipes from a single cook book.

Here's why:

Sifton's philosophy is people need to stop shopping for single meals, and more to shop their pantry so that they can make lots of things at the drop of a hat. Refreshing. It was so nice to see some recipes that consisted of: "salt, tomatoes, bread of your choice, oil, cheese of your choice." Now that is freeing.

While not every recipe hit hard, they are all inspiring in that you think, "Nah, that sounds decent but it'd be much better with..."

I really appreciate the clear instructions, funny persona, and lack of measurements.

[Jennifer Ganley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this cookbook. The perfect cookbook for someone who enjoys trying new things and just going with what you have on hand. The recipes are simple but different from the run of the mill type meals. I will probably end up trying all recipes.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foucauldians everywhere, rejoice: a post-structuralist cookbook has come at last.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We were sitting in a brew pub in La Jolla, California, when I told the waitress how much I appreciated the chef's twist on gumbo and asked if I might have the recipe. Such requests rarely result in a cook handing over the secrets of the kitchen but sometimes they do. In a few minutes, the waitress came back to our table and handed me one of those cheap-paper notes on which orders are written. On the back, was a list of ingredients written in pencil: no quantities, no temperatures, no times, no procedures. This was the chef's way of granting my request for the recipe and, frankly, it was all of the recipe that I needed. It is an honour to be asked by others for one of "my recipes" and I always feel like a jerk by responding that I don't really cook from recipes so I don't have one to hand over. But this is true. I will often read a recipe (or five recipes for the same thing but from different sources) and then cook it the way I think seems best. Since I don't write down quantities, temperatures, times or procedures, I don't have these to give. Sam Sifton cooks that way. He knows how to read a cookbook and he knows how to follow a recipe but mostly he just cooks. This book contains a little over one hundred descriptions of how to make all manner of dishes -- appetizers, soup, sandwiches, fish, fowl, meat and desserts -- but, if one takes into account his suggestions for varying these descriptions, they add up to several hundred dishes. I love his sense of measurement: a glurg of oil, a fistful of herbs, a splash of cream, a healthy shake of ground cumin, some beer. I love it because I cook like that. There are as many styles of cooking as there are varieties of dance. Each cook gets to find the one that works for them. If this kind of dancing in the kitchen sounds perfect to you, this is a very good book to add to your shelf. If not, eschew it.

[Laureen Nowakowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sam Sifton writes a cooking column for the NYT and he always has Wednesday as his no recipe day. That is my favorite recipe to read and I have learned so much from him. He has made me more adventurous and willing to substitute ingredients and add things. Here’s an example of one of his recipes:
Rice and Beans with extras. Cook a cup or two of rice as you usually do. As the rice steams away, dice an onion and sweat it in a saucepan with a drizzle or two of olive oil set over medium high heat. When the onion begins to go translucent, add a few cloves of chopped garlic and some sausage and cook until the meat has started to crisp and the onion has started to caramelize. Add a healthy dusting of cumin, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and allow it all to go muddy and fragrant. Splash the mixture with orange juice, maybe half a cup, and allow it to cook down, almost to a syrup. Then add a drained can of black beans and stir, turning down the heat and allowing the flavors to come together, perhaps using a spoon to mash some of the beans as they book. Serve it all on top of the finished rice, adorned with wedges of lime and accompanied by warm tortillas. And there’s a list of ingredients and a picture of the finished dish. I have this book as a library book and it is overdue. I have taken it out of the library 3x this year. I think I need to buy it.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the laziest excuse for a cookbook. There are no less than five "recipes" for tacos that could have been one with options for the different ways to put them together. There are 10 recipes for sandwiches that are just unnecessary. Who hasn't already thought to put egg on bread, or a frickin tomato? And there are TWO tomato sandwiches! One with cheese, the other without. Save yourself the eye rolls and pick up a copy of Anna Jone's One Pot, Pan, Planet as she has flexible recipes as well as the the "One Veg" section that gives 10 simple ideas each for multiple different vegetables, plus the base recipes for soups and frittatas that are mix and match. If you're more into meat, get Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast as he has so many variations for every recipe in the book. Or get his Kitchen Matrix book which is a beautiful and fun book that has recipe "generators" for different foods that allow for so much flexibility and creativity but still gives good guidance on amounts.

[Jeslyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this cookbook. I love that in my efforts to overcome the doldrums of opening fridge or pantry and staring, glassy-eyed and uninspired, I can flip once more through the pages of the book and revive my interest and creativity. I love that there are no measurements, and that the variations are equally simple at the bottom. The have-on-hand recommendations are very helpful too, not because I couldn’t come up with reasonable staples on my own, but because too often when the doldrums hit, my eyes pass over those cans, boxes, crisper drawers, etc and I don’t use them, or when in the grocery I too often take the east way out and select prepped foods. Probably too much kitchen confession from me, ha!