Rocco's Five Minute Flavor: Fabulous Meals with 5 Ingredients in 5 Minutes

by Rocco DiSpirito, Kris Kurek

Rocco DiSpirito blasts through the rash of meals-in-30-minutes cookbooks with a revolutionary book sure to rock kitchens across America. In Rocco's 5 Minute Flavor, every dish is ready in 5 minutes or less, using 5 ingredients, and all for under $5 per serving. This is fast food with all of Rocco's celebrated expertise with flavor; food that no one will believe didn't take hours of work. A James Beard Award, two restaurants, a network television show, and two cookbooks into his profession, Rocco left the day-to-day restaurant business after a long career and many, many hours behind the stove. He asked himself, "Can a chef find happiness in New York City without a restaurant?" The answer is yes. Rocco began exploring the good life, having dinner parties at home and cooking for himself, instead of chomping down leftovers at 2 A.M. He discovered the keys to liberating the busy home shop smart, keep a few key pantry items on hand, and get the most out of your stove -- cooking over high heat is the secret to meals in 5 minutes. includes recipes for appetizers, fondues, salads, soups, sandwiches, panini, sides, vegetarian main dishes, and main dishes of noodles, pasta, fish, shellfish, poultry, pork, beef, duck, and lamb. And desserts, of course. Rocco recommends his favorite high-quality, fresh prepared foods that are available in virtually every supermarket anywhere. He stocks the pantry with a few basic ingredients -- salt and pepper, sugar, vinegar, fat, and flour -- and uses only 5 other ingredients in each of the 175 recipes, from Firecracker Shrimp and Eggplant Parmigiano to Salmon with Shiitake Mushrooms in Ginger-Soy Broth and Chicken with Lemon, Capers, and Red Onions. In addition, Rocco suggests menus for a range of events, from a simple gathering with friends to a lush holiday celebration; provides a short list (five items to be exact) of key kitchen equipment; and offers other tips to create the fastest, most flavorful food imaginable. With 16 pages of full-color photographs and 80 black-and-white photographs All photographs by Henry Leutwyler

Genres: Cookbooks

304 pages, Hardcover

First published December 6, 2005

Reviews

[Liquidlasagna · Rating 3 out of 5]

mushroom quesadilla
grilled stuffed veal with basil and provolone
mushroom fondue

roast beef borscht
toasted hot dog reuben
cod flash-fry with mint

troat with butternut squash and blood oranges
grilled squid with coconut broth, leeks and papaya
duck and eggplant flash-fry

pork scaloppini stuffed with cheddar

cherry angel food cake with ginger cream
grilled pineapple with cocoa foam
instant tiramisu with raspberries

wonton wafers with lemon curd and strawberries
pineapple french toast

eccentric enough to get my interest

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now the down side

but the processed food mixtures, might not be available in every city or country, and some of them might be 'here today, gone tomorrow'

honestly i don't think i've seen any of these

diner's choice country style mashed potatoes
diner's choice garlic mashed potatoes
fresh from the start scallop cut potatoes
fresh from the start cubed bliss potatoes
fresh from the start cubed golden potatoes
old fashioned kitchen potato pancakes

so if you can't find half the prepackaged crap, you're in for a world of hurt
unless you're creative

the campbell's cheddar soup, takes guts though
in a cookbook that's not from 1965 or 1975

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i like how the recipes go from underwhelming to totally bizarre
and it's pretty damn creative at times
that it veers on off the wall
or unhinged

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His best books?
The first five he did

Flavor - Nov 2003
Rocco's Italian American - Nov 2004
Rocco's Five Minute Flavor - Dec 2005
Rocco's Real Life Recipes - Dec 2007
Rocco Gets Real - Oct 2008

he made his reputation with fancy stuff like

scallops topped with sea urchin, tomato, mustard oil and black mustard

or grilling meat over Japanese Binchotan white-oak charcoal which is smokeless and doesn't smell but has a lot of flavor for a lot of money

and he sold his soul for reality television and diet books
and cookbooks with endless canned foods for a quick meal

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

grrr I couldn't find anything I wanted to make

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

""

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is exactly what the title says, but it doesn't really suit the way I like to feed my family. A lot of store-bought sauces, and a lot of stovetop frying. Not the healthiest cookbook, but it would be perfect for someone who is tired of coming home and having pasta for dinner every night. I'd say each recipie takes less time to make than spaghetti. A great range of seafood dishes, and each recipie is a complete meal. I almost gave this book to a friend of mine who was getting married, because I knew she was a busy woman, but in the end my husband decided he liked some of the recipies in it, so I kept it.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked that the recipes were not complicated and there were few ingredients. would try the warm artichoke parm dip or the warm brownies with a salty peanut sauce, but don't really need a whole section on fondues, don't know about you, but they are not a regular part of my diet. and what is up with the blurry black and white pictures?? not something i've ever seen before. if i had bought the book i would have returned it. the black and white 2 page spread on 172-3 is so blurry, it looks like someone choking and biting a chicken...

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great for weeknights & easy cooking... as another reviewer said, it does use a bit of store bought items, but that is why it is so easy & quick.

[Patricia]

Rocco is hot. Too few photos of him.

What I really really love about this book is that there is also an estimated cost per meal at the top of each recipe. Very helpful.

[Bridget · Rating 4 out of 5]

This looks like an interesting cookbook from Rocco DiSpirito.

[Toni · Rating 1 out of 5]

not so much...too many processed ingredients.

[Gina]

Pgs. Flagged: 30, 80, 100-01, 109, 114-1, 125, 155, 194-6, 215, 251, 260-1, 268, 276