Rachael Ray's Look + Cook: 100 Can't Miss Main Courses in Pictures, Plus 125 All New Recipes: A Cookbook

by Rachael Ray

“Inexperienced cooks need more that just a few lines of laconic test to help them along.  Rachael Ray has coached a generation of rookies on her Food Network shows, talking and plopping and emoting her way through dish after dish.  Her latest books, Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook , shows what each stage should look like in big photos.  Betty Crocker, or more specifically, the 1976 edition of Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, used to be my bulletproof go-to recipe source. But now Ray fills that role.”  — Time magazine
 

From her cookbooks to her magazine to her daily talk show, Rachael Ray’s message remains the same today as the day she wrote her very first 30-minute meal—making delicious, knock-your-socks-off dishes should be fun, fast, fulfilling, and foolproof.

Rachael now presents her best idea Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook —100 brand-new recipes, each featuring beautiful and helpful step-by-step full-color photographs that illustrate how to create each meal, along with photographs of the gorgeous finished dishes. You literally look along while you cook!

But that’s not all . . . at the back of Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook , you’ll find 125 bonus, never-before-published recipes, including 30-Minute Meals; Yes! the Kids Will Eat It; Sides & Starters; Simple Sauces & Bottom-of-the-Jar Tips; and Desserts. As if that weren’t cool enough, Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook also features accompanying real-time video available online for select recipes at www.rachaelray.com.

Rachael makes it easier than ever to prepare delicious home-cooked meals as you follow along with the step-by-step photographs or even the video! Having a last-minute dinner? No worries . . . you’ll wow the crowd with Gazpacho Pasta, Fancy Pants Salmon, or Almost Tandoori Chicken. Looking for some fun twists on classic dishes that will have your kids clamoring for more? The Open-Face Turkey Burgers with Potpie Gravy and the Coconut Fish Fry are sure to be family faves! Wondering what to do with those last spoonfuls in the jars lining your refrigerator door? Check out Rachael’s Bottom-of-the-Jar Sauces and add pizzazz to any meal with Salsa Dressing, Orange Bourbon Glaze, or Spicy Thai Peanut Sauce. Packed with the value that her fans love and have come to expect, Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook has a simple-to-follow recipe to fit every occasion.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, Reference

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Rachael Domenica Ray is an American cook, television personality, businesswoman, and author. She hosted the syndicated daily talk and lifestyle program Rachael Ray. Other programs to her credit include 30 Minute Meals, Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels, $40 a Day, Rachael Ray's Week in a Day, and the reality format shows Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off and Rachael Ray's Kids Cook-Off. Ray has written several cookbooks based on the 30 Minute Meals concept, and launched a magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, in 2006. Ray's television shows have won three Daytime Emmy Awards.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow!

[Richard Oosse · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the intro to the 30-minute meals chapter:

"Many times a year, people will stop me in the grocery store or at a book signing and ask, "Are those REALLY thirty minute meals?" [And I tell them] "Yes, they are.""

Love her or hate her, that's Rachael Ray in a nutshell. Ideas relating to a cuisine's background, heritage, cultural significance or health benefits never really enter the picture when Ray's in the kitchen. Even her occasional anecdotes (almost always frivolous) seem to suggest that no world exists beyond her kitchen. When you're cooking with Ray, there is no past and there is no future. Just her and her bubbly personality and whatever second-rate dish she's throwing together.

The promise behind her new "look+cook" cookbook, that she will bombard each recipe with a multitude of color photos that will document each step of the process, is sort of misleading in that the pictures stop showing up 2/3's into the book. Besides accompanied by no illustrations whatsoever, this last 100 pages is printed on much cheaper paper than the glossy pages preceding it and is typefaced in an almost blurry orange font that's tres unattractive and borderline hard to read. I don't know what was behind this design decision; all I can come up with is that this last longish section - the 30-minute meals chapter - is considered a "bonus" and that we should just be grateful to get these recipes in any form. Combined with the book's softcover nature, this tome isn't going to be displayed on anyon's coffee table.

There's almost no author's text here at all besides the recipes themselves and a short, largely meaningless paragraph in front of each of the 8 chapters. Finally, that "interactivity" promised on the cover also feels like a gyp to me; its simply informing you that videos for some of these recipes can be found on her web site. Which sort of begs the question of why don't we save ourselves this book's cost and just get our cooking instructions from there for free? And therein lies my problem with this whole cheapjack production: now that our iPads and smartphones can deliver any imaginable data to our fingertips, doesn't todays cookbooks have to be more than just a no frills bunch of recipes?

So there you have it: aproximately 225 collected receipes and not much else. If that sounds worth your $24.99, have at it.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book because it had step by step photos of the recipes, so I didn't feel overwhelmed by the long list of ingredients in some of the recipes. It has quite a variety of recipes and I got rave reviews from my family on the recipes from the book I have tried so far! Best of all, she also did a lot of the recipes on her TV show, and you can find them on Pinterest and add them to your board for quick reference or to share with friends! A few of our favorites were the Chicken Parm Pasta Toss, Stuffed Shells (easy!) and the French Onion Pizza - great food for my son who was home from college for the summer! I highly recommend this book for the experienced as well as the inexperienced cook!

[Michelle Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

let me preface this by saying... I don't like rachel ray. I don't DISlike her. I am just not a fan. Having said that, we would probably be friends if I knew her. BUT THIS WAS AWESOME! I made several of the recipes which were all different than my normal cooking and also delicious! My favorite was the chili served over baked sweet potato, but my friends went on and on about the spinach artichoke mac and cheese.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let me say this...I love Rachael Ray. Her show 30-Minute Meals introduced this overworked mom of 2 and a husband discover her love for cooking. This book has great pictures with clear instructions on how to complete the meal. Most recipes are easy to prep and finish. The pictures are helpful as you can see how each step should look (which is wonderful for my husband). Look+Cook will be well worn and stained in my kitchen in no time flat.

[Jeanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite of her books (that's her 365 No Repeats), but there are several good recipes in here and all are good for beginner cooks of those with a little experience. For the first time ever she includes a small dessert section and some of her dessert fake-outs are worth trying. You can gussy up brownie or cake mixes or even store-bought pound cake and people will love the results.

[Anna]

Love the no-cook "bottom of the jar" recipes for sauces.

[Nikki · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not a Rachael Ray fan at all. Her shows bug me. Her constant references to her sick twisted sex freak hubby John (who likes to be peed on and have stinky feet rubbed on him) bug me. Her recipes bug me. Even how she chops her onions into giant pieces bugs me.

I thought I would give her a chance though with this cookbook because unlike the majority of her cookbooks (and there are about 1000 of them) this one actually has photos.

It's well known that Rachael does not write her cookbooks. I'm pretty well certain that except for her name being on it and photo (perhaps some photos inside) she has nothing to do with it. I'm sure also that she doesn't come up with her recipes either though I believe initially she did.

These recipes then (and many in her cookbooks that she does not write) are in the "style" of Rachael Ray. Which means the entire cookbook is mostly pasta recipes, chili recipes, casseroles and recipes that consist of chicken chunks that have something done to them.

To call them recipes is an insult to those little recipe booklets available at the grocery check-out, published by Kraft and Pillsbury. In fact I get better recipes for free in my inbox from several product mailing lists I belong to.

I HATE this cookbook. I have never HATED a cookbook before. In 100 recipes there are perhaps 2 that I would actually make.

Most of the food here is made-up, horrible sounding and terrible looking. An entire chapter on Take-Out that you make at home actually has NOTHING that you would EVER get as Take-Out, so I fail to understand the point of the chapter.

Anyone who comes here thinking to actually purchase this cookbook - PLEASE DO NOT. There are so many wonderful cookbooks out there - this is NOT one of them.

Rachael Ray may be a nice person (certainly she deserves a better husband - ewwwww) but she is no chef, not even a real cook. She's a food presenter. And truthfully not very good at that either.

[Debby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I belong to the "Rachael Ray's Voice/overbearing personality annoys me". With that said, her recipes have their merits. I work full-time, and don't want to stop for fast food, or open a package of processed prepared frozen dinner. I have RR credit, that her recipes are made with common household ingredients. I read a review where the person said they tired of the shopping list. Really? As long as you have EVOO, Montreal Steak Seasoning, Worcestershire Sauce, hot sauce and chicken stock on hand, you're in business (said tongue in cheek...kinda). I have never liked RR's cookbooks, primarily because I'm entirely visual (I photograph and blog step-by-step recipes myself). This cookbook is the ONLY RR cookbook I've bought and actually used. It's user-friendly. Yes, there are lots of pasta recipes, but pasta is my go-to for work night dinners. I've made a few of her chicken recipes, and liked them. I would hope that the Rachael Ray haters would set their personal feelings about her aside. The recipes are worth considering, as they turn boring old chicken into something you can have on the table in 30-40 minutes (depending on your knife and organizational skills).

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not reading cookbooks because I can't cook, I'm turning to them for some new ideas due to sheer boredom. However, aside from maybe 2-3 in this particular book, I wasn't impressed. Some of the recipes make me tired just thinking about the shopping and the prep, and a lot of them just don't come across as extremely appetizing. Is all that meat & pork actually healthy over the long haul? I realize I can substitute what I want to put into a dish as opposed to her recommendations, but taste is an issue. There are certain flavors I simply don't care for, which I am sure is true for many other readers of this book and cookboks on a whole. So on a scale of 1-10 I'd say you can probably skip this book. With that said, I am positive it won't stop people from buying it.

[Kym · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tried several of the recipes (on my family) and we all liked them. I have made substitutions, additions and omissions and nothing can screw up the recipes. What I really like is, an entire meal is laid out, the spectacular main dish and the awesome side. All in about 30 minutes or less. I have made the turkey meatloaf burgers 2x, it's on an English muffin (under appreciated), with cranberry on top. Awesome. turkey cutlets with sausage and zucchini (resistant husband liked!) Sliced chicken with apples, pears and camembert mashed potatoes (okay, only had apples and no cheese) but we will have again. I need to buy this book!!!

[False · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every single time I cave and get a Rachael Ray book from the library, I find myself asking "WHY?" I have never seen one appealing thing to prepare, and her latest is no different. An overload of pasta as a component in each dish, and the photographs look like a lumpy, gooey mess. It's as if she's combined modern tastes (i.e. korma or adobe chili) and used it with 1950 casseroles. Remember marghetti? She has her own version. I'd be happy if they never let her publish again.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up yesterday. Love the concept -- I love cookbooks with pictures and this one has a few for each recipe (and they are great photos). Really inspires you to try them out. And the recipes look good (and relatively easy to make, which is what I generally like about RR). Only bad point is no nutritional info per recipe. I wish all cookbooks provided that.

[Linda Larsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ms. Ray needs to take a course in food safety. Her recommendations for cooking burgers medium rare is going to make people sick. She got reamed for that in her disgusting Book of (barf) Burgers and apparently incapable of learning.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found a massive amount of recipes that my family would love. A ton of pasta recipes. As this is my first Rachel Ray cookbook, I don't know if this is common, but that was a pattern in the book. I loved the pictures in the book to use during the cooking stages.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great cook book from Rachael Ray! Everyone can make something in this book. I found a great recipe for orange glazed chicken, as well as a couple of other things!

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not bad. If you like 20 minute meals, all the 30 minute meals in this book are also in real time video on her website, so you can get your groceries ahead and cook along.

[Lance stevenson]

As a novice cook that mostly uses the microwave and/or toaster I am really interested in reading/cooking from this book. Will let you know how things/recipes turn out.

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would I take the time to make anything in here, no. Would I try something if someone else happen to make it, sure. Wasn't impressed with this as I thought I'd be.

[LaSarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The recipes look great and the pictures are amazing.

[Kasey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved all the color photos- a must for modern cookbooks. However, most the recipes just didn't appeal to me.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like her recipes. They are quick, easy and just good. I do not like listening to her talk ever, so this is the best of both worlds.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the pictures in this book. It's like the step by step pictures that I find on my favorite foodie blogs. An excellent teaching tool.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love it! What an ingenious idea for a cookbook - picture of every step along the way. I understand there are also step by step videos available online - but I did not access them.

[Mary Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like Rachael Ray on TV. However, her recipes use too many ingredients or brands I've never heard of or woulldn't buy - like saffron.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the recipes are pretty basic. I enjoyed the photographs of the food. All cook books should have that many pictures.

[Leanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! Love all the pictures

[Derise Rehm]

A good read although I haven't cooked a lot from this one.. I still pull it off of the shelf to read it and get inspired from time to time

[Suzy Simone]

My favorite one yet.

Love that this book has so many pictures of what the food looks like at each stage. Makes it real easy follow the recipe and know if it's something you can do.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great format, good idea for a cookbook!
I love that you can see the progression of the recipe step by step as you go and follow the recipe pictures.