Dinner: Changing the Game: A Cookbook

High on flavor, low on fuss. Every dish I've made has been made in 30 to an hour from start to finish, not counting any marinating time. Recipes that turned out well and ones that didn't are listed below. Uncommon ingredients include z'atar, sumac, pomegranate molasses, Aleppo pepper, garam masala, and nuoc mam (fish sauce) among others, but if you are timid about these ingredients or can't easily find them, Clark does offer up some substitutions in a number of recipes. So far, my favorite recipes in this book are: — Cuban Flank Steak with Lime and Fresh Mango. The bright, citrus-y garlic marinade is a gorgeous green color that requires a mere 30-minutes to suffuse the flank steak with great flavor. I make flank steak fairly often (it's one of the leaner cuts of beef) and have tried a lot of good recipes, but this has to be my favorite. The flavor profile is just perfect and so very delicious. — Anchovy Chicken with Lemon and Capers. Chicken thighs never had it so good. So good! — Shakshuka. This version is amazing. The goat cheese in it is awesome. I've made this several times. (photo) — Fried Halloumi with Spiced Brussels Sprouts. Really good, easy and super quick. Bread cheese worked just as well as the halloumi for me and was not as salty. (photo) — Pizza Chicken with Pancetta, Mozzarella and Spicy Tomatoes. I should have thought of this one myself, but if I had, I'd be Melissa Clark. And I'm not. But reading the ingredients in the title is only a little tease as to what emerges as the final dish here. This is as yummy as it sounds. — Green Beans with Caper Vinaigrette. Not your grandmother's green beans. This vinaigrette is an easy way to put some zip into the same old, same old. In addition to these, there are curries, Thai-flavored dishes, really interesting tofu dishes (I might actually get into tofu again!!), pastas, salads, grain bowls, dips (yay for dips), and veggies. No desserts. One that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped: — Sake-Steamed Chicken. Nope. This is not work for me. I followed the recipe, making no substitutions, but did not get the flavor described in the recipe's intro. I regularly make Sake-Steamed Salmon from a Chinese recipe and thought this would be as good as that, but it wasn't. — Roast Turkey Breast with Rosemary and Anchovies had some good flavor in spots. In spots, because the paste that gets rubbed all over the breast before roasting was too clumpy to spread evenly over the breast. So there were clumps of flavor rather than flavor in every bite. I might try mashing it better (although I thought I had done a pretty good job of that) or spreading it underneath the breast skin where it might spread over the turkey more evenly while roasting. For some reason, the directions were not as clear as Clark's usual, very understandable style. One thing that I DON'T like about the book; The index. I went looking for a dressing that is used in one of the recipes I saw as part of the recipe for Roasted Winter Vegetable Salad with Kale and Thai Lime Dressing. There is no Dressing category, no Winter category, no Roasted. There is a Lime category and also a Vegetable category, but this recipe made it to neither of those. Someone did not do the best job on the index for sure, but I can't really ding a whole star for that when the recipes are so darn good. I highly, highly recommend this book if you are looking to rev up your dinners to new levels. The worst part is trying to decide what to make. This is one of those books you want to cook the whole way through.

I love cookbooks, and Melissa Clark's latest really is revolutionizing dinner. I consider myself an experienced (though by no means professional) cook, and I find her recipes inventive, inspirational, and easy to follow. The writing is clear, the ingredients are readily available, and the results are as beautiful as the photography. I am obsessed with this book. That said, this is not a cookbook for beginning cooks or the timid. One of the things I love about this book is that Clark pushes the envelope in unexpected and delicious ways. You need just a bit of an adventurous palate to enjoy this, but if you're willing to push the boundaries just a bit, you will be well-rewarded. The food within these pages is delicious. I've made the faux-tandoori chicken, the cumin spiced meatballs, and the sausage with rhubarb (though I subbed apples due to seasonality) and swiss chard. All were as delicious as I expected. Clark's recipes are well-spiced, which doesn't mean that they necessarily have lots of heat (i.e. chilies or cayenne pepper). Rather, she likes playing with warm spices (garam masala, cumin, cloves, all spice, ginger, garlic) as a way of bringing out unexpected flavors from even everyday ingredients. One more benefit of this book is her ability to let the cook know in advance when recipes can be paused, which stages can be done ahead, or how well something freezes. These tips are perfect for busy homes, and I haven't been led astray yet.

I haven’t even made it through the chicken section of this cookbook yet, and it’s already climbed to the top of my favorites list. The recipes are a perfect blend of practical and slightly exotic — interesting enough to feel special, but still completely doable. Since I love to cook, I already have most of the ingredients on hand (pomegranate molasses, limes, anchovies, and a few esoteric spices), but some of the recipes may require a trip to the store. Just for the chicken recipes, this cookbook is a worthwhile investment!

This book is a masterpiece. I cannot stop cooking from it and so far the vast majority of the recipes have been hits or if not totally wow-ing I have been easily able to identify small tweaks that will make them 5-star for our family. The Pea Pesto with Ricotta was super easy and a big hit. I want to eat this on everything. The Vietnamese Ginger Chicken was great, I may substitute bone in thighs next time but that is a personal preference. The roasted Sumac Chicken was also extremely flavorful, I may cut the bird into 8 or 10 parts in the next go to infuse it with more favor from the marinade. Our attempt at the Jalapeño Honey Steak did not go well but I suspect we (or the meat itself) had a hand in its failure. The favor was good but it was tough, I think the skirt steak we used was grass fed and may have been too lean. The Shrimp Bahn Mi was good, I would caution cooks not to over-pulse the shrimp, I think a slightly chunky consistency would make for a better mouth feel. The Coconut Kofte Kebabs were very good. We reduced the amount of coconut in the recipe (my husband is on the fence about coconut in savory preparations so I wanted to hedge my bets) and it still turned out great. I will report back with updates as we plow through more recipes and would love to hear from other cooks on their experiences cooking from the book (caugh caugh, not on how to book looks.)

Toutes les recettes de ce livre font envie!! J'en ai deja fait plusieurs et je ne suis jamais décue!! Je recommande vivement!

The book is great but the seller is not!!! BEWARE: This book is not a brand new book. I don’t appreciate getting a book that’s been sitting in your stock collecting dust, then I shouldn’t have to pay the brand new price for it. It’s def second hand. The book itself is awesome.

I've been following Melissa Clark's recipes for the NYT for a while now, and it's gotten me into experimenting a bit more with cooking. Her recipes are off the beaten track, but written with very plain, simple instructions, and she always gives you tips to substitute ingredients or do variants to the original recipe. Also, from prior experience I can tell you that her sauces and her suggestions for spices are absolutely inspired. This book has none of the recipes I already knew, but it's even more interesting for me, because it gives me a lot of ideas for ingredients I never really knew how to use. There's a bit of everything here except desserts - eggs, meat, fish, purely vegetarian recipes. I've only had the book for a few days, but I tried making the maple roasted tofu with squash the other day and the results were amazing. I have another dozen recipes shortlisted to try the next time I get my grocery shopping done. I have gotten my sister another copy of this book for her birthday. She's the real cook in the family and I know she's going to enjoy it.

I highly recommend this book. I have a great number of cookery books but this is the one I turn to when I want a fairly quick nutritional dinner. The results are delicious - e.g. The fish chowder and the harissa chicken. You will need to get used to some of the Americanisms but that's not too hard and the ingredients are readily available in most supermarkets.. A very useful cookery book which you will use again and again.

Never had a cookbook like this. Every single recipe is worth cooking. Even the descriptions or anecdotes are great.