Initial Reports are In
The Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals is a hoax. Do not forward.
After 4 attempts at dinners for 2, my husband and I have yet to serve it up in a half hour. It's more like an hour with 2 people working in parallel. It would probably go faster if we knew the recipe by heart (or wrote it!), didn't have to wash & dry vegetables, or didn't chop like an amateur.
The meals so far have not exceeded my expectations. They have all been pretty good, but that's it. For the amount of time spent, it's a low payout. And what's worse, I look back at the kitchen afterwards and it's a mess! Lots of cutting boards, knives, mixing bowls, pots and pans. For so much mess I expect more in the flavor department.
And here's another weird observation I made last night. Cooking from this book is stressful! Maybe because we work on different things so we don't talk. Maybe because of the artificial 30 minute expectation. I don't know the psychology behind it just yet.
Anyway, the more notable dishes were the artichoke hearts & asparagus tips in rice from the "New Year's Eve Supper", the smashed potatoes from the "TV Dinner for 2", the portobello mushroom "fries" from "Uptown Burger and Fries" and the gyoza from "Seven Samurai Plus 2" though it could use a lighter dipping sauce. IIf we did it again, we'd:
-use ground beef (15-20% fat) instead of ground sirloin (7% fat) - ground sirloin is too dry for most uses
-use low sodium soy sauce instead of tamari; it's too salty!
-forget the champagne vanilla sauce
-be more careful to keep the gyoza from sticking to one another, maybe through an alternate cooking method; it turned into one big lump
As far as the book reads, it's not bad. She doesn't always tell you what the dish should look like when done. For example, the ginger peach cobbler in the "TV Dinner for 2" gets baked 10-12 minutes. She didn't say "until warmed through", or "until lightly browned". If I don't know what to look for, I can't account for variances in my appliances. I DO like the suggestions for when to "eye ball it". It's helping me learn what's important to measure and what has wiggle room. I don't have a professionally trained eye so it's helped to have the measuring cups in sight as a guide.
I haven't tried any meals for a crowd yet. That is yet to come.
After 4 attempts at dinners for 2, my husband and I have yet to serve it up in a half hour. It's more like an hour with 2 people working in parallel. It would probably go faster if we knew the recipe by heart (or wrote it!), didn't have to wash & dry vegetables, or didn't chop like an amateur.
The meals so far have not exceeded my expectations. They have all been pretty good, but that's it. For the amount of time spent, it's a low payout. And what's worse, I look back at the kitchen afterwards and it's a mess! Lots of cutting boards, knives, mixing bowls, pots and pans. For so much mess I expect more in the flavor department.
And here's another weird observation I made last night. Cooking from this book is stressful! Maybe because we work on different things so we don't talk. Maybe because of the artificial 30 minute expectation. I don't know the psychology behind it just yet.
Anyway, the more notable dishes were the artichoke hearts & asparagus tips in rice from the "New Year's Eve Supper", the smashed potatoes from the "TV Dinner for 2", the portobello mushroom "fries" from "Uptown Burger and Fries" and the gyoza from "Seven Samurai Plus 2" though it could use a lighter dipping sauce. IIf we did it again, we'd:
-use ground beef (15-20% fat) instead of ground sirloin (7% fat) - ground sirloin is too dry for most uses
-use low sodium soy sauce instead of tamari; it's too salty!
-forget the champagne vanilla sauce
-be more careful to keep the gyoza from sticking to one another, maybe through an alternate cooking method; it turned into one big lump
As far as the book reads, it's not bad. She doesn't always tell you what the dish should look like when done. For example, the ginger peach cobbler in the "TV Dinner for 2" gets baked 10-12 minutes. She didn't say "until warmed through", or "until lightly browned". If I don't know what to look for, I can't account for variances in my appliances. I DO like the suggestions for when to "eye ball it". It's helping me learn what's important to measure and what has wiggle room. I don't have a professionally trained eye so it's helped to have the measuring cups in sight as a guide.
I haven't tried any meals for a crowd yet. That is yet to come.
posted by hbt @ 4:00:00 PM
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