Review Detail

British teen Sam Stern loves cooking and food so much that he published a cookbook, "Cooking Up a Storm," when he was fourteen. Sam's busy and his free time is limited, yet he wants to eat well, so he's cooked up tons of luscious, quick recipes in Real Food, Real Fast. The recipes are divided into how much time the cook has to devote: 5 minutes, 10 minutes, on up to 30 minutes.

Sam starts off with an introduction, in which he tells a bit about himself. How does he get time to actually invent these delicious recipes when he has homework, soccer, cricket, TV interviews, etc? He devotes half of each Sunday to make new dishes. The rest of the time, he cooks as much as he has time for, from the recipes in Real Food, Real Fast. His theory is that fast food doesn't have to be junk; it can be fresh-baked pizzas, juicy burgers, creamy risottos, spicy Mexican and Indian dishes, and so many other dishes. Sam also tells us how to speed things up when we're in the kitchen.

When the reader starts browsing the recipes (illustrated with appealing pictures), his stomach is guaranteed to growl as he tries to decide which dish to start with. If cooking time is limited to five minutes, you could whip up a smoothie or milk shake, a shrimp plate, or a bread/spread combo. If you can spend 30 creative minutes in the kitchen, you could simmer a soup, bake a mushroom tart, or barbecue kebabs. It all looks fabulous . . .so fabulous that I'm off to purchase the ingredients for "Lettuce-Wrapped Beef 'n' Mushroom Stir-Fry." I can't wait to dig in!