In the Kitchen With Rosie by Rosie Daley (1994)

In short, Oprah hired Rosie, a health nut, as her personal chef and here you have it: In the Kitchen with Rosie.

We all obviously have different tastes, and by now many of you have learned that what I consider delicious and easy, you may consider very difficult and not worth the effort. I fear nothing in the kitchen (except a fire) and enjoy trying out an ingredient I have never heard of. We shall not deprive our tastes buds. There are millions of recipes in this world, and I refuse to miss out on them.

This cookbook was a gift and one I probably would not have purchased on my own. However, I have prepared many of the 43 recipes created by Rosie and am not disappointed in the outcome. There are several I have made a number of times because of the low fat/calorie content and ease. Let me tell you more.

HOW HEALTHY
Based on my experience, I find the recipes to be both nutritious and low calorie/fat, yet interesting and tasty. We all have different tastes, though, so I cannot say you and I will agree on the wild flavors of Mixed Greens with Turnips. Each recipe shows a serving size, calorie per serving, and fat per serving. You can do the math and find what works for you.

PICTURES:
There are only a few photographs of the recipes in this book. There are 5 full page color pictures of final products and 3 of Rosie preparing them. I love pictures and do not favor cookbooks that do not have pictures. This book lacks in food photos. Fortunately, my imagination runs vividly wild and I can imagine the end result.

LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY
The word difficulty is such a relative term. There is a variety of difficulty In the Kitchen . For the accomplished cook, the recipes in this book are not difficult. It helps to have the proper tools and that makes cooking much easier. Cutting potatoes into matchsticks can be time consuming and dreadful. Use a slicer/cutter. The book does not give helpful tips like this.

The recipe for un-fried French fries is easy, but time consuming. Here you cut potatoes into matchsticks. Otherwise the recipe is extremely easy.

Spinach Fettucine with Ginger Chicken is absolutely gorgeous and very appetizing when served and is not difficult. It has a number of steps since it involves a marinade, preparing pasta, and cooking time. The recipe takes 2.5 pages, though and I dreaded preparing it due to the length of the recipe. Later I discovered, it was not as dreadful as I had imagined.

Paella is difficult. There you will find my favorite seasoning of all time, saffron. But you will also be working with all sorts of seafood. Here you will use dry white wine, artichoke hearts, and Arborio rice. For Paella experts and cooks, this recipe is actually quite easy to prepare but takes all day due to the scrubbing and cutting and chopping of all the ingredients.

INGREDIENTS
You need to have fresh ingredients if you want successful results from the recipes in this book. You also need to have a variety of dried seasonings to enjoy the frequent spin of your lazy-susan. It appears that Oprah enjoys her food spicy. I do too and already have such seasonings like Italian seasoning, Cajun spice, Curry powder, and cayenne pepper. There are many I will not list them all. Average kitchens may not stock such spices. If yours is the average kitchen, get out there and try this! Excite your taste buds.

Most on-the-go-I ve-got-kids-and-a-job cooks don t stock ground white pepper, know what a littleneck clam looks like (I certainly don t), or have cooked arborio rice. I found it difficult to find items such as these. And here is yet another book that I have reviewed calling for Saffron threads. Friends, Saffron is not sold in your supermarket that I know of . I have ordered it on the internet. This is a very expensive seasoning and unless you have used it with cooking pleasure, it can be intimidating. I have discovered that most people have no clue what it is. Another denial of pleasure for the taste buds. Saffron is heavenly.

HELPFUL HINTS
This book has them, but not how I prefer them to be laid out. Beginning at each recipe, Rosie introduces her recipe using descriptive terms to make your mouth water and then adds a short how to . For example, she states, I usually grill the vegetables but have adapted recipe directions from the broiler to make it easier to do in the kitchen. It would be helpful if she told us that little secret. She does, however, include some valuable bits of information on various recipes in her book. Although I am capable of follow the most difficult instructions I am disappointed not to have more hints from Rosie.

IN CONCLUSION
I am quite pleased with In the Kitchen with Rosie. It is not my favorite cookbook, but now that springtime is here, and fit and trim is on the agenda, I am enjoying preparing an number of recipes from this little cookbook.

For the cook who likes to try out new recipes, loves Cajun spices, has a well stocked pantry, wants healthy dishes, and tends to the needs of their taste buds, this book is for you. If you are a cook who does not care for cutting potatoes into matchsticks, or who just does not have a lot of time for preparation, this book may not be recommended for you. But I do suggest you try some of the recipes. I do not use this book often like I do most of my other cookbooks. I am glad to have it though as it has provided me with healthy and tasty meals.

Real cooking is an art form. A gift to be shared. Oprah Winfrey
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction by Oprah Winfrey
Cooking Notes from Chef Rosie
Soups
Salads
Four Un-Fried Favorites
Pastas, Etc.
Entrees
Vegetables
Desserts
Index

Copyright 1994
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc
129 pages
ISBN 0-679-43404-6