Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I have to admit that I am a little obsessed with all the various one pot styles of cooking. Starting probably way (way!) back in college, when I literally had only one pot to cook in, I made an infinite varieties of what came to be known as "stoop" (ie not quite stew, not quite soup). Now, thankfully, while I can afford more than one pot to cook in, I still am partial to only using one for a meal. Maybe it is the comfort of all that goodness cooking together, or maybe I am just too lazy to do a lot of cleaning up after dinner. Either way, needless to say, I have a lot of practice in this cooking method. I will start off by saying that One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals is a worthwhile addition to my somewhat overburdened and sagging cookbook shelf. While my all time favorite I think will continue to be my handful of tagine recipes given to me decades ago by a family friend, or the timeless and always wonderful The Clay Pot Cookbook, One Pot gives some really nice approaches in a variety of styles that are accessible to almost any level of expertise in the kitchen. Since being given One Pot, I have worked my way through several dozen of the recipes (did I mention I really like one pot recipes? lol). Most were just about dead-on as recipes go. The Kale and Tuscan Bean Soup was a particular favorite for my husband, who is not usually one for either anything Tuscan nor bean- (he has had an anti-Tuscan bias since I made him watch The English Patient, and the bean problem, well, you know..) The Mac and cheese varieties (yes, tried all of them!), were of course universally loved by my grandson and his friends, and the adults did not exactly shy away from it either. I was a little less crazy about the Beef Stroganoff, but it was a reasonable foundation that I felt just required some doctoring from the spice cabinet. Your taste of course will vary from mine in assessing individual recipes, but as always you will need to adjust spices and flavors to suit your own preferences. All in all, One Pot is a very good introduction to the art of one pot cooking (and thus one-pot clean up!). If you have not worked with a pressure cooker before, here is a nice opportunity to try one out (buy a newer model, they are so much more safe than the old ones we used to use!). Likewise having a good roasting pan will make your efforts so much more pleasant for entertaining or just filling your house with wonderful aromas and good healthy foods. I have probably rambled long enough about this now. I have a new Korean stone bowl that just arrived, and I have a date with some hot pot recipes!