What to Cook When You Think There's Nothing in the House to Eat: More Than 175 Recipes and Meal Ideas

Hardcover with 275 pages - approx size: 7 3/4 x 9 1/2" - This is the book for folks who like to eat well but may be a little lazy about traveling to the store on a rainy Sunday afternoon; to tired to stop at the market after work; or just to frugal not to use what's on hand. Pasta, beans, canned tuna and sardines, eggs, cheese, milk-all these foods even indifferent housekeepers have on hand form the basis of nutritious, tasty, easy meals. This is not fancy food. It's everyday food with traditional recipes, mainly updated working class and farm food for the new working class: singles, couples, and young families that often do not have the time to shop. It is for those with the most basic cooking skills, who want guidance and inspiration for taking the most mundane and long-lasting ingredients and turning them into a comforting plate of food. Arthur Schwartz is the restaurant critic for the N.Y. Daily News.

...or, how to slant a cookbook when there's nothing left to introduce. As complacently as those old folk recipes that begin with ``first, catch your lizard,'' Schwartz (Cooking in a Small Kitchen, 1979) calls for canned clams, several cheeses, Arborio rice, dried Polish mushrooms, chocolate, and various liqueurs, as well as more common staples such as flour, dried spaghetti, and canned tuna, in these suggestions for spur-of-the-moment meals. In other words, for a varied repertoire of dishes that can be made from whatever's available, keep a variety of stuff on hand. That done, you can of course find recipes for using them in any basic cookbook; Schwartz is not into novelty. The old standbys he's gathered here include pur‚ed (``refried'') black beans, cabbage and noodle kugel, ``Ronald Reagan's favorite'' macaroni and cheese, the Greek soup avgolemono, from-scratch cream-puff shells, brownies, and a kind of tuna … la king. Who needs recipes for this stuff? According to Schwartz, anyone who comes home too tired to shop, think, cook up a storm, or even, presumably, leaf through an encyclopedic hardcover like Fannie Farmer. He might have quite an audience at that. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Schwartz's forthright yet somewhat misleading title doesn't do justice to the New York Daily News columnist's contribution to home cooking at its simple best. "Meant for those who have only elementary cooking skills, as well as ingredients, but still think something cooked from scratch at home--no matter how basic--is more rewarding to eat than something picked up from the frozen food case or a takeout shop," the book is organized around easily acquired ingredients, with the shelf lives of most thoroughly, if light-headedly, discussed. ("If matzoh doesn't exactly last forever," quips Schwartz, "at least it lasts from one Passover to the next, which is about how often I buy it.") Included are concoctions like spaghetti with black olives and orange peel, and basic white risotto, as well as pure comfort fare (classic crisp peanut butter cookies) and ethnic feel-good foods from matzoh brei to quesadillas. Even sophisticated cooks will uncover good ideas and information here and be able, as the author suggests, to satisfy a "midnight appetite, an unexpected guest, or any other last-minute or 'emergency'sic situation." Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Like Marlena Spieler's From Pantry to Table ( LJ 9/15/91), this book by a New York food writer and columnist shows how the pantry can be a boon to the resourceful cook. Spieler, however, starts by stocking the pantry with ingredients from the essential to the exotic; Schwartz's simplified approach is more of a "make-do" one--how to put together a satisfying meal with minimum time and energy. Ingredients that are likely to be on hand are organized alphabetically, from Anchovies to Pasta to Yogurt, and storage information and simple, "comfort food"-type recipes are provided for each; subject indexes provide additional sources of inspiration. An appealing book that should be popular; recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.