Piecemeal - by Kathryn Pauline (Hardcover)

About the Book

"30 bold ingredients + 90 variations"--Cover.

Book Synopsis

A new meals-in-minutes cookbook from recipe developer, photographer, and blogger Kathryn Pauline! Based on the idea that one go-to component can anchor several meals, Piecemeal is designed to help a busy home cook prepare delicious meals simply, in 5+, 15+, or 30+ minutes.

This strategy-based cookbook features recipes for 30 transformational components--such as grilled corn, turkey meatballs, tzatziki, roasted grapes--each used in three different ways, for a total of 120 delicious and adaptable recipes. The featured components were selected for maximum performance: each is flavorful, storable, and versatile and can stand alone or be used in multiple ways.

Piecemeal presents a way for cooks to create a flexible repertoire of meals without doing a ton of work at one time. Prepare the component when you have some time, then use it to enhance or center meals throughout the week, even on your most hectic evenings. The three recipes that pair with each component are fully prepared, from start to finish, in as little as 5 minutes and no more than 1 hour (for a project recipe with a bit more prep).

With Pauline's gorgeous photographs accompanying each of its smart, strategic, and delicious recipes, Piecemeal is, at its core, a master course in culinary riffing.

ULTRA-ADAPTABLE WEEKNIGHT COOKING: Here are flexible recipes to provide flavor and ease to weeknight meals, and teach a home cook how to riff, build flavor, and cook creatively. With 30 component recipes to mold into whatever you're craving that day and have on hand, Piecemeal proves that good food can be produced quickly and efficiently even on the nights you're working late.

GREAT VALUE: With 120 go-to recipes and 100 vibrant photographs, plus instructions and formulas that enable readers to experiment and customize their menu to complement what's in their fridge, this cookbook is a weeknight workhorse that will provide year-round inspiration.

COOKING AT HOME MADE EASY: These are the kinds of recipes that people actually cook on a regular basis--easy weekday staples such as salads, tacos, jazzy pasta dishes--but with deep flavors and creative flavor combinations. Taking an accessible approach to weeknight cooking, Piecemeal will appeal to home cooks of all ages and skill-levels who are looking for unexpected, tasty weeknight recipes.

Perfect for:

• Beginner cooks who want to master a few staple dishes
• Home cooks of all skill-levels looking for a repertoire of easy, creative weeknight recipes
• Amateur chefs interested in updated basics
• People looking for fresh ways to cook through their groceries
• Birthday, holiday, or housewarming gift for foodies or kitchen newbies

Review Quotes

"For people tired of meal prep that seems uninspired yet also overwhelming, Pauline's concept of batch cooking and recipe stitching offers an equally budget- and time-friendly solution that still has space for transforming leftovers, combining components in new ways for a second or third meal, and awakening cooks to the freedom that comes from more flexible meal planning, by cooking a few items at a time rather than dedicating an entire day to meal prep." -- Library Journal, starred review

"Get this if you have the what's-for-dinner blues." --Stained Page News

"With its delicious, accurate, and reliable recipes, this title will [...] become a staple for home cooks." - Booklist

About the Author

Kathryn Pauline is the author of A Dish for All Seasons, a food writer, a photographer, and the recipe developer behind the Saveur Award-winning food blog Cardamom and Tea, where she creates signature seasonal dishes inspired by her Middle Eastern and American background. She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia, and frequently visits her home in the United States.