Product Description

If you’re like Rachael Ray, mealtime is a time to hang out and reconnect with family and friends. That means you could be making a late dinner for you and your sweetie one night and making brunch for your entire family the next day. No matter how many people join the party, Rachael firmly believes that cooking should be fun, easy–and done in 30 minutes or less.

Transforming recipes for four into recipes for two or eight can be a tricky guessing game. If you use twice the amount of chicken will you have to cook it twice as long? Is it possible to make a satisfying pot of soup for two without having to eat leftovers for a week? What’s the best–and most economical–way to feed a crowd of eight? With Rachael Ray: 2, 4, 6, 8 there’s no need to guess, because Rachael has designed right-sized menus for every occasion, with perfect meals for two, four, six, or eight.

For date night you don’t want tons of food, so Rachael’s Croque Madame sandwich with a Strawberry Balsamic Vinaigrette salad and a killer vodka cocktail strike just the right note. For family dinners, double dates, or those who love leftovers, Rachael whips up classic meals for four like Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza or Grilled Shrimp with Chorizo Skewers. For poker night with your buddies, Rachael knows exactly which ingredients stretch into a 30-minute meal for six, like Uptown Sweet and Spicy Sausage Hoagies. Throwing a dinner party is a pleasure when you’re armed with stress-free meals for eight like Italian Chicken Pot Pie and Boozy Berries and Biscuits. With complete menus for family dinners as well as easy and impressive meals for entertaining plus lots of super simple desserts that taste like a million, no matter what the occasion, the perfect meal for your crowd is never more 30 minutes away.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109718 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-07
• Released on: 2006-11-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

About the Author
Rachael Ray is the host of the popular Food Network shows 30-Minute Meals, $40 a Day, and Tasty Travels, as well as her own syndicated talk show, Rachael Ray. In addition to helming the successful magazine Rachael Ray Everyday, Rachael is the author of 11 previous books, including the New York Times bestsellers 30-Minute Get Real Meals, 365: No Repeats, and Express Lane Meals.

Customer Reviews

Perfect for the Couple Who Likes to Have a Few Guests and Family Over

I realize that this book sounds like it's a cheer for Rachael Ray, and Ms. Ray acknowledges that with her perky dedication to cheerleaders. If you are a busy couple with limited cooking experience who sometimes have two, four, or six family members or guests over for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you'll feel like cheering instead. Rachael Ray has done it again in creating a niche book for a special purpose that most cookbook writers totally ignore. And all of this comes within the context for 30-minute meals for fast choppers who keep the Rachael Ray basic ingredients on hand (lots of Extra Virgin Olive Oil - EVOO. garlic, most seasonings, and lots of fresh and frozen vegetables). By dividing up the menu to match the number of guests, you know you have a good chance of finishing up within 30 minutes whereas if you tried to quadruple a menu for two . . . you might not be even close! Unlike some of her cookbooks, this one has some gorgeous photographs of eight dishes to give you a sense of how to make them look great, too.

The book opens with 25 menus or main courses for every moment over 24 hours a day . . . to serve two. These choices range from the simple (steaks and salads) to the more adventuresome (chicken marvalasala and pappardelle with rosemary gravy). Here are some of my favorites:

Garden salad with smoked almond-cilantro dressing served with smoky chicken tortilla soup with chipotle and fire-roasted tomatoes;
Sea bass with puttanesca and potatoes;
Serrano-wrapped halibut with tortillas, savory cabbage, and warm cinnamon-chipotle tomato salsa;
Chorizo-stuffed bread bites with warm mushroom and sherry vinegar salad;
Sliced steak with green olive and tomato sauce with sautéed artichokes and mushrooms; and
Veal topped with prosciutto and fontini served with a green olive-dressed green apple and arugula salad.

Naturally, the menu choices for four will get the heaviest use for serving guests. This is the biggest section with 34 menus or entrees listed. Actually, if you have two teenaged children who frequently don't show up for meals, this cookbook would also work well for you. When the kids are home you use the recipes for four . . . and use the recipes for two when the kids have disappeared. Here are some of my many favorites:

Sliced chili-rubbed flank steak on spicy rice with shrimp and guacamole stacks:
Grilled shrimp and chorizo skewers with piquillo pepper gazpacho;
Hors d'oeuvre dinner -- giant stuffed mushrooms, killer crab and potato cakes, and bitter salad with sweet dressing;
Chipotle potato salad;
Beef tenderloin bites on a bed of arugula;
Lemon and egg soup, and Greek-style shrimp scampi and linguine;
Chicken in orange-scallion-sesame sauce and big fat spicy sate noodles; and
Thai-style chicken and veggies over ginger-lemon rice.

Meals and menu choices for six is a smaller section with 22 menus and entrees. Here are some of my favorites:

Lemon spaghetti, flounder franchese, and lemon sorbet with limoncello liqueur;
Honey-Dijon dressed greens with toasted pecans;
Three-alarm Italian-style chili mac served with smoky bacon and bean salad and pistachio ice cream; and
NASCAR caution-flag chili with flat-tire corn and black bean toppers followed by peaches and cream.

Menus and entrees for eight is understandably the smallest section with 19 choices. It's tough to feed eight in 30 minutes of preparation! I didn't find any favorites in this section: It's filled with tried-and-true basics that you'll be happy with if you don't know how to make these dishes (frittatas, baked cod, mushroom rigatoni, vegetable stew, spaghetti, chicken burgers, sausage and tortellini soup and Caesar salad; grilled chicken breasts; turkey burgers, breaded pork chops, seafood soup, and potato pancakes).

I think the best part of using Rachael's recipe books is imagining her in your kitchen working up a storm alongside you as the 30 minutes quickly pass. Have a ball!

One recipe worth the price!
Just tried the recipe "Spinach-artichoke Ravioli-Lasagna" and it was delish! That one recipe is worth the price of this book! I can't wait to try more of the recipes.
My only beef is that the recipes are abit hard to find based on the index in the back. (Or maybe it's just me) anyways definately put this one in your cookbook library!