Cookbook Review: Alex Snodgrass, Dinner Tonight

Not a match made in heaven

Well, I admit defeat. Or, rather, I aspire to great things and, for reasons I will get into, this cookbook isn’t getting me there. 

It’s no surprise to those of you who have been following along that I have been struggling to get excited about Defined Dish’s newest cookbook, Dinner Tonight. Some might say that’s an understatement (which would not be inaccurate). As I’ve said many times over the last few months, I was determined to finish my cookbook review for Dinner Tonight in spite of my lackluster feelings.

According to my own “rules," I require myself to make 50% of the recipes in a cookbook before writing a full-length review. I did this for both Ali Slagle’s I Dream of Dinner and Molly Baz’s More Is More. When I conceived of this structure for my reviews, I established such a high percentage of recipes because I think one needs to be conversant in many, many recipes in a cookbook before one can recommend it to another person.

My goal isn’t to recommend a cookbook simply by saying “Yeah, it’s good. You should buy it.” My goal is to say, “Yeah, it’s great! You should buy it and here are a million and one ways to use it, think about it, etc.” 

What my 50% structure failed to consider, however, is the value of cooking so many recipes from a cookbook when the recipes are consistently missing the mark. I’ve made 27 of the 100 recipes from Dinner Tonight, and it’s become clear to me that my ambivalent feelings toward the cookbook aren’t going to change. There is a fundamental disconnect between the type of meal I want to put on the table and the recipes in Dinner Tonight.

So, I’ve been thinking. The question I have been asking myself is: What did I learn from this experience and how can I write a review that helps you, my reader, going forward? 

The truth is, this is the exact experience that inspired me to launch Can’t Help But Cook. It can be overwhelming to walk into the cookbook section of a bookstore. Trying to wade through the endless options is taxing. Often — or perhaps always — we select a cookbook because we are familiar with the recipe developer. We might not be familiar with their recipes, but we recognize them. Celebrity is a powerful sales tactic. This isn’t an entirely faulty approach. But, it can get us into trouble. At some point we will likely experience the frustration and disappointment that comes from wasting $35 on a cookbook that we rarely use. And that’s assuming we only make the mistake once.

For this cookbook review, I’ve come up with three “tests.” You can use these to evaluate a recipe developer and his/her recipes before investing in their cookbooks. These aren’t foolproof. Nevertheless, they should offer you a solid framework to weed out the underwhelming cookbooks from the inspiring ones. 

The Onion Test 

Onions are a type of allium. Alliums are the vegetables that do the heavy lifting to give a dish depth: onions, shallots, garlic, leeks, fennel, celery, and scallions. Onions and garlic are, by far, the most popular.

It’s common for many recipes to begin with some form of sautéing onions and garlic. It’s a foundational step for a variety of dishes. The trick, however, is coaxing enough flavor out of the onions without burning the garlic — burnt garlic tastes bitter, which is not the flavor profile we want…like ever. There are various avenues a recipe developer can take to achieve well-flavored onions. What we certainly don’t want is a recipe where the onions have not been given enough time to cook. I found this to be a recurring problem in Dinner Tonight. 

Think about eating a well-sautéed onion. It tastes fantastic on its own. Our dishes go from good to great when we give onions the requisite time to transform from a lowly vegetable at the grocery store to the secret star of the show.  To develop this degree of flavor, onions need to be cooked, in general, for at least 7-10 minutes (Caramelized onions are different and cook for up to 45 minutes). I’m not talking about caramelized onions here, but onions that form the base of a dish like Ina Garten’s Penne Alla Vodka. Conversely, an onion that’s only been sautéed for three minutes won’t impart much flavor to a dish.

So, what are you looking for? 

When you read a recipe, pay attention to how much total time the onions are given to sauté before other ingredients are added. A few examples of such ingredients are tomatoes, broth, and ground meat. You also want to pay attention to the heat — again, we don’t want burnt garlic. 

Other alliums require less time. So, for the sake of using this test as a metric to suss out the mediocre cookbooks from the great ones, pick one or two recipes that specifically employ a yellow onion. A recipe developer's treatment of a yellow onion is likely going to tell you all you need to know. At the end of the day, we’re using this test to assess the overall skill of the recipe developer in question.

A recipe that sautés onions appropriately can look a few ways:

1. A recipe might call for you to sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat for 7-10 minutes.¹

2. Another option is adding the onions to a pan over medium-high heat, cooking for 7-8 minutes before adding the garlic in for one minute. In this case, the onions get 8-9 minutes of total cook time, and by adding the garlic in at the very end you avoid burning it.

3. I’ve also seen some Ali Slagle recipes that direct you to cook onions and garlic over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes. In my experience, that works because you’re cooking over medium-high heat. You’re providing enough heat and time to cook the onions well (although I lean toward the 5-minute mark) but are avoiding burnt garlic by not cooking the alliums for too long.

The most important thing is to avoid cooking onions for a short time over medium heat.

The recipes in Dinner Tonight do just this. They often call for onions and garlic to be added to a pan together over medium and sautéed for only 3 minutes.

Put It Into Practice

Now it’s time for a little homework assignment. This is practice for the next time you’re in the cookbook section at Barnes & Nobles.

Compare the directions in Defined Dish’s One-Pot Hamburger Helper or her Chicken and Rice Taco Skillet to Ina Garten’s Penne Alla Vodka. You’ll see that in the Hamburger Helper, the onions are added at the same time as the ground beef. When the onions and ground beef are added together, onions don’t receive adequate surface area in the pot to cook well. They’re crowded in with the ground beef, making it difficult for us to maximize their delicious depth. Similarly, in the Chicken and Rice Taco Skillet the bell peppers, onions, and garlic are cooked over medium for 4 minutes. In both cases, the onions are given inadequate space and time to cook. 

In Ina’s Penne Alla Vodka recipe, the onions get a total of 11-13 minutes of cook time. Ina has you sauté the onions over medium-low heat for 5 minutes, then add in the garlic, red pepper, and oregano for one minute before adding the vodka for 5-7 more minutes.

• Note: I consider the addition of cooking alcohol — such as white wine, vodka, sake — to be part of the onions’ overall cook time. When you add alcohol you are reducing it. In other words, you are burning off the alcohol and concentrating the flavors. As a result, the onions continue to cook in a highly-concentrated flavor environment. The alcohol assists rather than undermines the flavor of the onions.

Again, this isn’t a foolproof “test.” I’m sure we could find an outlier or two, but I firmly believe that if you open up a cookbook and pay attention to how a recipe developer utilizes yellow onions you will, at the very least, avoid the less than exciting cookbooks. Feel free to experiment with this too. If you have a recipe that you like but notice that the onions aren’t given enough cook time, add a few minutes on the front end — paying attention not to burn the garlic — and see if the dish isn’t improved upon. 

The Bone-In, Skin-On Chicken Thigh Test

The second test you can employ is the Chicken Thigh Test, specifically bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs. Every recipe developer has at least one skillet recipe that uses this cut of meat. The difference between a mediocre chicken thigh recipe and an outstanding one comes down to (well, salt, duh) how much time is allotted for chicken thighs to render fat from their skin. 

For bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs to render enough fat and develop crispy, brown skin, the thighs need to cook in a skillet over medium heat, skin-side down, for at 12-15 minutes, 10 at the very least. Five minutes isn’t enough time. If you only let them cook for 2-5 minutes, as in this Pot Roast Chicken, you miss out on flavor at two ends.²

First, you lose fat for sautéing. After removing the chicken thighs, the fat that is leftover in the pan becomes a flavoring agent for the vegetables, which are subsequently sautéed in it. Less cook time = less fat = less flavorful vegetables.

Second, you lose crispy, deep, golden-brown skin. The chicken skin can’t develop color and texture when it’s cooked for only 2-5 minutes. Compare with the directions in Molly Baz’s Chicken Au Poivre, if you’re interested.

Bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs are, in my humble — but very adamant — opinion, an underrated cut of meat. Not only are they cheap, but because of their skin they can transform an easy weeknight dinner into something both flavorful and memorable. Just do it…right.

The Spice Test 

This test is a little bit more difficult to apply, mainly because it does require you to make a recipe to evaluate its efficacy. But, the general gist is this: I have found that a recipe that calls for some small-ish level of spice should be able to hold on its own, flavor-wise, when the spice is eliminated from the recipe altogether. There are some recipes, like Molly Baz’s Crispy Orecchiette with Sausage (you can also apply the Onion Test here), that are unequivocally a spicy dish. As such, they should stay that way. 

There are many other dishes, however, that call for spice, most often in the form of red pepper flakes. Yet, these meals aren’t defined by their spice. One example is this Greek Chicken Thighs with White Beans recipe from Yasmin Fahr (apply the Chicken Thigh Test here). Because I am cooking for my entire family, which includes three children under the age of 3, I am constantly cutting down or taking out the spice component of a dish. In particular, my children don’t handle red pepper flakes well. In the case of Yasmin’s Greek Chicken Thighs, I eliminated the red pepper altogether, and it was still extremely flavorful.

There is a degree of personal preference here, of course. But, when I lessened (or eliminated) the spice from recipes in Dinner Tonight, I often felt like something was missing. This got me thinking. Spice can act to cover up a dish’s lack of flavor. Perhaps the lack of flavor is due to the treatment of the onions or the chicken thighs…or something else.

The point is this, unless a dish self-identifies as spicy, you should be able to forgo the red pepper flakes, tabasco, Cholula, sriracha, etc without sacrificing flavor. Unfortunately, the only way to test this is, in fact, to cook. So, if you find yourself at B&N looking at a cookbook and notice a lot of calls for ¼ - ½ tsp red pepper flakes, get out your trusty smartphone and see if you can find a recipe by the same chef on the internet. Use this. Make this first before investing your well-earned money in said cookbook. 

On a related note, I will also say I am skeptical of extremely long ingredient lists. One of the things I love most about Ali Slagle recipes is that she knows how to create flavor with very few ingredients. If a recipe developer is routinely calling for a long list of spices, I would exercise caution when purchasing his/her cookbook.

Things I liked: 

• I liked the salad section the best. If you are someone who enjoys a Sweetgreen-level salad, I would direct your attention to the Salad Archives on Defined Dish’s website.

• My favorite dish, which I made multiple times, is the Seared Tuna with White Bean and Arugula Salad.

Seared Tuna with White Bean and Arugula Salad

• I also really liked the Harissa Fish en Papillote, but I did edit the directions fairly substantially, so as not to overcook the fish. However, the combination of flavors, in particular the harissa, was excellent. 

Harissa Fish en Papillote

Reasons to Consider Dinner Tonight

I think there is one reason to keep Defined Dish’s latest cookbook on your radar, and that’s if you regularly do Whole30. Alex’s Whole30-approved recipes certainly put her on the map, especially with the rise in popularity of the 30-day elimination diet.

Personally, I am not a diet person. I do care a lot about health, and I absolutely do my best to eat clean on a daily basis. I’m just not a “follow a strict set of rules” diet-type person. For this reason, Dinner Tonight doesn’t appeal to me. But, if you regularly do Whole30 and find yourself frustrated by the lack of recipes available to you, Defined Dish is a great place to look. 

Lemongrass Pork Lettuce Cups 

My Big Takeaway

I’m a 32-year-old woman with three young kids. Maybe it’s getting into the “dreaded” 30s (which I actually love), maybe it's the occasional gray hairs I find, or perhaps it's the fact that my oldest child — who, if memory serves me correctly, was born only yesterday — is composing sentences, memorizing dinosaurs and verbalizing emotions, but I am just very aware of how fast life goes by. And, I don’t mean this in a bad way. I mean it as a simple statement of fact.  

As a result, one of the biggest shifts I’ve made in my life in recent years is a true, honest-to-goodness prioritization of the things and people I love, the things that really fill me up, the things that are worth it, all the while letting go of the distractions — and all the other things — that don’t. 

I was texting with my friend Domenica the other day about this book I had started. It was good but not great. I was telling her my philosophy is basically this: if I start reading a book (outside of my book club) and get 50-ish pages in and don’t sense that the book is going to be at least a 4 out of 5 stars, I put it down. I just know there are so many books out there that will score at least a 4 on my personal scale. So, why would I bother with one that doesn’t? At the ripe old age of 32, I am too old and there are too many great books to waste my time on the ones that don’t excite me. 

I feel this way about many things, including the recipes I make. I know this review might seem harsh and that is certainly not my intention. It’s just that…we all only have so much time in a day, in a life. I believe we need to apply the 4 out of 5 mentality to the recipes we spend time on. Not every meal has to be perfect. Of course not. Moreover, we’re here to learn how to cook, so mistakes will absolutely be made; I believe learning is part of the worthwhile process. But, if you’re going to be in the kitchen. If you’re going to spend time chopping, sautéing, simmering, cleaning, etc, that effort deserves to be met with a dinner that is at least a 4 out of 5.

Recipe List:

1. Seared Tuna with White Bean and Arugula Salad

2. Curried Chicken and Kale Salad with Creamy Harissa Dressing

3. Sheet Pan Salmon Nicoise 

4. Fattoush Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing

5. Cajun Cobb Salad with Shrimp

6. Deconstructed Waldorf Salad

7. Roasted Shrimp, Cherry Tomato and Feta Pasta

8. Creamy Goat Cheese Pasta with Spinach and Artichokes

9. Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein

10. Skillet BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bake

11. Sheet Pan Hot Honey Dijon Chicken

12. Chicken Piccata Meatballs

13. Greek-Inspired Chicken and Orzo Bake

14. Ginger and Peanut Butter Stir Fry

15. Italian Skirt Steak with Bursting Tomatoes

16. Sheet Pan Sausage And Sweet Piquante Peppers

17. Lemongrass Pork Lettuce Cups 

18. Easy Ground Lamb Curry

19. Roasted Fish and White Bean Puttanesca

20. Crunchy Blackened Salmon Tacos with Serrano Slaw 

21. Harissa Fish en Papillote

22. Mediterranean Salmon Burgers  with Cucumber-Feta Salad

23. Baked Salmon Sushi Bowls with Spicy Mayo

24. Sheet Pan Coconut-Crusted Fish with Honey-Chili Drizzle

25. Bang Bang Shrimp Lettuce Wraps

26. Red Snapper Veracruzana 

27. Sheet Pan Ratatouille with Crispy Gnocchi

See you in the kitchen!

Xo,

Rach

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In case you missed it:

1. Sometimes recipes will call for celery and carrots here as well. This is called a mirepoix. This passes the onion test as well, so long as the mirepoix is cooked for long enough.

2. Note: If you wanted to edit this recipe to allow for more time for the chicken thigh’s to crisp on the stove, you would probably need to adjust the amount of time they cook in the oven.