Michael Symon

The first time I watched Michael Symon on TV was back in 2007/2008 when he became an Iron Chef on the Food Network channel. When The Chew began airing in 2011, Michael Symon's style of cooking and his philosophy of making food and recipes approachable definitely speaks to my soul. His 5 in 5 segment (5 ingredients + 5 minutes) on the Chew in particular became extremely popular and the recipes that came from that segment are probably the ones I've used most often from The Chew archive. Don't show more get me wrong I love to cook and I like trying out recipes that have sous-vide, paupiette, amuse bouche, or en papilotte in the title/instruction of recipes. But in reality, most of the time I really only have the time (and patience) to do quick meals and this is where Michael Symon's 5 in 5 comes in handy.

Michael Symon, 5 in 5 for every season

His new book Michael Symon's 5 in 5 for Every Season is a continuation of his previous cookbook but focuses more on produce that are more in season. Prior to reading The Broad Fork which I've reviewed previously, I'm not usually a fan of cookbooks that are divided into seasons but again the recipes in this books (similar to The Broadf Frk) are so simple and flexible, I can be creative with some of the seasonal produce. The recipes are straight forward and simple. With any cookbooks I tend to just browse and mark the pages of recipes that I want to try.

In the introduction Symon laid out a series of pantry ingredients that one should always have in stock such as: different type of cooking oils, seasonings, herbs, sauces, broths, box pastas, different type of flours, bread crumbs, panko crumbs, salt & pepper etc. These pantry ingredients are not included in the '5 in 5'. The '5' ingredients beyond the pantry that are used in a recipe are usually marked in bold.

Again, what I love about this book is that nothing is too difficult just like his 5 in 5 segment on The Chew and many of his recipes are leftover friendly. If I'm cooking for myself or plan on travelling and want food to come home to, his recipe for spaghetti with quick sausage ragu is perfect for the fridge. I am looking forward to trying out recipes I've marked in the near future. show less

We always enjoy Mr. Simon's food. We had the pleasure of eating at one of his restaurants in Cleveland and it was fantastic. We've made multiple recipes from this cookbook and they have all been good. Given the very nature and goal of the title, the recipes are very simple, weeknight type recipes. While it says 5 ingredients, once you read the recipe you realize he really means 5 'main' ingredients, there are often more than 5 and sometimes some are missing. Even so, we like what we've made show more and this is a go to book when we're out of ideas. show less

I am a big fan of Mike Symon's cooking and his cooking style, so this book was on my wishlist. However, this book is only for serious Carnivores! Out of 120 recipes, 30 are side dishes, which is good, they all look to be good recipes and the one we tried so far was good. The side dishes may be the best part.

Out of the 20 'Beef' recipes, I would say 10 are for your average meat loving cook, assuming you eat veal. Of the others, 5 have ingredients that only really serious carnivores would be show more able to find and would eat - sweetbreads, veal hearts, veal short ribs, marrow bones and tripe (not hard to find, just hard to eat...). 3 more are for making your own pastrami, corned beef and hot dogs. The other 2 are just a little exotic - beef tartare and stuffed brisket.

The pork section is even more of a challenge, unless you cook pig heads and other parts and make your own sausage. The game section is for people who can find quail, squab, rabbit, elk, venison, etc and choose to eat them. You could substitute beef or chicken, but then you'd have to adjust the recipes.

In general a good cookbook, but unless you are really adventurous, about 50% of it won't be useful for you. That is a bit high percentage for cookbooks, but the quality makes up for the quantity of recipes. show less

I have always loved the idea of five ingredients in five minutes. These take a little longer and don't count spices as ingredients so the title is a little misleading. There are some very tasty ideas here (no macaroni or velveeta need apply). More meat than I usually eat, but great for a last minute meal when I'm pooped. I greatly appreciated his pantry chapter which lets you know what you need to keep on hand. Arranged by season, Mr Symon makes it easy to find recipes with ingredients I show more just got at the Farmer's Market. show less