The Gourmet Toaster Oven: Simple and Sophisticated Meals for the Busy Cook [A Cookbook] Paperback – October 1, 2005

Lynn Alley has written several cookbooks, and this one is my favorite. The recipes are interesting and varied, suited to many different food tastes, and they live up to the title as being both simple and sophisticated. There are many color photos that add to the ideas for presentation. Simple refers in this case to the use of fresh ingredients, other ingredients that one usually would have on hand, and quick preparation. Sophisticated refers in some cases to the combinations--scallops and pancetta, for example--but mainly to ideas for baking and serving the items. There are many ideas for serving and presentation (including good wine recommendations), and I think readers will appreciate suggestions for using a toaster oven in a variety of ways.There is one important point to take note of when considering this book: the recipes are intended for a large toaster oven (12-14-inch depth inside) with convection heat. If possible, I would recommend getting hold of the book prior to buying a toaster oven. The author provides a lot of good advice about features and size and how to compare different models. I already have a smaller oven (without convection), so I need to make a few adjustments when I use some of the recipes, or simply make them in my regular oven. (In general, it’s necessary to add 25 degrees to the baking temperature if you don’t have convection too. As many bakers know, convection is especially good for cakes and breads, but you can also do without it perfectly well.)Thus far, I have tried the granola, carrot cake with lemon glaze, coffee cake muffins, yogurt-baked chicken, and oven-fried chicken. Most of the recipes are for 2 servings; some are for 4. All of these recipes were excellent, and I was especially pleased to see that there was some attention given to lower fat (especially in the carrot cake and muffins) and less salt than usual. Many of the baked items have no salt at all in the recipes, and the flavor and texture are still excellent. Some readers found it unusual that buttermilk is called for in several recipes. Personally, I love using buttermilk, because it helps to lower the fat overall and gives great taste to baked goods.I would recommend this book very highly but not unconditionally. One has to be prepared to adapt the recipes slightly if you don’t have, or don’t want to buy, a large toaster oven. Some recipes include the use of a food processor, but nearly all of them can be made without one. It's certainly simpler if you do have one though. Also, this is a book that I think suits cooks who like to experiment and add their own touches to recipes. The ingredients are quite simple, and the recipes work fine as is, but if you like to add or change them a little, this book will provide plenty of inspiration for simple and sophisticated meals.

I am being generous when I give this book 3 stars. I’m fine with complicated recipes. The recipes are just plainly poorly written. An example — Piroshkis. The basic dough recipes makes 4 piroshkis, making just the dough over 400 calories, and that’s without the filling. Wow! The dough rolls out too thick, creating a piroshki that is mostly bread, making the filling almost untasteable. The dough recipes says it creates 4 regular 8-inch piroshkis or 6 appetizer 4-inch piroshkis. Doing the math, for the same thickness of dough, the appetizer piroshkis should be 5.5”, not 4”, hardly appetizer sized. I’m an experienced cook and could work these recipes to make something good, but why aren’t coming out good out of the gate? The author said that the dough could be rolled to size and it would thaw in 5 to 10 minutes. It took 30 minutes! It doesn’t seem that the recipes have actually been tested. By the way, the two fillings I made were delicious, but because of it’s inaccuracies I won’t be using it much. Too much work!

I wanted a book that would help me make better use of my combination counter top oven. The recipes are really good and the portions are perfect. I plan to makes good use of this book in both my full size oven and my countertop. Although my goal is to not use the big oven if I don't have to.The author suggests use of a food processor in many of the recipes which, if you have one, encourages the use of an appliance that often sits on the counter unused in many kitchens. If you don't have one, consider getting a small 3 to 7 cup model. They are affordable, take up less space and very quickly become indispensable on a daily basis.I'm happy with this intelligently written recipe book.

This title showed up as a "recommendation" by Amazon after I'd purchased my Breville Smart Toaster Oven, not very long ago. It is an invaluable cookbook, exquisitely suited to my purposes, since it sizes the recipes for one or two people. Open it anywhere, there is a recipe waiting to excite your taste buds. I READ the book twice through, made a grocery list, and tried the recipe for yogurt baked chicken with thrilling success. Scones will be tried soon. I even made up a recipe of my own for a casserole in my new LeCreuset tarte tatin pan.....due to inspiration derived from Lynn Alley's advice. It is easy to navigate my Kindle copy by using the "go to" feature to access the contents. This title stays near the top of my cookbook collection, now that meal prep using its toaster oven recipes is so much fun. I highly recommend it.

This book is on heavy paper so it will stand up to constant use. The recipe's are for mainly 2 portions. The ingredients are all available at any grocery store.The recipis are really easy to follow and don't use tons of ingredients yet still the results are delicious and seem gourmet yet still easy to execute. The personal pizza's are wonderful, including the home-made crusts, and are as (excuse the pun), easy as pie to make.Having made many recipe's from this book, I would give it 10 stars if that were posible.By the way, if anyone is interested, this book has many pictures and your results will look just like the pictures, in the book. I have made the banana nut muffins twice now, that's what's on the cover, and they look just like pictured.This book is a jem and knowing what I know now, I'd be willing to pay double for it!I hope the author comes out with an additional toaster oven cookbook!

Pan dimensions are not mentioned - which I find I need- just starting out with a small toaster oven after 5 decades of cooking in an ordinary oven. Size matters. Along with cookbook, I ordered mini loaf pans and was disappointed to see no guidance in individual recipes about dimensions.

I was looking for the every day meal cook book but this is a good cook book for the 2nd or 3rd stage of learning to cook in the toaster oven

fantastic cookery book just exactly what i wanted,i do not eat meat so i want to do other kinds of foods in my new oven

Good recipes that work.

Hardly use it....

Love the muffin recipes. I share recipes with my family.