cover image Look, Dude, I Can Cook!: Four Years of College Cooking Made Easy

Look, Dude, I Can Cook!: Four Years of College Cooking Made Easy

Amy Madden. Syren Book Company, $16.95 (148pp) ISBN 978-0-929636-78-8

Though it's not the first of its kind, Madden's starter cookbook handily distinguishes itself with faithful classics like black bean soup and marinated steak that get more sophisticated as the book progresses. Madden gives neophytes good habits to follow early, calling for fresh ingredients instead of prepared cheese sauce, canned or other ready-made accoutrements, and using basics like pasta salad and burgers to build confidence before tackling more advanced recipes like French-Style Beef Bourguingnon. Flavors are bright and plentiful, thanks to lessons on the proper use of fresh herbs and caramelizing onions, along with other skills that cooks will use for the rest of their lives. Standards such as chili, macaroni and cheese and a simple artichoke dip comprise the bulk of recipes, though Madden also offers a quick and tasty key lime marinade for shrimp and a surefire method for assembling chocolate-dipped strawberries, either of which could easily become favorites. Madden overreaches with some irrelevant (occasionally cringe-worthy) slang lessons (defining, for instance, ""Demics"" and ""Mouse Potato""), but this solid collection makes a welcome resource for anyone new to cooking for themselves.