I first discovered the joys of cooking an entire meal on a sheet pan several years ago. As it has grown in popularity, especially among food/recipe bloggers, we’re seeing more books devoted to the subject.
This new addition to the collection is a good one. Kate McMillan’s collection of creative recipes contains a lot of approachable meals with ingredients available in most mainstream supermarkets. All of the recipes are for main dish meals and include meat, poultry, seafood, as well as vegetarian options.
I’m reviewing the Kindle version, and find no problems with the formatting or readability. Twenty-seven of the fifty recipes include a photo of the finished dish — a great thing if you’re a visual cook. I had no issues with the type style or page layouts. Instructions are clear and easy to follow. I’d say this would be a good choice for a cook comfortable with the basics in terms of techniques (basting, slicing/dicing, measuring, roasting peppers, butterflying a steak, etc.). I saw nothing terribly tricky in any of the recipes.
My usual practice when I review a cookbook is to prepare 3 recipes to check for readability, availability of ingredients, and overall taste/flavor. I tend to eat mostly “whole” foods (I prefer cooking from scratch with quality fresh ingredients), so I take that into consideration.
With that in mind, here are the three recipes I prepared:
1. Dijon-Rosemary Chichen Thighs with Maple-Glazed Pumpkin
I happened to have all the ingredients for this at home already: chicken thighs in the freezer, a small sugar pumpkin and fresh rosemary and shallots from a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery last week, plus my usual pantry staples (balsamic vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, garlic, maple syrup).
This recipe uses skin-on bone-in chicken thighs which keeps the meat juicy and provides more flavor than the skinless/boneless option. Chicken is brushed with a mixture of mustard, oil, vinegar, and herbs. That sits while you prepare the pumpkin: cut into 1”-thick wedges and coat with a mixture of maple syrup and oil. Prepared pumpkin goes on one end of the sheet pan; the marinated chicken on the other. Roast for 45 minutes. I started checking with a meat thermometer after 40 minutes; total cooking time for me was 48 minutes, so very close.
Results: excellent! This is a good solid basic “chicken and squash” recipe. I could see substituting butternut squash for the pumpkin, too. A keeper, for sure.
2. Roasted Red Pepper, Spinach & Asiago Stuffed Flank Steak with Brown-Sugared Carrots
This one is super simple and VERY tasty. You have to butterfly the flank steak — this is probably the trickiest technique I saw in the entire book — but it’s really not that difficult.
Fresh spinach and roasted red bell pepper strips are layered onto the butterflied steak along with 1/2 C shredded Asiago cheese. Steak is rolled and tied, then placed on one end of the pan. I had some heirloom rainbow carrots (also from the CSA delivery), so I used those for this dish. These are coated with a butter and brown sugar mixture and placed on the other end of the pan. Roast for 15 minutes, toss the carrots, then roast for another 15-20 minutes until meat registers medium-rare. Let it rest, then slice.
Results: Just a little bland for my taste. Carrots were great, but the stuffed steak needed something else: garlic? shallots? herbs? This is easy enough that I’ll make it again but dress up the flavor a little.
3. Salmon Provençal with Fingerling Potatoes & Cherry Tomatoes
I cut this recipe in half and made it in my toaster oven. This is another fairly basic recipe: salmon fillets, fingerling potatoes, cherry tomatoes (I used grape tomatoes because that’s what I had), rosemary, tarragon, olive oil, parsley, lemon juice. The potatoes are tossed with a little oil, then placed on the baking sheet and roasted for 8-10 minutes by themselves. Meanwhile, tomatoes and salmon are brushing with oil and seasoned with the herbs. Salmon is added to the baking pan and roasted for another 8-10 minutes, the served with a sprinkling of parsley and lemon juice.
Results: Cooking times were accurate even in the toaster oven. Potatoes came out with a crispy crust and salmon was perfectly cooked. The only change I will make next time is to add some lemon juice to the oil that is brushed on the salmon before baking — I think it needs a little more flavor. Otherwise, this is a good solid EASY dish suitable for weeknight supper OR weekend entertaining.
So that’s it. I didn’t see any recipes that had anything particularly tricky. Most appear to be solid dishes that take advantage of the convenience offered by cooking an entire meal on one sheet pan.
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Top reviews from other countries
KMac
Great cookbook - really happy so far!
Reviewed in Canada on April 9, 2022
KMac
Reviewed in Canada on April 9, 2022
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