Sheet Pan Suppers Cookbook Review

I was at the library for my son's Magic Tree House book club and I was set to sit and read my book club selection because the date was moved one week forward and I didn't know but I looked at all the new releases to see if anything jumped off the shelf at me.  My friend and I both went home with a copy of this book,Sheet Pan Suppers: 120 Recipes for Simple, Surprising, Hands-Off Meals Straight from the Oven by Molly Gilbert.  Even though I don't like fish and the cover didn't look like something we would eat, you have to admit that it looks pretty.  It also looks like the food might already be made for you inside the book which is also a bonus!!

It’s the one-pot meal reinvented, and what is sure to become every busy cook’s new favorite way of getting dinner on the table. It’s Sheet Pan Suppers—a breakthrough full-color cookbook with more than 120 recipes for complete meals, snacks, brunch, and even dessert, that require nothing more than a sheet pan, your oven, and Molly Gilbert’s inspired approach.

The virtue of cooking on a sheet pan is two-fold. First there’s the convenience of cooking everything together and having just one pan to clean up. Then there’s the cooking method—roasting, baking, or broiling—three techniques that intensify flavors; in other words, food tastes better when cooked on a sheet pan (move over, slow cooker). But the real genius here is Molly Gilbert’s fresh, sophisticated approach. There are easy dinners for weeknight meals—Chicken Legs with Fennel and Orange; Soy-Mustard Salmon and Broccoli; Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Squash, Apples, and Onions. Special occasion meals—Rack of Lamb with Herby Bread Crumbs and Buttered Carrots; Asparagus and Black Cod in Parchment. Meatless meals—Israeli Couscous-Stuffed Peppers. Plus surprise extras, including in-a-snap party snacks—Baked Brie and Strawberries, Corn and Crab Cakes with Yogurt Aioli; quick brunch dishes like Greens and Eggs and Ham, and Baked Apricot French Toast; and, of course, dessert—Stone Fruit Slab Pie, Halloween Candy S’mores.

Maximum ease, minimal cleanup, and mouthwatering recipes. In other words, a revelation that will change the way we cook.

I love some of the pictures in this book as well as the recipes.  When I started reading the being I was a little fearful when I read the beginning of the book because I didn't think that I had a sheet pan but after thinking about it more, I realized that I got one a few Christmas's ago.  I normally use my cookie sheets and jelly roll pans without problem but I wanted something bigger and America's Test Kitchen recommended a sheet pan with a rack inside it to cook chicken and other things that you wanted the fat to go to the bottom and not mess up the skin.  I added it to my wish list and got it one Christmas from either my parents or my husband.  But be warned up front that this book is meant to be cooked on a sheet pan (or half sheet pan) and not a jelly roll pan which the difference is discussed in detail at the beginning of the book.  I was excited and continued reading!!

I marked off a few favorites like Nana's Spicy Cheese Biscuits, Quick Chicken with spicy peanut sauce, Chicken Parmesan, Classic Roast Chicken with mustardy potatoes, Crispy Chicken Strips and Biscuits, Simple Hasselback Potatoes, Drop Biscuits, Cheesy Herb Focaccia, Coffee Crumb Cake, Cinnamon Brown Sugar Breakfast Tarts, Blueberry Cornbread Muffin Tops, Fresh Brioche Cinnamon Rolls, Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting, Thinnest Brownies, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Peanut Butter Cookies.  I am not sure that I would make all of the recipes that I highlighted but those were the ones that I would eat if someone else made them for me....see there is a fine line in recipes because I have to have the ingredients on hand and the recipe needs to be easy enough to follow.  Here is hoping that I make some of these tasty treats...if not, anyone out there making them and I am coming over for a visit.  YUM!!!  This book read like a great book which is bad when you are already super hungry and reading this!!  I hope that you check it out the next time you are at the library or bookstore for yourself.  Let me know if you read it and what you thought of it!!