Rocco's Five Minute Flavor

October 31, 2005
The publicity-loving chef of NBC's The Restaurant
and former executive chef of Manhattan's three-star restaurant Union Pacific (now closed) devotes his third book to the everyday challenge of cooking without time, money or fancy ingredients. Organized around the gimmick of "5 ingredients/5 minutes prep/$5 per portion"—a weekly feature of DiSpirito's daily radio broadcast on WOR—the book distills dishes like Crab Cakes with Avocado Dip, Beef Curry Sauté, and Cod Provençal into four or five steps. Novices may find the instructions too compressed to be useful (there's no explanation of how to execute techniques like deep frying), and users should know that "5 ingredients" excludes pantry staples such as oils, vinegars and flours. DiSpirito also includes 75 photos of himself with family and friends, and relatively few of the food. But harried home cooks with some culinary experience will relish the chef's secret weapon: the 100 commercially prepared ingredients on which he builds his recipes, including Campbell's Cheddar Soup, Hellman's Mayonnaise and Stovetop Stuffing. The result is a book of 175 uneven dishes that are cheap and easy but constrained by the "5" format—a far cry from the creative juice that made DiSpirito's first book, Flavor
, a James Beard Award winner.

December 1, 2005
Most recently seen as the chef on the now-canceled NBC reality show "The Restaurant", DiSpirito has written his third cookbook -and it's got a twist. He has developed recipes that supposedly can be prepared in five minutes (minus prep time), with five ingredients (minus the staples of a kitchen), and costing less than $5 per person. The recipes rely on a lot of prepared food -deli roast beef, mashed potatoes from the grocery store, canned soups, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The results of these and other ingredients include Turkey, Grilled Onion, and Rice Noodle Soup, Toasted Hot Dog Reuben, Pretty Peach Melba, and the slightly more gourmet Gnocchi with Toasted Garlic, Walnuts, and Bitter Greens. For many of the recipes, the -secret - is high heat, which means five to seven minutes cooking time. The introduction recommends pantry ingredients, short-cut foods, equipment, and menus for a variety of occasions. DiSpirito has been described as a New York version of Emeril and one of "People"'s -Sexiest Men Alive, - and this cookbook will be popular simply because it is his. Libraries with limited budgets might want to choose between it and Jeanne Besser and Susan Puckett's "The 5:30 Challenge"." -Christine Bulson, SUNY at Oneonta"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2006
(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)