Book Review: My Perfect Pantry

Sometimes I feel like a contestant on Chopped when I'm going through my refrigerator trying to make something fantastic out of leftovers. So, I was excited to see what kind of recipes Chopped judge, Iron Chef, and renowned chef Geoffrey Zakarian would bring in his new cookbook, My Perfect Pantry.

The cookbook is a great idea--taking 50 common pantry items and transforming them for use in 150 different recipes. Some of the pantry items include: steel cut oats, cocoa powder, canned beans, BBQ sauce, and popcorn. Some of the reimagined dishes include Pecan Herb Pesto, Fresh Ricotta with Honey and Lemon, Cast-Iron Burgers with Secret Sauce, and Chocolate Muffins.

I decided to make the Secret Sauce for the burgers and the Chocolate Muffins. (Of course I had to make something with chocolate!)

The Secret Sauce, a concoction consisting of BBQ sauce, ketchup, and horseradish among several other common ingredients was amazing. I could eat it with a spoon, and I plan to make it every time I make burgers from now on. The Chocolate Muffins were good, although not as moist as I was hoping. They had a good flavor, though, and were easy to put together.

Here are some of the Pros and Cons of My Perfect Pantry:

Pros
-photos of every recipe
-combination of easy and more challenging recipes for every home cook's skill level
-wonderful tips for each pantry ingredient
-good result from the recipes I tried

Cons
-some of the recipes required specialty ingredients that I wouldn't just be able throw together
-in thinking "pantry meals" I assumed it would be a little more budget minded

On the whole, I really liked this cookbook, and it is a good addition to my cookbook collection. Next, I plan to try the Brown Sugar and Black Pepper Bacon. Yum!

Thank you to Blogging for Books for providing me a free copy of this cookbook in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and have not been influenced in any way.