Overall, this book is an excellent resource for young adults (geared for teens and those just starting college) learning how to cook or looking to expand their limited kitchen skills. Clueless in the Kitchen covers many staple recipes for appetizers, soups, salads, meat dishes, fish, pasta, pizza, breakfast items, side dishes, bakery items, and desserts. This book is intended to give readers a basic foundation in a wide range of dishes, but it certainly doesn’t cover everything. If your meals have previously centered on box mac & cheese or frozen TV dinners, this would be a good cookbook for you. If you already know how to boil eggs, make pasta, or have created a stew from scratch, you might think about searching for a more advanced cookbook. 

 

Each recipe generally includes some tips and some information on adding variations to suit personal tastes. Clueless in the Kitchen also includes: lots of definitions, information on proper portion sizes, how to read recipes, and kitchen essentials (both item-wise and pantry-wise), with a commitment to using fresh, whole foods and encouraging new cooks to try new things. 

 

However, there are some liberties taken with traditional recipes (for instance, a cold potato soup is not vichyssoise unless it also has leeks in it), and most of the recipes could probably do with quite a bit more seasoning, but I understand the desire to keep things as simple as possible so as not to overwhelm inexperienced cooks. 

 

I do wish a bulleted list of supplies needed for each recipe was included with the ingredients (this is intended for inexperienced cooks, after all, and that would be helpful for those navigating completely new territory). I also would have appreciated sections on how to calculate nutritional info (since it’s not provided in the base recipes), how to adapt recipes for smaller quantities (some of the recipes serve 8 when cooking for 1 or 2 might be more useful), and a “next steps” page for suggestions on how to advance your new cooking skills after finishing this book.