Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This may not be the only Instant Pot cookbook you'll ever need (that's up to you to decide) but it does offer a wide variety of recipes (200 in all) for every taste. Carnivores and Vegetarians will both find it useful. It has everyday American fare like Barbecue Baked Beans and Chicken Noodle Soup, and international dishes like Palek Paneer and Beef Pho. The book itself is beautiful, printed on glossy white paper, with many photos. The colors and font are easy to read, even for my older eyes. The stitched binding allows it to lay flat when open. Recipes are easy to read and follow, with complete, clear directions for the novice or IP pro. Chapters include the usual suspects, plus Vegetarian (meatless mains) and Pantry (broths, sauces, jams, pickles and more). There is no Index, but all recipes are listed in the ToC, under their chapter headings. Extensive cooking charts are in the back of the book. I've cooked three recipes so far, and found them easy to follow with good results. I especially liked the Salade Nicoise with Oil-Packed Tuna on page 142. Cooking the potatoes, eggs and green beans together and using our favorite olive-oil packed tuna makes this a quick take on the classic salad. This is a good thing, as my husband asked me to add it to our regular rotation. I wasn’t sure how to classify this cookbook, as classic, with familiar recipes, or modern, with many interesting combinations. I think it’s a little of both. It has a large number of basic recipes including boiled eggs (soft or hard), yogurt, basic beans, basic rice, and so on. It also has classic non-adventurous recipes for things like split pea soup, Mexican rice, cream of tomato soup, ground beef chili, penne with marinara sauce, cod with lemon-dill sauce, honey-mustard chicken wings, a rotisserie-style chicken, smothered pork chops, shepherd’s pie, beef stew, green beans amandine, creamed corn, and many more. Most of the recipes in the chapters dealing with sides and desserts will be familiar to everyone. The book also includes a lot of modern and international recipes that may not appeal to the classic meat-and-potatoes crowd. Many of the recipes are an interesting riff on the classic, but not too far off, so don't let the titles put you off. I don’t mind making substitutions, but when it comes to cooking on the fly and making things up based on what’s in my pantry, I’m not there yet. I prefer to work from a master recipe, using ingredients that I’m pretty confident will work in place of a listed ingredient. This is especially true when pressure cooking, where wholesale substitutions might affect the outcome. I think most of the more interesting recipes in this cookbook are like that, not markedly different from familiar recipes. The instructions throughout this book are so complete, making no assumptions about your cooking skills, that making substitutions will be easy for all but the most timid cook. For example, the Rosemary-Dijon Pot Roast differs from classic Pot Roast only in the selection of rosemary and dijon mustard for seasoning and shallots instead of onions. It would be no big thing to use your favorite seasonings in place of the rosemary and mustard, and a sliced small onion in place of the shallots. Another example; Macaroni and Cheese with Gouda and Caramelized Onions. For a classic Mac and Cheese, substitute your favorite easy melting cheese(s) for the Gouda, omit the butter and onion, and forget about the Saute step (it's used for cooking the onion). So I would say it has something for everyone, although I am absolutely certain that there will be some reviews claiming that all of the recipes use weird, hard-to-find ingredients, and others claiming that the recipes are too basic and not interesting enough. But this is true of every cookbook sold on Amazon, isn't it? Note: I purchased this cookbook at a warehouse store, prior to Amazon's release date.