Mighty Spice Express Cookbook: Fast, Fresh and Full-on Flavours from Street Foods to the Spectacular

Interesting book. It's apparent that the author loves spice. I haven't had the opportunity to try many of the recipes, as of yet. Very descriptive and beautifully illustrated.

Only just started to use it but it is pretty good. One downside is the use of ingredients that are difficult to source in Oz. A glossary would also help as common names for ingredients vary across the world. PG.

Really fun to use. Relatively easy. He has a great spirit. I particularly like that he draws from cuisines around the world.

I gave this as a gift to a friend who loves to cook and he and his wife loved it. So I bought one for myself and I love it too.

As the title suggests the magnificent spice and herb combinations are what stand out in this cookbook. How this book differs from Smith's first book "Mighty Spice Cookbook"? These recipes focus on easy and quick execution, and they incorporate fresh ingredients. Smith visited Morocco, India and China to get inspiration for the dishes in this cookbook.But he doesn't restrict himself to the spices of those three countries. He has incorporated some Mexican flavors and flavors from other Eastern Asia countries. When you consider the large variety of flavors coming from the different areas of China and India, you realize that there are quite a few spice and herb combinations on parade here. Spicy, with loads of flavor? Oh, yes! Just reading these recipes will make your mouth water. Spicy-hot? Yes, quite a few of the recipes are loaded with heat (which you can always tone down). Opportunities to get creative? Yes, yes!In order to create these quick bites and meals, the author seems to have spent a lot of time tweaking and bringing together techniques, cuts of meat and fish, cooking methods and ingredients. His instructions are complete and informative. Most of the recipes serve two people, although there is a chapter for feeding a gathering. (Together with Joe Yonan's two books  Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One  and  Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook  a single person might not need any other cookbooks.)You will find all kinds of cooking techniques here: Stir-fried, grilled, fried, broiled, sautéed. Looking back through the cooking techniques, it seems that quite a few utilize a broiler.YOU CAN STOP READING HERE: I've basically summed up my feelings for this cookbook above. But if you are still undecided about purchasing this book, or want to understand why I could not give it a top, five-star rating, and if you have the time, I've included much more info below. I've even included some of my favorite dishes at the end of my review, as I've been cooking from it for two months at this point in time.The author utilizes a mini-processor to do a lot of prep work. Times listed to complete a recipe do not include gathering all your ingredients together. And it appears that it would take a lot of dry runs and practice time to complete recipes in the time listed (At least I couldn't get it done in the allotted amount of time.). He does employ a technique that I use: While I do gather all my ingredients together on the counter, I don't prep ALL my ingredients before I start a recipe. I will chop while something else cooks. I think it saves it time, and obviously the author does too.This is the American-version of a UK-published cookbook. I think some of the quantities, cooking times and ingredients lost some accuracy in the translation. Whether the same problems are evident in the UK version, I can't say: Could the issues stem from conversion mix-ups? At the very least conversions have resulted in some odd amounts: 1.2 oz. pork sliders; 1/2 of an egg; 7 ounces of a potato (what kind?); 6 ounces of raw, shelled jumbo shrimp.Personally, since I have quite a lot cooking experience under my belt, these issues are not deal-breaking. On the other hand, an inexperienced cook might read through a recipe several times and still not notice any red flags until it was too late to save a dish. For instance: Chicken breasts pounded 5/8" thick, broiled on high for 7-8 minutes on EACH side: You would end up with something inedible. (Hence, the four-star rating).Sometimes the accompanying pictures give some clues as to what size or type vegetables to use, or the size of a knife chop. But, unfortunately, there are not pictures for each recipe and it seemed every time I needed a picture, there was none. When there was a picture, very often it was obvious that the photographer took creative license with the dish: Colors were too bright, (cabbage so bright it seemed neon; polenta so vibrant and golden that it must have contained a dye or turmeric), shrimp too numerous, meat patties too big for what's called for in the ingredient list, sauces too saucy or too dry, meat too pink or too juicy for the excessive cooking time, etc.There are other minor issues with this being a UK-turned-US publication: Smith's Mexican recipes use mozzarella and swiss cheese instead of commonly available (at least in the U.S.) Mexican cheeses, and cured chorizo instead of the more normal fresh chorizo; (I'm not saying that these European ingredients wouldn't make an interesting dish, but in the U.S. it would make more sense to use authentic ingredients since they are available.)There are some ingredients that will be unknown to an American cook. I needed to do web searches on many things. For instance, if the recipe called for a lamb cutlet, what cut of lamb would you choose? What is a "plain roti"? Hot lime pickle (available at Indian markets)? Paneer? Canned lentils? (I did finally find canned lentils at a specialty store, but you won't find it down the aisle with canned beans and vegetables.)Layout and type style make the recipe instructions easy to follow, as they need to be if you really want to stick to the quick times mentioned at the beginning of each recipe.I've listed a few of my favorite recipes from this book:--Ten minute Thai Pork Sliders: I love the spice and herb combo, but I did make the sliders larger than the 1.2 oz. called for in the recipe. (1.2 oz. is very small...)--Za'atar Halloumi with Couscous Salad (red chili, capers, parsley, lemon): The recipe doesn't tell you what size couscous to use, but a picture shows the recipe with a small grain and not a pearl couscous. Also, the cooking technique points to a small grain couscous. Made in 15 minutes.-- The Bosporus Burger: Beef, paprika, cumin, ginger, chili, lemon, mayo and blue cheese.--A 35-minute Korean Braised Chicken (with rice noodles);--A 40-minute Five-Spice Pork Belly, with a very nice dipping sauce, rice and steamed bok choy. It didn't say what size bok choy to use, but it's definitely not a large bok choy, but not a baby bok choy either: You cut it in quarters and steam for 5 minutes.--A 25-minute roast cod with chili flakes, sesame seeds, cumin seeds, oyster and soy sauce, and honey;--There are some stir-fries and curries that you've probably seen before, but they've been streamlined for two people and quick cooking.What did NOT work for me: A less-than-40-minute carrot kimchi; a 30-minute beef curry made with sirloin.**I received a temporary download of this cookbook from the publisher, through NetGalley. I've been scrutinizing and working with this cookbook for about two months.**

'Spice Express' metamorphosed into something of a trip down memory lane for me. Add to that the quick cooking times and this cookery book is a must for life in the fast lane--as the business of today so often is.Korean crab and scallion pancakes, (quick, easy and tasty) reminded me of buying food from street vendors in Seoul.Dosa Rosti (anything with hot lime pickles is a bonus!)Lahmacun Turkish Pizza took me back to lazy days spent visiting Istanbul.The lime and ginger dressing (two of my fav combos) with smoked salmon opens up a whole new way to experiment and impress. I can also see this as an appetizer without the scrambled eggs and bagels.Moroccan paper bag sardines. We lurve sardines and I'm always looking for a different way to cook them...and swoon at the cardamom and orange French toast. What a winner!...then there's Villa Dinari--apricot and orange yogurt!I started my love affair with Vietnamese noodle soups in the 70's and it's still a fav. When I hit my home town I always gather friends and head to where Bun Cha is normal fare for a relaxed catchup and a yummy lunch. So this recipe is a bonus.I have just touched the surface of the treasures here. There's so much more to be found in this book that's blends wonderful ingredients, allowing you to compose dishes in minutes, and give you great food experiences.The layout of the book is very pleasing to the eye. I do like the little photographic spice lists at the bottom of the page for each recipe. Very nicely done.The photos with their intense colour make the dishes 'pop' adding to the overall attraction of the book.A winner!A NetGalley ARC

Great recipes easy to follow once you have the ingredients

Loved it!

I love this cookbook so much! I make something out of it at least once a week. Simple, affordable, and always delicious!!!

EXCELLENT

Not as good as the original Mighty Spice.

So many enticing flavours from around the world! Only found about 3 recipes I didn't fancy and could quite honestly cook from this page by page one at a time and be very happy for many months. I was looking for inspiration for healthy flavour-packed meals making the most of spices and herbs and this offers them up by the bucket-load. Highly recommend this to anyone who wants to try something a bit different but that isn't too challenging.

After 2 years of dedicated cooking from John Gregory-Smith's first Mighty Spice Cookbook we decided to extend our go-to recipes buying his Express addition. We were not disappointed - once again fantastic recipes from around the world, easy to follow and using spices from our cupboard. Even better, as it's the Express addition, they are super quick for midweek meals... I would highly recommend it :)

bought as a present, recipient seems very pleased with it. Has done a lot of recipes from the Mighty Spice book so I expect he will be doing a lot of these from the Express

3 Star due to lack of recipesLots of stories that's not what I wantedThe instructions are good for the recipes