Books : Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking

Rating: - Exactly what it claims to be
This book is invaluable for anyone who wants to 'cheat at cooking', ie to save time and cut corners, but still produce largely home-made,nutritious food without resorting to takeways or dodgy ready meals. I have now tried four of the recipes and found them excellent.
It is NOT intended to be a gourmet cookbook, and says so quite frankly. Delia has written plenty of books for those with time to spend in the kitchen, but this is for a different market entirely. However, I think ANY cook could benefit from having this book to hand, and some of the key ingredients stashed away in the cupboard, because emergencies can happen to the best of us. Also,if you object to some of the suggested cheat's ingredients, you can easily substitute them with more traditional elements - eg you don't HAVE to use 'Auntie Bessie's mashed potato', you can simply make your own.
I found no evidence of Delia having 'sold out' here. She writes quite specifically 'We advise buying free-range chicken, and fish from sustainable sources'. It is true she does sometimes recommend a particular shop-brand of product,but so would any friend of yours if you asked them how they made a particular dish you enjoyed - and Delia has always been a kind of friend to those who want to cook.
If you enjoy the kind of lifestyle which means you're never short of time to cook, then no, you probably don't need to buy this book. To anyone else, I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

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Rating: - fantastic
So far I've tested the crab cake recipe and the one for greek spinach pies.The crab cakes were really tasty and having lived in crete for several years I can vouch for the spinach pies, they really tasted like being back there. Eating them prompted me to put on my old greek cd and to pour myself a glass of raki. The use of auntie bessies mashed potato and roast spuds is something I'd have recommended anyway, and i was secretly rather pleased to see that Delia includes them in her own recipes. I think this book is fantastic. Im the one that does all the cooking in our household, and after a full day at work, and having virtually run out of ideas after just a year of marriage, it has me enthused again. I've bought a supply of tinned mince and the chunky chicken she mentions ....I expect this will save me a good half hour at least, and I'll be trying out the cottage pie and the chicken pie next. God Bless Delia

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Rating: - Buy Delia's One is fun! or Complete Cookery Course instead
Please don't be persuaded that you haven't the time or skill to cook properly and need to rely on pre-packed overpriced Supermarket gloop.
If you want to cheat at cooking, buy a ready meal or visit the local fish and chip shop. If you want to cook, try Delia's One is Fun! which is full of easy, cheap and often very quick recipes - and its easy to double or quadruple the ingredients for more people (and you can buy it for under 3 pounds). Or try Delia's Complete Cookery Course. Cooking is a pleasure and everyone, no matter how busy, really does have the time to do it. Don't let the supermarkets and their ad campaigns, or Delia with her new book, persuade you otherwise - they're after your money.

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Rating: - Oh my goodness
I have been a fan of Delia in the past and have just about all her books. However, I think she has missed the mark by using packaged products where it is easy to make your own eg frozen mash. This is an incredibly expensive product £2.60 per kg whereas you can get ORGANIC potatoes for £1.60 per kg!! Some recipes are OK, where she uses ingredients you wouldn't be able to make yourself, eg preserved lemons/chinese 5 spice etc; however, things like frozen potato products and cheese sauce are truly disgusting. I believe Delia should have been focussing on doing quick and easy recipes with good, fresh ingredients and utilising the ingredients you wouldn't normally make yourself to enhance flavour. Deeply disappointed.

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Rating: - So Bad It's Almost Funny
Okay this book seems to divide folks into two camps. Those who like to cook and those who like to open a jar or a packet. Let me explain. If you like to come home, pop open a jar of cook in sauce and throw in a bit of lowest price chicken and then try and pass yourself off as a cook then this is the book for you. If however you have a passing interest in reasonable food but once in a while need to make a shortcut or two then don't be fooled by the title of this book. It does not provide those of us who generally try to put something that resembles wholesome grub on the table with any shortcuts. And that's because it's an insult. Quite simply I don't know how Delia has the gall to punt this rubbish out and include the word "cooking" in the title. We have here a collection of processed food recipes which in general could have been ripped straight off the back of the packet of a supermarket brand cheapo TV dinner. We are looking at recipes that use premade mash potato or tinned sauces. I could weep. There used to be a time when Delia could be relied upon to give us fairly simple and wholesome food. She must be skint and in desperate need of sponsorship from the major food lables to have written this. Please, please, if you value the good previous books that Delia produced in the past, then don't sully the memory by buying this pap.