Nine volunteers opened up their hearts, kitchens, and lives, and for that I will be eternally grateful. I'm beholden to the volunteer teachers, chefs Thierry Rautureau, Robin Leventhal, Lauri Carter, and Jenny Nichols, plus nutritionist Beve Kindblade. Life wouldn't be the same without my chef friend Ted Lawrence.
I couldn't have done this project without my friend Lisa Simpson, who soldiered with me through kitchens and chickens and taught me a lot along the way. I'm indebted to pals Maggie Savarino and Jeff Manness for lending their remarkable talents and energy.
Many people lent their time offering feedback on this work while it was in progress, among them Deirdre Timmons, Laura Evelev, Cherie Jacobs Featheringill, Lee Mohr, Jackie Donnelly Baisa, Cindy Kane, and Philip Lee. Shalini Gujavarty came on board as my assistant during the writing of the book and contributed research, recipe testing, and beyond. Jamaica Jones did a bang-up job double-checking my research. My resident knife expert, Bill Magee, kept my blades sharp and my cutlery facts straight. My Le Cordon Bleu classmate Anne-Catherine Kruger led me to the catering kitchen owned by Kristine Pottle. I'm grateful to Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg for their terrific no-knead bread recipe.
I recruited more than 150 recipe testers to try out and provide feedback for recipes in this book. The most active included Adrian Amo, Lauren Robinson, Marie Asselin, Susan Baird, Jane Bonacci, Libby Brill, Eric Compton, Deb Coupland-Porter, Glenn Dettwiler, Jessica Friedman, Michele Gartner, Lisa Glatt, Alka Goyal, Seika Gray, Scott Harbour, Eric Himan, Julie Hinson, Lindsey Hunt, Lee Mohr, Dayna Quick, Maria Raynal, David Rojas, David St. Clair, Jenise Silva, Shannon Valderas, Michael Wagner, Brenna Wilson, and Diana Wisen.
I relied heavily on my education from the chefs at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, and I know now that I'll be forever indebted to that famed institution. I'm grateful to the many people in the food-writing community who contributed directly or indirectly to this project and whose work and research inspires me, including Ken Abala, Pam Anderson, Jonathan Bloom, Dina Cheney, Amanda Hesser, Lia Huber, Deborah Madison, Marion Nestle, Michael Pollan, Michael Ruhlman, Jamie Oliver, Ruth Reichl, Rick Rodgers, Jon Rowley, Kim Severson, Laura Shapiro, Frances Short, Andy F. Smith, Virginia Willis and among many others. The late Julia Child never fails to motivate me.
Petra Martin developed the Whidbey Island Writing Refuge, a quiet place in the woods where I wrote portions of the book. David John and Linea Anderson lent me the use of their sailboat. Both spaces were in addition to my usual shelter at the Richard Hugo House.
I'm thankful to the woman in the supermarket for having the faith to let a stranger help her out with a chicken. I hope someday she knows how that afternoon changed my life.
Finally, my deepest, heartfelt appreciation goes to Mike Klozar, partner in everything, writing coach, editor, technical guru, idea man, husband, and love of my life. There aren't enough words in any language to thank you.
Selected Bibliography
Blaylock, Russell L.
Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills
. Abingdon, England: Health Press, 1996.
Brackman, Pat.
The Compleat I Hate to Cook Book
. New York: Bantam, 1988.
Cheney, Dina.
Tasting Club: Gathering Together to Share and Savor Your Favorite Tastes
. New York: DK Publishing, 2006.
Child, Julia.
The French Chef Cookbook
. New York: Knopf, 2002.
Child, Julia, Simone Beck, and Louise Bertholle.
Mastering the Art of French Cooking
. New York: Knopf, 1961.
David, Elizabeth.
An Omelette and a Glass of Wine
. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 1997.
Davidson, Alan.
The Penguin Companion to Food
. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books Ltd., 2002.
The End of the Line
. Director, Rupert Murray; producer, Arcane Pictures. Dogwood Pictures, 2009.
Ettingliner, Steve.
Twinkies Deconstructed
. New York: Hudson Street Press, 2002.
Fisher, M. F. K.
Serve It Forth (Art of Eating)
. New York: North Point Press, 1989.
Food, Inc.
Director and producer, Robert Kenner. Magnolia Pictures, 2009.
Gladwell, Malcolm.
Outliers
. New York: Little, Brown, 2008.
Gladwell, Malcolm.
The Tipping Point
. New York: Little, Brown, 2002.
Jacob, Dianne.
Will Write for Food
. New York: Da Capo Press, 2010.
Kallam, Tawra Jean, and Jill Cooper.
Dining on a Dime
. Temple, TX: T & L Group, 2004.
Katz, David L., and Catherine S. Katz.
The Flavor Point Diet: The Delicious, Breakthrough Plan to Turn Off Your Hunger and Lose the Weight for Good
. New York: Rodale, 2005.
Keller, Thomas, and Deborah Jones.
The French Laundry Cookbook
. New York: Workman Publishing, 1999.
Kessler, David.
The End of Overeating
. New York: Rodale, 2009.
King Corn
. Director and producer, Aaron Woolf. Mosaic Films Inc., 2007.
Kriger, Ellie.
The Food You Crave
. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 2008.
Kurlansky, Mark.
Salt: A World History
. New York: Penguin, 2003.
Millstone, Erik.
The Atlas of Food: Who Eats What, Where, and Why
. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2008.
Mitchell, Margaret.
Gone with the Wind
. New York: Scribner, 1936.
Moulton, Sarah.
Sarah Moulton's Everyday Family Dinners
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
Director, Joel Zwick. Gold Circle Films, 2002.
Oliver, Jamie.
Jamie's Food Revolution
. New York: Hyperion, 2009.
Patel, Raj.
Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World's Food System
. London: Portobello Books, 2007.
Peterson, James.
Splendid Soups
. New York: Bantam, 1993.
Pollan, Michael.
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto
. New York: Penguin Books Ltd., 2008.
Pollan, Michael. “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch.”
New York Times Magazine,
July 29, 2009: MM26.
Reichl, Ruth. “The New Culinary Order.” Keynote, IACP Annual Conference, April 22, 2010.
Ruhlman, Michael.
The Elements of Cooking
. New York: Scribner, 2007.
Sanders, Laura. “Binging Rats Get Hooked on Junk Food.”
Discovery News
21 (Oct 2009).
Shapiro, Laura.
Something from the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America
. New York: Viking Penguin, 2004.
Short, Frances.
Kitchen Secrets: The Meaning of Cooking in Everyday Life
. Oxford, UK: Berg Publishers, 2006.
Smith, Andrew F.,
Eating History: Thirty Turning Points in the Making of American Cuisine
. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
Smith, Andrew F.
Souper Tomatoes: The Story of America's Favorite Food
. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000.
Staten, Vince.
Can You Trust a Tomato in January?
New York: Touchstone, 1994.
Weber, Karl.
Food, Inc: How Industrial Food Is Making Us Sicker, Fatter, and Poorerâand What You Can Do About It
. New York: Public Affairs, 2009.
Wilder, Laura Ingalls.
Little House on the Prairie
. New York: HarperCollins, 1971.
Recommended Reading
General Cookbooks
Bittman, Mark.
How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food
. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2008.
Child, Julia.
The Way to Cook
. New York: Knopf, 1989.
Better Homes & Gardens,
Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book.
15th ed. New York: Wiley, 2010.
Rombauer, Irma S., et al.
Joy of Cooking
. New York: Scribner, various editions.
On Learning to Cook Intuitively
Anderson, Pam.
How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart
. New York: Broadway Books, 2000.
Page, Karen, and Andrew Dornenburg.
The Flavor Bible
. New York: Hachette USA, 2008.
Ruhlman, Michael.
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.
New York: Scribner, 2009.
Reinventing Family Dinners
David, Laurie, and Kristin Uhrenholdt, et al.
The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids One Meal at a Time.
New York: Grand Central Food & Style, 2010.
Lair, Cynthia.
Feeding the Whole Family.
Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books, 2008.
References for Every Kitchen
Herbst, Sharon Tyler, and Ron Herbst.
The New Food Lover's Companion.
4th ed. New York: Barron's Educational Series, 2007.
Joachim, David.
The Food Substitutions Bible: More than 5,000 Substitutions for Ingredients, Equipment and Techniques
. Toronto, ON: Robert Rose, 2010.
QA International,
The Visual Food Lover's Guide
. New York: Wiley, 2009.
Cooking for One
Yonan, Joe.
Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking for One.
Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 2011.
Knife Skills
Ward, Chad.
An Edge in the Kitchen: The Ultimate Guide to Kitchen KnivesâHow to Buy Them, Keep Them Razor Sharp, and Use Them Like a Pro
. New York: William Morrow Cookbooks, 2008.
No-Knead Bread
Hertzberg, Jeff, and Zoë François.
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day
. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2007.
Baggett, Nancy.
Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads
. New York: Wiley, 2009.
Strategies to Save Money on Groceries
Dacyzyn, Amy.
The Tightwad Gazette
. New York: Villard, 1992.
Longacre, Doris Janzen.
More-with-Less Cookbook
. Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 2000.
Pennington, Amy.
Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable and Seasonal Kitchen
. Seattle, WA: Skipstone Press, 2010.
Soup
Kaul, Leslie, Bob Spiegel, et al.
The Daily Soup Cookbook
. New York: Hyperion, 1999.
Blake, Susannah.
500 Soups: The Only Soup Compendium You'll Ever Need
. Portland, ME: Sellers, 2007.
Modern Food Issues
Bloom, Jonathan.
American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It)
. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2010.
Fussell, Betty.
The Story of Corn.
Albuquerque, NM: University of Mexico Press, 2004.
Nestle, Marion.
What to Eat
. New York: North Point Press, 2006.
Pollan, Michael.
The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals
. New York: Penguin Books, 2006.
Understanding Nutrition Labels
Farlow, Christina Hoza.
Food Additives: Shopper's Guide to What's Safe & What's Not
. Lafayette, LA: KISS for Health Publishing, 2007.
Vegetarian Cooking
Dragonwagon, Crescent.
The Passionate Vegetarian.
New York: Workman Publishing, 2002.
Madison, Deborah.
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
. New York: Clarkson Potter, 2007.
O'Donnel, Kim.
The Meat Lover's Meatless Cookbook
. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2010.
Index of Recipes
A “Cheat Sheet” to Flavor Profiles
Baked Chicken Nuggets
Basic Alfredo Sauce
Blissfully Simple Chicken Stock
Braised Pork with Potatoes and Cabbage
Cream of Chicken Soup
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Creamy Chocolate Frosting
DIY Vinaigrette
Easy Spaghetti Sauce
Fish en Papillote, or Baked in Paper
Five Marvelous Ways to Cook Vegetables with “Flavor Splashes”
Mike's Yellow Cake
No-Knead Artisan Bread for Busy People
Paella Valenciana
Pomodoro (Fresh Tomato Sauce)
Potage Parmentier
(Leek and Potato Soup)
Rustic Italian Farmhouse Zucchini “Sauce” with Penne
Spicy Shrimp in Saffron Tomato Sauce
Velvety Chilled Rosemary Carrot Soup
Your Basic Braise
Your Basic Omelet
Your Basic Roasted Chicken
ALSO BY KATHLEEN FLINN
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School
1
Also known as wild leeks, a trendy vegetable among the foraging and farmers' market set.
2
A small shop that sells inexpensive fried fish and fries.
4
Sodium caseinate is another name for monosodium glutamate (MSG).
5
MSG is a chemical derived from the monosodium salt of the amino acid glutamic acid. It's made by processing fermented starch, corn, sugar beets, sugar cane, or molasses. Like aspartame, it's an excitotoxin that stimulates the neural system's “pleasure” cells, resulting in increased appetite. When researchers studying obesity need to fatten up lab rats, they dose the animals' food with MSG.
6
Partially hydrogenated palm oil is on the hit list of many nutritionists; although cheap, it's considered a major artery clogger by several food scientists.