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Cook Something: Simple Recipes and Sound Advice to Bring Good Food into Your Fabulous Lifestyle by Mitchell Davis Macmillan, $19.95 (1998)
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Love food but scared of your kitchen? "Cook Something" is for you.
By Nancy Ross Ryan
Mitchell Davis' "Cook Something" combines the simplicity of a primer with the sophistication of a food-lovers cookbook.
"It was written for people in their 20s and 30s who know about good food but don't cook it or can't cook it," Davis said during a visit to the Tribune test kitchen, where he prepared a dish called "cheese thing." first made by his mom. He calls it the ultimate comfort food.
Davis, director of publications at the James Beard Foundation in New York, assumes that his book's readers are informed, given the deluge of information they receive from cookbooks, television food shows and restaurants. But information overload doesn't necessarily translate into the ability to cook, especially when it comes to the many types of ethnic cuisine.
"All of that information makes it very difficult and intimidating for someone to start cooking, he said. "When you know what a good pasta should taste like and you can't make it -- it's hard to start."
Davis makes it easy to start by providing everything anyone needs to know about ingredients, techniques and equipment in three chapters titled "essentials," "The Basics" and "do's and Don'ts." Rookies will find this basic cooking course written with humor and common sense. But for more experienced cooks who want to jump right in, his complete-on-one-page recipes are keyed to skill level and time required. Each recipe lists "Kitchen Stuff" (equipment needed) and "Required Reading" (cross-referenced information on how to melt butter, dust with confectioners' sugar, how to stir-fry, etc.), and "Links" (listing recipes that can accompany the dish or make it a complete meal).
Recipes are indexed in back alphabetically, but they're also listed up front by both category and type of meal. But Davis goes even further with more creative categories. "Time Required" lists dishes based on cooking times -- from "Beat the Clock'" dishes that take less than 30 minutes, to "Yawn," which require more than one hour but are worth the wait. Then there's "Ingredients You Have On Hand." And, lastly, "I'm in the Mood For...," based on ethnic dishes.
Davis believes that the better the cook, the better informed the diner. When people learn how simple and economical it is to make respectable pasta, or pancakes, or roast chicken, they'll be more demanding of restaurant food -- and they'll think twice before paying restaurant prices for such basics, he says.
"We live in the land of 'amber waves of grain,' and flour so cheap. Any dish that involves flour is a big rip-off when you go out to eat, he says.
On the other hand, he encourages people to be active eaters, because he believes that "to be a good cook you have to be a good eater and pay attention to flavors you like and don't like when you're eating in a restaurant."
The guiding principle behind Davis' book is his belief that almost everybody would cook something if they were shown that they don't have to be afraid of cooking.
"The rewards are tremendous," Davis says. "I have made so much food in my life, but every time I pull a loaf of bread out of the oven or a roast that's glistening brown -- it's magic." |