So Good: Food & Wine with Heather Johnston

Cookbook Love

For those of you looking for some inspiration in the kitchen, I thought I'd offer a list of my all time favorites.  These titles, stained and dog eared, serve as inspiration, instruction, and great reading.  In no particular order my cookbook love goes to:

(Note: The linked titles will take you to an Amazon detail page.)

 The New Doubleday Cookbook by Jean Anderson, 1990.  

Filled with basic techniques and great recipes, it is rather exhaustive and a touch old school.  I've yet to carve a ham without it.

Joy of Cooking: 75th Anniversary Edition - 2006 by Rombauer and Becker, 2006. 

The classic cooking reference book that, joyfully, has many recent updates that reflect modern tastes. If you get one cookbook, it should be this one. 

The Way to Cook by Julia Child. 

A classic of french technique that changed the way America cooks, Julia is my hero. This is not for the faint of heart, but it is an excellent reference and amazing to see what she asked folks to do. 

The Cook's Book by Jill Norman. 

Fourteen exceptional chefs offer their take on the home kitchen. It's extremely useful for ambitious and experienced folks, but it can get bit "chefy." Very in touch with today's trends and tastes. 

Jacques Pepin's Table: The Complete Today's Gourmet by Jacques Pepin 

The recipes range from far reaching to so basic that you wonder why you never thought of them yourself. Fresh, informative, and tasty, his work inspired me to go to culinary school.

Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin  

Two masters enjoying the best of what food and cooking has to offer to the home chef. The recipes are strong and informative, and expertly explained.

Everyday Food: Great Food Fast by Martha Stewart Living Magazine 

This compilation provides basic cooking advice with practical recipes developed with the home cook in mind. Great ideas that are excellent for beginners and seasoned pros alike. 

Traveling Though Jamaica with Knife, Fork and Spoon: A Righteous Guide to Jamaican Cookery by Robb Walsh and Jay McCarthy. 

A delicious trip to Jamaica, perfect for the hungry home cook filled with wanderlust.

I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence by Amy Sedaris. 

The funniest cookbook ever written. Solid advice and very straightforward recipes peacefully coexist with utter madness.

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan

An absolute must read for anyone concerned with good, healthy eating. Explains the basics of wholesome eating in a nation plagued by bad food policy. "Eat food, mostly plants, not too much."

Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen by Laurie Colwin

To understand the heart of a home cook one needs to do no more than read the food writing of the late Laurie Colwin. The sequel, More Home Cooking, is just as good.

French Cooking in Ten Minutes: Adapting to the Rhythm of Modern Life by Edouard de Pomiane.

Much has changes since this book was published in 1930, but it still makes a lot of sense. A simple perspective on how easy and necessary it is to prepare and  enjoy simple meals.

Eat This...It'll Make You Feel Better!: Mamma's Italian Home Cooking and Other Favorites of Family and Friends by Dom Deluise
An homage to his "momma's" wonderful Italian-American home cooking, this book is funny, tasty, and perfect for beginners.

 

The I Hate to Cook Cookbook by Peg Bracken
Written in 1960, many of the recipes are very outdated, but the spirit of the book is timeless. Working moms, read this and you'll bless your microwave and kiss the corner dry cleaner. A great book.

  

Let Them Eat Organic Cake

If you've been to a supermarket lately, you know that groceries are more expensive than ever.  Unfortunately, there's no relief in sight. With the rising cost of oil, global warming, ethanol production, and an increased demand from an emergent global middle class, these high prices are here to stay.  And yet, according to a NY Times article quoting iconic figures like  Michael Pollan and Alice Waters, this is good news because processed, big farm foods, dependent upon fossil fuel and commodity crops, are getting more expensive while locally and sustainably grown items are not. Thank goodness, the great leveling is upon us. Finally, the cost difference between the nefarious industrial food chain and it's superior, organic, traditionally grown counterpart is shrinking fast. Consumers can now make healthier choices free from economic constraints. For example, if the fast food burger from the one dollar menu now costs two dollars, informed consumers will then likely choose the two dollar salad instead. All good, BUT there's the big elephant in the sub-prime, Iraqi war, no-health care room. 

What if all you have to spend is one dollar?

It's reality people. No matter how you slice it, more and more Americans are unable to feed their families without resorting to emergency sources because the shrinking dollar just doesn't buy enough. Food banks are at an all time low and food stamp applications are through the roof. And on a global scale, it is far worse. Food riots have erupted in dozens of countries, and the most vulnerable populations are victim to even greater destabilization.  By what standards, may I ask, is this good news?

Lest you think I'm an organic hater, let me state for the record, I have no interest in the industrial food diet of high fructose corn syrup and hormone injected beef.  Michael Pollan, in particular, is down right inspiring on the subject of sustainability.  His book, The Omnivore's Dilemma, is among my favorites. Still, I can't shake the nagging sensation that deep within this movement lies the not-so-subliminal message of "let them eat organic cake."  In any serious conversation about the improving the quality of food in this country, there must be room allowed to address or at least consider those who do not have enough to eat, especially when you have as significant a profile as Mr. Pollan.  It's not only up to the economists and policy makers, us go-green foodies have responsibility as well.
 

So allow me, a lowly blogger who greatly values local produce, to inject a few humble suggestions into the whole sustainability conversation since our brightest stars seem to think it outside our parameters. 

  First, make a food donation or write a check. Hunger relief organizations, ranging from your local soup kitchen to the UN's World Food Programme, need support now more than ever. Second, educate yourself. The Washington Post's March 14th Editorial is an excellent place to start, as is Paul Krugman's "Grains Gone Wild".  Third, advocate. On websites like America's Second Harvest you can write your representative in a click; mine even answered back. Demand that legislators pass the Farm Bill because the US "hunger lobby" (a term rather callously coined in Pollan's  Weed It and Reap article) will get desperately needed funds. Crumbs for sure, but it feeds more children than nothing.  And request that Congress approve supplemental aid to the UN and other existing programs to cover the increased cost of food and transport. Even President Bush supports this one. 

I applaud the millions of people passionately calling for local slaughterhouses, sustainable farms and community gardens which will shorten the food chain, shrink our carbon footprint and improve our health, but if the most visible advocates are silent on the subject of hunger, organic apples will leave a bad taste in my mouth. 

Recipe for Laughter

I'm loving, loving, loving Amy Sedaris' "I Like You, Hospitality Under the Influence".  Kind of like a Rachel Ray and Martha Stewart on acid, Amy gives the best advice on hospitality that I've ever read. Sure she's funny, but her real strength is that she genuinely wants us to enjoy our parties more.  In her quest to teach us how, she never over-estimates our knowledge, yet somehow, she never condescends or panders.  That she is utterly insane helps.  But, trust, when it comes to playing host (or guest for that matter), this lady is crazy like a fox.

It's zaniness is deceptive. When I first read her tip about "No Wizard Sleeves" in the kitchen, with an illustration of a sleeve on fire over a pot, (see page 31), I thought what an obvious tip, what a silly joke. And yet, in a ten day period, I saw two food show hosts (and I'm not talking YouTube) wearing cascading sleeves at the stove! All I could think was STOP! DROP! & ROLL! I expected them to catch flame at any moment. Amy knows that common sense is not common at all.

She's got the goods, too. You just can't make this stuff up, no matter how inventive a writer you are.  The rant about guests who bring flowers to dinner parties is both hysterically funny (see page 24) and phenomenally helpful.  That's why the book works so well.  No assumptions, just excellent, insightful, crazy advice.  Her recipes, though kind of wacky in the photos, are based on good home cooking. She's spent a lot of time in the kitchen and it shows.  Amy Sedaris is absolutely bananas, but her book is no joke...just ask her doorman (see page 139).