I taught a double yesterday at Bastyr University - I was the substitute teacher for two cooking classes (combined with nutrition lectures).  In the kitchen, some of my students hesitantly approached me to ask basic cooking questions - and I had to assure them that no question was too trivial. As I mentioned in my last post, “Mr. Pollan, People Need Cooking Lessons,”  it’s difficult to learn how to cook from a piece of paper. And it’s even more challenging for a novice cook to be able to tell if a recipe is even worth making.

I’ve noticed that since the explosion of cookbooks and recipes on the internet, that it’s not always easy to find a truly well-tested recipe that turns out right. More accomplished cooks are able to adjust a vague recipe but new cooks just end up thinking they are terrible cooks - which I often hear about in class.

I’m the first to admit that it isn’t easy to write a recipe. I often end up editing the same recipe every time I teach it over the span of several years. I’m a pretty detailed oriented person but I still find it challenging to write a recipe that is clear, detailed, and gives enough information to follow it with confidence but not too much information that it feels overwhelming.

The good news it that I have collected a few tips on how to quickly review a recipe to see if it’s worth making. These days, nobody has the time or money to prepare a dish that doesn’t turn out well. I’m probably missing a few things here (inevitable) and will up editing this list several times…but here it goes:

1) Determine the source. There are some authors who always write solid recipes - the kind of recipes that you can cook for a dinner party even if you’ve never made it before (although this is not recommend for brand new cooks). I made a list that I rely on for guaranteed winners - please note that there are many, many other accomplished cookbook authors that could also be listed but I can’t fit everyone! (see list below)

2) Review the ingredients list and instructions. Are the ingredients in the order that they are mentioned in the instructions? Is there enough information so that you won’t be confused at the store (”4 - 6 oz salmon fillets, skin on” versus “4 salmon fillets”) or when you are preparing the dish (”3 medium yellow onions, diced into 1/4-inch squares” versus “3 onions, diced”) - a well-written recipe that has been tested several times will give you very specific information.

3) Details mean someone took the time to really test it. Does the author give you a preparation time and serving size? Does the time suggested look appropriate to the length of instructions? If the suggested prep time looks too short for the recipe length, I’m immediately skeptical about the entire dish. I’m also wary of recipes that don’t mention salt (preferably kosher or sea salt) or a salt alternative like soy sauce or miso. Salt is an important ingredient for almost every dish - even baked goods - and makes all of the flavors “pop.” (I also like seeing “freshly ground pepper” - I can’t live without it.)

4) Does the author give some background information or ideas on how to alter it? Extra information means that the author has made it several times and knows the dish well enough to offer you substitutions or alternate ways of preparing it.

5) You should be able to visualize it. Does the author recommend which kind of pan to use? The amount of heat? A detailed explanation on when to move to the next step? Ideally, you should be able to read the recipe and be able to visualize each step and the equipment you’ll need - even if you aren’t an experienced cook.

6) And finally, does it make your mouth water? Or do you look at the combination of ingredients and feel doubtful? I’ve heard many stories from students who said they thought a recipe looked “kinda weird” but made it anyway - and ended up being disappointed. Trust your instincts - they are your best asset in the kitchen besides your taste buds and sense of smell.

Check out the previous blog post down below for an example of a well-written recipe. It’s from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown.

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My list of sure-fired cookbook authors (please note that there are many, many others that could easily belong on this list - I’m just offering you a few):

Martha Stewart, Mark Bittman, Julie Child, Mollie Katzen, Deborah Madison,  Alice Waters,  Tom Colicchio (I love his older Think Like a Chef cookbook), Ina Garten (again, love her older stuff), anything published by Cooks Illustrated, of course - and also, the magazine, Eating Well.  Two chefs I’ve had the pleasure of working with also write fantastic recipes and I love their cookbooks, Myra Kornfeld and Peter Berley. I also love collecting cookbooks from other countries when I travel…but that’s a whole other blog post….

I love buying cookbooks. I’m thinking about buying the Kindle but even if I do, I will still always buy cookbooks. There are some incredibly well-written cookbooks that have been published in recent years but I tend to prefer the old school stuff.  I’ve found that the older cookbooks (prior to 1995 or so when cooking became a TV star) are often sure bets. For example, the recipe below is from Deborah Madison’s Greens cookbook which was first published in 1987 (she is well-known for her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone which was one of my first cookbooks).

I’m constantly asked by students for recipes on how to cook greens and I came across Madison’s book in my collection the other night so I thought I’d pull a recipe from there since there are so many wonderful greens available this month.

I haven’t made this recipe before but I trust Ms. Madison - and my instincts - that this will be a delicious addition to your summer recipe repertoire. Please note how detailed her instructions are - she tells you everything you need to know including how to garnish it! If she were one of my students and this is what she submitted for my “Recipe Writing Assignment,” she would lose only one point for omitting the preparation time - otherwise, this recipe is a great example of a well-written recipe. Enjoy!

Romaine and Summer Vegetable Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

1 head romaine lettuce or several heads red and green garden romaines
1 small red onion, quartered thinly sliced
2 small yellow pattypan squash or zucchini, sliced 1/4 inch thick
16 yellow pear or cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red pepper or a mixture of different colored peppers (long, slender Gypsy peppers are ideal), thinly sliced into rounds or strips
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (optional)
4 large red radishes, thinly sliced
1 cup jicama, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large avocado, peeled and sliced
2 lemon cucumbers, sliced into wedges
Lime Vinaigrette (see below)
1/2 cup dry jack cheese, grated
1 to 2 tablespoons chives, sliced into small rounds for garnish
Long sprigs of cilantro, for garnish

Remove the large outer leaves of the romaine, and cut the crisp heart leaves into pieces about 1-inch square. Wash and dry them, wrap them lightly in a kitchen towel, and put them in the refrigerator until needed. Cover the onion slices with cold water and refrigerate [julie note: this is a technique to mellow out the taste of raw onions].

Bring a quart of water to a boil and add a teaspoon of salt. Add the squash, boil 30 seconds, and then remove it to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. Set it aside on a kitchen towel to drain.

Cut and prepare all of the vegetables. If lemon cucumbers aren’t available, use another kind of cucumber and slice it into rounds.

Prepare the vinaigrette.

Just before serving, drain the onion slices and add them to the rest of the vegetables. Pour most of the vinaigrette onto the vegetables and gently mix it in with your hands [julie note: I prefer tongs!]. Dress the lettuce with the remaining vinaigrette. Lay the lettuce around the sides of the bowl and set the vegetables in the middle. Grate the cheese over the top, garnish with the chives and the cilantro, and serve.

Lime Vinaigrette

Grated peel [zest] and juice of two limes
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 clove, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the lime peel and juice, vinegar, and herbs and seasonings in a bowl, and then whisk in the olive oil. Taste, and adjust for salt and tartness.

Serves 4-6
Recipe from The Greens Cookbook by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown (Broadway Books, 1987)

NOTE: If you are wondering if you can call a recipe your own, you must make 3 significant changes to it - when in doubt, please always credit the original author by stating “Adapted from Deborah Madison’s cookbook…” and if you are simply reprinting someone else’s recipe, always give credit!

Undoubtedly, gardening is the comeback hobby of 2009. This year, the National Gardening Association reported that 43 million households planted a backyard garden or has a share in a community garden - up from 36 million in 2008.

But what about cooking? In Michael Pollan’s most recent article in The New York Times Magazine, “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch,” he asserts that cooking has become a spectator sport:

“Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation…that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking…when Julia [Child] arrived on our television screens [in 1963]. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef”…. many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for.”

I’m thrilled that Mr. Pollan has drawn attention to this issue, especially the fact that the more we cook, the healthier we are and the less we weigh - which is pretty much the entire focus of my career. However, I disagree with him that people are cooking less because they “no longer have the time.”  I do think that’s an issue for some folks but it’s been my experience as a cooking instructor that people often don’t cook because they don’t know how to - can you imagine how much time it would take you to do a task that you are completely clueless about?

The art of cooking has been lost. “Scratch cooking,” (i.e. cooking a meal entirely from scratch) according to Mr. Pollan, is a rarity these days. He mentions many reasons for this - the least obvious one being that food corporations spend billions of dollars convincing us not to cook so that we spend more money on their products. And for a couple of decades, it seemed like a good idea to let other people prepare our meals - even if it meant families stopped teaching each other how to cook.

“Scratch” cooking used to be passed on from generation to generation - and for good reason. Even the best written recipes can be hard to figure out if you’re a novice cook and never made them before - learning how to cook is hard to do unless someone actually shows you how to do it. To make matters worse, home economics classes are now almost nonexistent in schools.

If no one is showing you how to cook at home or at school, there are limited options as to where else you can learn the basics, like knife skills or when to use a saucepan versus a skillet. As Mr. Pollan points out, most of the cooking shows on television don’t offer step-by-step instructions like Julia Childs’ real-time shows.  Bookstores are stuffed with cookbooks but it can be overwhelming for a newbie cook to figure out which one to buy. You can plow through the internet and find every recipe under the sun but what if you don’t know what the word “mince” means? The simplest of recipe instructions can frustrate someone with zero kitchen experience.

It’s only recently that we, as a country, started to realize that we should be more involved in our food preparation (and growing it too). I don’t mean to absolve people from personal responsibility - that is not my intention here. Rather, I think it’s important to recognize that there is still a growing awareness emerging about reconnecting with food and getting back in the kitchen. And this movement, similar to the gardening movement (I hope) can’t happen without more culinary education opportunities.

We need modern home ec classes back in the schools and parent/child classes available in the evenings or on the weekends. We need to take it upon ourselves to ask family members and friends to teach us how to prepare simple dishes. I’m curious to watch Jamie Oliver’s new show this fall where he will teach Americans how to cook! I think that viewers will be surprised at how enthusiastic Olivers’ students will be to learn.

I truly believe that if people had the necessary kitchen skills and access to healthful, inexpensive food, they would be cooking more - and cooking well. As Mr. Pollen said so beautifully in his article (and I also mentioned in my “Can Cooking Make You Happier?” post), there is something about cooking that we need:

“Maybe the reason we like to watch cooking on TV is that there are things about cooking we miss….Why? Perhaps because cooking — unlike sewing or darning socks — is an activity that strikes a deep emotional chord in us, one that might even go to the heart of our identity as human beings.”

Some of us just may need a little help finding our way back to the kitchen….

Tips on how to learn how to cook without spending a lot of money:

• Cooking stores that offer free cooking demonstrations to help sell appliances

• Large “community kitchens” where you prepare two weeks worth of meals while socializing and receiving guidance from chefs

• Private cooking classes in your home with a chef instructor – do it with friends and the cost comes down per person

• Your own at-home cooking “class” – invite a mix of friends who are beginners and experienced cooks

• Join Rouxbe, a wonderful online cooking school with professional videos at http://rouxbe.com/cooking-school

I’ve been working too much lately - so much that when I stop working, my brain just shuts off and I have to wait several minutes for it to reboot. One way to give my brain a serious rest is to turn off the real computer, hide the blackberry, and get outside where I can cook over an open fire.

This past weekend, I went camping. Camping was one of the top 5 reasons (after being near family, of course) why I moved back to the Northwest after living in New York City.  After living without a car for nearly 8 years, I realize that it’s not easy for a lot of people to spend time in the outdoors. However, it takes just a little creativity to find ways to prepare a meal outside (anyone that’s ventured through Prospect Park in Brooklyn on the weekend can attest to this).

Whether it means having a picnic at a nearby park, barbecuing in the backyard or backpacking in the wilderness - I think it’s human nature to crave a meal by a fire, surrounded by friends and family. I mentioned the concept in my “Can Cooking Make You Happier?” post and it was reinforced this past weekend while we sat around the campfire, laughing, eating and decompressing.

The importance of eating together as a family has been getting a lot of press lately. With hectic weekday schedules, it can be a challenge to get the whole family together, let alone coordinate with friends and extended family. But with summer finally here and families looking for inexpensive dining options, I can’t find a more relaxing and fun way to get together than to eat a meal outside underneath the stars.

While camping this past weekend, I saw a couple of boys, clearly city kids, having a blast racing tiny cars down a hill over and over again. I asked them if they were having more fun than if they were at home watching TV and they both looked up with huge smiles on their faces and said, “YEAH!”

Outside, sitting with the trees, I found it was much easier to “shut down” the part of my brain that worries about work, bills, projects, etc. And after we ate, I didn’t have the compulsion to turn on the TV or check my computer and blackberry. Instead, we all sat around and talked about nothing of any real importance. The only important thing going on was hanging out with each other and watching the fire cackle.

And of course, the best part of the evening was eating the food we prepared on open fire! Earthy, strong flavors never tasted so good.

So, here’s to cooking outside.  Here are some Campfire Cooking ideas (for mostly car camping):

MARINADES: I called my friend, Elana, expert camping cook, for some ideas and she said they usually bring marinated beef or chicken in a ziploc bag to throw right on top of the grill. They serve the meal along with some Farmer’s Market vegetables and guacamole and chips.

WRAPPED FOOD: Try baked potatoes, portobello mushrooms, or corn wrapped in foil and thrown right into the fire. I love grilled corn - it has such a great flavor versus the usual boiling option but it’s easy to burn so keep it to the side of the flame or throw it on top of the grill to prevent serious damage. Be sure to bring tongs or some other tool to maneuver the hot food.

ON A STICK: The easy route? Hotdogs. The more gourmet, healthy option? Meat and vegetable kebabs. Cut the meat and vegetables at home and marinate them in a ziploc - keep them separate so that vegetarians can make their own meat-free kebabs. If you are able to properly wash your hands, skewer them there at the site and then grill. Also, a few years ago I discovered how tasty grilled bananas on-a-stick with melted chocolate taste together. Or try grilling pineapple (or other fruits) and serving as is - delicious all by itself. And of course, s’mores are a camping necessity!

PAN ON THE GRILL: Bring along a large skillet - preferably iron, since it’s heavy enough to not be destroyed by the hot flames and will cook food evenly. You can cook pretty much anything you’d cook at home - but note how much more flavorful it tastes. Elana loves to make fajitas for dinner and then in the morning, prepares breakfast burritos. She scrambles eggs in the pan and then wraps them in tortillas with cheese and tops it with guacamole. That way, they have enough sustenance to go hiking all day with only a light lunch on the trail.

HAPPY TRAILS!

For more ideas, check out the Campfire Dude.

I’m far from being the first person to write about Amanda Hesser’s New York Times op-Ed article that gave Michelle Obama a hard time for not promoting cooking. Lettuce Eat Kale wrote a thoughtful post about it and ended the entry asking a valid question: how important is it that the First Couple cook meals for their children? Gastropoda and Eat Me Daily were a little more direct and dished it right back to Hesser, pointing out that there are plenty of people cooking on TV already and that it’s a bit of a throwback to suggest that the First Lady spend time in the kitchen.

I admit, as a cooking teacher, my first instinct upon reading Hesser’s piece was that I was glad that someone brought up the importance of cooking, which is a natural partner of gardening but often gets lost in the discussion. However, after a lively online conversation with two colleagues, Lauren Slayton, (nutritionist and owner of Foodtrainers) and Sarah Abrams (chef and cooking teacher), we all decided that Hesser’s message could have been more tactful and offered more realistic, positive suggestions for Michelle Obama and others who don’t like to cook.

Everyone’s reactions were very understandable - it’s easy to feel protective of Michelle Obama and the incredible work she has done by promoting organic, local, and seasonal food by starting a garden AND having local elementary kids work on it. It’s easy for someone like Amanda Hesser, or even myself, who love cooking so much that we made a career out of it to point fingers, but what if cooking does NOT make you happy? How important is it for parents to provide home cooked meals for their children if they can still find a way to feed them well?

With childhood obesity on the rise – is it really the job of our First Lady to provide a retro role model? Perhaps the USDA and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act that’s up for re-signing this year could shoulder some of the responsibility. Maybe there could be more funding for schools to have gardens and kids to learn how to cook at school - instead of continuously slashing education budgets and keeping vending machines and junk foods in schools. I would hope that some other people and agencies within our government besides Michelle Obama could take this on.

When all is said and done, I think we are very lucky to have her on “our side.” She has legitimized the work of many of my colleagues by simply planting a pesticide-free garden. For someone who doesn’t like to cook, she has done a phenomenal job of promoting healthy living by her regular workouts and making a point of feeding her children nutritious foods. If parents are able to find a way to provide healthy meals for their children, with or without a White House staff, that should be enough.

So, for those parents who like being in the kitchen the same way I like to clean bathtubs, here are some tips on how to keep your families healthy without turning on the stove:

Sign Your Kids Up for Cooking Classes. If it’s economically feasible for your family, find cooking classes that focus on dishes with healthy ingredients (not just muffins and cookies) which can be a great way to expose kids to the world of cooking and nutritious foods without actually doing it with them. (I couldn’t help putting this suggestion first!)

Create Your Own Cooking Class, for Free. Find a family member or another parent who likes to cook and have cooking play dates.

Take Your Kids to the Farmer’s Market. Explore the market together and allow each child to buy a new fruit or vegetable and if they can read, have them find a recipe online that doesn’t entail much preparation like fruit salad. They can prepare the food while you supervise - this pays off as they get older and can cook full meals for you…

Explore New Cuisines while Eating Out. When eating in restaurants, forgo the kiddie menus and encourage your kids to try new dishes with unique and nutritious ingredients off of the main menu.

Keep it Raw. My mom always kept sliced fruit and vegetables on the lowest shelf in the fridge making it easy for us to nibble on melon, strawberries, carrots and celery after school. A lot of produce can be safely cut with a butter knife, so have the kids help out.

Hire a Chef. I know this isn’t possible for many families, especially these days, but perhaps there is a culinary student who will take a reduced fee or a college student in the area who could cook in exchange for housing or meals. I have a friend who offers a low rent to a grad student who, in return, helps prepare dinner and take care of her son. In times like this, there are lots of barter scenarios that are a win-win for everyone!

I can’t believe it’s been a year since the filming of the Sesame Street segment! It was last spring when I received a phone call from a location scout that they wanted to film a kids cooking class and asked if they could do it in the JCC in Manhattan kitchen where I worked. I was planning on leaving my job as culinary arts director just a few months later so the timing was extraordinary. I had spent over five years building and developing the kids cooking program so being asked to be on Sesame Street with my adorable students was the perfect send off from a great job.

It was an intense experience - I’m used to working long days on my feet but filming what ended up being a 2+ minute segment took 12 hectic hours. I found kids from past classes who loved to cook (and always made me laugh!) and decided on a Mexican themed menu. Two of my wonderful teachers (and friends), Jacquie and Maggie were filmed as well. Jacquie is a native of Mexico City and Maggie’s husband is from Oaxaca, where she once lived so we all worked on the menu and coordinated the kitchen set up together. The kids did a fantastic job - they were well-behaved, sweet, and funny.

My favorite quote is from Tabitha, who, at the time, was 5 (going on 40). When Murray asked her what it’s like to eat her own cooking, she said, “It feels good because you’re tasting the food that you made, instead of tasting somebody else’s.”

I now have a link to the video - check it out! (Note: it takes a little while to load.)

Here are the recipes we made with Murray:

Stuffed Mexican Corn Cakes
This recipe is very creative and kids love to prepare it. You can use any ingredient as the filling as long as it’s cut very small. And it’s great for entertaining – serve it as a sophisticated appetizer for adults and as a main entrée for children.

1½ cups masa harina (which is corn flour - found at any major grocery store, a common brand is Maseca)
1 cup water
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon olive oil, for dough
¼ cup cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup black beans
¼ cup canned corn
1 tablespoon olive oil, for pan

In medium sized bowl, combine masa harina, water, salt and 1 teaspoon olive oil. If mixture is too dry, add a few drops of water and press together by hand until it’s a firm ball of dough.

Break off small pieces of dough and roll into the size of a ping pong ball – continue until dough is gone. Flatten each ball into a flat patty, four-inches in diameter, on a non-stick surface like parchment paper.

Put your thumb directly into the center of each patty to form a wide, shallow indent. In this indent, add just a teaspoon of ingredients of your choice—cheese, beans, corn, or anything else. Then fold dough over the indentation and re-shape into patty. Make sure it’s not too thick so that it will cook through.

Bring skillet (iron skillets work best) to medium high heat and add enough oil to coat bottom of pan. Add a few corn pancakes to pan but don’t crowd. After 3-4 minutes, flip each one over and cook the other side. Each side should be just a bit browned but still mostly light yellow. Serve hot with guacamole, salsa or sour cream.

Yields 6 - 8 corn pancakes
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Recipe by Julie Negrin and Jacquie Grinberg © 2005

Creamy Guacamole

The key to great guacamole is finding the right avocadoes. Look for ones that are dark green and indent just a little when squeezed. (I only buy them from April - November since I live in the north.) If they are unripe - hard and bright green - just store them in a paper bag for a couple of days and they’ll be ready for eating. Even small children can help make this dish.

2 ripe avocados
1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lime juice
1 plum or on-the-vine tomato, gutted and diced
¼ cup red onion, diced (optional for kids)
¼ teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon crushed garlic (or a dash of kid-friendly garlic powder)
Optional: 1/2 jalapeno pepper, finely minced

Cut avocados in half and remove pit. Scoop out avocado into a medium sized bowl. Mash with a fork and mix in lime juice until creamy consistency. Add salt, pepper, onions, and garlic, if desired. Gently fold in tomatoes and stir briefly.

Serve immediately or, for best results, chill for 30 minutes before eating with chips, quesadillas or Stuffed Mexican Corn Pancakes.

Preparation time: 10 minutes (plus chilling time)
Serves 2-4
Recipe by Julie Negrin © 2000