In My Kitchen: 100 Recipes and Discoveries for Passionate Cooks - Hardcover

Allen, Ted

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307951863 ISBN 13: 9780307951861

Publisher: Clarkson Potter, 2012

Synopsis

A cookbook for people who love to cook
 
As host of Food Network’s hit show Chopped, Ted Allen presides in pinstripes and sneakers while chefs scramble to cook with mystery ingredients. But at home, Ted is the one chopping the vegetables and working the stove, trying unusual ingredients and new techniques, from roasting earthy sunchokes in a piping-hot oven to develop their sweetness or transforming leftover pinot noir into complexly flavored homemade vinegar. In fact, it’s discoveries like these that propel him into the kitchen nightly—that, of course, and eating the delicious results with friends! Now Ted invites likeminded cooks to roll up their sleeves, crank up the stereo, and join him in the kitchen for some fun.

While there are mountains of cookbooks featuring five-minute, three-ingredient, weeknight recipes for harried households, here is a book for food lovers who want to lose themselves in the delight of perfectly slow-roasting a leg of lamb—Mexican style—or whipping up a showstopping triple-layer cake. Ted is just such a cook and in his latest cookbook he shakes up expectations by topping bruschetta with tomatoes and strawberries; turning plums, sugar, and a bay leaf into an irresistible quick jam; putting everything you can think of on the grill—from ribs and pork shoulder to chiles and green beans; and modernizing the traditional holiday trio of turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce with fresh ingredients and a little booze. And where there’s a will to make something from scratch, Ted provides a way, with recipes for homemade pickles, pizza, pasta, pork buns, preserved lemons, breads, quick jam, marshmallows, and more.

With more than 100 amazing recipes and gorgeous color photographs throughout, In My Kitchen is perfect for passionate home cooks looking for inspiring new recipes and techniques to add to their playbooks.

About this title

About the Author

TED ALLEN is the host of the top Food Network show Chopped, now in its seventh season (and which to date has taped a network record 174 episodes in just three years), and frequently appears on The Best Thing I Ever Ate. The food and wine specialist on Bravo’s Emmy award-winning Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, he was also a judge on the first four seasons of Bravo’s Top Chef and of Food Network’s Iron Chef America. A contributing editor to Esquire magazine, Ted lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his longtime partner, interior designer (and serious baker) Barry Rice. This is his second cookbook. Visit Ted at www.tedallen.net or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tedallenofficial.

Reviews

Cable television’s Allen hosts the cooking competition Chopped, just one of a number of programs that have made his smiling face familiar to a wide audience of viewers. Here he shares some of the recipes that he cooks at home with his partner. Allen likes to entertain in high style, and these recipes emphasize multiple colors, textures, and flavors in a single dish. Bean dip swirls together both black and white beans, and accompanying tortilla chips are homemade, spiced with smoked Spanish paprika. Allen reinvents traditional Chinese pork buns, stuffing them with options of American barbecued pork, Indian vindaloo pork, or Mexican pork and beans. Pastas swim in lavish duck sauce or simpler, homey meatballs. Allen’s cassoulet cuts both fat and complexity from the original. Desserts include butterscotch pots-de-crème perfumed with cardamom and spiked with whiskey. Allen’s celebrity will generate plenty of demand. --Mark Knoblauch

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chicken Paillards with Pancetta and Sage
Serves 4
 
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, beaten
12 sage leaves (8 whole, 4 chopped)
6 thin slices of pancetta
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade, or low-sodium store-bought
 
1. Pound the chicken breasts to an even thickness of 1/4 inch. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and flip. Brush lightly with the egg. Press 2 sage leaves onto each piece of egged chicken, then cover with pancetta (about 1 ½ slices per breast), and press again. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
 
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and the chicken, pancetta side down. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip the chicken, and cook until cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a warm plate and cover with foil.
 
3. Add the butter to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, and cook the shallot until soft, 3 minutes. Add the flour, stir, and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the thyme and wine, and deglaze, scraping up the brown bits; simmer for 3 minutes. Add the stock and chopped sage, and simmer until thickened, a few minutes. Serve the chicken on a pool of the sauce.

Edition details

• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0307951863
• ISBN 13: 9780307951861
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272