Obviously, the easiest recipes are the most successful when it comes to the home cook, because they're not intimidated by them. If I'm doing 'Boy Meets Grill,' and I do something very simple like grilled hamburgers or steaks or chicken, those are the most sought-after recipes.
I found that the recipes in most - in all - the books I had were really not adequate. They didn't tell you enough... I won't do anything unless I'm told why I'm doing it. So I felt that we needed fuller explanations so that if you followed one of those recipes, it should turn out exactly right.
I think the best shortcut is to choose really simple recipes. Because I think you can make simple recipes that are as delicious as complicated ones.
When I develop my recipes I always look for ways to create what I call the Big Taste. While I enjoy eating simple grilled foods, what interests me when I cook are dishes with a taste that is fully dimensional.
Recipes are not assembly manuals. Recipes are guides and suggestions for a process that is infinitely nuanced. Recipes are sheet music.
I like to cook for my friends. It is an act of love because in cooking you can create so many plates and recipes, if you know how to - otherwise you make a mess - but I like it because it's like a ceremony. You cook for your friends and after, you drink wine and play cards.
My recipes aren't classic recipes; they're all fusion recipes inspired by all the places I've been to.
There's a couple of foods that if you see me eat them in a contest, you can tell I like them. Grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken wings, ribs, hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza. I mean, those, they go down like I was made to eat them.
Taking dishes straight off the restaurant's menu and putting them into a cookbook doesn't work, because as a chef you have your own vision of what your food is, but you can't always explain it. Or you can't pick recipes that best illustrate who and where you are and what you're doing. And if the recipes don't work, you don't have a book.
There are three reasons why this book came into being. First, throughout the 33 years I've been writing recipes - although I'm not vegetarian myself - I have greatly enjoyed creating vegetarian recipes, and cooking and serving them at home.
To me, the most romantic gesture is a quiet night with my girl. I like to cook for her. I'm a meat eater and a griller - I do steaks, I do chicken, I do fish. I have a broad palate!
I cook often when I am at home but not in college. I do it alone. It is just very relaxing to me. Just about anything that I like to eat, I can cook - chicken, salmon, stir fry. I like to cook seafood or burgers the most when I am entertaining.
When I walk into a market I may see a different cut of meat or an unusual vegetable and think, ‘I wonder how it would be if I took the recipe for that sauce I had in Provence and put the two together?’ So I go home and try it out. Sometimes my idea is a success and sometimes it is a flop, but that is how recipes are born. There really are not recipes, only millions of variations sparked by someone’s imagination and desire to be a little creative and different. American cooking is built, after all, on variations of old recipes from around the world.
I often write into recipes techniques that I learned in the restaurant kitchen. There are ways of organizing your prep and so on that are immensely useful. Those are woven into all the recipes I do.
That being said, I often write into recipes techniques I learned in the restaurant kitchen. There are ways of organizing your prep and so on that are immensely useful. Those are woven into all the recipes I do.
My father-in-law is a wonderful cook. His knowledge of various cuisines is amazing. He creates his own recipes and whenever he makes something, I taste it and find it to be the most delicious dish in the world.
I'm a fan of the hand-me-down recipes - friends, family, bake sales, community cookbooks - those are the recipes that have withstood the test of time and fed many hungry fans.