starting to demand frozen products and that was not something I wanted to do.
It was then that I started teaching. First, I taught classes at the Art Institute of Phoenix, and then I became the resident chef and cooking class teacher at Kitchen Classics. That lasted for about five years during which time I went back to Arizona State University to start my degree in Dietetics. I continued to teach while I was in school until I decided pursue my degree full time and then just taught classes about once a month in the evenings. I really missed teaching more classes, but wanted to get the degree done.
I graduated in 2002 and then after a one-year dietetic internship, I became a Registered Dietitian. I had hoped to combine my love of food with my nutrition knowledge in the perfect job. That didn’t quite happen though, and I discovered that I though I loved the science of nutrition, I did not enjoy being a clinical dietitian.
I really wanted to be involved with food more, perhaps in product development or as a research chef, which is a profession that was just beginning to be recognized. After receiving a lot of advice, I decided to go back to school and get my Master’s Degree in Food Science. I completed my degree in December of 2009.
I feel so lucky because I love both cooking and science and I have gotten to have jobs in both fields. Cooking and baking have so much in common with science, especially baking. Now I know the reason my cakes might flop or my bread not rise to the proper volume! Also, because of my nutrition knowledge, I can prepare food that I know is truly healthy and can even help prevent certain diseases.
As I mentioned in the introduction, my husband really encouraged me to write this book. I also had a lot of support from some of the students that I taught who wanted to see this book become a reality. My book is a result of all my years in the food business, plus my education in nutrition and food science. I learned so much during that time and I want to pass that knowledge onto you and hope that you learn more about cooking and baking when you make these recipes.
Tips and Advice
You will see introductions to all of the recipes in this book. At the end of many of the recipes I have added notes that help to explain certain things that I thought might need some clarification. However, I may not have covered everything, so I am including these tip pages that may answer some questions that you may have about cooking and baking.
•ALWAYS read a recipe all the way through before starting – this is probably the most important piece of advice that I can share with you. I cannot tell you the number of times I have had students say “Oh, no! I was supposed to only add half the sugar with the egg yolks!” or “That meat was supposed to be seared off before I added it to the stew” and other lamentations. Once you read the recipe all the way through, you have a sort of road map in your head of what the steps will be and it makes cooking a lot easier.
•Mis en place – this goes along with the above piece of advice. Mis en place basically means “everything in place”. This is something I learned as a chef’s apprentice and I use to this day. It is simply having everything ready. Check to see that you have all of your ingredients and measure them out and place them in small bowls so that you make sure that you haven’t forgotten anything. Have your equipment ready also. It is not a good thing to be looking for your candy thermometer when you have the syrup boiling already or looking for a bottle of wine to deglaze a pan with when the meat is done and the pan is hot. Read that recipe and get all of your ingredients and equipment ready, including the serving dish you will serve the food in if applicable.
•Roasting bell peppers – I find the easiest way to do this is using a gas stove and putting the peppers directly on the burners. I have the flame set at medium-high and I rotate the peppers as the skin starts to blister and blacken. Then, I put them in a Zip-loc bag and let them sit and steam until the peppers are cool. I remove them from the bag and carefully tear off the stem and discard the seeds. Then, I rub the skins off. Do not do this under running water as this has a tendency to rinse off some of that wonderful charred flavor. Don’t worry if you can’t remove every last bit of skin. If you don’t have a gas stove, you can use a grill to char the peppers.
•Why a water bath is used for baking cheesecakes and bread puddings, etc. – When a water bath is used for baking, it transfers the heat through the water to the food item. It is a sort of indirect way of cooking a dish. Because the item is cooked in the water, it has a tendency to be creamier and smoother than if it had been baked outside of a water bath. I like to bake all of my cheesecakes, bread puddings and custards in this manner. Cooling the final product is important also. The item should stay in the water bath until it has cooled to room temperature. Then, it can be put in the refrigerator. If the hot item were to be placed directly into the fridge, it would probably crack because of the sharp change in temperature from hot to cold.
•Toasting nuts – If I have a large amount of nuts to toast, perhaps more than four cups, I use an oven set at 350 degrees and toast them on a cookie sheet. I shake the pan about halfway through so that the nuts toast evenly. I have a terrible habit of forgetting nuts when I toast them though! I used to burn a lot of nuts when I had my bakery, so I will tell you to please use a timer when you toast nuts! It is great advice that I now adhere to. If you only have to toast about ½ cup to 1-cup nuts, you can do this on top of the stove in a skillet over medium heat. Just toss the nuts around to toast them evenly.
•Dried herbs versus fresh – I believe that fresh herbs are usually the first choice. You simply could not use dried basil in a dish like tomato bruschetta and expect to get the same flavor. I have a sort of rule that I won’t use any dried herb if the amount called for is over 2 teaspoons. In something like a stew or soup, dried herbs are usually okay. I always keep dried thyme, oregano, and rosemary on hand and have a large container of Herbs d’ Provence in the cupboard. The rule of thumb is use half the amount of dried herbs to the amount of fresh herbs called for.
•Wine in cooking – Don’t use cooking wine or cooking sherry. These are usually nasty products. I have heard it said that you should not use a wine for cooking that you would not want to drink. I think that is pretty true! However, I am not going to use a $40 bottle of red wine in beef Burgundy. That wine is one that I am going to drink! I usually pay about $7-10 for the wines I use in cooking because a wine in that price range is usually okay to drink also.
•Using fruits and vegetables when they are in season – I think this is very important. How many times have you bought melons or strawberries in December only to have a tasteless melon and wooly berries? It really is best to buy and eat fruits and vegetables in the season that they are grown in. Hopefully, you will be able to buy them from a local source also, which is even better. The taste will be far superior!
•Time and temperature- Remember that these recipes have been tested on my equipment. I have electric ovens and a gas cook top. You may find that if you have an electric cook top that it does not get as hot as fast as gas, and also when you lower the heat on a burner that it takes a little longer for the temperature to reduce than when working with gas. Your oven may not bake and roast exactly like mine, so use the cooking times that are given as a guide. You may find that a food may take a little shorter or longer time than the recipe specifies, so make sure you check for doneness.
•Eggs- All the recipes use large eggs. In a few of the recipes like the Saffron Mayonnaise with the calmari and Remoulade Sauce with celery root, raw eggs or egg yolks are used. Because the recipes contain some sort of acid, there should not be a danger of anyone getting a food borne illness from the finished product. However, if this is a concern to you because you may be serving the dish to a young child, or elderly person, or to some one who is immunocompromised, buy pasteurized shell eggs. They are available now in many supermarkets. When you see “separate an egg” this means
