Matters of Taste

Hooray for Hamersley

The end of the year was also the end of an era for fans of Gordon Hamersley.  The Boston superchef, one of the first to bring contemporary cuisine to this city of baked beans and chowdah, closed the doors of Hamersley’s Bistro for the last time in late October and left me mourning one of my favorite restaurants of all times. It also left the city of Boston going through withdrawal --- what would life be without Hamersley's famed Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley?

 

                         

I first wrote about this South End bistro in 1987, the year it opened across the street from its final home. The neighborhood was a much grittier place in those days; Hamersley’s was one of the forces driving the gentrification of what is today a beautiful, stylish, user-friendly quarter.

For 27 years Hamersley could be found in front of the stove every night, dressed in his trademark blue Red Sox cap, actually cooking during an era when many chefs became globe-trotting stars with nary a smudge of olive oil on their aprons.

                              

He worked with Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison in L.A.way back in the late ‘70s, and Lydia Shire when he moved back to Boston, and he won every chef and restaurant award there is at some point in his career. (Photo from Boston magazine.) Yet for all his celebrity, Hamersley was happiest cooking in the restaurant he ran with his wife, wine connoisseur Fiona Hamersley; cooking at home with his family; and sharing his time and expertise with aspiring chefs, food writers and assorted non-profit organizations.

So what are we fans going do about his farewell? We’re going to cook up our favorite Hamersley signature dishes in our own kitchens, thanks to “Bistro Cooking At Home.” 

 

                                           

And that means Hamersley’s Roast Chicken with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley.  The foodie blog Serious Eats called it “the most well documented dish in the city.” And at the Bistro’s last dinner service more than 150 orders --- rubbed with a shallot-mustard-herb marinade, par-roasted, set atop chicken stock,  topped with slices of fresh lemon and, finally, popped into the oven to finish --- were cooked and served with roasted onions and crisp potato wedges.

 

But there are other yummy candidates for our memorial dinners, too.  To flip through my copy of the cookbook is to find stained pages surrounding Risotto with Butternut Squash and Maple Syrup; Chicken Piperade; Grilled Flank Steak with Coffee and Black Pepper Marinade (out of this world); Crispy Polenta Triangles with Chanterelles and Asiago….and, in my opinion, the best dish in the book, and the best rack of lamb in the world: Sear-Roasted Rack of Lamb with a Curry, Date, Chile and Almond Crust. (Photo by Bon Appetit.)

                                    


The Piperade recipe can be found in my earlier blog post. Ditto, the flank steak. And, courtesy of BostonChefs.com, the recipe for the Rack of Lamb.

But don’t be silly and limit yourself to these triumphs. Buy the book right now, forpetesake, and celebrate the genius of Gordon Hamersley for years to come. Available at Amazon.com.

 

Toqué! --- The Book, The Blog, The Beautiful Food

When I wrote earlier this week about the many wonders of Montreal chef Normand Laprise's kitchen, I attributed the blog All Toqué'd Out to him. Turns out this very cool blog with exceptional photography is the work of a French-Canadian food-lover who is methodically cooking his way throught Laprise's book, Toqué! Chef Normand and his restaurant, Toqué!, have no connection to the blog.

On the blog, David, the cook, and his "close-minded, picky vegetarian" partner, Melissa, share mouth-watering photos that show their glamorous final dishes as well as all the sometimes-tricky steps along the way. The blog's tone is conversational and user-friendly.

Check out the blog; then head to Amazon to buy chef Normand Laprise's book for yourself.

                                                MAPLE SYRUP CARAMELIZED ASPARAGUS  

                                  

                                   BANANA SORBET AND MOUSSE WITH DRY SAFFRON MERINGUE 

                                  

                 

                                               ASPARAGUS MOUSSE WITH BURNT BUTTER    

                                   
 

                                            

In Praise of Iceberg Lettuce

I was very excited to see “The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook” and author Deb Perelman win the "Julia Child
Award for Best First Cookbook" at the 2013 IACP conference. (IACP is the International Association of Culinary Professionals, which counts more than 3,000 food, beverage and hospitality professionals
worldwide as members.) 

                                                   

I tested recipes from this book earlier this year and loved every dish I made. The recipes are user-friendly, creative without being contrived, and delicious.  I also enjoyed Perlman’s breezy, down-to-earth conversational tone. She is able to connect with both sophisticated home cooks who know their way around a kitchen and the Whole Foods cheese department, and terrified novices who will appreciate how she makes magic happen in her own weensy New York City kitchen. And her photos are mouth-watering inspirations.  

There were dozens of dishes that screamed out “Pick me -- I am divine” as I read the book. Two of them --- the Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Tart, and the Iceberg Stack with Blue Cheeses and Radishes --- are now permanent fixtures at our house. (Photo from TheGreenBeet.com.)

                              

Here’s the recipe for the Iceberg Stack. For the rest of the yummies, buy the book on Amazon.com.

Iceberg Stack with Blue Cheese & Radishes 

Serves 4 to 5

Dressing
1/2   cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/2   cup mayonnaise 
1       tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2    teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1       small clove garlic, minced
1/4    teaspoon table salt
1/8    teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad
4  ounces pancetta in 1/4-inch dice or bacon in slices
1  stalk celery, cut into 1/4 inch dice (about 1/3 cup)
1/3 cup radishes in 1/4 inch dice
1-pound head of iceberg lettuce, trimmed & cored, sliced into 1-inch thick rounds
1/2 cup firm blue cheese, crumbled (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives

In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients until smooth. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Brown the pancetta or bacon in a frying pan until it is crisp. Drain on paper towels, and let cool. If you are using bacon, chop or crumble into small bits. Toss the celery and radishes together in a small dish.

Place the largest slice of iceberg carefully on a platter. Drizzle with a few tablespoons of dressing, then sprinkle with a little of the radish-celery mixture, a little bacon, a little blue cheese, then chives. Place the next largest slice of lettuce on top and repeat, adding dressing, radishes and celery, bacon, blue cheese and chives. Repeat with the remaining slices, stacking and staggering decoratively. If any ingredients remain, sprinkle them over the top.

When Mom's Little Helper Isn't Little Anymore

Last week I wrote about the cooking techniques, recipes, math, and basic life lessons that I learned while cooking with my son Nicholas on Thanksgiving Day. (Click here to see Gravy 101: What I Learned on Thanksgiving Day. 

This week I’m a guest blogger on Mothering21, the blog of New York University professor Mary Quigley, who regales readers with posts about the joys and challenges of “mothering” adult children.

Quigley asked me to elaborate on the scene in our Thanksgiving kitchen, which meant stretching my original post to include my son Ben (pictured here) who minced corvina and squeezed limes for a smashing cocktail-hour ceviche, my husband who grappled with the 25-pound-plus bird, and my 90-year-old mother who swirled whipped cream and candy confetti onto her contribution to the feast: the Chocolate Icebox Cake of my youth.

                                              

Quigley was also intrigued by how some twenty-somethings struggle to open a bag of ramen, while others clearly know their way around a kitchen. Check out Mothering21 to read about how one family got from Cheerios-on-the-highchair-tray to cutting-edge cuisine.

GRAVY 101: What I Learned on Thanksgiving Day

Little did I know when we gave our son the "molecular gastronomy" masterpiece, “Modernist Cuisine,” for his birthday, that our Thanksgiving kitchen would be converted into a chemistry lab.

                                         

With unbridled enthusiasm, Nicholas planned his “additions” to the traditional menu: Creamed spinach, polenta, mac 'n cheese, and two extra gravies, all made with the help of “molecular” ingredients such as xanthan gum, sodium citrate, liquid soy lecithin and Ultra Sperse-3 (your guess is as good as mine).

Knowing how crazed the kitchen was likely to be with 20 exuberant guests and a menu of more than 15 items, I talked him into focusing on the gravies that day and making the other dishes later.

The adventure turned out to be delicious and highly educational.

In addition to the basic gravy I always make – de-glazed pan juices and beurre-manié-thickened stock from turkey trimmings  – our glossy 25-pound bird was accompanied by two “modern” gravies. (Photo from FineDiningLovers.com.) 

                                    

One, “Simplified Jus Gras” (literally, “fat juice”) was a blend of Belgian wheat beer and chicken stock (he used a high-quality frozen product), powdered gelatin, xanthan gum, liquid soy lecithin and rendered duck fat, basically one cup of chicken stock/beer to ½ cup of duck fat. Somehow, the duck fat lent the rich, roasted flavor and aroma of a just-cooked bird. And the dusting of gelatin and xanthan gum created a remarkably smooth, velvety texture

Gravy #2 started with chicken stock (we used Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock in a box for this one), that was substantially reduced and blended with a puree of garlic confit and a sprinkle of Ultra-Sperse 3. (On the "Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking" website, Ultra-Sperse 3 is described as “all-natural cold water swelling starch derived from tapioca.”) Again, the texture and mouth feel of this gravy was sensational. And, with the last-minute addition of minced dried cranberries, fresh sage leaves and cracked black pepper, it was the hit of the gravy train.

                                               

But, I’m here to tell you that being “cutting edge” on turkey day requires time, energy, patience, and, most importantly, an inquisitive nature.

A week or so before his arrival from Philly, Nicholas emailed me his “modernist thanksgiving ingredients” shopping list, which included 4 pounds of corn on the cob, “lots and lots of parmesan rinds,” white chicken stock, brown chicken stock, liquid soy lecithin, and rendered duck fat, among other foodstuffs. (The trickier stuff he ordered on-line from Modernist Pantry.)

His list also included a pressure cooker, “a digital metric scale, accuracy to .1g. this is really imperative for all of these recipes,” an immersion blender, cheesecloth, potato ricer, and a juicer. Fortunately, I have a pressure cooker that I love and use all the time. My husband gave me a potato ricer for Christmas a few years ago (doesn’t every Irish lass need a potato ricer?). And I managed to find an immersion blender, that I didn’t know I had, tucked away in a cabinet.

And now, thanks to Amazon.com, I am the proud owner of a Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Juice Extractor (to be used on the polenta-less polenta over Christmas vacation!) and a Blade Digital Pocket Scale.  

The whole operation proved to be a steep learning curve for me. Even after 20 years of answering Union-Tribune readers’ questions on “where to buy,” I had no idea where to find rendered duck fat. It took me far longer than it should have to figure out the relationship between .1g and .01g. And I had no idea that if you wipe up powdered xanthan gum spilled on a tile floor with a wet towel you will create an “oil slick” that would make BP blush. (We had to cover part of the floor with a beach towel and declare it off limits.)

                                 

Gravy 101 was just part of a grand evening that included a sunset walk on the beach (to burn off the calories ahead of time!), ceviche of ultra-fresh corvina, warm crabmeat dip, shrimp cocktail, a golden bird, cooked and uncooked cranberry relishes, butternut squash gratin, yams pureed with poached pears and tangerine juice, mashed potatoes, picture-perfect roasted vegetables, Brussels sprouts sauteed with hazelnuts and bacon, fall fruit crumble, marble cheesecake, chocolate icebox cake, Cosmopolitans, Veuve Cliquot Champagne, artisan beers, and great Pinot Noirs (French and Californian), all of which resulted in this very happy crowd.

Best Cookbook of 2011

Well, technically, “Radically Simple” was released in 2010. But it wasn’t until January of 2011 – when judges in the James Beard Foundation’s prestigious cookbook competition received finalist cookbooks for evaluation– that I became acquainted with this brilliant volume.

And it was in 2011 that I looked like a genius in the kitchen, thanks to chef/author Rozanne Gold, whose wildly flavorful dinners usually were done in about the time I needed to me to open the mail and feed the dog.

I was hooked on "Radically SImple" from the very first dish – Chicken with Prosciutto, Tomatoes & White Wine.

A procession of equally successful creations followed. Cardamom Chicken with Chickpeas & Orange Couscous; Braised Black Sea Bass on Pancetta-Studded Cabbage; Chicken “Nuggets” with Sherry Vinegar & A Handful of Herbs; Bombay Turkey Sliders, Hurry-Curry Sauce; Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Medjool Dates; Chilean Sea Bass with Pistachio-Pesto Crust and Green Bean "Fries" (pictured here, photo by Quentin Bacon); and more. Not a dud among them.

I found Gold’s ideas inspiring. Her instructions, precise and easy to follow.  Her techniques, simple and highly effective

For example, who ever heard of baking panko-crusted cod on top of a bunch of peas, straight from the freezer?  Who knew that a slight pat of ground cumin and ground coriander would give tuna filets an irresistible “crust” with no fat, no salt and no effort?  Who would have thought to pair that tuna with a “sauce” of tahini, garlic and lemon juice, and spring greens dotted with pomegranate seeds. And, how about this one: Pasta Cooked in a Bottle of Wine that calls for 1 bottle dry white wine, 1 pound penne, ½ cup olive oil, ½ cup grated parmesan and some slices of prosciutto. Now that’s what I call thinking outside the box.

Subtitled “Brilliant Flavors with Breathtaking Ease,” the book’s 325 recipes also include imaginative salads – Fig, Fennel & Endive with Pistachio Vinaigrette is one of my favorites; hearty meat entrees such as Reddened Rib Eye with Pimiento Cheese;  and fanciful desserts that I couldn’t come up with in my wildest dreams. (Watermelon “Carpaccio,” drizzled with creme de cassis and dotted with shaved white chocolate and lime zest is a tasty case in point.)  In 28 years as Food Editor and Columnist for The San Diego Union-Tribune, I perused more than 400 cookbooks every year. Rarely did I find a book  that offered the unique combo of elegance and ease that this book exhibits. That’s why I gave it to each of my sons for Christmas this year.

Well, all this is making me hungry. I think I’ll go whip up Manchego Chicken with Prosciutto, Arugula & Pumpkin Seeds for dinner.  I think you should go on-line at Amazon.com and get the book for yourself.

Eating Solo Never Tasted So Good

Hot off the presses, Joe Yonan’s “Serve Yourself: Nightly Adventures in Cooking For One” is a bright and breezy compendium of delicious recipes that you can enjoy alone while dressed in jammies and watching HBO, or a la table with a lucky dinner guest.

“Serve Yourself” means never having to say “I ate cereal for dinner last night” again.

Last night, Yonan partnered with Chef Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 (long one of my favorite eateries in Boston) to do a “Serve Yourself” dinner. A sell-out crowd of about 60 diners – mostly two-somes --showed up for the four-course affair that was cooked by Husbands while Yonan schmoozed with the food-lovers and signed books. By 5:30 pm the restaurant was already perfumed with hints of the Gingery Glazed Halibut; Sweet Potato and Orange Soup (pictured here); and Cardamom Brown Sugar Snickerdoodles to come.

Yonan, the Food and Travel Editor of the Washington Post since 2006, has been writing the award-winning “Cooking for One” column for a couple of years. Now he packages his favorite tips, techniques, recipes and menus into this welcome gift to solo diners. In addition to tantalizing creations such as Ex-Texas Romaine Salad with 12-hour Tomatoes, Feta, Black Beans and Crumbled Fried Corn Tortilla; and Couscous with Tomato, Walnuts and Capers, Yonan provides shopping and storage tips for the single-chef household, along with creative ideas for making use of extra ingredients.

Recipes are imaginative, with many sophisticated twists, but easy to follow and, for the most part, do-able in the time it takes to read your email, feed the dog and pour yourself a glass of wine.
In case you’re wondering, the “Ex Texas” salad is an “update” on a salad that Yonan’s mother made when he was growing up in Texas. He described the original to me as “one head iceberg, one block cheddar cheese grated, 1 bag Frito’s chips crushed, 1 bottle of Catalina French salad dressing. “Sometimes it hung around for a couple days and was pretty gross,” said Yonan. “But, still, I had fond memories of it so I decided to do the updated recipe.”

  In case you’re wondering, yes, Yonan says he does cook for himself most nights, in spite of the many dining-out demands on a big-city paper’s food editor. "I like to cook for dinner parties, too, but I’d say I eat at home three or four nights a week. Just me…and my 105-pound Doberman, Red. He takes care of the clean-up.”

The book is available at Amazon.com for $12.46.

Charlie Trotter: Marching To His Own Drummer

The front page is full of stories these days that could bear the headline “A Leader Left Behind.”

But it wasn’t Mubarek or Gaddafi or Assad that today’s New York Times headline was talking about. It was Charlie Trotter, the Chicago chef who has been proclaimed Outstanding Chef of the U.S. by the James Beard Foundation and whose restaurant was dubbed “The Best in the World” by the Wine Spectactor magazine.

 “Trotter, a Leader Left Behind” details the glitz surrounding the self-taught chef’s ascendance into the firmament of haute cuisine, as well as his failed efforts to establish eateries in New York and Las Vegas, and to become a household word a la Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali. Author David Kamp writes “...Mr. Trotter hardly seems to figure in the national food conversation anymore.”

Considering the number of extraordinary U. S. chefs who do not go on to found restaurant empires and do not gather the notoriety or income of, say, Batali and Lagasse, I'm not quite sure what the point of the article is. But one of the not-so-subliminal messages is that Trotter’s modus operandi – he’s a demanding boss given to kitchen tirades – is partially to blame for his sputtering popularity.

 “But there remains a perception that there’s more to these off-site fizzles — that Mr. Trotter is a perfectionist control freak, temperamentally ill-equipped to delegate and collaborate.”

I saw that side of Trotter years ago while covering a gala dinner staged by the Relais & Chateaux collection of luxury hotels and restaurants. It was 1998, and 50 American and international chefs, representing a staggering 90 Michelin stars, had gathered in the kitchen of L.A.’s Biltmore hotel to prepare a dinner for 700 people to honor Robert Mondavi.

Thomas Keller, of French Laundry fame, roasted bacon-wrapped saddles of young rabbit. Patrick O’Connell of the Inn at Little Washington whipped up a gossamer grapefruit butter sauce for steamed lobsters.

Michel Guerard, the father of the nouvelle cuisine revolution, put the finishing touches on an elegant shellfish gelee. Famed Paris chef Michel Rostang, the organizer of the event, readied artichokes for his galette with fresh truffles. Roger Verge, for decades the genius behind one of France’s most beloved restaurants, chatted with chefs, kitchen workers, journalists and camera crews in his role as elder statesman.

Divided into teams of three, the chefs shared tasks, opinions and jokes as they worked, side by side, for 9-plus hours, in tiny spaces marked with their names on flimsy pieces of paper stuck to the walls with tape.

Daniel Boulud, whose NYC restaurant Daniel has won every prestigious award there is, joked about “roughing it” in the Biltmore’s kitchen. “But we’re having fun,” he said, “it’s like going to camp.”

One participating chef was conspicuously missing: Charlie Trotter.

With about 30 minutes left before ShowTime, Trotter made an appearance. My story in the San Diego Union-Tribune described the scene:

“As the last waiter clears the swinging door, all eyes focus on Charlie Trotter, who has arrived with great fanfare and with much of the preparation of his lamb dish done in the morning in his Chicago kitchen. 

While a KCET camera lens creeps to within an inch of the glasses perched on his nose, Trotter leans over a plate explaining quietly to his helpers exactly how his lamb with Israeli couscous and red wine essence should be plated.  He places an oven-roasted slice of lamb loin on the plate, moves it a fraction of an inch, moves it again, adds a drizzle of sauce, then steps back to assess his handiwork.”

Finally, Trotter took his place at the end of the line of his nine sous-chefs and inspected each completed dish before it was put on a dining room-bound tray. So much for collaboration, camaraderie and respectful teamwork.

On the other hand, Trotter still has plenty of admirers, as today’s New York Times article points out.  Author Kamp says “Mr. Trotter is particularly virtuosic with vegetables.”

And Kamp quotes Alan Richman, longtime restaurant critic for GQ:

“Alice Waters may have discovered vegetables, but Trotter was the first man I knew who cooked them beautifully.”

Luckily, I also got to see that side of Charlie Trotter. During a dinner in the Lincoln Park townhouse that has housed the restaurant since its opening in 1987, my sister and I shared two prix fixe menus, one the vegetarian version. We were totally wowed by the procession of exquisite dishes, each one more flavorful, more memorable, more magical than the last.

When I wrote in the Union-Tribune about the 25 best things I ate in 25 years as the paper’s restaurant critic, Trotter’s creations were front and center.

"At first, I found the sleek, quiet, contemporary atmosphere of Charlie Trotter's very staid. But with each remarkable dish – an asparagus terrine with goat cheese; potato cannelloni with artichokes; foie gras served with white asparagus soup and sweet Vidalia onions; skate wing with clams and preserved papaya – and with each delicious wine recommended by the friendly sommelier, Trotter's Chicago town-house seemed more and more like the happiest place on earth."

 

 

 

 

 

How to Look Like a Great Cook Without Even Trying

We had friends over for dinner the other night and they went home thinking I was a genius.

I have Ethan Stowell, the gastro-maestro of four of Seattle’s most exciting restaurants, to thank for that buffing of my culinary credentials. You see, I flipped through Stowell’s new cookbook, “Ethan Stowell’s New Italian Kitchen” and, at random, picked his Gnocchetti with Pancetta, Chanterelles, and Mint to cook for dinner.

The dish is sensational…robust flavors, tickly textures, alluring aromas…and it’s easy to make.

(The photo is by Geoffrey Smith; reprinted wtih permission from "Ethan Stowell's New Italian Kitchen: Bold Cooking from Seattle's Anchovies & Olives; How to Cook a Wolf; Staple & Fancy Mercantile; and Tavolata" by Ethan Stowell and Leslie Miller. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House.)

The book is available at Amazon.com for $17.99.

Of particular interest is the type of pasta Stowell calls for. I had never heard of Gnocchetti Sardi, a short durum wheat pasta that’s shaped like the potato dumplings called gnocchi. The shape held tight to the luscious bits of mushroom, pancetta and herbs. I also loved his inclusion of both Italian parsley and fresh mint to punch up the dish’s flavor.

The recipe calls for chanterelle mushroom, but they were $49 a pound at my local Vons. (I see several on-line sites where they can be purchased for $25 a pound.) I subbed very fresh cremini mushrooms and loved the results.

The new book is ideal for home cooks who want to push the envelope. Nothing “ordinary” in here. Instead, creations like Steamed Clams with Guanciale and Sorrel; Panzanella with Crispy Pig’s Ear; and Seared Duck Breast with Sugared Figs and Arugula will ensure that your guests, too, will go home thinking you are a genius.

Check it out at Amazon.com.

GNOCCHETTI WITH PANCETTA, CHANTERELLES, AND MINT

Serves 4

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 pound dried gnocchetti sardi

3/4 pound fresh chanterelle mushrooms

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/2 pound pancetta, cut into small dice

3 medium cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Pinch of chile flakes

2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 12 minutes,  or  1 minute less than the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, clean the mushrooms and slice off the tough end of each stem. Quarter large mushrooms and halve the others. Any tiny chanterelles may be left whole. Set aside. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sauté until some of the fat renders and the pancetta is golden, about 5 minutes. You don’t want it to become too crisp. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. When the mushrooms are golden, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the chile flakes.

When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the mushroom-pancetta mixture, adding a couple of tablespoons of cooking water if the mixture seems dry. Season with salt and pepper. Add the mint and parsley and toss.

Tip into a serving bowl. Drizzle with olive oil. Using a vegetable peeler, shave a few large curls of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.

 

Pushing "Cooking 101" to a New Level

Interesting book review in today’s Wall Street Journal.

  According to writer  Katy McLaughlin, Nathan Myhvold’s “Modernist Cuisine: The Art & Science of Cooking”  is “a large-scale investigation into the math, science and physics behind cooking tasks from making juicy and crisp beer-can chicken to coating a foie-gras bonbon in sour cherry gel.” (Myhvold is pictured here in a NYT photo by Ryan Matthew Smith.) The book is the work of a team of 36 researchers, chefs and editors, along with one multimillionaire computer whiz.

I don’t doubt that the author, a 51-year old former Microsoft Chief Technology Officer who also happened to have his Ph.D from Princeton by the time he was 22, knows what he’s talking about. I’m just wondering how many home cooks will rush out to buy a 2,400-page tome that weighs 47 pounds and costs $625. I mean, really, if you can't spend 15 minutes cooking a boneless chicken breast, are you really going to spend 15 ninutes fathoming "Fick's first law of diffusivity?"

Nonetheless, McLaughlin assures us that the massive manuscript includes “insights that even the humblest home cooks can use to improve their meals.” And, to pique our appetites, she throws out some juicy little tidbits. 

“Among the book's revelations: Expensive pots and pans are a waste of money. Organic food is no healthier than non-organic. Black coffee cools off faster than coffee with cream.”

By the way, "Modernist Cuisine" is only $467.62 at Amazon.com.