"Melissa Clark's recipes are as lively and diverse as ever, drawing on influences from Marrakech to Madrid to the Mississippi Delta. She has her finger on the pulse of how and what America likes to eat." -- Tom Colicchio, author of Craft of Cooking "A Good Appetite," Melissa Clark's weekly feature in the New York Times Dining Section, is about dishes that are easy to cook and that speak to everyone, either stirring a memory or creating one. Now, Clark takes the same freewheeling yet well-informed approach that has won her countless fans and applies it to one hundred and fifty delicious, simply sophisticated recipes. Clark prefaces each recipe with the story of its creation-the missteps as well as the strokes of genius-to inspire improvisation in her readers. So when discussing her recipe for Crisp Chicken Schnitzel, she offers plenty of tried-and-true tips learned from an Austrian chef; and in My Mother's Lemon Pot Roast, she gives the same high-quality advice, but culled from her own family's kitchen. Memorable chapters reflect the way so many of us like to Things with Cheese (think Baked Camembert with Walnut Crumble and Ginger Marmalade), The Farmers' Market and Me (Roasted Spiced Cauliflower and Almonds), It Tastes Like Chicken (Garlic and Thyme-Roasted Chicken with Crispy Drippings Croutons), and many more delectable but not overly complicated dishes. In addition, Clark writes with Laurie Colwin-esque warmth and humor about the relationship that we have with our favorite foods, about the satisfaction of cooking a meal where everyone wants seconds, and about the pleasures of eating. From stories of trips to France with her parents, growing up (where she and her sister were required to sit on unwieldy tuna Nicoise sandwiches to make them more manageable), to bribing a fellow customer for the last piece of dessert at the farmers' market, Melissa's stories will delight any reader who starts thinking about what's for dinner as soon as breakfast is cleared away. This is a cookbook to read, to savor, and most important, to cook delicious, rewarding meals from.
Melissa Clark is an American food writer and cookbook author. Since 2007, she has been a food columnist for The New York Times. She has written more than 40 cookbooks and in 2018 won a James Beard Award.
This cookbook is a lot of fun! Each section has a brief essay upfront. A lot of wit here--and a passion for cooking and devising tasty recipes. Each recipe has a story; here again, considerable wit. For instance, the section entitled "Waffling toward Dinner." Putative breakfast dishes. But the author notes that one can enjoy breakfast dishes at midnight. Do your dining thing!
A couple recipes in the first section: "Buttery polenta with Parmesan and olive oil fried eggs." Ingredients: polenta, water or chicken broth, salt, butter, pepper, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, eggs, and sea salt for garnish. The recipe isn't hard to make either! Another intriguing recipe: "Soft scrambled eggs with pesto and fresh ricotta." I really enjoy the juxtaposition of ingredients in many of the author's dishes. She is like a mad scientist, who experiments with and tweaks recipes. The second section is referred to as "The Farmer's Market and Me." It starts off with "Extra-sharp leeks vinaigrette." After a delightful essay (1 1/2 pages long) we get the recipe. I like leeks, and this is a new way for me to consider preparing them. Look forward to trying this one out!
"Learning to like fish" is another section. I have used capers with Chicken Piccata. Here, capers become important ingredients for "Shrimp for a small kitchen--with capers, lemon, and feta. An interesting combination of ingredients. The next section? "It tastes like chicken." One tasty recipe. . . . "Roasted chicken thighs with peaches, basil, and ginger." I have made chicken schnitzel quite a bit over time. I use a tomato based sauce as a topping. Clark's schnitzel is way different--and I look forward to trying her version out. It features anchovy, garlic, salt and pepper, lemon zest, olive oil, eggs, bread crumbs, flour, cayenne pepper, nutmeg, chicken cutlets, oil for frying, mixed baby greens, herbs, and scallions.
And so on. . . . A delightful cookbook. What I've tried, I've liked. And there are many more that I look forward to fixing for my family. . . .
I'm reviewing cookbooks because I have to get one as a gift for somebody next month. I liked the writing style in this one, it was fun and conversational and peppered with personal details which I enjoy in a voyeuristic fashion. But I only photo copied 2 recipes out of it to try so it didn't feel like a winner.
I started out not liking this book (and I let it lie for months), but it grew on me quickly when I picked it back up. That is one heck of a lot of ex-boyfriends and ex-husbands, though, Melissa!
One of my favorite cookbooks. Filled with excellent recipes, stories, and anecdotes about food, life, love, and family. The stories encourage you to try the recipes while you laugh at Clark's humor. The recipes and stories are equally delightful and a recipe is incomplete without the accompanying tale. A book that you can read again and again with pleasure.
Love this cookbook! I've made about 15 of the recipes, and they've all been excellent. While a knowledge of basic cooking is essential (of course), few of the recipes are particularly time or labor intensive, and some are downright easy. And the ingredients can be found at any local grocery. And yet, given the ease of cooking and the standard ingredients, Clark's recipes are delicious. She is an artist, excelling at combining flavors and textures, so that each dish is far more than the sum of its parts. I highly recommend this book!
I would point out one thing. This isn't a criticism of the book, but simply a caution. It seems these days that people want a cookbook with a specific eating theme- vegetarian, gluten-free, paleo, low-carb, low-fat, vegan, comfort food, BBQ, desserts, etc. This book doesn't fall into any category. It contains a wide range of recipe types, something for everyone, but not a lot of any one kind. I love that about the book. Something to fit my every taste and mood.
I don't have a huge collection of cookbooks, but the ones that I have appeal to me most because of their glossy pages, full of beautiful photographs for each recipe. Some of my favorites include those written by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa), Ree Drummond (Pioneer Woman), Trisha Yearwood, Deb Perelman (Smitten Kitchen), and Gina Homolka (Skinnytaste). When I received a copy of Melissa Clark's cookbook, I wasn't sure it would be for me since other than a few black-and-white photos (marking the beginning of a new chapter), it lacks any colorful photographs. I would have to use my imagination, rather than rely on a photograph, to envision the end result of each recipe. So, instead of flipping through to see if I could find something to make for dinner, I decided to start at the beginning and spend a year reading each recipe and accompanying anecdote. What a treat! Not only do I have roughly three dozen recipes marked to sample, but I was thoroughly entertained by Clark's stories. In the Kitchen with A Good Appetite not only has twelve chapters of recipes, but her essays (which run anywhere between one to three pages in length) read like those of Laurie Colwin, Molly Wizenberg, and Ann Hood's foodie memoirs. Now to try out some of those recipes!
I read this for the 2024 52 Books Reading Challenge prompt #39 "a non-fiction book recommended by a friend". It was recommended by a friend who has taken up cooking in his retirement. Since I have always liked to cook, and now have more time to do it since I retired myself a few years ago, I decided to check this book out, and I'm glad I did. It's a combination cookbook with recipes and almost a memoir of how she took recipes and adapted them to her own style and/or current pantry items. I liked her way of substituting things that had the same effect if not necessarily the same taste. Since I have been living in Spain for almost 9 years now, I've had to do quite a bit of substituting myself, and I found her philosophy quite inspiring. And, of course, most of the recipes made me want to try them out too. The author does a food column for the New York Times, so her recipes have popped up quite a bit in my feed, but I liked seeing them as she organized them in this book. And, as soon as I finished this one, I looked at some of her other cookbooks, and downloaded another one which sounds like it would fit my style too. So, thanks Michael!
Tyler Florence once named a cookbook of his Eat This Book. Ditto for the incomparable Melissa Clark’s cookbook. Not only are the recipes varied and appealing and not too fancy so they would scare a budding cook, but Ms. Clark is a wonderful writer- engaging and funny.
I really like the book and stories but the real problem was no pictures! What is wrong with these people? You eat with your eyes first. You can't get as excited about a recipe without pictures. Use pictures!
Great cookbook, I always enjoy when the author's love of food and cooking comes through the in the writing and this is such a book. Adventuresome and no holds barred.
Recently, I was discussing what to make for dinner with my boyfriend. “Oh, I’m reading this cookbook…” I started. He interrupted. “Wait. You’re reading a cookbook?” “Well, yes,” I replied. “But it has lots of stories!” His incredulity made me realize that, of course, there are many types of cookbooks we don’t “read.” We refer to them, searching in the index under “pork chops” or flipping through until a glossy photo of lemon squares catches our eyes. But there are some types of cookbooks that are meant to be read and Melissa Clark’s In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite is one of them.
Clark begins each chapter with a short essay, usually including a story from her childhood or a special connection to the subject. Growing up, she and her sister traveled with their foodie parents around the globe, and their expeditions almost solely focused on food. Because of this, she was exposed to kinds of foods that children normally avoid like the plague–seafood, innards, slimy and spicy things. Her family also employed a technique that is very similar to my own family’s. When they went out to eat, each family member had to order a different dish. They would then eat precisely one-fourth of their meal and swap plates around the table clockwise. My family doesn’t do the organized rotation, but it is taboo in the Kenny family to order the same thing as someone else at the table.
Clark also developed a cooking style very similar to my own, what I like to call the “what’s in the fridge” approach. She often asked friends or relatives for recipes and then tweaked them based on her own tastes and what was available that day. Sometimes the results seem quite close to the original and sometimes an entirely new dish was born.
Each recipe begins with the story behind its creation. Perhaps it’s the Whiskey-Soaked Dark Chocolate Bundt Cakes she perfected in high school, trying to win the hearts of the boys in her class. Or maybe it’s a meal she tried to replicate based on a memory of dinner long ago, like her Not-My-Grandma’s Chicken with Lemon, Garlic, and Oregano. Maybe it’s her own update on a time-honored classic, like her Brand-New Heirloom Potato Latkes. Or maybe it’s one of the many recipes she “borrowed” from a friend or fellow chef and tweaked to her own liking, like the Really Easy Duck Confit, courtesy of Eric and Bruce Bromberg, Blue Ribbon restaurants, New York.
Be warned: though Clark’s recipes sound delicious, she has rich tastes. She is prone to adding more butter, more sugar, or more cream than I would ever want in a recipe. You’d never know it from her slim appearance on the back of the book, but this woman has no qualms about using fat in the kitchen. I think if I were to make many of these recipes I would have to use lower-fat substitutions. Any woman who devotes a whole chapter to “Things with Cheese,” another to “Better Fried,” another to “My Sweet Tooth and Me,”and another to solely to Pie (“There’s Always Room for Pie”), has taken it one step too far for me. Was this really a Brooklynite, farmer’s market, food critic cookbook, or had I accidentally stumbled into Paula Deen’s kitchen??
Of course, there are many recipes in those chapters I’d love to try, like the Cheesy Baked Pumpkin with Gruyere Fondue or the Honey-Glazed Pear Upside-down Cake. But on the first read-through, the book can seem a bit stacked towards the heavy. I also still enjoyed reading her stories even while I cringed a bit when she added more butter to “improve” her dishes. Still, not all the dishes are fat-full, so there is balance in the book. She offers plenty of lovely dinners, like Spiced Chipotle Honey Chicken Breats with Sweet Potatoes or Lamb Tagine with Apricots, Olives, and Buttered Almonds.
I very much enjoyed “reading” this cookbook and would recommend it to all my foodie friends. Clark is a great writer and her stories are light and enjoyable. Even though I personally found many of the recipes too rich, it’s only my own personal preference at work. I can see many of delicious and diverse meal coming from this book.
To read more of my reviews, check out my blog at yearofmagicalreading.wordpress.com.
I have come to really like this cookbook/food memoir.
Melissa Clark has a spirit of culinary adventure, and likes to arrive at a recipe that is not only interesting, but as fuss-free as possible. The book reminds me of Cooks Illustrated, in that she describes the idea she starts with, what she wants to achieve, and what she does to achieve it. On top of that, there are a number of recipes in the sweets section that sound interesting and unlike the million other cookie recipes I have read: whole Wheat Demerara Shortbread, Sesame Halvah Toffee, Lemon Curd Squares with Rosemary, Salted Maple Walnut Thumbprints, and more. The other sections are equally interesting.
This is the first cookbook that I have tried reading on my Kindle - I ordered it in desperation when we were on vacation in Vermont last summer, and I really wanted to read this. While I would never want to cook from an e-cookbook, it was great for the first read, because I could bookmark any recipe, technique, or reference that interested me, and then call them all up to view together.
i might give this 5 stars once i've read more and tried more recipes. loving it so far! tonight made a spicy chicken with barley, sweet potato, spinach soup. so yummy! and surprisingly low-cal and healthy while still being filling.
from what i've read so far, the author does an amazing job at describing recipes and foods rather than the typical cookbook photo shoot. you don't even notice there aren't any pictures, the stories are full enough.
i really relate to her cravings, or the way she gets an idea in her head about exactly something she wants to make and has to create it and get it right to be satiated. i do the same thing, and this is one of those cookbooks where when i flipped through it, every single thing sounded like something i really wanted to eat and make.
No, I haven't bought into the kindle-as-1000-cookbooks rhetoric. I firmly believe that electronics deserve to be in a place where they have no chance of coming into contact with pudding. But this is a READING cookbook, much like "Roast Chicken and Other Stories" or anything by Nigella Lawson, where the long stories that precede each recipe are the more important part of the intro-recipe duality. Almost every recipe has a story and an evolution, lovingly described, and the most straightforward chapter (Sweets) is also the weakest due to the relative lack of both. I may, in the future, try out many of the recipes (the french toast is making an appearance this weekend!) but even if I didn't, this book was worth the purchase as someone who loves to read about food.
I love this new cookbook. The author is a good writer and there are so many very homey, warm, but different things to try in this one. Let me give you a few chapter titles and leave it at that--Waffling toward Dinner, Things with Cheese, My Mother's Sandwich Theory of Life, Better Fried, My Sweet Tooth and Me, There's Always Room for Pie and Lessons on Imbibing.
New trend alert: Both this and Dorie Greenspan's new cookbook have recipes for whole baked pumpkins stuffed with different variations of cheese, bread chunks, cream, etc. Sounds delicious...let 2011 be the year of baked pumpkins!
Very solid cookbook, especially if you're looking for something with a variety of recipes (mostly American and French, with a handful of "ethnic-inspired" -- not a great source for anything authentic) and ideas to riff off of.
Clark includes a short essay before each recipe discussing her improvisation methods and techniques, which I think is helpful for people who are used to following recipes very closely. Learning how to tweak and substitute is part of what makes cooking fun -- and a lot less stressful. She's also a strong writer, so the essays are fun, short reads about food memories and family.
I really enjoyed this book, however I had an annoying and pervasive feeling of deja vu while reading it. The reason why is most of these recipes and stories were previously published in The New York Times. Though now that the Times is charging, maybe it IS a good deal to just buy the book. Clark is funny, self-deprecating, and daring in pursuit of tasty food. The Blood Orange Olive Oil cake brightened up my January big time!
this is beyond an awesome cookbook. It has stories before each recipe and description on how delicious every dish is. I have made two simple things and they were delish! I am planning on making the "rich and nutty brown butter corn bread" , 'homemade spaetzle with browned onions, swiss chard, and emmentaler", 'zucchini latkes, 'deep fried bourbon peach pies" and on and on...you can look up her book on Amazon and look at the Table of Contents to read all the mouthwatering recipes!
In the end, no matter how well put together, no matter how thoughtful; it is the recipes in a cookbook that count. These are not bad recipes. But she likes fried eggs and I don't. She likes sweet potatoes and I don't. She likes coconut and I am allergic to it. When there are only 150 recipes and so many of them are not what I would cook at all, it leaves me with a great deal of respect for her writing, but no interest in any of her recipes.
Loved the stories, and the recipes were doable. I like her fearless but good experimentations. One reason I enjoyed this book so much was that I do many of the same things, and its nice to read about someone that actually loves their own cooking and doesn't think twice about changing a recipe. In other words, she is a cook! (Not just a recipe follower)
Melissa Clark is definitely one of my new favorite food writers. The stories that accompany each recipe are as much worth reading as the recipes themselves. She is witty and funny with an easy style and some killer recipes. If only there were pictures to go with the recipes this would be perfection.
More than a cookbook, this is a book that encourages you to learn, experiment and invent. At least that's what I got out of it. The narratives are engaging, at times humorous, always educational. The recipes have a little bit of everything--though not really diet friendly. Definitely items here for holiday celebrations and special events, though.
I cannot wait to challenge myself with some of these recipes. Such fun to read a real chef and scientist at heart breaking apart a recipe so that you understand what makes something work or not work. Interesting history on foods that I have never heard of or will probably try(lol) but fun to read, nonetheless. Melissa has a friendly style I liked.
My two favorite subjects -- the personal history of others and food -- combine to make a wonderfully interesting read. I've tried a number of the recipes and they are all winners. Her variations on a theme provide examples for folks who are afraid to veer from an original recipes and use what you have on hand. This is easily one of my favorite cookbooks ever.
I was surprised by how good this book was, and how engaging Melissa Clark's writing is. I've heard great things about Clark, but haven't gotten around to reading any of it before now. Her anecdotes are more food-related than I am used to, but I am inspired by her sense of adventure and fearlessness.
Although less than ten of the recipes in this book appealed to me, Melissa Clark's sharp writing and many humorous anecdotes made me read this book pretty much cover to cover in the course of one day. I appreciated her confidence and unabashed love of food and flavor. The recipes that I did bookmark look really, really delicious.
These recipes are clear, filled with simple ingredients, and delicious. I appreciate that Clark unabashedly uses other chefs' recipes and tweaks and improves them. I trust Clark's experience and know that each of these recipes will work. We have especially enjoyed the Figgy, Piggy Chicken and the Spicy Broccoli Salad so far. I'm looking forward to trying many more of these recipes.
I am not usually a fan of cookbooks without pictures--however, this cookbook had something almost as good as pictures--stories! What goes better with food than a good story? I loved the author's irreverance and "I'll do this MY way" attitude.
Engaging stories and the two recipes I've made from the book so far have been fantastic. I checked this book out from the library and try not to keep too many cookbooks on my shelf, but I think I might buy this one.