How to Cook Everything with Joy

Osei and I are engaged in a loving debate about the best cookbook. Personally, I am a devoted follower of Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything. After all, it teaches us how to cook EVERYTHING. It is simple, direct, and always uses the ingredients that I already have in my kitchen. Plus, Mark writes like he's talking to me personally. We practically converse in my kitchen as he sits on the stool, instructing me how to bake, for example, Bread Pudding.

I ask him, "Mark, do I need to cut the bread," and he just seems to read my mind, replying, "You can cut or tear the bread, but cut off the crusts if they are too thick." Thanks, Mark. Do I feel guilty substituting multi-grain oat bread for white bread? Absolutely not! After all, that is what Mark would do- he is always fully encouraging of me making healthy substitutions. And he even gently suggests ways to embellish my recipe- I can throw in some chocolate chips, raisins, chopped walnuts, orange zest, and the list goes on.

Most of all, I have so much respect for Mark because he knows that I can cook delicious and healthy foods best when I can cook simply. None of his recipes require an extra trip to the store for some obscure but necessary ingredient, like "3 pinches of saffron from the southern region of the Philippines." No offense here to Julia Childs, who is the notorious Queen of using intimidating and labor-intensive cooking ingredients and instructions. Julia and I both went to Smith College, so she obviously holds a dear place in my heart, though her style feels completely inaccessible to the everyday woman (i.e. someone like me who neither buys ducks, keeps cream and creme fraiche in the house, nor has a desire to de-marrow a bone).



Simple Recipes for Great Food. I couldn't put it any better myself. Though I generally attempt to refrain from circular references during debates with my husband, the New York Times even refers to How to Cook Everything as "A more hip Joy of Cooking." Also, check out the two little stickers on the cover. Winner. There you go. Bittman takes the cake.



My husband Osei, on the other hand, prefers the Joy of Cooking. Meh. We flipped through it this morning to see a small illustration of how to peel and cut a pineapple while leaving the pineapple chunks attached to the core. Fancy schmancy, but who actually carves a pineapple but leaves it all connected like that? Do you really think you're going to be able to rip your little chunk of fresh pineapple off of that core with just a toothpick?

Plus, Joy of Cooking is a little outdated, in my opinion. My grandmother was a talented cook and all, but still, I can't help but think that Bittman's How to Cook Everything is a much more relevant resource for us "hipster cooks" today. Let's leave Joy of Cooking for those who want to make fancy centerpieces out of pineapples.

One more reason I'm a true supporter of my friend, Mark is that he cooks things that Osei and I actually eat! For example, check out Mark Bittman's "The Minimalist" coulmn in the New York Times. It is all about making whole grain pancakes. We love whole grain pancakes. In fact, Osei is probably the lead experimenter in our weekend pancake adventures. He's played with whole wheat flour, buckwheat, oats, carrots, nuts, raisins, and banannas, so far.




Don't these pancakes look delicious? Mark Bittman is just like us. He likes whole grain pancakes, and all the variations you can imagine, just like Osei and I do. In case my husband is still not convinced that How to Cook Everything is our go-to cookbook, perhaps I can sway his mind this weekend when Mark and I bake some oatmeal-chocolate-chip-cranberry-walnut cookies.