Nixon - Kitchen Confidence: Essential Recipes and Tips That Will Help You Cook Anything

Copyright 2014 by Kelseys Kitchen Productions LLC
Photographs copyright 2014 by Sara Remington

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.clarksonpotter.com

CLARKSON POTTER is a trademark and POTTER with colophon is a registered trademark of Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nixon, Kelsey.
Kitchen confidence/Kelsey Nixon.First edition.
p. cm
Includes index.
1. Cooking, American. 2. KitchensManagement. I. Title.
TX715.N76 2014
643.3dc23 2013014232

ISBN 978-0-7704-3699-5
eBook ISBN 978-0-7704-3700-8

Cover design by Rae Ann Spitzenberger
Cover photography by Sara Remington

v3.1

I realize that not everyone feels one hundred percent at home in the kitchen that you may love foodwhether that means cooking, eating out, trying a new ingredient, or watching great food being prepared on televisionbut still might need a helping hand to become a more confident home cook. It doesnt matter if you are just turning on your oven for the first time in a new apartment or looking to up your game when you host the next big family gathering; Im here to help, your friend in the kitchen to whom you can turn no matter your skill level. Kitchen Confidence is within reach.

I grew up in a small town in northern Utah, and my favorite memories are rooted in family dinners or parties with friends where food and cooking were at the center of the celebration. Whether it was the formal Christmas dinner that my mom hosted for our extended family year after year, or a simple summer BBQ on the deck with our neighbors, food was clearly the foundation and catalyst for treasured experiences, conversations, and connections. My upbringing taught me that the process of making a meal and serving it to the people you love is unlike any other; its a great way to share a little bit of yourself on a plate and show just how much you care.

After a long day at work, my mom would enter the kitchen with a spring in her step and make dinner for our family. She loved it. Thanks to her passion for cooking, I was drawn into the kitchen at a young age and have never looked back. The best conversations I had with my mom growing up happened while she was preparing dinner and I was helping at her side. She made the kitchen the most comfortable place to be in our home. Starting with family recipes and following her lead, I began to feel comfortable cutting, mixing, and measuring, learning how to make simple dishes like lemon roasted chicken and Sunday pot roast. Spending time with her and the other fantastic cooks in my family, poring over cookbooks on a regular basis, and experimenting a little on my own, I learned essential skills that I knew would serve me for years to comeand I began to relish that unbeatable feeling of making something with my own hands that nourished the people I care about.

My love for food followed me to college, but unfortunately my mom didntso no more home-cooked meals every night! It didnt take long for that void to send me straight to my own bite-size dorm kitchen to begin cooking for myself, my roommates, and any prospective boyfriends. In fact, one of the first meals that came out of my college kitchen was a recipe that lives in this book: I served to my now husband the first time I cooked for him.

I was a broadcast journalism student who loved food and television but wasnt all that interested in a news career. So I committed myself to the unorthodox idea of hosting my own cooking show. A lucky break with an internship at Martha Stewart Living on the cooking show Everyday Food settled things; this was what I wanted to do and I was going to figure out a way to make it happen.

With the wind at my back after such an incredible internship experience, I went back to school my junior year and convinced a supportive professor to let me start a cooking show geared toward college students. I spent the next two years producing and hosting one hundred episodes of Kelseys Kitchen while earning my degree. Culinary school followed soon after. Then, only a few months into my training, I found myself at an audition for The Next Food Network Star, where the winner would be granted his or her very own show on Food Network. Great timing paired with lots of hard work and some good luck earned me a spot on the show. Three short weeks after graduating culinary school, I was on a plane headed to New York City to begin filming.

Being on The Next Food Network Star was life-changing, exhilarating, and positively frighteningI often refer to the opportunity as the million-dollar experience that I wouldnt pay a dollar to do again. I both won challenges and was at the bottom of the pack my fair share, but ultimately being on the show only solidified my dream. I finished respectably in fourth place, so I had the privilege of meeting and working with myriad true professionals and gained invaluable experience cooking on camera at a professional level. My college sweetheart and I moved to New York City as newlyweds soon after, and I spent the next couple of years with my head down, working hard, and taking every opportunity that came along. Bobby Flay and others were instrumental in helping me: His production company eventually produced the first season of Cooking Channels Kelseys Essentials in 2010 and has continued to produce it through its fifth season (and counting).

Whether on the show or at home, I love discussing food. Having the chance to engage and inspire people to cook is something I feel so passionate about. Chatting in the kitchen with friends is one of my favorite ways to spend time. Whether they are beginners or very talented home cooks, its a blast being inspired by one another, encouraging one another, and discussing our most recent recipe successes and failures. Either way, I love helping with the whys behind a recipes instructions and seeing a friends confidence soar when we create something so delicious out of our fun time in the kitchen. This book is an extension of my show, conversations with friends, and upbringing in the kitchen.