Chapple - Just cook it!: 145 built-to-be-easy recipes that are totally delicious

Copyright 2018 by Just Cook It, LLC

Photography 2018 by David Malosh

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chapple, Justin, author.

Title: Just cook it! : 145 built-to-be-easy recipes that are totally delicious / Justin Chapple. Description: Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018. | Includes index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017059030 (print) | LCCN 2017051913 (ebook) | ISBN 9780544968851 (ebook) | ISBN 9780544968837 (paper over board) Subjects: LCSH: Quick and easy cooking. | LCGFT: Cookbooks. Classification: LCC TX833.5 (print) | LCC TX833.5 .C433 2018 (ebook) | DDC 641.5/12dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017059030

Cover and interior design by Laura Palese

Food styling by Barrett Washburne

Prop styling by Ayesha Patel

v1.0418

FOR

GRANDMA BARBARA

Dont tell anyone, but I mightve been a little bit dorky as a kid (not that Ive changed much). I was freckly and quirky with all sorts of big, bizarre dreams. I would read cookbooks and food magazines, watch Two Fat Ladies and Yan Can Cook! on TV, and fantasize about becoming a chef.

Yes, a chef! That may have seemed like a stretch for a boy who grew up eating boxed mac and cheese, but thats what I wanted.

I graduated from The French Culinary Institute in Manhattan, then landed a gig working the line at a fancy restaurant. And then, in a pinch me moment, I got a job at Food & Wine. Today, in the F&W Test Kitchen, I do everything from create recipes to invent wonderfully oddball kitchen hacks for my video series, Mad Genius Tips. I even get to cook on television and in front of live audiences.

At F&W, Im often tasked with taking recipes developed by chefs and simplifying them for the home cook. That might mean trimming a ridiculously long ingredient list, coming up with a clever shortcut so a dish doesnt take twelve hours to make, or tweaking a method so its essentially foolproof. I promise, Im totally humble, but Ive become quite the expert. After years of adapting recipes from superstar chefs like Thomas Keller and David Chang, I know when you really have to sift the flour or peel the tomatoes and when its okay to skip that step. I know when a soup needs to be strained and when its perfectly delicious as is.

Still, if you ask me, you cant do this kind of work well unless you understand how people really cook at home. And that was the lesson of my entire childhood. I grew up in Stockton, California, in the agriculturally rich Central Valley, with two brothers, three sisters, lots of cousins, and loads of nieces and nephews. It seemed like our refrigerator door was always open. We didnt have much money, but we lived sensibly and had our own tricks for making food more affordable.

My grandma Barbara, for instance, would create incredible meals practically out of thin air. Shed doctor instant ramen with all kinds of flavorings, then zap it in the microwave; transform eggs, an inexpensive staple of our diet, into a kind of homespun souffl; and churn ice cream in a blender that was forever on its last leg. She didnt give these recipes formal names. Instead, she just cooked with what little she had, and we ate it.

Looking back, Im blown away by how much my grandma accomplished. I think she knew her food was delicious, but not how much fun I thought it was, or how much it inspired me. Sometimes I wish so hard that I could go back in time and tell her that I paid attention, even if it seemed like no one else in the world did, and thank her. Though my skills have improved since I left home and went to culinary schoolseriously, my tuna salad has come a very long waymy grandma made me the cook I am today.

Because Im a nostalgic person, Ive filled this book with reinventions of my childhood favorites as well as faster versions of the classic dishesCaesar salad, beef bourguignon, lasagnaso many of us crave. Over the years its become clear to me that home cooks (ahem, this means you!) are far savvier than theyre usually given credit for. So while all my recipes are no-fuss and reliable to their core, they will push you to think in new ways. The food in Just Cook It! is creative, fresh, surprising, often healthy, and always delicious.

I became a professional cook because Im crazy about food and love to feed others. When I worked in restaurants, the job was stimulating and rigorous, but just a bit unfulfilling because I wasnt interacting with the people who were eating what I made. Since then, Ive had the opportunity to gain what I was missing. And no, Im not talking about the extra pounds around my waist, but rather the experience of connecting with my audience. Whether Ive met you at an event or communicated with you through Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, its been all sorts of incredible. I love it! And I thank you for it.

So, just to be sure were all on the same page, can we agree that we all want to prepare tasty and impressive recipes? That we love to entertain, be entertained, and cook for fun? That we appreciate oldies but goodies even if ultimately we want versions that are easier and oh so modern? I wrote this book because I know were all looking for uncomplicated recipes that work every time, and that are exciting and new. I wrote this book for you. So just cook it!

None of the recipes in this book require crazy, weird, or expensive ingredients. I play with novel flavors all day in the Food & Wine Test Kitchen so when I go home, I mostly want to cook with what I have on hand. Heres how to stock your pantry just like mine so you can make any recipe in this book as well as create some of your own dishes along the way.

Oil

Canola or Vegetable Oil

These two mild-tasting oils are pretty interchangeable. Use them to dress salads with subtle flavors or to saut ingredients over high heat.

Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

The good for you oil is far more flavorful than canola or vegetable. Its great for dressings and any type of cooked recipe that requires low or medium heat. Not all brands are created equal, so do your research to be sure youre getting one thats pure. I like California Olive Ranch and Frantoia from Sicily.