Allen Ted - In my kitchen: 100 recipes for food lovers, passionate cooks, and enthusiastic eaters

GOOGLE THE WORD COOKBOOK THESE DAYS, and youll find all sorts of promises. There are recipes to shrink your waistline, save you money, improve your memory, increase your endurancetheres probably a cookbook out there that guarantees a full, lustrous head of hair. But more than anything else, most cookbooks seem to be about getting you out of the kitchen as quickly as possible: thirty-minute meals, five-minute meals, food that doesnt require cooking at all.

How about a cookbook for people who are into the kitchen? For people who, you know, love to cook?

Believe me, I understand the need for easy and speedy. After a twelve-hour day of shooting Chopped, say, Im talking stir-fry, spaghetti, heck, peanut-butter sandwiches (more likely, Im hitting the speed dial for pizza). But thats not about the joy of food. Thats survival.

In this book, Im talking about this kind of day: When the doors are thrown open to the garden and a charcoal-scented breeze is wafting in from the grill. Friends knocking at the door with armloads of pork and chiles and cheeses and recipes theyre just itching to try. Corks popping, an endless playlist on the stereo, pans heating up. Thats real cooking; thats when its fun.

For me, the kitchen is the most special room in the house, and its a place for adventurenot drudgery, but discovery, sharing and showing off with friends, trying new ideas. Every recipe in this book, from the simplest baked rice to a tongue-sizzling Thai curry, contains a tip, a trick, or an epiphany, something that has enriched my understanding of and love for the kitchenand that will enrich yours, too.

Did you know, for example:

you dont need all day to prep a spectacular cassoulettry part of an afternoon;

anybody can roast a duck with fall-off-the-bone meat and crispy skin;

strawberries and tomatoes taste fantastic together on grilled bread;

nobody makes better pickles than you doand theres no canning required;

toasting is not just for bread: many other foodsseeds, nuts, spices, even pastasare immeasurably transformed with a bit of browning;

green beans are great on the grill;

the only reason most store-bought stock improves your food is because its contributing salt, not much meat or vegetable flavor to speak of;

deviled eggs are fabulous brunch fare.

Theres also an irresistible bunch of desserts, most of them created by my sweet-toothed partner, Barry Rice, that you and your guests are guaranteed to inhale: Butterscotch Pots de Crme with Scotched Pecans, ChocolateSour Cream Layer Cake, Salted Caramel Ice Cream, or Elderflower Sabayon with Seasonal Berries, anyone?

At its heart, what I hope this book will help you do is redefine cooking as a joy rather than a burden, an opportunity to express creativity, generosity, and love.

Im sure the most satisfying moment for many cooks comes when they present that glorious crown roast of lamb to their astonished guests. But not for me. Its back at the very beginning of the cooking day, when olive oil splashes into a shiny pan, followed by a dice of onion, carrot, and celerythree workaday vegetables, about to become heavenly soffritto, scenting the kitchen with the promise of great flavors to come. Every single time, I lean in, inches over the pan, wave the aromas into my face, and breathe in greedy snortsone of so, so many pleasures that are the cooks, and the cooks alone.

Sure, I love hearing the expression Bon apptit! But the two words I like even better: Lets cook!

Ted Allen
Brooklyn, New York
Note: Brand names of products are included here and there in this book solely because I like them.

MAKES 10 TO 15 HORS DOEUVRES

YEPSTRAWBERRIES AND TOMATOES. I love serving this to people who dont know whats coming. They scratch their heads, expecting bruschetta to be topped with tomatoes, but whats that other familiar flavor? They always love it. Consider: tomatoes and strawberries are both sweet, tangy, and juicy. Theyre both fruits. Theyre even both red. The more I think about it, the more I want to try this on top of pasta. For now, though, the combo makes a perfect summer appetizer.

1 cup diced fresh ripe strawberries

1 cup diced grape tomatoes

1 small garlic clove, minced

3 tablespoons thinly sliced basil leaves

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

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

teaspoon kosher salt

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 baguette, sliced on the diagonal inch thick

In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper. Let rest for 30 minutes, stirring now and then.

Heat an outdoor or indoor grill or grill pan to medium-high. Spread out the sliced bread on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Transfer to the grill, and toast the bread until golden all over, 2 or 3 minutes per side. Arrange on a platter.

Cover the warm grilled bread slices with a generous layer of strawberry-tomato salad. Serve immediately.

Lots of people, even fancy food-industry people, arent sure how to pronounce the word bruschetta: its brew-SKET-tuh.