One Pot Comfort
Meredith Laurence
Photography by Jessica Walker
Walah!, LLC | Publishers
Philadelphia
First Edition
Copyright 2018 by Meredith Laurence.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States by Walah!, LLC/Publishers
Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data
(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)
Names: Laurence, Meredith. | Walker, Jessica, 1975- photographer.
Title: One pot comfort / Meredith Laurence ; photography by Jessica Walker.
Other Titles: Blue Jean Chef | Make everyday meals in one pot, pan or appliance
Description: First edition. | Philadelphia : Walah!, LLC Publishers, [2018] | Includes index.
Identifiers: ISBN 9781948193146 | ISBN 1948193140 | ISBN 9781948193139 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: One-dish meals. | Comfort food. | Electric cooking, Slow. | Hot air frying. |
Pressure cooking. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.
Classification: LCC TX840.O53 L38 2018 (print) | LCC TX840.O53 (ebook) | DDC 641.82--dc23
ISBN- 13: 978-1-948193-14-6
ISBN- 10: 1-048193-14-0
Printed in USA
Book design by Janis Boehm
www.bound-determined.com
Photography by Jessica Walker
www.jessicawalkerphotography.com
Food styling by Lisa Martin
Nobody writes a cookbook alone. I have many people to thank who helped me put this book together and it really says something that for most of the people on my team, this is our sixth project together. I am honored and proud.
Lisa Martin youre not only my right hand, but my left leg as well and I wouldnt be able to stand up without you.
Janis Boehm you can now add jigsaw puzzle expert to your resume and if I ever start playing chess, I want you on my team.
Jessica Walker your grace and vision continue to calm and impress me.
Michele Pilone, Bill Hornaday and Lori Phelan thank you for your dedication and long days of food styling.
Penny Markowitz you did a lot of reading and re-reading for me. I appreciate your friendship.
Suzanne Smith, Virginia Puddicombe and Heidi Cooke thank you for distributing so much recipe testing food to friends and neighbors, spreading a little sunshine around.
Tanya van Biesen youve been right there for over thirty years and managed to test recipes on demand despite your busy schedule (even if you did bend the rules now and then). Thank you.
Linda Lisco I truly feel your support every day. Thank you for listening and guiding me down the path gently.
Eric Theiss we will always be there as each others sounding boards.
To Annie. You put a lot of work into every aspect of this book more than any partner should ever have to or want to. More importantly, you are always there to support me and keep life going when times get crazy. Thank you. Im coming home from book-land now.
Table of Contents
Im a lucky person. Im lucky that I love to cook, because I love to eat. Im also lucky that I have a great connection to others who love to cook and eat through my Blue Jean Chef social media community. Every day I hear from folks who want to show me what theyve made in their kitchens, or who have questions for me about how to make something they are craving. As a result, I have a great sense of what many cooks across the country enjoy preparing and devouring.
People love comfort foods. This is not a revelation. People also seem to love one-pot cooking because it means one-pot cleaning. This is also not a revelation. What is a little more noteworthy is that there are so many one pots to use these days and that makes one-pot cooking more interesting. I cant tell you the number of times I get a question like how would I make that in my pressure cooker or Instant Pot? or could I do that recipe in my air fryer? or is there a way to use my slow cooker for that dish? And all those questions led me to this cookbook.
In this cookbook, full of traditional and non-traditional comfort food recipes, Ive given you a tried and true way to prepare dinner on the stovetop or in the oven. Every recipe in this book can be made with these two standard pieces of kitchen equipment. But then, for those of you who love your more modern kitchen appliances, those of you who are looking for a faster way to make something using a pressure cooker or a more convenient way to prepare dinner using your slow cooker, and those of you who are looking for a more health-conscious cooking method using your air fryer I give you options (and its always good to have options). Whenever it makes sense when its faster or more convenient AND gives you the same great results the recipe has alternate cooking methods for how to make it using other kitchen appliances. If it doesnt make sense to prepare the recipe any other way, I tell you so.
All these recipes are intended to be the only thing you will need to cook for a complete dinner. You may want to supplement the meal with a piece of bread or a salad (and I do give you suggestions), but you wont need to cook anything else, unless of course you want to. The main rule for every recipe is that at the end of dinner, youll only have one cooking vessel to clean up.
So, take inventory of your kitchen. Youre about to make dinner YOUR way.
The majority of our cookware is intended for use on top of the stove. For the recipes in this book, youll need three items for stovetop cooking. The first is a Dutch oven. My preference is for a cast iron Dutch oven because I love the way cast iron browns foods as well as how it distributes heat evenly for long slow braises. If you dont have a cast iron Dutch oven, however, a large stainless steel or aluminum stockpot will work for you as well. Just make sure that the pot is oven-safe (ideally broiler-safe). A 6-quart Dutch oven will work for all these recipes, but in many cases you will be able to get away with a smaller 4-quart size.
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