Moulton - Sara Moultons home cooking 101: how to make everything taste better

SEASONAL PRODUCE GUIDE

When you use fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, you dont have to do much to make them taste great. Although many fruits, vegetables, and herbs are available year-round, youll get better flavor and prices when you buy whats in season. This guide helps you choose the best produce so you can create tasty meals all year long.

SPRING

Fruits

Bananas

Blood oranges

Coconuts

Grapefruit

Kiwifruit

Lemons

Limes

Mangoes

Navel oranges

Papayas

Passion fruit

Pineapples

Strawberries

Tangerines

Valencia oranges

Vegetables

Artichokes

Arugula

Asparagus

Avocados

Baby leeks

Beets

Belgian endive

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Dandelion greens

Fava beans

Green onions

Green peas

Kale

Lettuce

Mushrooms

Radishes

Red potatoes

Rhubarb

Snap beans

Snow peas

Spinach

Sugar snap peas

Sweet onions

Swiss chard

Herbs

Chives

Dill

Garlic chives

Lemongrass

Mint

Parsley

Thyme

SUMMER

Fruits

Apricots

Blackberries

Blueberries

Boysenberries

Cantaloupes

Casaba melons

Cherries

Crenshaw melons

Figs

Grapes

Guava

Honeydew melons

Mangoes

Nectarines

Papayas

Peaches

Plums

Raspberries

Strawberries

Watermelons

Vegetables

Avocados

Beans: pole, shell, and snap

Beets

Bell peppers

Cabbage

Carrots

Celery

Chile peppers

Collards

Corn

Cucumbers

Eggplant

Green beans

Jicama

Lima beans

Okra

Pattypan squash

Peas

Radicchio

Radishes

Summer squash

Tomatoes

Herbs

Basil

Bay leaves

Borage

Chives

Cilantro

Dill

Lavender

Lemon balm

Marjoram

Mint

Oregano

Rosemary

Sage

Summer savory

Tarragon

Thyme

FALL

Fruits

Apples

Cranberries

Figs

Grapes

Pears

Persimmons

Pomegranates

Quinces

Vegetables

Belgian endive

Bell peppers

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cabbage

Cauliflower

Eggplant

Escarole

Fennel

Frise

Leeks

Mushrooms

Parsnips

Pumpkins

Red potatoes

Rutabagas

Shallots

Sweet potatoes

Winter squash

Yukon gold

potatoes

Herbs

Basil

Bay leaves

Parsley

Rosemary

Sage

Tarragon

Thyme

WINTER

Fruits

Apples

Blood oranges

Cranberries

Grapefruit

Kiwifruit

Kumquats

Lemons

Limes

Mandarin oranges

Navel oranges

Pears

Persimmons

Pomegranates

Pomelos

Tangelos

Tangerines

Quinces

Vegetables

Baby turnips

Beets

Belgian endive

Brussels sprouts

Celery root

Escarole

Fennel

Frise

Jerusalem artichokes

Kale

Leeks

Mushrooms

Parsnips

Potatoes

Rutabagas

Sweet potatoes

Turnips

Watercress

Winter squash

1 the 10 basics of great home COOKING

I believe that most folks would love to put a home-cooked meal on the table every night. I also understand that a sizable number of those folks figure that doing so is an impossible dream. They tell themselves that they lack the time, the money, and the know-how.

This book is dedicated to the proposition that none of those hurdles is too high to jump. In fact, chances are theyre higher in your imagination than in reality: Making dinner takes less time than you think, it costs less than you think (indeed, its cheaper than fast food), and its easier than you think.

As a professional chef, teacher, and home cook, Ive spent the last 40 years refining my thinking on these very subjects. In truth, it happens naturally. Anyone who does somethingor anythingover and over again finds that the shortcuts begin to make themselves pretty obvious after awhile. (People always ask me, How do I learn to cook? My standard answer is, Just cook.)

The list that followsthe basics of great home cookingcrystallizes my lifetime of experience in the kitchen. I pass it on as an end in itselfgood cooking is its own rewardand as a means to an end: Cooking leads to dining, and dining together strengthens the bonds of family and friends.

1. SHAKE HANDS WITH YOUR STOVE.

Shake hands with your racket is what they used to tell me as a kid taking tennis lessons. (Although I never really excelled at the sportI was always too distracted by the thought of what was for lunch.) Essentially, what they were saying was feel comfortable with this tool first before you start playing. I think the basic advice is sound enough to be transferrable. The equivalent for our purposes is Shake hands with your stove.

You may be shocked to learn that I work with an electric stove and oven. Most chefs prefer gas stovetops. Id probably choose gas myself if the New York City building where we live was zoned for it, but Ive been stuck with electric for years, and not just in the city, but at my parents farmhouse in the country, too. These days I dont mind cooking on an electric stove because Ive become familiar with it. I know to move the pan from a high burner to a low burner when I need to reduce the heat quickly. I know on exactly which oven rack I should place that pan when I want to put some color on my food. You should do the same. Whether you cook with gas or electric, get to know your stove.

2. BUY A GOOD KNIFE.

A good knife is an investment for life; if you spend real money on only one piece of kitchen equipment, let it be for that knife. And it should be a 10-inch chefs knife. Seems like a mismatch, you say? Whats a woman so small doing with a knife so large? Making it easy for herself.

Let me explain. When youre chopping, the knife should do all the work, not you. Youre there to guide the knife, not muscle it. The weight of a chefs knife is greatest at the point where the blade meets the handle. (This is called the bolster.) I refer to the part of the blade that starts at the bolster and extends for several inches toward the tip of the knife as the guillotine. Its the section of the knife under which you should position your victim, whether its an onion, a carrot, or a bunch of herbs.

On an 8-inch knife, the guillotine is only about 2 inches long. On a 10-inch knife its more like 4 inches long. The longer knifes additional real estate allows you to do twice the amount of work in the same amount of time and using the same amount of energy youd expend with the smaller knife. I rest my case.

Its also crucial to keep the blade sharp. Do so by using a whetstone. A whetstone puts an edge back on a knife that has become dull. Its affordable and effective. Just be sure to read the instructions regarding the correct angle at which to hold the knife when you pull it across the whetstone. (It differs depending on where the knife was manufactured.) Or you can use an electric sharpener. As long as you dont overdo it and grind down the blade until it resembles a boning knife, an electric sharpener will do a fine job. (Chefs Choice makes a good one.)