Aaron McCargo - Simply Done, Well Done

Simply Done, Well Done

Aaron McCargo, Jr.

with Mary Goodbody

Photography by Lucy Schaeffer

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Simply Done, Well Done

Aaron McCargo, Jr.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright 2010 by Aaron McCargo, Jr. All rights reserved.

Photography 2010 by Lucy Schaeffer. All rights reserved.

Food styling by Simon Andrews

Prop styling by Amy Wilson

Designed by Waterbury Publications, Inc., Des Moines, Iowa

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

McCargo, Aaron.

Simply done well done / Aaron McCargo, Jr. with Mary Goodbody ;
photography by Lucy Schaeffer.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-61533-1

1. Cooking. I. Goodbody, Mary. II. Title.

TX714.M27 2010

641.5--dc22

2010026278

ISBN: 978-0-470-61533-1; ISBN: 978-0-470-94562-9 (ebk);
ISBN: 978-0-470-94563-6 (ebk); ISBN: 978-0-470-94564-3 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my first sous chef: my oldest son, Joshua McCargo. When he was younger, Joshua and I cooked together, and I remember the fun we had. Joshua, with his good looks and sense of humor, and I, with my love for bold flavors, made an awesome comedic team. Despite the challenges he currently faces, I am confident that the passion Joshua has for cooking will steer him back to the culinary field and back to the stand-up routine we created in the kitchen. Son, I love you, and I can't wait until we are in the kitchen again, side by side and making culinary magic.

Acknowledgments & Thank Yous

First, I would like to thank God, for without Him and the gift that He gave me none of this would be possible. I would like to thank my wife, Kimberly, and my children, Joshua, Justin, and Jordan. I can't tell you how much I appreciate your patience and support. It's been an interesting journey, and I'm glad you are along to share it.

In addition, I want to thank:

Aaron, Sr., and Julia McCargo

My brothers and sisters, Vang, Carla, Andrew, Brad, and Donavan

The McCargo family

Thanks to my nieces Ashlee Matthews, Victoria Matthews, and Jessica McCargo for helping with the recipe development. Thanks to Jonathan Jernigan and the top six students of the Cathedral Kitchen Culinary Arts Program, class of 2009: James Workman, Dionne Matthews, Lebron Harvey, Adriel Lopez, and Lynn and Jose Fontanez.

Thanks also to:

My Dawg, aka Pastor, Ronald King, Sr.

Eric E. Hansen

My D-2 partner in culinary crime, Phil Falsone

Jill Falsone

Alberto Nieves

Justin Schwartz

Robert Flutie and staff

Jane Dystel and staff

Mary Goodbody

Mike and Cherrie

Jayson Belford

Doug Miller

Ian Russo, aka Salt

Pop, aka Jimmy Cosby, and Brenda

Old Dirty, aka Kevin Gaines

Debra Taplin

Al and Michelle Woods

Scott and Stephanie Shanklin

Wayne and Wanise Tally

Tank and Wanda Williams

Orion and Cheryl Joyner

Art and Victoria Loften

Special thanks to A'Driane Dudley, for taking pictures of my food that make me salivate and Lucy Schaeffer for the gorgeous photos in this book

My brother-in-law Steve, for shooting my video for NFNS

Living Hope Christian Center Family

Jefferson Hospital

Cooper Hospital

Food Network

Cathedral Kitchen, for the use of your facility

Carmen's Hoagies, for feeding me, the Big Daddy, Yellow Submarine and the Jug Handle

Cape May Atlantic Community College's Academy of Culinary Arts

The staff of We Cater to You: Stephanie Smith, Pat Hansen, the Blair family, and the late Barbara Blair

Marlton Tavernyou know what you have done for me.

Habeeb and Erica Saliu

Betty Johnson

Introduction

I wrote this book so that I could share my recipes with everyone who has over the years asked for them.

It's also for anyone who may not know much about me but who just loves! loves! loves! to put boldly flavored, well-cooked, and familiar food on the table.

Who doesn't fall into this category?

This is how I cook. I coax the essence of a dish over the top, so that the food absolutely shouts with intensity and playfulness. I jack up just about everything I makeand by this I mean that I take the flavors to such heights that the final dish is totally exciting, yet without becoming a caricature of itself.

Ultimately, this is what I hope you will experience when you cook from Simply Done, Well Done . If your family is anything like mine, you will all fall in love with these recipes. I have a wife, three kids, five brothers and sisters, and numerous nieces and nephews, all with impressively sensitive palates, and they let me know when something I have cooked is spectacularand also when it certainly is not! My siblings and I talk about what flavors we love, what we would like to try, and what we remember savoring from long-ago childhood meals.

As you read through the recipes, you will notice references to my sisters and brothers, who often drop by the house just before dinnertime or at other times toting some food that they want me to cook. I have created some of my best meals during these impromptu cooking sessions. I love to experiment with flavors and foods that appeal to my wife Kim and me. Even my young children voice their preferences and have inspired me to culinary peaks.