Cat Cora - Cat Coras classics with a twist : fresh takes on favorite dishes

Copyright 2010 by Cat Cora
Photographs copyright 2010 by Luca Trovato

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book,
write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company,
215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

www.hmhbooks.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cora, Cat
[Classics with a twist]
Cat Cora's classics with a twist: fresh takes on favorite dishes /
Cat Cora with Ann Krueger Spivack.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-547-12603-6
1. Cookery, American. 2. Cookery, International. 3. Quick and easy cookery.
I. Spivack, Ann Krueger. II. Title.
TX715.C793 2010 641.5'55dc22

Book design by Kris Tobiassen
Food styling by Rori Trovato
Prop styling by Jennifer Barguiarena

Printed in China

SCP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my beautiful wife, Jennifer:
our love will always be timeless.

And to my four awesome boys,
Zoran, Caje, Thatcher, and Nash:
you keep my life fresh and exciting.
I love you "bigger than the world."

I'd like to thank Susie Heller, the "Godmother of the Napa Valley," a great friend and a wonderful godmother to Zoran. Thanks to Tom Stauffer: you have made Susie happy. To my grandmother, Alma: you continue to help me win at life, even though I miss you. To the best parents a girl could ever have, Virginia and Spiro: I love you and am grateful to have you as a beacon of light. To Joanne and Terry: thank you for always keeping our history alive. To Randy and Carla: thank you for always being there for me and our family. For Mike, Chris, Jeff, Jason, Kim, Carrie, Jennifer Ann, and Michelle: I am so proud to have you as my brothers and sisters. For my very cool nieces and nephews, Morgan, Nicholas, Alexi, Anna, Andrew, Paxton, and Hailey: kisses and hugs from your cool aunt. To my godparents, Taki and Maria: thank you for your love, grace, and support. Much love to Demetra, Yanni, and Eleni, my Greek family in Skpelos: I raise a toast of ouzo to you as often as possible. Opa! To my extended family and friends in Mississippi: I love y'all and will expect some warm boiled peanuts and cold beer on my next visit. To our awesome friends in California: surf's up and beach dinners are on!

Thanks to my assistant, Ashley Campbell, the epitome of a professional and an invaluable right and left hand. Thank you for always standing by with a flotation device.

To Jaime Wolf, my attorney: you've been with me from the very beginning, through thick and thin. I treasure your opinions and, most of all, your integrity.

To Jason Hodes, my agent: sometimes it feels more as if you're one of my brothers. Together, we make great things happen after all these years. Looking forward to the future with you and the team at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment.

Thank you to Mark Johnson, my manager and friend, for coming into my life and believing in my "big ideas." You rock!

To Jeff Googel, my agent: you are the man with the plan. Thank you for keeping my bills paid and my kids fed and for just being a great guy to work with.

To Dorian Karchmar, my book agent: there are so many books in my head that I want to write; thanks for helping me sift through them all.

To Rebecca Brooks, my publicist: thank you for all your tireless work and dedication, and thanks for making it fun. To Erika Martineau, Brianne Carmody-Perea, Amanda San-toro, Courtney Henderson, and the rest of the Brooks Group team: thank you for all that you do every day to help me reach my goals.

I owe so many thanks to the folks who helped create this third book. To Ann Krueger Spivack, with me from the start: we did it again! You are a good friend and one of the best writers I know.

To Rux Martin for embarking on a journey again with me on this book and for setting us up for success.

Many thanks also to Brooke Jackson for testing, testing, and testing. You are so patient, smart, and dedicated. Thanks also to Pamela J. Utz, Donna Soo, and Erin Scarabosio: I appreciate your lending your recipe-testing skills and palates.

To Luca Trovato: you have an incredible eye and talent. I am so proud of the photography in this book and the way you captured my food and family. And to Rori Trovato, one of my favorite stylists: thank you for always helping my food look its best.

Thanks to Kris Tobiassen for her excellent book design, to Teresa Elsey and Tim Mudie at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, to Susan Dickinson for making sure everything is right, and Jacinta Monniere for all your hard work.

To Paul Jowdy at Bon Apptit: thank you for believing in me and making a leap of faith a few years ago. You are the best publisher and the most fun to work with. To Amy Foster Devore: you and I connected from go and have not stopped since. To Barbara Fairchild: thank you for being my friend and ally. To public relations director Frederika Brookfield: you are a mover and shaker. To the rest of the team at Bon Apptit: you're the best in the business.

To the Disney team of Jay Rasulo, Brian Betts, Regynald Washington, Ed Wronski, Roland Muller, Mahmud Dhanani, Chef Dee Foundoukis, Felipe Poma, Tom Starck, Pam Brandon, and Sonia Beard: I am proud to partner with Disney on my restaurant Kouzzina.

Many thanks to Kevin Frawley, Chris Thomes, Debbie McClellan, Bill Barretta, the Muppets, and all the Muppet team for the exciting and unique chance to work with the Muppets and my partner Angelo.

To Warren Wolf, Kelly Lainsbury, Mike Dimola, Stacy Rosenthal, Tim Scott, Susan Johnson, Cheryle Haley, Dana Smart, Becky Stengl, and the whole crew at CCQ and Macy's for launching CCQ with me and including me on the Culinary Council.

To my Iron Chef America team, Lorilynn Bauer, Ed Cotton, Matthew Hudak, and Richard Blais: we will keep rockin' Kitchen Stadium.

To my friends at the Food Network and Iron Chef America: you reign supreme.

In my professional life as a chef and on television in Iron Chef America, my style is to use what's at hand and run with whatever ingredients are in front of me. In my own kitchen, I do the same thing, putting together meals as we try to keep our two one-year-olds, Nash and Thatcher, amused, while seven-year-old Zoran is banging on his drum set and three-year-old Caje races from room to room at top speed. When you have four boys under age seven, the competitions on Iron Chef seem calm and quiet compared with making dinner at home!

Like a lot of cooks, I have dishes that I cook over and over again, because my family loves them. But just because something is a classic doesn't mean I make it the same way every time. In this book, I start with my favorites and show you how to add an exciting flavor to make a meal stand out without a lot of extra effort.

Take stroganoff. When I was a kid in Jackson, Mississippi, my mom's faithful standby was beef stroganoff made with canned mushroom soupmy brothers and I never failed to clean our plates. These days, though, I give the concept a twist, substituting chicken for the beef and freshening it up by adding Marsala, Dijon mustard, and fresh tarragon. The meat comes out moist and delicious, and it's a breeze to make. Instead of boring burgers, I often make mine with ground salmon mixed with fresh basil and top them with an easy-to-make herbed sherry mayonnaisesame idea, but not the same old deliverylighter, fresher, better.