The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks by Kathleen Flinn, 304 pages. Available in hardcover, Kindle, Nook, and ebook from Viking.
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.
From the description you might think this is another one of those preachy food books, glomming on to the latest in guilt tripping readers about their shoddy diets and lack of a sustainable farm in their backyard. Well, it isn't. Author Flinn does tackle the problems of modern shopping and consumption, but she comes by it honestly. Her authentic approach to changing the way these nine women (and this reader) think about cooking is refreshing and accessible. The experiment - to follow her students into their pantries followed by a series of basic cooking classes - works because Ms.Flinn is passionate and relatable. She understands the limits of the typical home cook - budget, time, skillset- and is able to weave a narrative around each of these obstacles that is helpful rather than annoying. Ms. Flinn's gentle way with her students encourages them and readers, while honoring their circumstances. I found her to be an incredibly thoughtful instructor and writer.
I loved this book and am planning to reread as a reminder that real food is always a better choice over the quick fix. It is worth it to mash my own potatoes, bread my own chicken tenders, and dress my own salad. You know how I love a good foodie book, and this one has become an instant classic on my shelves.
I am delighted to be able to give a copy away. Leave me a comment and share your biggest struggle in the kitchen. Mine is assembling a meal with the ingredients I have...especially towards the end of the week. I'm pretty organized about my grocery list, by the time it comes to cooking I struggle to find a recipe to accomodate some of the ideas I may have had while shopping. That and I'm tired by the time Thursday rolls around :).
Kathleen Flinn's first book The Sharper The Knife, The Less You Cry, and is on my TBR list.
For the author's website: http://www.kathleenflinn.com. There are bios on the partcipants and recipes here.
For the author's YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/katflinn
Bon Appetit!
The End.
