BOOK REVIEW: Michael Symon’s Live to Cook

This book was acquired with a GC that I got for Christmas. I first became familiar with Michael Symon when I watched him defeat John Besh for the title of Iron Chef on The Next Iron Chef Season 1. His infectious laugh made me think his food might not be so serious and yet it was all I could do to keep from running to the kitchen to duplicate his efforts.

Next, while reading Michael Ruhlman’s book Soul of a Chef, I really enjoyed his insight into Symon’s restaurant Lola. He portrayed a hard working, mid-western chef with high standards that understands the balance between eating local and seasonal and producing dishes that appeal to his audience in Cleveland, Ohio. The message was that he cooks from his soul.

Symon’s book takes up where Ruhlman’s story of Lola leaves off, he brings you into his life and points out the influences that brought him to where he is, at the point of writing this book.

His narratives entertain and educate at the same time and then there’s the recipes and the bonus of the Symon Says tidbits.

While he believes a dish should be started and finished in one pan he refers to his style as “heritage” cooking. Based on the foods of his family, he has been influenced by Greek-Italian-Eastern European and American recipes.

He writes pages on Fresh Sausages, Vinaigrettes, Confit, Braising, Roasting & Grilling, etc. giving his take on technique. And, he gives us pages on Humility, The Power of Cookbooks and Family explaining his connection to the world.

This book is a cover to cover read; more cookbooks are going in this “novel” direction these days. Michael mixes it up with personal revelations, descriptive techniques and specific tried and true recipes.

It is written with Michael Ruhlman and you definitely feel his guidance and style in the narrative…never a bad thing!

I highly recommend this book and of course have many dog eared pages for recipes I’ll be trying out!

Three New (to me) recipes

I cooked today for a client where I make 3 entrees for two weeks worth of meals. So when Nana asked me what we were making today I realized I'd chosen 3 new recipes. One, the Meatballs, is a similar dish to things I've made in the past but was just a bit twisted.  So, thinking about the blog, I asked her to bring her camera and shoot pics of the new dishes.  All she needs is an excuse to carry her camera!  And who knows how long I'll be able to enjoy having her as sous chef/photographer, someday she'll get a new job and be unavailable for weekday cookdates!

The three dishes were: Roasted Pork Tenderloin w/Eggplant Relish; Thai Turkey Meatballs in Spicy Peanut Sauce and Chicken Breast Marbella.  The chicken dish is a modernized version of a famous recipe from The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins.  The original recipe uses a whole chicken cut into pieces, the updated version is from Eating Well Magazine and uses boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

All three turned out very well.  The Meatballs in the Spicy Peanut Sauce are too hot for Nana and the bit of heat in the Eggplant Relish for the Pork Tenderloin wasn't her favorite either.  But the Chicken Marbella received a favorable review. The clients prefer lots of heat, in fact their fridge is better stocked with a variety of hot sauces than most grocery stores!

Side dishes included Honey Ginger Baby Carrots; Scallion Rice and Roasted Cauliflower, Chick Peas and Olives.  No pics of the sides, as we get more accustomed to taking pics we'll be more mindful, especially since they were very colorful today!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin w/Eggplant Relish

Thai Turkey Meatballs in Spicy Peanut Sauce

Chicken Breasts Marbella

Another good day of cooking!  I always feel so lucky to be getting paid to fulfill my own personal passion: cooking for others!

Mother's Day Cooking Project

So it was decided that Nana would pick out a recipe from her favorite TV chef: Ina Garten and we'd cook it together.  She chose Loin of Pork with Fennel from Barefoot Contessa at Home.  We decided to have it with Mashed Potatoes and Celery Root and Green Beans with Toasted Almonds and Lemon.  We also baked a Meyer Lemon Cake w/Cream Cheese Frosting.

We went shopping at the Natural in Forest Hills, which was so busy with Flowers for Mom's Day! We bought a 2 1/2 lb. Boneless Loin of Pork and I butterflied it, stuffed it with the fennel, onions, breadcrumb mixture and then retied the roast.  While it roasted we tackled the truly ugly celery root aka celeriac or celery knob.  (See the picture below) We also prepped the potatoes and green beans and made a gravy with onions, toasted and ground fennel seed, white wine and chicken broth, lightly thickened and reduced.

Celery Root:

The table for two:

The finished dinner plate:

The Meyer Lemon Cake:

And the plated slice:

It was a delicious meal and a great day cooking together!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY NANA AND ALL THE MOM'S NEAR AND FAR!