When children leave their parental home to go out into the world, they are faced with quite a few decisions regarding their new life. A choice they don’t have is about eating. Just like you and me, they must eat to live! There are quite a few people who live to eat, but that will not concern us here. In feeding oneself, you have one of three choices:
1. You can go to restaurants (anything from fast food to fine dining.)
2. You can have someone cook a meal for you (a relative or friend.)
3. You can cook something for yourself.
Restaurants are a great pleasure, but only if the food is good. Eating fast food on occasion is fine; I have done it more than once in the past. Fine restaurants still don’t guarantee healthy dining all the time. Also, if you eat out a lot, you will eventually get tired of it. Unless you live in a large city like Chicago, New York or Los Angeles, the variety of eating establishments will be limited. You will quickly find that your bankroll is limited as well. This is even more so when times are tough, such as the recessions that we experience from time to time.
Another consideration about restaurants is that the food is not always as good as we expected.
Oh, the food may have been good, but we may have hoped it would be better, considering the money we v
spent. Think of all the occasions when you were slightly disappointed with your meal. I won’t even mention those times when the service was lousy.
If we let someone else do the cooking all the time, it’s a good way to lose friends. It may be a fine approach to eliminate some unwanted family members, but not recommended. By the way, a spouse falls within the category of friends and relatives. If your spouse is not that good a cook, it’s even more imperative for you to be one. If that person lacks culinary skills, it would behoove you to do some cooking and be good at it. It will only strengthen the relationship. Your mate may then be reluctant to say goodbye to you and your good cooking! There must be some truth to the statement,
“the way to a person’s heart is through the stomach.”
It looks as though the third choice is inevitable. You won’t stop going out to restaurants if you can afford it. Besides, it’s good to get out of the house. In addition, you can go over to have some of mom’s cooking every so often and you shouldn’t pass up an opportunity to share a meal at the home of a friend or relative. It’s just that learning to cook is a requisite.
If cooking seems like such drudgery, how can we make it more palatable? That pun was intended. Four things will do that, namely the food should taste very good, the cost should be small, the food should be good for you and the preparation should be minimal. I don’t think anyone will disagree on these points. Two other minor points are to be made. First, you are not embarking on a vi
diet. Second, food that is good for you doesn’t necessarily imply so called “health foods.”
Regarding this last statement, someone wrote a letter a while ago to a food magazine asking for cookie recipes that were made without egg yolks, sugar, salt, butter and margarine. Didn’t she want flour omitted too? Anyway, she can eat those cookies; I certainly won’t.
What will it take to be a good cook? First of all, you have to accept the fact that you will not become one overnight. It will take time to develop those skills. So start small and work at it. There will be failures, so you have to be willing to adapt. If something doesn’t work out to your satisfaction, there are two things you can do about it; you can figure out what went wrong and make appropriate changes so that the next time the result will be a masterpiece. The other option is not to try the recipe again. Who needs the aggravation?
Another quality necessary is being able to follow directions. A recipe will tell you to do things in a certain way. There is a reason for it. Someday you will find that there is a better way and that is fine. Adaptability and good judgment are necessary but they will come with time. When you first start out you will follow instructions to the letter. With experience, you will be able to add certain spices and ingredients to make the dish better. You will also be able to leave out and substitute one component of a recipe for another. But it will take time and experience.
You had better acquire a good sense of humor if you don’t already have one. People will vii
make comments about your food that you may not appreciate at times. Just laugh it off and remember that taste is subjective. Over the years, you will find that you will be getting more praises than insults.
Remember that you’re only human. How does that saying go? “It is better to have cooked and lost than never to have cooked at all.”
You will need organizational skills too. This simply means good planning. If you are having a dinner party with two dishes that each require a crock pot, you better either have two crock pots or be able to get a second one on short notice. Little details are more important than you think. If you are cooking a roast of pork in the oven and need the oven for baking chicken wings, you will have to resolve the conflict. The solution may be as simple as using the same oven temperature for both with the roast going on the bottom rack and the wings on the top rack. It may not be that simple, though.
I have been cooking for well over forty years. Some of the highs and lows are chronicled in this book. I have also taught high school math for eight years. This certainly doesn’t give me the right to be a cooking teacher, but I do feel very strongly about writing a book on cooking. I have never taken a cooking course but I don’t really think it’s necessary. I know plenty of people who are excellent cooks and have taken no culinary courses whatsoever.
In a sense, my cooking course took place over the last forty years or so. It was truly a field experience. I myself have been my strongest critic, but there have been others too. I have had the best viii
teachers as well, from my mom and grandmother to many friends in different areas of the country. I have to give credit to Gourmet magazine, whose many recipes I have tried and enjoyed, as well as to the late James Beard. I still have his basic cookbook, the first one I ever bought. It is showing its wear but I cannot recommend it highly enough for the novice as well as the experienced cook.
There are many more teachers too numerous to mention.
What makes this cookbook different from all the rest? Certainly you can find books that emphasize the four aforementioned requirements: easy to fix, good, economical and great taste (less filling is not required.) You can also find many cookbooks with plenty of good hints for success in the kitchen. Didn’t someone on The Mary Moore Show mention that a good performance in the kitchen would result in being rewarded in the . . .
never mind.
This book has all that. It also has humorous anecdotes that should make you smile. It is based on my trips away from my place of birth. It features suggestions for meals as well as parties. It has my experience in it. It starts out slowly but proceeds to achieve the ultimate growth possible. It is not the ultimate cookbook, but one that you will enjoy as part of your collection. Most important, it will be useful and it will be a good teaching tool. Who could ask for anything more? Bon appétit!
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~~~ Utensils and Tools ~~~
If you are going to do any serious cooking, you will need tools. Here are some of the things that I use as well as others that I don’t.
large iron skillet – one of the best ways to satisfy your daily requirement of iron is to cook in an iron skillet
small saucepan – used to cook vegetables and gravies
medium saucepan – used to warm up leftovers and also for vegetables
Dutch oven – for the main course small skillet – great for a sautéing and can be used for
re-heating
covers – you may have a cover for every pot and pan but one cover may be used for more than one pan
blender – I can’t see a kitchen without one; you can grind
coffee beans, make milkshakes, crush ice cubes, and so on
spatula – one of the greatest kitchen inventions ever
wooden spoons – great for stirring; the old ones hold up the best, while the newer ones seem to be of softer wood
electric mixer – for whipping creams, egg whites, and other uses
mortar and pestle – the only way to grind spices hand grater – good for grating ginger, carrots, and potatoes
x
corkscrew – not really necessary if you buy wine drunk out of a bag
toaster oven – throw away your toaster as this oven can take its place and do a lot more tableware and cutlery setting for eight – you will need it for those dinner parties; use paper and plastic for larger parties potato masher – I mash potatoes and rutabagas with it, while some prefer to use an electric mixer.
oven thermometer – many ovens are inaccurate; it gives
you a better idea of the real
temperature
meat thermometer – helps for roasts of pork, beef, or
lamb
ovenproof casserole – for dishes that you cook in the
oven
bread pans – if you plan to bake bread, you will need two; you can use a cookie sheet to make round loaves
cookie sheets – for oven baking and roasting metal rack – needed for roasts and to cook chicken wings in the oven
bread bowl – if you are serious about bread baking, this is a must; I received mine as a gift; it is an eight-quart earthenware dough bowl for oven and microwave and I have used it as a punch bowl and for pasta
other implements – steak knives, rolling pin, paring knife, bread knife, carving knife, knife for chopping and mincing, soup ladle, serving spoons and forks, gravy bowl, serving bowl, basting brush, measuring cup xi
and spoons, can opener, plastic containers for storing leftovers, pot holders, dish towels, vegetable steamer, wine glasses, beer mugs, peppermill, wok, metal skewers, charcoal grill, pancake flipper, coffeepot, colander, chopping block, strainer, ice bucket, waffle iron, ice cream maker
You will not need all these tools at once.
Buy them as you need them, or ask for them as gifts. The following are some kitchen products that I don’t own and probably won’t ever buy.
flour sifter – at one time I had one but you really don’t have to sift flour
electric flour sifter – people actually buy these things
microwave oven – a vastly overrated kitchen tool; you can warm a leftover item in a small pot on the stove, even if it is frozen solid food processor – no one actually uses these as they take so much effort to clean and really aren’t that good; anyone who has one has it packed away in its original box
dough hook – I am content to make bread with my own
hands
ice crusher – you can use your blender to crush ice capaccino machine – I don’t own anything I can’t spell
deep fryer – if I want deep fried foods I go to a greasy
spoon
xii
meat slicer – I thought about buying one many years ago, but a good carving knife will do just
fine
fondue set – the cheese industry would go out of business if they depended on me egg poachers – anyone who steals eggs should get high
cholesterol
battery powered butter warmer – I use solar power for warming my butter
Common abbreviations will be used throughout this book. Teaspoon will be abbreviated by tsp, tablespoon by tbsp and pound by lb. The number of people that a recipe will serve will be an approximation since some people eat like birds and others like vultures. You will note that the recipes are indexed alphabetically as well as by the type of dish, such as pork dishes, appetizers, desserts and so on. Good luck!
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1. Leaving home: beginning to cook In the summer of 1968, I left home to venture into the world. My destination was the state of New Jersey. I had found a job, teaching math at Mahwah Jr-Sr High School. Being a teacher meant a minimal salary and very few meals at restaurants.
I knew I would have to do most of my own cooking, or else mooch meals from fellow teachers – not exactly my style.
When I think back to those days, I recall that I had a few set meals to get me through. I could cook steak for the first day and a friend’s mother had given me her recipe for spaghetti sauce, so that would take care of the second day. The family name of Giordano meant a guaranteed recipe of success for a true Italian effort, even if I was Polish. For the third day, I could cook a chicken or turkey potpie or TV dinner as the center of the meal and my own chili recipe would suffice for the next day. On the fifth day, I could try chicken, probably with the help of “Shake and Bake” and for the sixth day would have beef stew from a can over egg noodles. Day seven might be something as simple as hot dogs and the leftovers would carry me over for three more days, at least. You will note that my selections did not include that very familiar dinner of macaroni and cheese.
The first cookbook that I ever owned was the June 1968 printing of The James Beard Cookbook in paperback, a book that I cannotrecommend highly enough for any serious 1
cook. It is probably the cookbook in my collection that is most worn out and certainly the most used of the lot. Getting back to those early days of cooking for me, this is the way my meals occurred. The recipes that follow are the way I would cook them around the time The Read My Lips Cookbook was published.
2
~~~ day one ~~~
The best way to cook steak is outside on a grill. The wintertime may put a damper on this idea but there is an alternative: pan-frying. This means cooking the meat on a hot skillet without the use of butter, oil or fat. No matter how you cook the steak, try to minimize the use of salt. The meat has so much flavor by itself that it’s not necessary. As for the type of meat, sirloin and London broil are fine. I find that chuck steak, although it costs less, has too much fat and gristle. Another key point is to keep the flavor in by searing the meat. Charcoal briquettes are fine for cooking or even plain charcoal, if you can find it. Just make sure that the fire is hot so that the flavor is locked inside.
grilled steak
serves 6
2 lbs sirloin steak
fresh ground pepper
Rub each side of the steak with ground pepper and place on the grill. Cook for 5 minutes and then turn over. Allow 5 minutes for the second side also, but you can check for doneness by slicing into the steak. How long you let the steak cook depends on how you like your meat: rare, medium, or well done.
3
pan-fried steak
serves 6
2 lbs sirloin steak
non-stick cooking spray
fresh ground pepper
Heat an iron skillet over high heat until it is almost smoking. Trim all the fat from the steak. Sprinkle each side with pepper. Spray some non-stick cooking spray on the pan. Place the steak in the pan and let it sear for 1 minute. Turn the steak over and repeat for 1 minute. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes and then turn the meat over and cook the other side for 5 minutes. Check for doneness with a knife and serve.
The note about removing the fat before pan-frying reminds me of the time I came home and on opening the door thought the place was on fire. I was overwhelmed by smoke. As it turned out, my friend Spike was pan-frying a steak and he had left some fat on the meat. That’s what will happen if you don’t remove all the fat from the steak. Timing your meals with a smoke alarm isn’t a good idea.
baked potatoes
serves 4
4 baking potatoes
fresh ground pepper
butter or margarine
Heat oven to 400°. Wrap each potato in aluminum foil and place in oven. Cook for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Serve with butter and pepper.
4
French-style beans
serves 4
10 oz pkg. frozen French-style green beans 2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
¼ cup sliced almonds
1 tbsp lemon juice
If you have a vegetable steamer, steam the beans for 5 minutes. If not, cook the beans according to the package directions. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and sauté the almonds until they are golden brown. Add the mustard and lemon juice, blending well. Add the sauce to the beans and serve.
You can make a salad with spinach, escarole, romaine, leaf or iceberg lettuce and just about any vegetable you desire. Personally, I don’t buy tomatoes in the wintertime since they taste like cardboard.
tossed salad
serves 4
8 leaves of romaine lettuce, shredded ½ cucumber, sliced
3 chopped scallions
1 fresh tomato, cut up
salad dressing
½ green pepper, sliced
croutons
Mix all the vegetables in a large bowl. If a particular vegetable is not available (such as green pepper or cucumber), it can be omitted. Serve the salad in individual salad bowls; add dressing to each, along with some croutons.
5
croutons
6 slices of bread 6 cloves of garlic, minced 3 tbsp olive oil
Cut the bread into ½-inch cubes and let dry overnight. In an iron skillet, combine the oil and garlic and sauté over medium heat for 2 minutes or until golden brown. Add bread cubes and stir frequently with a wooden spoon until they are browned.
You can also make croutons by baking them.
baked croutons
6 slices of bread, cubed
garlic powder
Spread bread cubes on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with plenty of garlic powder. Bake at 250° until they are golden brown, checking now and then to be sure they don’t burn.
oil and vinegar dressing
1 pkg. Good Seasons dressing red wine vinegar dry red or white wine olive oil Follow the instructions on the package but instead of using water, use wine.
Credit for this idea goes to Marguerite, who taught with me in New Jersey and knew a few things about good food.
6
menu for day one
grilled steak
baked potatoes
tossed salad
French-style beans
7
~~~ day two ~~~
I had the pleasure of sharing an apartment in Buffalo with my friend Spike from the fall of 1969
to early 1970. Spike advocated cooking spaghetti sauce for days on a very low simmer, to blend all the flavors. We made a batch of sauce with ground beef and pork neck bones once and it came out splendid. However, even though the sauce was done, Spike insisted on turning on the heat, to keep it simmering. I would turn off the heat. This went on for a while. Somehow, Spike won out and the sauce kept simmering. Unfortunately, the meat in the sauce disintegrated and the bones turned out as soft as the meat had been. As a result, we had to dump it.
8
spaghetti with meat sauce
serves 8
1 tbsp olive oil
1 carrot, grated
2 lbs pork neck bones
1/8 tsp cinnamon
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 large onion, minced
1 tbsp dried basil
2-six oz cans tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 cup water
1 clove
2-28 oz cans tomato puree
2 bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch of sugar
1 stalk celery, minced
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 cup dry red wine
1 lb Italian sausage
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
1 lb meatballs
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven and add the pork neck bones. Brown on all sides; add minced garlic and onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomato paste and water and cook for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients, except for the sausage and meatballs, and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn heat down to low and simmer for 5 hours. Remove the pork bones, strip remaining meat from bones and add back to the sauce. Add sausage and simmer for 30 minutes. Make the meatballs, add to the sauce, and simmer for 1 more hour. Remove sauce from stove and place in the refrigerator to cool. Reheat the next day and serve over spaghetti cooked as directed on the box.
9
meatballs
1 lb ground round steak
½ cup bread crumbs
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg, beaten
fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
In a large bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients and form the mixture into approximately 12 meatballs. Heat oil in an iron skillet over medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides. They are now ready to drop into the sauce.
menu for day two
spaghetti with meat sauce
fresh Italian bread
tossed salad
dry red wine
10
~~~ day three ~~~
A potpie or TV dinner is not that exciting but it can be a meal if you add a tossed salad, a baked potato, and a vegetable. Since the oven was on anyway for the pie or dinner, why not bake a potato at the same time? Just start the potato ahead of the main entree or else your potato will be slightly crunchy.
cooked beets
serves 4
6 medium beets
water
Wash beets and cut off the tops, leaving 1 inch or so. Place beets in a small saucepan with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and cook until tender, about 45 minutes.
Remove beets from the pan and let cool for 5
minutes. Remove outer skin from the beets, slice and serve.
menu for day three
chicken pot pie
baked potatoes
tossed salad
cooked beets
11
~~~ day four ~~~
By now, you probably think that my friend Spike was a terrible cook, but not so. He was a diligent cooking student and he knew what it was all about. I remember some of the extraordinary beers and stouts that he brewed. He could also make an excellent chili. He once visited me in New Jersey and insisted on making a batch of the stuff. He didn’t have all the ingredients that he needed but did a great job of improvising. He started it while I was at work and it would have been superb except for one thing – he fell asleep while it cooked. The burner was set too high and the chili burned on the bottom of the pot. Unfortunately, the burnt taste took over the entire flavor of the dish.
12
chili con carne
serves 8
2 lbs ground beef
4 tbsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp ground turmeric
2 large onions, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 green pepper, chopped 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 stalk celery, cho