All about (BBQ) Oysters

As it happens, barbecued oysters are a specialty in Northern California. More specifically in a town of Bodega Bay (pop. 1,077). Bodega Bay, known for being the site of Hitchcock's Birds, is a tiny town perched on the rocky coast of Bodega Harbor in Sonoma County. Other places surely have considered tossing oysters on the grill but for the purposes of this tale, Bodega Bay is the cradle of this genius idea.

So back to oysters. Raw oysters may be stuff of legends but they do not rock my boat. I don't love the slimy texture nor am I keen on possible pathogens. Barbecued variety came as a revelation (thanks, Ash!) - smoky, buttery, garlicky, irresistible!

Lunch of BBQed oysters from a tiny shack, ahem, cafe.

Lunch left us longing for more oysters, so to the fish market we went to pick up these beauties. After a thorough scrubbing to get the grit off, oysters go on a hot grill (though our batch had to be finished off in the oven). The oyster dude at the grill in Bodega Bay shucks oysters before grilling to avoid handling hundreds of hot oysters but at home we thought we could manage shucking a couple dozen after cooking them since they are so much easier to pop open.

Freshly scrubbed oysters - not a fun job, by the way, and a scrubby brush helps.

Oh, right. Warm and shucked, oysters on half shell got a dose of sauce - we had to wing in here: chopped onions (shallots may have been better here), garlic, barbeque sauce, Siracha (because it makes everything better!), squirt of lemon or lime. I do dearly wish we had fresh parsley to sprinkle on top and I am sure bacon or a splash of dry white wine would not be unwelcome. But we had a perfect accompaniment - Ace Pear Cider, but that's for another post.

Behold, two dozen beauties!

Lastly, I am not a seafood expert so eat the bivalves at your own risk.

Mojito Madness by the Pitcher

When you find yourself with a bowl of limes there is only one thing to be done - mojitos. Lets call margaritas plan B.

There are tons of recipes for mojitos by the glass but no definitive ratios for a pitcher. The following mixture produced formidable and refreshing results. 

2 cups of fresh lime juice (about 30 limes or so)

3 cups of simple syrup (water heated up with sugar to dissolve it, Klatch version is not too sweet but it is all the matter of taste)

4 cups of light rum, like Bacardi

Fresh mint muddled with a few spoons of sugar

Mix it, cool it, and add a splash of seltzer to top off your glass. Bonus tip: hang on to gallon glass jugs like ones that apple cider comes in, with the help of a funnel those work like a dream for mojitos storage and transport.

Boozy Vanilla: DIY

I first had the notion of making vanilla extract at home from "Make the Bread, Buy the Butter." Do it. Order your vanilla beans from Amazon (seems to be by far the cheapest purveyor), slice 3 or 4 open along the length, and stick them into a small bottle of Bourbon (vodka if you are looking for a more pure taste). In the baking cabinet it goes to become in a few short weeks vanilla extract.

Bourbon gives vanilla a more tropical, distinct taste. 

P.S. All my photos are from iPhone these days - would a proper camera produce better results?

Soup with a French Accent

I am not a disciplined cook and so soups are just the thing for someone who isn't so good with precision. And this soup, a hot version of Vichyssoise, has a lot going for it. It's fancy enough to serve to guests and easy enough to make any time. It is vegan (unless you sprinkle bacon on top!) and gluten-free, but will appeal to all palates and is a good choice for a get-together periled by the Venn diagram of dietary restrictions. This soup is also a good choice to make with the youngest members of your household, but more about that later.

Leeks, potatoes, and fennel, that is pretty much all that is required.

Ingredients are easy but there are a few tricks.

• 4-5 stalks of leeks - you want to trim the dark green parts and only use white and lightest green. If you've never cooked with leeks are are filthy and if you don't want a dose of grit in your soup so a good soak is a must. 
• 2-3 potatoes - a little goes a long way! Red potatoes are better, they are less starchy. We went rustic and did not peel the potatoes and by that I mean couldn't be bothered!
• 1 bulb of fennel - the whole thing goes in, fronds and all. 
• Vegetable stock (or chicken stock will do the job too)
• Nutmeg, sea salt, freshly ground pepper.

Leeks are vastly underrated!

The cooking part is easy, saute chopped up vegetables in a little bit of oil for a couple minutes, add stock and water if needed, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and let simmer for a bit (once veggies are soft, it is ready).

Blend the soup - I recommend immersion blender, easy and less mess. That's it.

The smallest Klatch member busied himself scrubbing potatoes and cutting them up. His knife skills are still emerging so the chunks are irregular shape. Never mind that, since the soup is  puréed, it does not matter if the chunks are, um, awkward.

This puppy knife from Kuhn Rikon is awesome, sharp enough for chopping but not sharp enough to cut little fingers. 

All photos by ModernKlatch.

Non Milk: Navigating the Dairy-Free Options

In just the past few days two different people asked about dairy-free options, suspecting intolerances and allergies in their kid-folk. So on the heels of gluten free baking how-to, here is my take on non-dairy milk products. Keep in mind, I am not a nutritionist, these are my opinions and observations.

If you are facing (or choosing) dairy-free, not to fear, you have options and are bound to find one that meets your household's needs.

Choice really boils down to nutrition and taste. I am not qualified to address the former but generally speaking soy tends to be most nutritious and rice least.We did a blind taste test in the early days of going dairy-free of rice/almond/soy - almond was the favorite. Because excessive amounts of soy are rumoured not to be all that great, we usually have a couple variations at home. Here is the the low-down:

• Soy Milk. Definitely most creamy of the bunch and best in coffee (and let me tell you, Soy Nog is better than dairy!).
• Rice Milk. Rice milk is way too watery for me. I do not love the acidic aftertaste and and it doesn't offer much in the way of nutrition. But it works in baking.
• Almond Milk. For me, it is a runner-up. A little sweet, creamy, good for baking and good choice for drinking. 
• Flax Milk. Not as easy to find but Whole Foods and Mom's usually has it. It has a neutral taste and a good alternative.
• Hazelnut Milk. I do not see a lot of it, but chocolate version is popular with the kid-folk around here. 
• Coconut Milk. It is, well, coconut-y, but creamy and rich. A lot of vegan ice-cream recipes call for coconut milk. 
• Hemp Milk. I haven't tried it myself but from what I hear it's a bit grainy.

So when all said and done, here are a few favorites.



For milk, what you find in the refrigerated section is always better than shelf-stable. Eden Soy and 8th Continent are not my favorites. Silk is good but Earth Balance is our favorite for milk, chocolate milk, and nog.






For vegan cheese, hands done Diya. It melts very nicely on pizza and nachos. Word of warning, some non-dairy cheese contains dairy, so read your labels. But really, if you are giving up dairy, I would rule out a cheese board, alas there is no substitution for real blue castello.





For butter, again, Earth Balance, the gold standard so look no further. Honestly, it is every bit as good on toast.

With yogurt, as with cheese, you really have to pay attention. Some non-dairy yogurt contains dairy in its cultures, so if that's important read the labels. But there are many options. Trader Joe's isn't a bad choice. SO Delicious coconut yogurt is great. Whole Soy is tried and true, both Key Lime and Lemon are great options but pass on peach.

 Any favorite non-dairy products I omitted?

My Jam Envy

I admire people who make their own jams and jellies. Everything about the process has charm, like a slightly faded floral quilt and French country-side. Take my friend Eve, those photos of strawberries and neat little jars invoke long summers of childhood. I have not ventured into jam-making so I rely on stores like Mom's to supply me with nearly-as-good as homemade jams and jellies.

So if you don't can, here is your essential jam round-up. First the lingo. Jam, jelly, preserve, spread, marmalade. Jelly is only juice. Spread is a rather new term for jam with too little sugar content. Marmalade is citrus.

First Crofter's. I love the bear on the jar. And the continent-themed fruit spread. Europe here has currants, pomegranate, cherries, and grapes. North America is chock full of blueberries, cranberries, and cherries. South America and Asia are a bit more exotic. It's organic too!



Got some in the fridge and it is going fast!

These jellies and preserves are made by the monks of St. Joseph Abbey in Spencer Mass. Trappist Monks, people! We discovered Trappist jellies on a trip to the Cape.

We had orange-cranberry (super!) and hot pepper (meh). If you know of a store that sells Trappist outside of Mass, I am on the lookout for quince.

Bonne Maman is my third pick, as much for the jar as it is for the preserves. Bonne Maman is made in France with a label that looks handwritten, as if it was actually made in someone's kitchen. No wildly exotic flavors here, just good old-fashioned strawberry, cherry, apricot. Perfect for a hot scone and a cup of Earl Gray.

What other almost-homemade no-Smuckers-in-sight jams should be added to this list?

Lessons in Marshmallow Making

For starters you may wonder, what on earth processes one to make marshmallows when perfectly puffy ones are available at every store in sight. I wondered the same when I first encountered homemade marshmallows for the first time at my friend Dina's house about a decade ago. And then one day I woke up thinking: "Marshmallows."

Among  the some 5,800,000 or so search results for "homemade marshmallows" I chose this recipe from Martha Stewart - if anybody can do it, Martha can! Plus this version is simple (more about that later) and eggless. But not so fast.

Lesson 1: Sugar Pitfalls On my first try I used powdered sugar rather than plain granular sugar. Big mistake, my friends. Turns out powdered sugar contains starch and my mixture, heated up to just the right temperature, just would not fluff. Instead I ended up with with sticky gross goo.


A few days later I summoned the courage to try again. While my gelatin mellowed in water, I started heating up granular sugar, corn syrup, and the rest of the water with a pinch of salt. With thermometer clipped to the side of the pot I felt like a pro!

Lesson 2: Not all corn syrup is created equal. Plain corn syrup might be ok, but some bottles have caramel color and high fructose corn syrup (there is still debate about the health impacts but I just try and avoid it!).

 

The mixture begins heating up quickly and then the heating process suddenly slows down. The last ten or fifteen degrees seem to take forever! Apparently that's just what should happen.

But back to the marshmallows. Once the mixture in the pot heated up to the magic 244 degrees "firm-ball consistency," it went in slowly into the water/gelatin swirling in KitchenAid. A few minutes later the mixture in the mixture begun to fluff! The fluffed mixture went into a glass pan generously sprinkled with powdered sugar. Lesson 3: this is SERIOUSLY sticky stuff. Don't give the bowl to lick to your kid unless they are headed for the shower. And you may want to pull your hair in a ponytail or something.
 

Just a few minutes into whipping, I knew that this batch of marshmallows just may work! It quickly turned glossy white and thick.

Let the mixture dry uncovered  for a day or two before attempting to cut marshmallows into squares. Kitchen shears are your weapon of choice. Lesson 4: You are not Martha, you marshmallows will not look perfect, as evidenced by lumpy specimen below.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons pure vanilla extract
• Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Baker's Kitchen: Most and Least Useful Tools

I've been baking a fair amount. No, scratch that. I've been baking at LOT. Muffins. Doughnuts. Tea cakes. Slowly but surely Klatch kitchen became more functional, more attuned to the baker's needs. The frequently used tools are now within arms reach and we've stocked up on additional baking tins, while other clutter has been relegated to the space above the fridge.

So here is a round up of the best and most undervalued baking equipment and also the items that seemed like a good idea but turned out to be utterly useless.

First, the Hall of Fame.If you have been telling yourself all these years that KitchenAid is only for serious bakers, stop this nonsense and get yourself one. Aqua or bright pink are both formidable options. And if you have one, plant it firmly on your counter and never ever move it (when you do not have to pull it out, you WILL use it). I may one day upgrade to a professional grade with extra juice, but my basic model, black with little specks, has served me well for the past few years.

I have my eye on Kitchenaid ice cream attachment but please skip fripperies like citrus juicer and meat grinder.

Don't underestimate the cookie scoop. This little fella gets a whole lot of use around our kitchen. When handling sticky dough it is the best way to fill up muffins or cupcake cups.

After countless muffins, my cookie scoop met its untimely demise just this morning. I have my eye on this slick one but will probably go with the more practical OXO.

A pretty ceramic pie dish, from France like so many other good things, goes the distance. I have not made an actual pie in some time, but this dish is a standby, whether we are making Sheppard's pie, a crumble, or just need a pretty plate to pile on the veg.

Ceramic pie dish with wavy edge just makes everything more special.

Surprisingly enough, my doughnut pan gets a whole lot of use around here.The thing is, a homemade and baked (rather than deep-fried!) doughnut isn't all that unhealthy. We had doubts, but this doughnut pan is worthy of the cabinet space.

If you are GF like us this pan is a MUST.

On these few things, the jury is still out. Obviously, measuring cups and spoons are very useful. But mine are, well, boring. I am not a fan of over-designed measuring tools but am on the look out for simple, functional, and cute ones to replace the current ones.

how cool are these measuring cups from The Container Store?

c Much of the year I wonder why a cookie press box is occupying valuable real estate in the baking cabinet. It is a one trick pony, if you know what I mean. But then holidays roll around, and I am glad to have spritz cookies, even if it means battling this deceptively simple device.

We are also fully stocked with loaf pans around here. From banana bread to meat loaf, no kitchen should be without a solid set of two (because one just doesn't cut it)l. But this Crueset loaf pan is adorable. It would look lovely next to the previously mentioned ceramic pie dish.

 Now for the overrated category. Don't get me started on the Bundt pan. Don't get me wrong, I like it and it is so pretty, but truthfully, how often does one make a bundt cake? I like my bundt pan and won't part with it, but that pan is lucky to see the daylight once a year.

Maida Heatter's Lemon White Pepper and Ginger Bundt cake is my favorite! Perhaps it is fine time to adapt it and make a GF version!

Cookie cutters are oh-so-pretty, especially the copper ones. But, seriously, how often do you bake roll-out cookies? They never quite turn out with edges slightly over-baked and oftentimes spread out in baking to look like a big doughy blob instead of intended Fleur de Lis or Lobster.

My cookie-cutters are comfortably stashed out of the way.

You might also enjoy last year's cookie posts.

Klatch Kitchen's Fall Bounty

Fall is here. We've carved our first pumpkin. Drank the first cup of hot chocolate. Have been blitzed by acorns from our oak tree. And stocked the kitchen from Mom's and neighborhood Asian supermarket with cozy fall foods.

Not sure why anyone ever badmouths Brussels Sprouts. They must have only experienced them as overcooked bland mush. We roasted our first batch this weekend and Brussels Sprouts will most likely appear among Thanksgiving side dishes at our house.

Simplest and tastiest Brussels: quarter them, drizzle and mix with olive oil, sea salt, cumin, and coriander and roast at 375 degrees 30-35 minutes (just watch closely for golden brown, pulling out before they burn).  

 

This is no ordinary yam. Korean Sweet Potato (Goguma) is nutty and sweet, more akin to a chestnut's flavor than regular sweet potato.

 



Baked or roasted, Goguma is a tasty alternative to sweet potato with a unique flavor. Be sure not to undercook it, the texture is too firm and the flavor just isn't there until it is fully cooked.

 

We carved our first Jack-O-Lantern and toasted the seeds. Our kitchen is the coziest place in the world these days. Don't believe me? Come on over.

 

Pumpkin Seeds drying off before toasting.

 

Homemade spiced donuts getting some mileage out of my new donut pan! These are baked and GF (that's inside speak for Gluten Free). Kid folk was over the moon.

 

A year ago, I couldn't imagine making donuts at home. But it is surprisingly easy once you take the whole deep frying out of the equation. Donuts were especially good just out of the oven.

 

Chef Matt got me past my prejudice for beets but golden beets are a whole another ball game. For one, there is no staining to deal with. And they are so very pretty. Besides, aren't beets the trendy veg these days? Roasted and tossed in vinaigrette, excellent. 

 

 

 

Kabocha is a Japanese winter squash, rich in beta carotene, iron, and potassium. We've always stuck with butternut and acorn, how very dull. Until now (I mean a squash is a squash, right? How hard can this be?).

 

Kabocha awaits its fate in my kitchen.

 

A nod back to the summer, the makings of tomatillo salsa. Tomatillos, onion, lime juice, and jalapeno, into the food processor and done! Spicy tasty salsa to top off anything boring. I must say while the flavor was great, the texture of tomatillo was a turn off. Perhaps green tomatoes next time!

 

 

Happy Fall! Drop me a note and tell me what's cooking in your kitchen.

 



June: Summer on My Mind

Summer, sweet summer. I have been so preoccupied that I have quite neglected Klatch. So time to make up with June picks filled with summer memories.

For starters watermelons, the bright red ripe goodness. To this day I remember my cousin, seven or eight at the time, slinking away from the kitchen table after one too many slices and trotting towards the lavatory. Only this year, for the very first time, did I attempt to elevate watermelon to new heights.

Turns out a splash of olive oil, a pinch of sea salt, black pepper, and some chopped basil turn watermelon into summer party worthy side dish. Many recipes call for mint by the way, which does sound so very refreshing, but there is no mint to be had in my scrappy little herb garden so Basil genovese it was. Grapefruit chunks added a nice burst of acidity. Don't believe me? Check out this watermelon salad from Marcus Samuelsson.



The Merchant's Wife - 1918 painting by Boris Kustodiev

 Around here we are fond of books, reading them and about them. And summer books are like a burst of warm moist air that hits you when you leave air conditioned building. Sure, you could stick with tried and true, like Georgette Heyer. Or you could try Jasper Fforde poolside. Fforde's Thursday Next saga is terribly clever, with word play and books within book references. A book lover's book. Where else does a heroine befriend generic characters, hop around literary classics (in them that is), and has a kid fluent in Lorem Ipsum? Check it out.



The Well of Lost Plots - this one was one of my favorites! Thursday Next hangs out in the well of Unpublished Books, fights grammasites and eavesdrops on gossip about Anna Karenina.


Lastly, let me leave you with a wine pick. Vino Verde, usually Portuguese, isn't a serious wine, it is crispy and effervescent. Perfect just out of the fridge, a bust of freshness on a hot day. And at $6-7 a pop, surly you cannot afford NOT to stock up. Gazela or Casal Garcia are sure picks (despite the garish labels).

Chilled on its own or with food, crisp and refreshing.

• Check out other wine picks

Tasty Muffins

Everyone has a go-to muffin and this one is mine. At every opportunity we stock the pantry from Applehill Country store, including bags of lovely almond flour. The recipe is largely based on this one I dug up eons ago from Epicurious when searching for almond flour uses.

With this recipe as basis, I have made muffins my own, substituting pumpkin for milk or molasses for honey, throwing in frozen cranberries or a bit of bran. I often use cardamom for an exotic whiff of Scandinavian baking. I end up making these so frequently that can spew out the recipe by memory:

Tip: a 1/4 cup measuring spoon is just about right, these muffins do not rise a great deal on the account of heavy flour.

1 1/2 cups of almond flour
1 1/2 cups of flour (brown rice for gluten free version though the outcome is a bit drier, rye or buckwheat for a denser muffin, or just plain old whole wheat flour)
1/4 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of honey (molasses gives a deeper flavor and moisture; buckwheat honey is another good alternative)
2 tsp of baking powder
Pinch of salt
A bit of cinnamon or cardamom, ginger is nice too
1 1/4 cups of milk (I have used canned pumpkin or squash to get some veg in my family's breakfast)
1 egg
Some raisins or cranberries ( I have tried frozen raspberries but the texture is seedy)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine ingredients except the last one in Kitchenaid and mix well while pouring a glass of wine you deserve. Add the last ingredient and keep mixing until just combined.

Scoop mixture into lined muffin tin using 1/4 cup measuring spoon. In the oven they go for 20-25 min(test with a toothpick). Finish your wine - you have breakfast treat or lunch goodie.

And Lemonade Too

When life gives you lemons, why limit yourself to lemonade, especially when said lemons are a bundle of glistering sunny Meyer lemons and a deal you simply cannot pass at a warehouse store (that will not be named here!).

First the lemons. Gorgeous produce is like a work of art. And these lemons are beauties. Meyer lemons are a deep saturated yellow, not your typical anemic lemon, and very juicy.

Yes, I love my Color Theory: Yellow Lemons + Cobalt Plate.

First on my list are Moroccan Preserved Lemons. Many Moroccan recipes call for preserved lemons but I add them to chicken dishes and even salad dressings for that tangy note that’s hard to describe. Preserved lemons sound exotic and are hard to find in a store but could not be easier to make.

I cut my lemons in quarters and stuff them in a jar with a generous sprinkling of sea salt, squeezing wedges down with a spoon to get the juice flowing. Bay leaf and peppercorns give a little extra flavor. The jar can stay on the counter for 2-3 days (push down lemons with a spoon each day to make sure they are covered in juice) and then lemons need a few weeks in the fridge to finish fermenting. A little wedge of preserved lemon goes a long way so a jar will last a good while.

When using preserved lemons skip or reduce the salt so your dish isn't over-salted.

When junior members of the household got a whiff of the lemons bounty, they requested lemonade. So we squeezed the juice, added a bit of sugar and some water. It will keep scurvy away, no?

Pitcher of lemonade reminded us of summer in the middle of dreary January.

Finally marmalade. The remaining lemons and peels left from the lemonade get sliced into strips and mixed with sugar and simmered on the stove until it turns into, well, marmalade. Because Meyers have so much juice, I added just a tiny bit of gelatin to sicken the marmalade. This marmalade has some rosemary from the patch in front of my house though it made the color a little dull so next time I am going to stick with basics!

Since I don't keep canning supplies on hand, I reused some jars slated for recycling bin.

Check out my other cooking posts.

How to Boil an Egg

Speaking of cooking by the seat of your pants, lets talk eggs. Eggs are perfect. Fried, scrambled, poached, over-easy. For breakfast, lunch, power snack or brinner. Hard boiling eggs gets the rep for being easy, but is it? Every chef seems to have their formula. Martha – bring to boil and leave for 12 minutes. The Egg people suggest bringing water nearly to a boil and letting eggs stand covered for 15 minutes. Mark Bittman will have us believe that nothing beats a nine minute boil followed by cold bath. 

I have not done a scientific A/B split to test 9 minute boil against 12 minutes covered, but with dozens of eggs ‘under my belt,’ here is my trusty formula owning to now forgotten online source:

photo: MarthaStewart.com

Eggs go into a pot of cold water, no salt necessary (I read somewhere that salt does not prevent cracking but turns yolk gray). Bring the pot to a boil, lower the temperature just a little and let the eggs boil for 3 minutes. Turn off the stove, cover the pot and let stand for 11 more minutes. Then, drain and pour cold water over the eggs (adding ice to the pot makes it easier to peel the eggs). That about does it.

Dreaming of Tuscany

I confess, when it comes to cooking I am a fly-by-seat-of-my-pants sort of cook. When to my great surprise my herb garden continued to prosper, I needed inspiration to maximize the newly found bounty. The answer: Tuscan White Bean and Kale soup.

The name alone transported me to a place where Chianti flows freely….

…marks of Etruscan civilization are at every corner….

…villas are basking in glorious sunshine and names of towns, like Cortona, roll off the tongue…

Photo: Traveltuscany.net

But I digress. Back to the soup. After perusing Epicurious for inspiration, here is my very own version:

Step 1: Soak a bag of humble white beans in water for a few hours. Or overnight. Whatever works. Before cooking, rinse the beans well - trust me, that is an important step that should not be omitted.

Step 2: Sautee onions in a soup pot with some veggie oil, just to soften. (Carrots would have been nice here too, but I wasn’t about to go to the shops!) Add the beans and pour stock. It’s a soup so you will need a lot of stock, veggie or chicken. Homemade stock is nice, but any low-sodium stock will do the job. Bring to a boil and lower the heat. Add a bit of salt if needed

Step 3: Pour some Chianti or similar beverage (in a glass or a paper cup, not into the soup pot). Sip. Refill as needed.

Step 4: While the beans are cooking, it’s time to tackle the kale. Wash the leaves well, cut out the rough stems, and chiffonade the curly greens. Add kale to the soup when the beans are nearly cooked.  Continue simmering.

Step 5: Harvest some herbs from your garden and chop up the leaves. I used a lot of sage and oregano with just a tiny bit of lemon basil. Add the herbs to the soup towards the very end of cooking.

Now, slice up some crusty bread and serve! If the soup is only ‘meh’ and bland, add more salt and herbs. Or some lemon juice to brighten it. Or add some Chianti will rescue it (still in the cup, not in the soup). Simple peasant food at its best!

What's on Chef's Bookshelf?

Last time Chef Matt visited the Klatch, we talked about underappreciated ingredients. Today Chef Matt shares some of his "go to" cook books. Though when cooking at home he tends to use magazines, like Saveur, a couple books made the cut:

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. “This book has a lot of basics that bring me back to my roots of simple cooking that I often overlook.”

Splendid Soups by James Peterson. “I love making soups that last a few days and I can get multiple meals out of. We'll have a bowl of soup, some bread and a big salad and call it a day.”

At the restaurant Chef’s picks are all about ingredients and combining flavors. I suspect any home kitchen would benefit from these:

Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. “A great book for writing menus. It puts together ingredients that work well together and separates ingredients by cuisine and seasonality.”

Food Lover’s Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst. “Basically a mini food encyclopedia. I use this every week at work, especially when educating the servers in the restaurant about specific ingredients.”

The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. “This is sort of an eclectic meat cookbook with cuts of meat and game home cooks don't use a lot. A lot of interesting recipes. I look through it when I'm looking for something different.”

Next time Chef Matt visits the Klatch I will try my hand with one of his recipes.