by Gwen O’Neill

In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to learn by heart

(Clarkson Potter, 151 pages, $28), by Alice Waters with photos by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton

September 2011— 
After you’ve been working hard all day at your job or your own business, or volunteering at your child’s school, do you frequently find yourself grabbing a prepared meal for your family? Perhaps you really like to cook but can’t face the thought of putting together a complicated recipe.

Alice Waters’ book In the Green Kitchen: Techniques to learn by heart will teach you a set of basic techniques used in every cuisine around the world. When these techniques are learned, cooks are freed from dependence on recipes, helping them become more creative in the kitchen.

What better way to put interesting meals on your table than to learn simple techniques from the masters? In the Green Kitchen explores methods that will help you create more satisfying meals.

Waters includes several pages about stocking a pantry. From shopping and selection of ingredients to making your own vinegars, she guides the reader to an understanding that the pantry is the basis of always being able to look forward to cooking as a joy and not a chore.

The remaining chapters in the book contain recipes from many famous chefs who came together in San Francisco on Labor Day weekend in 2008 for the Slow Food Nation event. In addition to providing recipes, most chefs explain how to vary those recipes, so you can be more flexible and rely on what you have in your pantry.

Have You Tried Making Mayonnaise?

You may already have a good understanding of the best way to wash, dry and store lettuce — but have you ever made your own mayonnaise? It is far superior to store-bought and worth taking the time to experiment for special meals. Making mayonnaise is an example of the way the book teaches the basic techniques, and then explains how to make variation — flavoring the mayonnaise in many ways, with a variety of herbs and other ingredients.

How Do You Like Your Veggies?

In the chapter on pickling vegetables, David Chang honors his Korean background by combining Western ingredients with Asian flavors. Chang said, “One of the pleasures of pickling vegetables is cutting and slicing them to show off their beautiful shapes and colors — especially winter root vegetables.”

He explains how pickled vegetables can make tasty appetizers and can be great tasting sides for sandwiches, cold meat plates or fried foods. The salt and sugar pickles include radishes, cucumbers and watermelon for a dish that can be enjoyed immediately without curing.

Non-pickled vegetables also get plenty of attention. “Freshness really matters with corn — as soon as it is picked, the sugars in the corn start converting to starch,” says Bryant Terry. “Choose ears that feel plump and fat with tightly closed, bright green husks and golden brown silks. Look for stems that are moist and pale green, and check for tight, small, plump kernels.”

Terry talks about sautéing corn for use with a variety of other vegetables and gives some tips on preparing the kernels for cooking. His recipes include sautéed jalapeno corn, polenta with fresh corn and variations on cornbread.

I grow a lot of chard in my garden year-round and was happy to see an interesting recipe for greens from Niloufer Ichaporia King, who was born in Bombay and is the author of My Bombay Kitchen.

Greens with Ginger & Chile

1 to 1 ½ pounds amaranth or other leafy greens

4 coin-size slices peeled fresh ginger

1 to 2 tablespoons oil

salt

1 fresh red or green chile, or 1 dried red chile

Sort the greens, removing any tough stems, and wash and drain the leaves. Cut the ginger slices into a fine julienne, or chop them, or simply leave them as round slices. Cover the bottom of a wok or generous skillet with a layer of oil, and heat over medium-high heat. Add some salt to the oil, then add the ginger and the chile pod. Any number of kinds of chile will do; it is for flavor, not heat. If it is a fresh chile, make a slit in it to prevent it from bursting in the heat.

When the ginger begins to sizzle, stir it around and add the greens. Use tongs to toss the greens to distribute the oil and flavorings and to keep the greens moving and cooking evenly. Very tender greens will wilt and cook in 1 to 2 minutes. For sturdier greens, reduce the heat and cover the pan for a few minutes to let them steam and wilt. The greens are delicious served warm or at room temperature.

Fresh Fruit

One of the chapters I will enjoy experimenting with is “Baking Fruit.” Claire Ptak says, “I love fruit at the end of a meal and am easily satisfied with whatever is ripe and in season. However, if I have guests and want to give them something more than fresh fruit, simply baking sweet peaches or nectarines transforms them into a warm and fragrant dessert. All kinds of fruits are lovely baked — pears, nectarines, apricots, pluots, apples — but peaches are particularly luscious and juicy. This recipe gilds the lily a bit with berries and wine. If those ingredients are not on hand, don’t let that stop you; the peaches are wonderful baked without them.”

Baked Peaches

4 servings

4 ripe freestone peaches

1 cup huckleberries, blackberries, or raspberries (optional)

3 to 4 tablespoons sugar

½ cup white wine, dessert wine or water

whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Halve the peaches and remove the pits. Arrange the peaches in a shallow gratin dish, cut-side up, in a snug single layer. If you like, fill the cavity of each peach with berries. Sprinkle the sugar over the peaches and berries — more or less, depending on the fruits’ sweetness. Drizzle the wine or water over the fruit. Bake the peaches for about 20 minutes, until juicy and tender. Serve warm with their juices and, if you like, with softly whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

If you love to cook and want to enhance your skills in the kitchen, consider In the Green Kitchen. Proceeds of the book will benefit the Chez Panisse Foundation in support of Edible Schoolyard — a national movement to change the way children eat and how they learn about food in the public schools.