Читать книгу Cooking Outside the Box: The Abel and Cole Seasonal, Organic Cookbook - Keith Abel - Страница 7

Cooking: v. cooked, cook•ing, cooks To prepare food by the action of heat, or to become ready for eating through such a process.

Cooking has quite a broad meaning. There seem to be no rules in doing this cooking thing, nor is there any specific result a part from making something ready for eating. (OK, OK, unless you’re baking, or making something French.)

Bearing this in mind, most of the recipes in this book use local produce and can be played with, added to, miss things out, chuck it in, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, oops that’s going to be a bit spicy, I think it needs more wine, hey I think I need even more wine…You might end up with the odd disaster if you get too carried away, but that’s what cooking is about – experimenting and trying new things. So you haven’t got any carrots, use a parsnip! No potato? Try a swede. Substitute your heart out, it can be very rewarding!

Most of the time you can work on the assumption that…

 Spinach = chard = kale = pac choi = all the cabbages = dandelion leaves if you’re really desperate

 Potatoes = swede = turnips = parsnips = Jerusalem artichokes = beetroot if you’re feeling colourful = kohlrabi if you’re in a box scheme (good luck finding it anywhere else!)

 Squash = pumpkin = sweet potatoes = parsnips again = carrots

 Rocket = watercress = young spinach = lettuce

 Leeks = onions = shallots

 Celery = fennel = celeriac

 Pears = apples

 Broccoli = purple sprouting broccoli = asparagus = peas = green beans = runner beans = broad beans = all the beans

Cooking is also about enjoying yourself in the kitchen and not taking it all too seriously. Don’t stand in silence when cooking – throw on a CD and shake your booty! Sing out loud and embarrass the kids. Take off your clothes and throw on a pinny. Take off your clothes and don’t throw on a pinny! (Mind the Aga…) They say the kitchen is the heart of the home, so make it the place where people want to be, make it fun, and share the experience with your family and friends.

If you think cooking is a chore, you must be doing it the wrong way…