Happy in the Kitchen: The Craft of Cooking, the Art of Eating

It's the passionate professional chef with a compulsion to explore whom we should thank for those extraordinary techniques and ideas that continually find their way into the home kitchen. Whether it's poaching in plastic or using vegetable waters instead of fat to enrich flavor, or new tricks with the inexpensive Japanese mandoline, professionals expand our horizons. And among his colleagues, Michel Richard is the chef's chef, the one others look to for inspiration. "Why didn't I think of that?" asks Thomas Keller, in his foreword to Happy in the Kitchen, about Richard's innovative technique. Michel Richard leads the way and always has—at his L.A. restaurants, Citrus and Citronelle, and now in Washington, D.C., at Michel Richard Citronelle and his newly opened Central. He never ceases to explore and his food never fails to satisfy.

Happy in the Kitchen is teeming with "Richard-esque" discoveries, whether it's an amazingly simple technique for dicing vegetables, a delicious [low-carb] carbonara made with onions rather than pasta, or a schnitzel made of pureed squid. He's playful—always—but also a perfectionist and an iconoclast. What can you say about a chef who makes risotto with potatoes, prefers frozen Brussels sprouts, and whips up spectacular chocolate pudding and béchamel in the microwave? A chef who doesn't shock blanched vegetables in ice water, but uses his freezer as though it were a fifth burner, and turns raspberries and almonds into "salami"?

Enamored of crispness, this master chef, who calls himself Captain Crunch, makes a potato gratin that is all crust and fries carrots until crisp. Always seeking to surprise, he stuffs onion shells and serves them as pasta, and he scrambles scallops and serves them as if they were eggs. But the surprise is not just in the form the ingredients take in each dish, but in the taste.

Richard offers recipes for the foods we love, but always looks for the twist that makes good things great—whether it's Lamburgers, Lobster Burgers, or Tuna Burgers, Turkey "Steak" au Poivre, or the chocolate reverie Michel calls Le Kit Cat. And with recipe titles such as Shrimp "Einstein," Jolly Green Brussels Sprouts, Chicken Faux Gras, Figgy Piggy, Chocolate Popcorn, and Happy Kid Pudding, Happy in the Kitchen lets you know you're in for good tastes and good times.

Every delicious moment is captured in glorious images of finished dishes, as well as exceptional step-by-step photographs that make easy work of slicing, dicing, shaping, and other essential hand skills. Happy in the Kitchen is a book that will make you laugh and learn, and it will delight you every step of the way.

"In this hefty follow-up to his 1993 debut (Home Cooking with a French Accent), Richard imparts culinary wisdom of the highest order in cheerful nursery tones. Humpty Dumpty, Captain Crunch and a vegetable called Mr. Beet are a few of the merry characters who populate his kitchen. Goofiness apart, the book is filled with clever, innovative techniques and little-known time-savers (microwave bchamel, anybody? food processor sorbet?). Most of the recipes hinge on Richard's unconventional methods, and their successful execution does require a certain level of skill. Attention-grabbers like Asparagus Salmon (in which asparagus spears are slipped inside the pocket of a salmon fillet which is then sliced like a terrine), and Red Snapper in a Spinach Coating are elegant enough to serve to a Michelin inspector, yet are corralled and fenced within the range of ability of a competent home cook. Other dishes are more demanding — the superlative Lamb Loin with White Bean Sauce, for example. In any case, professional cooks and serious amateurs will find this volume an essential resource." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Michel Richard is a man giddy with invention. Enamored of crispness, this master chef, who calls himself Captain Crunch, makes a potato gratin that is all crust. He makes his grits with tomato water rather than stock (lighter and fresher). He brûlées chocolate mousse, makes risotto from potatoes, and “salami” out of raspberries and almonds. He’s always looking for the twist that makes good things great—whether it’s his lamburgers, lobster burgers, tuna burgers, turkey “steak” au poivre, or the chocolate reverie Michel calls Le Kit Cat.

Step-by-step photos demonstrate Richard’s innovative technique that makes easy work of dicing, shaping, ruffling, and a plethora of other indispensable hand skills. With recipe titles such as Shrimp “Einstein,” Jackson Pollock Soup, Chicken Faux Gras, Figgy Piggy, and Happy Kid Pudding (made in the microwave), Happy in the Kitchen’s promise is good tastes and good times.

“Michel Richard is a wizard, a man whose food appeals as much to his fellow chefs as to his adoring customers. I cannot wait to tackle these recipes”. 

—Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything “In the pantheon of American Gastronomy, there's not a bigger genius or provocateur than Michel Richard. No one provides gravitas and humor, simultaneously, quite the way he does. Happy in the Kitchen is utterly brilliant. I only wish I had written it!

” — Charlie Trotter

Step-by-step photos demonstrate Richard's innovative technique that makes easy work of dicing, shaping, ruffling, and a plethora of other indispensable hand skills. With recipe titles such as Shrimp REinstein, S Jackson Pollock Soup, Chicken Faux Gras, Figgy Piggy, and Happy Kid Pudding, this book's promise is good tastes and good times.

Michel Richard, chef of Citronelle in Washington, D.C., made that rarest of leaps in the world of food—from the pastry kitchen to chef of one of the country’s foremost restaurants. A chef who inspires colleagues with his creativity of invention, he was among the first chefs inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who in American Food and Wine. He has been a guest on Good Morning America and the Food Network, and is featured regularly in such publications as Gourmet. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and children.Susie Heller, executive producer of PBS’s Chef Story, has produced award-winning television cooking series and co-authored numerous award-winning books, among them The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller and Bouchon by Thomas Keller and Jeffrey Cerciello. She lives in Napa, California.Thomas Keller has received yet another James Beard Award in 2006 (this time for Outstanding Restaurateur), and both The French Laundry and per se earned three stars from the Michelin Guide.Deborah Jones's recent honors include Best Photography in a Cookbook from the James Beard Foundation for her work in Bouchon. A frequent contributor to national magazines, she conducts a parallel commercial career from her San Francisco studio.Peter Kaminsky is a cookbook author and a New York Times columnist, and was the Underground Gourmet for New York magazine. He has written books with chefs Gray Kunz, Daniel Boulud, and Fabio Trabocchi. He lives in New York City.