John Ash: Cooking One-on-One: Private Lessons in Simple, Contemporary Food from a Master Teacher

You love good food. You prefer fresh ingredients, you appreciate lively flavors, you try to eat healthy. So what's keeping you out of the kitchen? Fear? Boredom with making the same old things? In this book, renowned cooking teacher and innovative California chef John Ash says, "Let's get back in there."

Those lucky enough to have learned in the classroom alongside John Ash know that he is an extraordinarily gifted teacher who empowers beginning cooks and kitchen veterans alike to reach new culinary heights. In his celebrated classes, Ash takes the fear out of creative cooking by demonstrating the basics, then encouraging students to dive right in and experiment with the endless possibilities. Now, home cooks can reap the benefits of a private course with John Ash in this enlightening guide to cooking essentials and beyond.

John Ash: Cooking One on One features lessons that focus on specific techniques, ingredients, or flavor-makers--vinaigrettes, pestos, and other building blocks that turn ordinary dishes into something special. With each lesson, Ash presents a handful of recipes--variations on a theme that start simply, then progress to reveal more complex combinations. With clear-cut instructions and a dash of charm, Ash helps cooks build confidence in the kitchen and proves that any dish, no matter how intricate, is based on a handful of simple techniques and troubleshooting know-how.

This unique new collection of recipes--his first since the IACP Cookbook of the Year From the Earth to the Table--offers savory soups, satisfying main course salads, comforting vegetarian and nonvegetarian entrées, and delectable desserts for every occasion. Pan-Seared Sea Bass with Pineapple Melon Salsa. Mojo-Marinated Skewered Beef. Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon, Apple Cider Dressing, and Oven-Dried Grapes. Mushroom-Ginger Soup with Roasted Garlic Custards. Orange Ricotta Cake with Strawberries. Discover an irresistible assortment of extraordinary recipes prepared with global accents and a light touch. As one of the guiding forces behind California cuisine, Ash uses fats judiciously and encourages cooking with seasonal produce. His final lesson, an introduction to wine, rounds out this groundbreaking cookbook.

An unprecedented blend of instruction and inspiration, John Ash: Cooking One on One swings open the kitchen door, stocks the pantry, and invites cooks of all skill levels to dish up fresh, flavorful food at home.

"[C]hatty, straightforward....While these recipes' wide range of flavors and cultures will appeal to sophisticated eaters, many readers will find Ash's clear introduction to unfamiliar methods and ingredients useful." Publishers Weekly

"With its highly appealing style and thoroughly detailed and approachable recipes, Ash's book is highly recommended." Library Journal

John Ash believes that the best way to become a confident, creative cook is to plunge right in, explore the possibilities, and learn as you go. John Ash: Cooking One-on-One presents his liberating approach in 22 lessons, each one focusing on a specific technique, underused or unusual ingredient, or a flavor maker — the vinaigrettes, salsas, and other components that turn ordinary dishes into something special. Each lesson opens with an essay that deepens the reader's understanding and appreciation of the technique, ingredient, or extra component. Ash then provides simple recipes and explains how to build on them to develop a personal repertoire of dishes both plain and fancy. His sensational recipes for fresh, satisfying California-style food will inspire readers to new heights of culinary inventiveness.

Inviting readers to learn as they go, Ash's sensational recipes for fresh, satisfying California-style food will inspire new heights of culinary inventiveness.

JOHN ASH is the author of From the Earth to the Table, which won the IACP awards for Best American Cookbook and Cookbook of the Year, and writes a regular column for the Los Angeles Times syndicate. A renowned food and wine educator, he teaches at the Culinary Institute of America and other venues around the world and joined Fetzer Vineyards as their culinary director in 1990. For the past fifteen years, he has hosted a local talk radio show about food. He lives in Santa Rosa, California. For more information, visit www.chefjohnash.com.