Synopses & Reviews
The author of The Sharper Your Knife tells the inspiring story of how she helped nine others find their inner cook
After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, writer Kathleen Flinn returned with no idea what to do next, until one day at a supermarket she watched a woman loading her cart with ultraprocessed foods. Flinn's andquot;chefternalandquot; instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals.
The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.
Review
"Seattle food writer Flinn (The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry) guides you patiently in the kitchen like the mom you always wish you'd had to learn how to cook from. Although a graduate of Paris's elite Cordon Bleu School, Flinn, like Julia Child before her, aims to demystify rarefied culinary know-how and bring basic cooking lessons to the simplest level.. Inspired by a cable TV show that walked guests through their own closets and tutored them on what to wear, Flinn chose nine eager-to-learn women of all backgrounds and ages for her experiment, examined their kitchen cabinets and refrigerators with them, and made each one prepare one of their typical dishes. The results were sadly predictable, as most relied on prepackaged ingredients. Moreover, the waste was staggering (many shop at warehouse stores and buy too much). Over the course of several weeks' worth of lessons, recorded in chapters, Flinn instructed the women in the rudiments of preparing food: from wielding knives, comparing tastes (i.e., salts, mustards), cooking vegetables four ways then 'splashing' with flavors, mastering a vinaigrette and omelet, handling chicken, meat cuts, and fish, and even baking bread. In the end, the women gained confidence under Flinn's wonderfully encouraging tutelage, and fearlessly faced their kitchens and grocery stores with useful knowledge." Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Kathleen Flinn has been a writer and journalist for nearly twenty years. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, USA Weekend, Men's Fitness and many other publications. She is a proud member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, and the Author's Guild. She divides her time between Seattle and southwest Florida.