texasmesquite

'Splendid' cookbook helps make mealtime a snap

By REBEKAH DENN
SeattleP-I FOOD WRITER


To Lynne Rossetto Kasper, the world is divided into two kinds of people: "Those who wake up thinking about what they're going to eat for supper, and those who don't." Kasper, whose warm-as-toast voice is the hallmark of public radio's "The Splendid Table," belongs to the first group.
But her new cookbook is aimed at both.

"The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper: Recipes, Stories and Opinions" (Clarkson Potter, $35), co-written by show producer Sally Swift, was mentally consigned to my reject pile when I first saw the cover. Too many new cookbooks are bloodless brand builders or celebrity tie-ins, and few of them stir up new energy in the kitchen.


But "How To Eat Supper," based on the show's "Weeknight Kitchen" feature, was an inspiring ticket straight to the stove. After a few days it was baptized by a fast twist on salmon in white wine and a cinnamon-based take on spaghetti sauce, and showered in coconut from a speedy two-step macaroon dessert. The page corners were bent to mark tips and techniques on general rules of cooking rather than just paint-by-numbers recipes.
Whereas Kasper's previous cookbooks focused on Italy, this one roams loosely around cultures -- a melting pot that drops a Thai influence into a cantaloupe soup, plays a Moroccan riff on stew, even offers a "crossover spice blend" ( 1/4 cup ground cumin, 1/2 cup ground coriander, 1/8 cup black pepper) that can be adjusted to evoke flavors of different cuisines (more coriander and pepper for Indian dishes, for instance, or adding ground chiles for a Mexican touch).
"You know how you get in sort of a rut, you go through a period where you're using very similar flavors again and again?" Kasper said by phone, part way through a tour that will bring her to Town Hall in Seattle on Monday night. "Well, it dawned on me one day, if I'm using this combination all the time, why don't I make that combination and it can at least be a starting point?"
The mix of "recipes, stories, and opinions" is meant for a new sort of America, a country where the way we eat has changed so much and so fast, with food becoming a more central, "more controversial, richer, more pleasurable, and more puzzling" obsession.
"If I told you (years) ago a book on cod would make the bestseller list of The New York Times, we'd both be laughing," Kasper said. "Is there a cable network that doesn't have some sort of food show? It's entertainment, it's almost white noise a lot of the time."
Kasper and Swift, struck by the popularity of their show's "Weeknight Kitchen" feature, wrote the book for two very different groups: people who love food but don't love cooking, and people who love cooking but don't have time.
"Sally and I kept thinking about what's the real world of what you deal with on a work night?" Kasper said.
As the show's host, even after long hours at work, it's still a pleasure for Kasper to walk into the kitchen where "everything else falls away. It's just me and my chicken."
But, she added, "I think there has been so much guilt built up with all of this interest in food, (and) there's also that thing of, 'Well, you should cook.' I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way. We weren't all born to have the same love or ability or predilections."
Even among "Splendid Table" listeners, she said, about half don't regularly pilot their own stoves. They're just interested in the broader look at food that the show provides.
Still, for anyone who eats, it helps to absorb tips such as how to choose cuts of meat, how to select good kitchen equipment or which brands of boxed chicken broth or extra-virgin olive oil are recommended or, just as important, not recommended.
Kasper's hope for the book is that, if you do feel like cooking, it "will hold your hand throughout the process, and give you something you can do easily, that you can do relatively quickly, and that you'll enjoy putting in your mouth."
And if not, she'll understand if you find other ways to enjoy eating.
"If (cooking) was not my predilection," she said, "I would be doing takeout."


THREE-PEA TOSS
SERVES 4-6

• 1 to 1 1/4 cups sugar snap peas
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• Generous pinch of sugar
• Salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
• 1 to 1 1/4 cups snow pea pods
• 1 cup frozen baby peas
• 2 tight-packed tablespoons fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 1/2 cup salted whole almonds, coarse chopped

String the sugar snap peas with a small, blunt knife: Grasp the stem between your thumb and the blade and pull down the length of the pea pod. Rinse the pea pods and dry them thoroughly.
Heat a wok or a straight-sided 12-inch saute pan over high heat. Swirl in the oil. Add the onion, sugar, and salt and pepper, and toss over high heat for 1 minute. Add the sugar snaps and toss for 30 seconds. Stir in the snow peas and cook 30 more seconds. Finally add the frozen peas and stir-fry for another 30 seconds, or until they are thawed. Turn the peas into a serving bowl, and toss with the mint and almonds. Serve immediately.


SALMON PAN ROAST WITH GARLIC SHAVINGS AND BASIL ON FRESH GREENS
SERVES 4

• GREENS:
• 1 5-ounce bag (or 4 handfuls) fresh spring greens or mesclun mix
• 1/4 pound (or a handful) fresh sugar snap peas, coarse chopped
• 12 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
• SALMON ROAST:
• 4 small wild salmon steaks, cut 1 inch thick (or fillets), or other firm-fleshed fish
• Good-tasting extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 3 large garlic cloves, sliced paper-thin
• 12 fresh basil leaves, torn into large pieces
• 2/3 cup dry white wine
• Lemon wedges

Divide the greens among 4 dinner plates. Scatter the sugar snap peas and the 12 torn basil leaves over them.
Rinse the salmon and pat it dry. Examine the fish for any tiny bones and remove them.
Lightly film a slant-sided 12-inch skillet with the oil, and heat it over medium-high heat. Season the salmon steaks on both sides with the salt and pepper. Slip them in the skillet and sear for 1 minute. Turn the fish with a metal spatula, taking care not to break it, and sear for 1 minute on the other side. Sprinkle the garlic and the basil leaves around the fish. Turn heat to medium low, cover the skillet, and cook for 6 to 7 minutes, turning the steaks midway through cooking, or until the salmon is just firm when pressed. The flesh should be barely opaque near the center. Remove the fish from the skillet and keep it warm.
Add the wine to the skillet, turn the heat to high, and stir, scraping up any brown bits from the bottom. Simmer until the pan juices are sizzling and syrupy. Drizzle the hot sauce over the greens and top them with the salmon. At the table, squeeze the lemon over the fish and greens.
NOTE: The steak is easier to handle than fillet, but if the fillet is the only option, heat extra oil in the pan and slip in the fillet, skin side down. Cook until the skin is crisp, then loosen the fillet with a metal spatula and turn it to finish cooking on the other side.


SALLY'S COCONUT MACAROONS
MAKES 30 COOKIES

• 2 large eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Generous pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon almond or vanilla extract
• 3 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spread a sheet of parchment paper over a large cookie sheet, or butter the sheet.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, salt and almond or vanilla extract. Blend in the coconut until it is completely moistened. (This is not supposed to be a batter, but rather well-moistened clumps of coconut.) Drop generous teaspoonfuls onto the baking sheet, and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the macaroons are golden brown with crisp edges. Transfer them to a rack to cool.

SUPPER TIME: KITCHEN TIPS FROM LYNNE ROSSETTO KASPER AND SALLY SWIFT

Skip the measuring spoons. Train yourself to measure by sight. Here's how: Every time a recipe calls for, say, a teaspoon of something, first measure it into a measuring spoon, then plop it into your palm. Before long you'll know the amount by sight and be able to skip the spoon. Caveat: Stick with measuring spoons for baking, where precision is a must.
Keep greens green. Here's how to keep salad greens in prime condition for 10 days: Wash and thoroughly spin-dry greens as soon as you buy them, keeping the pieces whole. Place the leaves in a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag with a piece of paper towel to wick up extra moisture. Squeeze out all the air, seal shut and refrigerate.
Rice isn't that hard: Few things intimidate cooks as much as achieving "the perfect rice." Forget it. If you can boil water, you can make great rice. Treat it like pasta: Boil it in lots of water, drain just before it's done, and let it stand, covered, a few minutes. Perfect fluff.
Olive Oil Golden Rule No. 1. Older is never better; flavors fade in a year. Don't pay hefty prices for premium extra-virgin oils unless the label bears a harvest date and that date is less than a year ago.
Don't blame yourself if a dish fails. "It is not you; most likely it is your oven. Give yourself absolution and solve the problem of oven betrayal by buying an accurate oven thermometer. For a modest amount of money you can find a type we have depended upon for years. It is a rectangular metal plate printed with a temperature gauge. Attached to it is what looks like a glass tube containing mercury, but in fact it is a harmless temperature-sensitive substance. Hang it in the center of the oven, let the oven preheat for 20 minutes, and check the temperature. Then adjust the oven's setting as necessary."
Preheat. When you get home from work, turn the oven to 450 degrees. "Even if you have no idea what you are going to be eating, this single act starts supper. Roast thin-sliced chicken in minutes, caramelize vegetables in half an hour, transform stale bread into garlic-laden slices topped with oozing cheese. That single turn of a knob opens you to culinary serendipity." From "The Splendid Table's How To Eat Supper"