Ultimate Cook Book_ 900 New Recipes, Thousands of Ideas - Bruce Weinstein [1]
We can’t say enough about the generosity of Ariane Daguin at D’Artagnan. She sent boxes of meat, fowl, and even foie gras. When they showed up at our apartment, we were briefly the envy of every foodie we know.
Thanks as well to Oliviers & Co. for a wonderful range of aromatic olive oils that have become an outright addiction. And thanks to Serendipi Tea for a big box of exotic teas. Stephanie Teuwen at Teuwen One Image arranged all these marvels; her support has proved invaluable.
Rival provided us with rice cookers, slow cookers, vacuum sealers, and a range of kitchen appliances that have never left our counters. Thanks to Diane Coffey at The Holmes Group for making that possible.
And OXO offered us kitchen tools that proved indispensable in preparing these recipes. Thanks to Gretchen Holt and Stephanie Karlis for sending us so many goodies.
Finally, we have gorgeous KitchenAid equipment and appliances thanks to Brian Maynard and to Kim Roman at Digitas. Sometimes, it seems we live in a dream.
Over the years, the apparently tireless Beth Shepard at Beth Shepard Communications has worked to provide us with many spokespeople opportunities, among them those with the California Milk Advisory Board, JIF, Smucker’s, Splenda, the National Honey Board, and the U. S. Potato Board.
We’ve had a blast cooking recipes from this book at various cooking schools around the country. Our thanks to Cynthia Liu and Kathleen Taggart at Draeger’s Markets in San Mateo and Menlo Park, California; Phyllis Vaccarelli at Let’s Get Cookin’ in Los Angeles; and the wonderful staff at the Publix Cooking Schools in Tampa and Sarasota, Florida. Thanks to Alicia Laury at Kaplow Communications who helped set up the Florida classes.
Ron and Debbie Eisenberg have given us boundless opportunities. We have great fun at our regular cooking demos in their stores, the Chef’s Centrals in Hartsdale, New York, and in Paramus, New Jersey. We are indulged by their staff and made welcome by all the people who come back time and again to see us.
In honing our craft, we’d be lost without our magazine editors: Jim Romanoff at Eating Well, Tim Cebula and Ann Pittman at Cooking Light, Lisa Chernick at weightwatchers.com, Jill Melton and Candace Floyd at Relish, and Clare Lewis at Today’s Health and Wellness. They have spurred us on to write the best. Plus, Jim brings the best maple syrup from Vermont when he meets us for Chinatown runs.
We’re also grateful to Dave Durian and Mallory Pinkard at WBAL in Baltimore for giving us a chance to strut our stuff on air every Tuesday morning at 7:55.
A book is not only an author’s work; it’s also the work of a publishing house. Lucy Baker and Stephanie Fraser handled all the rarefied and not-so-rarefied details. Sonia Greenbaum did a wonderful job catching all of our pesky errors and straightening out any contorted prose. Once again, Leah Carlson-Stanisic designed a winner and Ann Cahn, as always, kept the whole production schedule moving along. Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich has kept the entire Ultimate series looking beautiful in its design; Carrie Bachman and Milena Perez have worked tirelessly promoting this book and its series. Ken Berger has done wonders with special sales. And many thanks to Emily Saladino, our agent’s assistant, who has the most underrated job in the business. How many panicked author calls can one person field and still remain cool and professional?
And finally, our deep gratitude to our parents who taught us that the good life is always in reach—and, like an apple, to be relished.
Introduction
WHAT, BESIDES CHUTZPAH, MAKES A COOKBOOK THE ULTIMATE? SIX kinds of deviled eggs, a year of lasagne, or a way to make just about every fruit pie? The sheer weight of nine hundred recipes and thousands