Introduction

KITCHEN JAM is a series of fifty-two recipes, one per week for a year, but there is more than food. In addition to easy-to-follow instructions, you get opinions, food science, more opinions, music recommendations, wine pairings, and occasional brief stories of how we arrived at certain recipes.

Our primary emphasis is simplicity. No formal training in cooking is needed to make these recipes. Another emphasis is cooking without measuring: eyeballing, palm of the hand measurements, pinches of things, splashes of things, dollops, getting your hands on the food. Measuring takes all the fun out of cooking. You can learn concepts and approximations, and have great success with flavors even if the dish is slightly different every time. For the sake of convention, we provide measurements in each recipe, but we encourage you to learn quantities without measuring.

           

My co-contributor and dear friend Sybil, of Portland, Oregon, has been an inspiration to me for years when it comes to food. Her flair for extemporaneous food preparation has taught me a great deal, and this collection would not have been possible without her valuable contribution.

About the wine suggestions: In my view, dining is, above all, an excuse to drink wine, but some flavor pairings are unbeatable. There are, however, no rules. Drink wines you like. If they pair well with the food, all the better.

About the music recommendations: I fully appreciate that tastes in music are extremely personal. But just as some of the dishes may expose you to tastes you haven’t experienced, so it is with my music selections. My emphasis frequently moves away from the beaten path of Pop music, into contemporary jazz and classical mainly. Most individual songs can be purchased these days online for $0.99. Try some while you are cooking!

About the Cadenza at the end of each recipe: A cadenza is defined loosely as a flourish of virtuosity performed by a soloist at the end of a musical piece. In keeping with the music theme, I have made some rough suggestions for flourishes on how you can serve up, or dress up, many of the dishes, plus variations on themes.

It took more than 25 years to collect these recipes. That’s a lot of pleasurable eating. I hope you can experience some of the same pleasure, not only with the eating but with the preparation and cooking. So, let's get started with the next posting!