Good Cooking: The New Basics
by Jill Dupleix
Silverback Books, 2005

A Review by Kathleen Daelemans with her mom, Rita.

Mom's Ratings – 4 1/2 Spatulas
I'd give you my ratings but I can't. I bought the book for myself and as usual, my Mother asked if she could "borrow" it. I used to have bookshelves filled with all the latest cookbooks. Since moving back to Michigan 5 years ago, despite receipts for over 200 new cookbooks, I don't have possession of a single one. "You don't read them anyway, Kathleen. And besides, why should we both buy copies of the same book?" Oh, I don't know, maybe because we live 7 miles apart and that's a long way to go to look up a recipe for dinner!

Mom's Pros
The book features really beautiful pictures. Maybe some day your publisher will spring for pictures in your books. Heaven knows they can afford it. Lots of the dishes are vegetable heavy and meat like and since your father imagines he's 5 sizes smaller than he is, he needs all the vegetables he can get. The recipes don't have too many ingredients and I can get my hands on most of them. My cut off number is 10. Recipes with more than 10 ingredients are a turn off unless the pictures are super gorgeous. Less than 5 ingredients and I'm telling all my friends about the book on my way out of the store.

I'm pushing 65 you know. I've got better things to do than stand in the kitchen all day. Your father has retired from home repairs. Suddenly I'm Tool Time Tessie. Today I have to drag bundles of brush he cut and tied into bunches larger than my car. If I don't get it done before he comes home and he does it, he'll have to be hospitalized. Not because it's too much work for him. But because he complains so much. He imagines himself collapsing from exhaustion but he can't possibly because he doesn't do anything.

Mom's Cons
We made the mistake of buying the book in Canada when we ran away from home and couldn't cross the street or in our case, couldn't afford Paris. Now I have to convert grams and milliliters but the book is available in the U.S. with pounds and ounces.

Mom's Favorite Features
There are pages that show up every once in awhile that feature a list of tips and two sentence recipes for a single ingredient. There's one on limes with recipes for Lime Butter, Avocado and Lime Whip, Pork with Lime and Mint, Cucumber and Lime Smash, and one for Lime and Coconut Macaroons I must try. There are tip pages on pasta sauces, honey, mushrooms, sesame seeds, soy sauce and more.

From Mom's Kitchen Notebook
I loved the recipe for Zucchini with Mint and Almonds on page 49. It's a different way to eat up zucchini and heaven knows it's the only vegetable you can buy in August. All I did was heat julienned zucchini in a non-stick skillet with a minimum of olive oil until it was just warmed through. I added slivered almonds and chopped fresh mint and served it to your father who didn't roll over and die. In fact, he ate a huge portion of it because there wasn't anything else to pig out on.

Last night we had Abruzzese Lentil Soup. Abruzzo is a province in Italy I'd like to visit if I could stand to travel with your father. But I can't. He fusses like an old lady and he reads the maps wrong. The soup was really nice if you like a nice mildly flavored soup. But if you're in the mood for complex and hearty, make it with broth or stock instead of water. The recipe calls for a bay leaf and parsley. I added some lemon thyme but even that wasn't enough to deepen the flavors. Next time, I'll add a second bay leaf and some more garlic.

The Mustard Chicken Wings on page 127 I'll make again. I don't know about the salad that goes with it, Watercress and Baby Radishes with Orange, Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. It sounds nice but your father will howl and I can only take so much of that every week. Maybe I'll serve the salad on steak night. He'll have to eat it because his 4 ounce portion of steak will leave him a little unsatisfied. I'll serve the salad first so he can fill up on it just like they do in the restaurants.

Can't Wait to Try
Tonight we're going to have the Salmon with Light Fragrant Broth which looks very nice. It does call for fish sauce and lemongrass, not your father's favorites but he went up a loop in his belt so this is what he's getting.

Airport Potatoes – potatoes roasted with tomatoes and oregano topped with more tomatoes. From Dupleix, "I pinched this from the warming trays of the cafeteria at Rome airport, long a source of wonderful ideas. I often serve it with grilled fish or chicken or you can make a meal of it." I think your father will go for them and they sound really great. You really ought to get this book, Kathleen, I think you'll like it.

Hmm…maybe she'll let me borrow "her" copy sometime.