Hsiao-ching-chou is food editor for the Seattle Times.  In a recent article she discussed the notion that creativity in the kitchen isn’t always a matter of inventiveness in recipes, but departures from the expective. As she points out, “You can buy all the 30-minute cookbooks you want, but it won’t make you a more efficient cook because you still have to folllow sometimes lengthy ingredients and be a slave to the instructions. This is where internalization and improvisation come in handy.  If you internalize the recipes you’re mosst likely to prepare often anad you stock your pantry and refridgerator with staples or accents that you can help you “whip up” something on the spot you can give the familiar  a face lift without much much more effort. Here are a few useful books:

 

Sally Schneider, author of “The Improvisational Cook” William Morrow, 394 pages.

Pam Anderson, “How to Cook without a book” 2000.

Basic cooking techniques are critical. Once you learn to sear, broil, grill, steam, you  have dozens of variations to try.  Once you become familiar with the tastes and scents of particular ethnic groups you can substitute for ingredients you don’t have on hand  (ginger powder=fresh ginger==candied ginger).”What if I make something nasty?”  If a dish can’t be adjusted to be edible, try it in soup stock.