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Review by Sybil Pratt
"Don't just sit there, cook something," chides Mitchell Davis, and "Cook Something", the title of his new cookbook, echoes his appeal to the epicure within. The "you" he's pointing to is you, gen Xer's, you, twentysomethings, you, the younger, hipper generation who think about food in younger, hipper ways, who graze, spurn categories and set rules, eat cold pizza for breakfast, depend on take-out Chinese and, until now, warily avoid the kitchen. This, of course, does not exclude the thirtysomethings, fortysomethings or (yikes!) boomer-somethings who need Mitchell Davis' alternative, attitude-adjusting approach to the culinary arts.
Before the recipes come the "Essentials" -- things to have in the cupboard, refrigerator and freezer, and the basic utensils you'll need to acquire if you're going to cook more than one meal in your life. But Davis cautions you not to freak over any of this; go slow, choose well and improvise when necessary. "The Basics" are next -- the nitty-gritty of ingredient selection along with time-honored techniques from breading to zesting, beating egg whites to working with pastry.
So now you're psyched, ready for the real thing. All you need is a good recipe or two. Voila, over 150 recipes from "Adam's Big Pancake" (created by Adam to impress women) to "You Gotta Try These Blondies" (nothing to do with Adam), arranged alphabetically (now we're getting revolutionary), not in traditional course categories that, Davis feels, have blurred and lost their purpose. To locate the perfect recipe there's a cleverly original (and revolutionary, again) "Recipe Guide"; if you do want to concoct something in a particular course category, you can find it in "Remedial Course Work." Want ideas for lunch, brunch or parties? Check out "The Most Important Meal of the Day." "Beat the Clock" lets you decide on a dish by how much prep time you have, from "zoom" (not much), to "yawn" (lots). "Before It Grows Mold," my favorite, is a super-creative directory for using what you have on hand, including stale bread and sour milk.
Cooking should be fun, and Mitchell Davis does his rad, hip best to set you on the path to good times and, if not great gastronomic glory, something close.
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