Wednesday Cookbook: Family First

My Family Table

by John Besh
With the holidays just around the corner, we are being inundated with turkey recipes and celebration-themed cookbooks. But I think the most important part of Thanksgiving isn't the pumpkin pie, it's the part where everyone sits down at the same table for a meal. We do that far too rarely anymore.
That's the impetus for a new cookbook from James Beard-award-winning chef John Besh. Rather than over-preaching about fast food and the evils of sugar, though, Besh takes a different tack. He sympathizes with the fact that we are an over-scheduled society and that it can be overwhelming to plan every single meal. So his first chapter (Kitchen Focus) is about organizing your kitchen and having basic ingredients on hand at all times.
From that base, Besh builds simple and inviting recipes, with strong encouragement to have any and all members of the family involved in the cooking process. I like that philosophy.
Other chapters provide recipes for everyday occasions like Sunday Supper, School Nights, and Breakfast with My Boys, as well as chapters devoted to basics like Fried Chicken and Barbecue Basics.
We should add this to all the slow-food and local movements ― eat VERY local, like in your own house with your own cooking. (2011 - Andrew McMeel Publishing)