Category — Books that Cook

We know Jacques Pepin — or as I can’t help calling him, The Great Monsieur Pepin — as a master culinary technician, the cookbook author and public television personality who taught millions of American home cooks and scores of professional chefs how to sharpen a knife, break an egg and, just for fun, remove the bones from a whole chicken (a trick he performs in less than a minute)

But there’s another story, one that almost never gets told. It’s about how he — and his food — became American. Please check out this piece at NPR.org.

Courtesy Clarkson Potter

Fall is cookbook season (bet you didn’t know that, right?) the time when the floor in my office becomes completely obscured by gigantic tomes meant to prepare you for cold winter nights around the table. This year’s crop featured a notable windfall by celebrity chefs. We’re talking Mario Batali, Jamie Oliver, John Besh, Todd English, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Heston Blumenthal and…wait for it….Ferran Adria. But even Adria, the king of molecular gastronomy, is delving into comfort food, homey meals of macaroni and cheese, buttermilk pancakes and Sunday roasts. So you think you can cook? Please check out my story if you want to prove you got the goods.

This is my Sittau, Alice Kayal

Like most families, we looked forward to the day AFTER Thanksgiving more than the feast itself. Part of that was because Sittau only cooked American once a year, so the meal wasn’t her best work. But the day after….the bird became her famous Syrian turkey stew. Please see the recipe below, adapted from my family’s cookbook A Taste of Syria — and check out my story about Thanksgiving turns us all into Americans.

Sittau’s Turkey Stew

Makes 4 servings

1 can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes, or peeled whole tomatoes, crushed

1 cup chicken stock

3 tablespoons fresh or bottled lemon juice

2 cups cooked turkey, cubed

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1 10-oz package frozen peas

Heat tomatoes, broth and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, cover, and let cook 20 minutes.

Add the salt, allspice and turkey, and simmer five more minutes. Add the peas and simmer until heated through, about five minutes. Serve over rice.