Good Food, Good Life

Book excerpt: The host of FOX’s My Kitchen Rules shares 130 recipes that bring back the pleasure of cooking and the wonder of connection into your home. For internationally known chef Curtis Stone, cooking is a pleasurable journey, not just a destination. In this wonderful book featuring his favorite dishes, Curtis inspires us to turn meal preparation into a joy rather a chore through delicious recipes, mouthwatering photographs, and handy make-ahead tips. He also shares plenty of heartwarming, personal stories from time spent in his kitchen and around the table with family and friends, reminding us that good food and a good life are intrinsically intertwined. His go-to recipes include: • Light meals: Roasted Beet and Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese, Fennel, and Pecans; Weeknight Navy Bean and Ham Soup; Pork Burger with Spicy Ginger Pickles • Scene-stealing dinners: Porcini-Braised Beef with Horseradish Mascarpone, Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb with Fennel, Potato and Zucchini Enchiladas with Habanero Salsa • Family-style sides: Pan-Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Chorizo, Butternut Squash with Sage and Brown Butter, Cheddar-and-Corn Cream Biscuits • Sweet treats: Cherry-Amaretto Lattice Pie, Rum Pound Cake with Lime Glaze, Chilled Yellow Watermelon Soup with Summer Berries • Favorite breakfasts: Crêpes with Homemade Ricotta and Maple-Kumquat Syrup, Smoked Salmon Omelet with Goat Cheese and Beet Relish, Maple Bran Madeleines • Satisfying snacks: Popcorn with Bacon and Parmesan, Bruschetta with Spring Pea Pesto and Burrata, Chocolate-Hazelnut Milkshake, and many more Praise for Curtis Stone “Curtis Stone loves to cook. Unlike so many chefs, cooking’s not a job to him. It’s a joy. And you feel that every time he slips behind a stove.”—Ruth Reichl