Just Plain Yummy, Un-Common Sense In The Kitchen

By Jim Kamen

My mentor, Chef Graham Kerr, inspired me to cook. Seventeen years later, he has taken the time to write a personal note in a recipe of his that I used in this book. Thank You!

I like to eat, but I like to eat good food even more. So why not create a book that is fun to read, but will also teach some of the things I have learned that help make good tasty meals.

This book will give you an idea of the type of cookware you need, explanations of what some of these things are, and how to use them.

There is a chapter on the basic things you need to have around all the time that will help add variety to the flavors you create. Your “Pantry” as I call it. You don’t have to go out and buy a lot of exotic items. I like to keep it simple and inexpensive.

Next I decided to have a chapter on techniques. How to use the tools that you have to give you the biggest bang for your buck! I watched many people cook through the years and saw the mistakes they were making. Most people just did it that way because no one ever showed them a better way.

Then there are the recipes. Whenever possible, I have written a story about how the recipe came about. You won’t use them all, but I bet you’ll use more from this book than from any other.

Good cooking, easy, and “Just Plain Yummy”.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Kamen
• Release date: Sep 5, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301017867

Jim Kamen

I am originally from Caldwell N.J. and am a Viet Nam veteran. I like work with charities helping Veterans.In 1991 I, we, moved to a small town just outside of Austin Texas. This is where my passion for cooking started, and it has continued to this day.I did not start writing until after we moved to Tequesta Florida. I wrote "Just Plain Yummy" because I thought it was needed. The world can always use one more cookbook, and this one will have you laughing at the stories I includedI loved to watch Chef Graham Kerr (Galloping Gourmet) on TV, and he was kind enough to send me a personal note to include with a recipe of his that I used.I have a few other hobbies but they are too many to list here, but you might see some of my woodworking skills at chef-jim.com

Book preview

• Me, Chef Jim, AKA Gym. (See the website for the story.) It’s all about me! I am the star of the book. I have an ego. Bet you never guessed that one. But let’s face it, I wrote the book.

• Sharon, my wife! Bless her sweet little heart (BHSLH). Holy cow, I don’t think she ever knew what she was getting into. She made me a promise once, and what I will say about that is that we differ on the outcome.

But through thick and thin, she has been there for me. As always, I could never do the things I do without her support.

• I would like to thank Mr. Graham Kerr, The Galloping Gourmet and author of the Minimax, and Smart Cooking cookbooks. While studying at the DC School of Culinary Arts, he was my mentor.

I want to thank him for his permission to use some of his recipes and for his heart-felt comments that he added to one.

I strongly recommend any of his cookbooks, but particularly the two I used for a reference in this book. Smart Cooking, and the Minimax Cookbook, published by Doubleday. Both are based on heart-healthy, low-fat cooking.

Graham Kerr’s web site is www.grahamkerr.com

• Sandy with a Y, Sharon’s little sister. Oh the things I could say, but I won’t. I gave her this nickname last Christmas. She had a friend that spelled her name Sandi, so she introduced her this way. This is Sandi, with an I, and I’m Sandy with a Y. I picked up on it and now that’s it. Read the sweet potato recipe on the web site.

• Chef Jim from the Alibi Lounge in New Orleans who gave me the BBQ Shrimp recipe.

• Hugh & Karen: Hugh for the pictures and the critter recipe; Karen for her great suggestions.

• Big Digital Graphics for the cover design.

• Pete Dorris, good friend and neighbor for help with the editing.

Why This Book?

There are a gazillion cookbooks in this world, so why on earth do we need another? Well the answer is: Because I hadn’t written one, yet. This will be just a little different than the others, and then again just like some others. I’ll let you decide.

While talking with my wife about the progress of the project this morning, she told me that I seem to have gotten more creative in bed! YAHOO! I think what she really meant was that I seem to wake up in the middle of the night with another idea to put in the book. Oh well (sigh).

A little about me, (It’s really all about me). I studied with The DC School of Culinary Arts. Now if you’re like most, wow DC, must be like Washington DC. Ha Ha! No it’s not. This is a name I made up just to see what kind of a reaction I would get from everyone. Boy I can tell you that I get all kinds, and most are fun. It gave me credibility if I needed to wing it. Boy what a good skill to have. (Winging it)

OK, just what is behind the name and the school? In my not so humble opinion, there is really a school. It’s The Discovery Channel. This is way before the Food Channel. Sharon and I had moved to Texas and I was retired. Well OK, I wasn’t working. (I was going back to school to become a massage therapist, but that’s another book.) I was the stay-at-home dad who took care of the dog and cat, our fur kids!

They were not as noisy as real kids (thank you) so I always had the TV on so I wouldn’t get lonely. I could hear it from my office loft, and I had not discovered Rush Limbaugh yet. Well, there were cooking shows on almost all day and I got hooked.

My mentor, as I like to say, was Graham Kerr. I learned no-fat cooking from his show. It didn’t work for me ’cause I got kind of fat. But there were a bunch of different chefs with all kinds of good food. I decided that I could do it too, and off I went.

Now I guess you could say that I’m a squiggle (classification in a personality test my wife made me take). I am also probably ADD, and ADHD. We didn’t know what that was when I was growing up. (Thank you) I sometimes need to do something different, AKA a mid-life crisis. BTW, a lot of people do think I’m very different.

Anyhow, I jumped into this cooking thing, feet first. The next thing you know I was going to the grocery store a couple times a day. (Not working, nothing better to do.) Holy Cow! I can do this!

Sharon would come home not knowing what to expect. I don’t think I disappointed her too often. The house was sort of clean and the food was like eating in a gourmet restaurant every night. (Almost)

This was 20 years ago and I have been cooking ever since. Some of our friends are afraid to have us for dinner because apparently my cooking has intimidated them. Hey Guys, this is Jim; I like you and could care less if you don’t cook like me. If you buy the book, you will cook like me.

There is lots more I could say about me but you’d get bored. So go read the rest of the book, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying writing it.

Chef Jim

Cookware

As important as the food.

You can eat a lot of things raw if you like (Sushi), but eventually you will want to cook something.

You can use the caveman method and put some meat on a stick and shove it in a fire. It really does work and can be a lot of fun while camping. But let’s face it: you are very limited in what you can do!

Next I suppose is the grate over a fire. Now that really works. You can then put a pot on it and boil water, and with the right pot, even bake something.

I think by now you get my point. We live in much easier times and have many conveniences at our disposal. But good cookware is important and can help prepare your food faster and also more tasteful. Yes, a pot can help food taste better.

However, thin inexpensive cookware has ruined more meals than bad cooks! It does not cook evenly, and can burn your meal in a blink. Heavy bottoms, like the rockin’ world, make the cooking world go round.

There was a time while I was in school that I wanted the best. At that time it was probably Calphalon. A sauté pan could cost about $180 bucks. Boy that’s a lot of food for some of us. Calphalon is a great product and I do have some of their pans.

Not many of us get into a professional kitchen very often, but I have been in a few. I never saw any of the expensive pots and pans that you see on the cooking shows. I found that you could buy really good things in a restaurant supply store. They are out there and most are happy to sell to the public.

I like BIG. It drives some people crazy, but in my not so humble opinion, size does matter!

Now girls, you will not like this next statement. If size matters, WHY do you always pick the smallest pot or bowl, fill it to the top, and then try to mix it up. I always say, It’s a girl thing. OK, got that out of the way.

What do you need? I am not a baker so I cook most of my dishes on the top of the stove. That means an assortment of frying pans in lay terms. There are many different types. An omelet pan—no, not that funny thing that folds in half—has a tapered side and is my favorite, sometimes called a sauté pan. I recommend a variety of three sizes. They are pretty