Burnt Toast and Other Disasters

A gifty, funny, and practical guide to transforming the most lackluster of ingredients into a delicious meal, making bad food good and making good food even better, from the author of the New York Times bestselling and IACP Award–winning Twelve Recipes.

Reviews

“An invaluable little cookbook you will turn to again and again. . . . His recipe for peppers sautéed until “melty” with mustard and cumin seeds, then doused with cream and finished with a splash of vinegar, sounds like nothing special, but I’ve never tasted anything like it.” — New York Times“There’s enough to worry about these days. Cooking, Peternell assures through each carefully written but not-too-serious recipe, shouldn’t be one of those things. So burn your vegetables, overcook the rice, and eat a tin of fish for dinner. It will be fine. Actually, it will probably be great.” — Eater“[Peternell’s] personal anecdotes and casual preparation instructions . . . give home cooks permission to tap into their own culinary ingenuity, especially when the situations seem far from perfect. . . . Peternell reminds us that with enough confidence and finesse, these scrappy Quickfire Challenge-like moments in the kitchen can actually be the ones that bring out our most creative inner chefs.” — Fine Cooking“Peternell applies his Chez Panisse pedigree . . . to easily prove that 'the humblest can be delicious, the good made great.' . . . Peternell’s dry sense of humor is the main ingredient. . . . To err is human but to repair divine in this handy and hilarious manual.” — Publishers Weekly“Along with great recipes…Peternell shows readers that burnt food is nothing to fear and is just another step—perhaps even a new beginning—in the culinary journey.” — Booklist“A clever and useful guide to making messed-up food taste delicious. . . . [a] funny and highly giftable lemonade-out-of-lemons collection.” — Daily Democrat“[Peternell’s] recipes focus on turning whatever you have on hand, including, yes, burned toast, into surprisingly tasty food. Those scorched slices turn into cheesy onion bread pudding, and the listless produce wilting in your vegetable drawer becomes “broco” tacos! This witty manual really does help turn bad food good.” — Napa Valley Register“The best beginner’s cookbook of the year, if not the decade. In addition to being warm, funny and smart, Twelve Recipes will actually teach you to cook… [Peternell] can nudge anyone, from novice to expert, to want to be a better cook… His wit and intelligence are apparent throughout.” — New York Times Book Review on Twelve Recipes“Full of useful building blocks (like an entire chapter on sauces) that can fit in any modern cook's repertoire…The balance of foundational French technique with American practicality make A Recipe for Cooking a simple yet modern classic.” — Saveur (Best New Cookbooks of Winter 2016) on A Recipe for Cooking“What makes this book special—…Combine the rambling prose with Peternell’s practical advice and delicious flavor combinations and cooking through the recipes feels like having a personal cooking lesson—and a long chat—with the chef himself.” —Bon Appetit (November Cookbook Club Pick) on Almonds, Anchovies, and Pancetta