Michael Schlow: It's About Time

By JULIETTE ROSSANT Do authors choose their book covers? No, not usually -- rarely when a major publishing conglomerate is involved. Small publishers, however, are (or, in corporate communications speak, "can afford time to be") more responsive to their authors, and this proves true from the very moment of eye contact with the cover of the new cookbook It's About Time (Steerforth 2005). Michael Schlow, the author, is a well respected chef. Meet one of the growing number of Boston-based chefs giving Todd English's empire a run for its money on home turf. Michael hasn't gone national (yet), but he is big in Boston, with three restaurants: Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay Take a look at this book. On the front cover's foreground (photographed by Shimon and Tammar Rothstein) is an empty white plate set. Behind that, a chef rushes a copper pot in blur: in the background is the corner of a wall clock. Turn over the book (see image, below), and you will find the cook now walking by in a faster but somehow more relaxed blur -- sans pot -- and the plate now filled with a encrusted piece of white-fleshed fish resting on vegetables (perhaps the Potato-Crusted Halibut, pp. 175-6?). Front and back cover photos underscore Michael's basic point on how best to use time when cooking, and in that sense, it is about time to hear this message again -- which, aside from the global SlowFood movement, may not have been strongly articulated since Barry Wine set clocks to speed up chefs at the legendary Quilted Giraffe. Michael follows the SlowFood school rather than Barry Wine's celerity, which Tom Colicchio, a Wine disciple, also seems to be moving away from (see Super Chef, pp. 179-180). It's About Time covers all aspects of time, spanning the gamut from Barry Wine to Tom Colicchio to various SlowFood chefs. Michael argues that we should make time to cook and eat; otherwise, it's all about filling an empty plate and shovelling down the grub. Or, as Michael says, with searing frankness: So, instead of my "ego book," here is a book about time -- time and it's effects on our meals and eating habits. Whether you have a little bit of time or a lot, many of the cooking situations you face in your home will be addressed here. This book is about more than just time measured in seconds, minutes, hours, and days. These ideas on time will rely on rather elastic definitions of the word... This book sets out not only to teach you how to cook and eat well when you're on the go; it also works in reverse for when your soul is crying out for a ittle bit of culinary therapy. I can't think of a better way to unwind than by spending a couple of hours in the kitchen with a glass of wine, some music on the stereo, and something delicious simmering on the stove. Amen! The first chapter called "Time to Eat and Now", includes recipes to make in 30 minutes or less, some of which need very few pots and utensils. These recipes are simple but good standards that are carefully thought out. The Quick Pork Chops (p. 21) are thin pork chops, seared on the stove and finished in the oven with cauliflower, cheese and peppers. The recipe produces tender pork chops and crunchy, caramelized cauliflower, but it also has a lot of fat from olive oil and butter and the pork chops themselves. The recipe for Chicken Breast with Spicy Zucchini and Snap Peas (p. 24) is perfect for this time of year. Michael adds in the recipe head that home cooks can skip blanching and shocking the snap peas in ice water and instead just saute them in the same pan. He adss, "For the sake of time, it's harmless enough to skip that step, although I'd rather my cooks didn't find out; they might not be sympathetic to our need for speed." The next chapter is about the family meals Michael grew up with. He encourages us all to turn off the TV, offer no options on what is served, and really talk to our kids. Just how we do that is up to us, but the Red Wine-Braised Brisket (p. 31-2) is a very good start. It has a rich sauce and is just the kind of stick-to-your-ribs wintry (or summery) dish to make one want to linger over dinner. Two to three hours achieve fall-off-the-bone tenderness and can be frozen (for one of his quickly meals). There is also a fun recipe for Creamy Chicken Stew with Vegetables that are Supposed to be Good for You (p. 43), all of which are covered up and not vibrant green to appeal to children adverse to any kind of vegetable. The dish is served with Buttered "Noodles" (p. 44), a simple recipe with butter, sage and Parmigano-Reggiano. The single dessert recipe here is Secret Agent Raspberry Bars (p. 49), a terrific name for raspberry bar cookies easy enough to make with a four-year old. Michael argues forcefully for Italian cooking, "From that point on [working at Pino Luongo's Tuscan restaurant in Wainscott, New York], I learned that creating great Italian food is really about two things: honoring tradition and cooking simply with products that are as local and fresh as possible." (p. 53) That may also be true for other great cuisines around the world. He rejects the Italian-American cooking of his childhood Brooklyn and New Jersey (unlike Rocco DiSpirito in Rocco's Italian-American and Lidia Bastianich in Lidia's Italian Table) and presents dishes of his own restaurant Via Matta. Here are wonderful recipes for Italian classics like Penne All'Arrabiata, Vongole in Brodetto (p. 60), there are good notes on milled tomatoes, cleaning clams, and Sopressata. Perhaps the only thing superfluous to this book is the forward by Mario Batali. Maybe added celebrity is still needed for Michael -- at present: it shoudn't be for long -- not after people read this cookbook. Mario wrote: So of course, Michael Schlow, who insists on stretching and folding time to fit slow cooking into the frenetic pace of a restaurant saute line, would approach his cookbook from the perspective of this most precious resource. (p. xi) Mario's description conjures an image of an alchemist or crazed physicist -- you know, like that other big idea free-loader and nutcase obsessed by the importance of time -- Albert Einstein. There is much more to explore: superchefblog recommends that you make time for this book. 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