Happy in the Kitchen Cookbook- by James Beard Award Winning Chef Michel Richard

Happy in the Kitchen is teeming with Richard-esque discoveries, whether it's an amazingly simple technique for dicing vegetables, a delicious (low-carb) carbonara made with onions rather than pasta, or a schnitzel! made of pureed squid. He's playful-always-but also a perfectionist and an iconoclast. What can you say about a chef who makes risotto with potatoes, prefers frozen Brussels sprouts, and whips up spectacular chocolate pudding and béchamel in the microwave? A chef who doesn't shock blanched vegetables in ice water, but uses his freezer as though it were a fifth burner, and turns raspberries and almonds into salami? Enamored of crispness, this master chef, who calls himselt Captain Crunch, makes a potato gratin that is all crust and fries carrots until crisp. Always seeking to surprise, he stuffs onion shells and serves them as pasta, and he scrambles scallops and serves them as if they were eggs. But the surprise is not just in the form the ingredients take in each dish, but in the taste. Richard offers recipes for the foods we love, but always looks for the twist that makes good things great-whether it's Lamburgers, Lobster Burgers, or Tuna Burgers, Turkey Steak au Poivre, or the chocolate reverie Michel calls Le Kit Cat. And with recipe titles such as Shrimp Einstein, Jolly Green Brussels Sprouts, Chicken Faux Gras, Figgy Piggy, Chocolate Popcorn, and Happy Kid Pudding, Happy in the Kitchen lets you know you re in for good tastes and good times.