Milk Street Cook what you have : make a meal out of almost anything

There is perhaps no better time for a cookbook like this than our current era, in which a double line on a test strip sends a household into temporary isolation with the accompanying panic of "but there's no food in the house!" Milk Street comes to the rescue, viewing simple pantry and freezer staples in new ways. But this is not subsistence, minimal-ingredient cooking; rather this book leads cooks to think about how to build a dish. This approach, Kimball says, can teach us how to "behave like a real cook who can make something delicious from whatever is available." And so, with some guidance and the addition of a few flavor-dense "must-haves" like tomato paste, olives, kimchi, or canned chipotles in adobo, staples like canned beans, tortillas, potatoes, and ground meat can become anything: hearty salads, soups with layered flavors, one-pot meals, or kicked-up family favorites. Substitutions are ample (we're behaving like cooks, remember?) and flavors circle the globe. Preparation times range from quick dinners to more elaborate projects and set-and-forget recipes to bake and simmer. Bits of culinary instruction are worked into many recipes, further emphasizing that this beautifully photographed and thoughtfully organized guide is a method of cooking, not just a cookbook.