The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks

I loved reading about Kathleen Flinn‘s teaching adventures in The Kitchen Counter Cooking School. I can’t recommend it highly enough for those who want, very simply, to master their kitchen domain. Flinn had the idea to start the “school” after she sneakily followed a mother and daughter around the supermarket pondering their choices, which all seemed to be heavily processed and straight out of the box. These days food and related choices are sensitive issues – that Flinn had the nerve to approach a total stranger to inquire about her purchasing decisions is amazing, that the woman confessed her concerns regarding preparing meals from fresh food is even more so. Flinn, wondering if others felt similarly, and if she could help, show more decided to find participants with cooking fears, looked into their habits - seeing how they are eating and what they are making- and then created a class to address common fears and issues.

Flinn found women who were less than confident in their cooking skills and spent time with them, going over what was in the cupboards and having them prepare a meal in front of her. This part of the book was interesting but became tedious because of the amount of women she had to visit. It was hard to distinguish between them after awhile, and I appreciated it a lot more when she related their situations later on in the lessons. It became apparent that many have similar collections of food in our refrigerators and cabinets. The real meat of the book is when Flinn and her co-chefs teach the women the basics of cutting up meat and vegetables, using a knife, preparing fresh salad dressings and marinades, and clearing ingredients in the fridge to make meals and stocks. Her tips and tricks gave the women confidence to make fast and healthy meals for themselves (perceptions of lack time and confidence in ability seem to be the reason that most opt for processed over fresh meals).

I already feel comfortable cooking, but I was happy to be shown a few new and simple dishes, and was grateful for the reminder that it can be really easy and quick to make healthful dishes- without a great expenditure of time, and without breaking the bank. I also like that Flinn takes the time to “debunk” some kitchen terms like braising and deglazing, etc. I saw cooking terms that I realize I perform all the time. I just don’t think of them as anything quite so fancy.

Since picking up The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, I have ventured back into making stocks and homemade soups, and have reacquainted myself with the omelette, a toasty piece of bread and a nice glass of wine as a delicious and easy meal. This is a great book for those who need to boost their kitchen self-esteem or those who are comfortable in the kitchen, but in need of a reminder of the basics. Flinn writes with an immediacy and warmth that is accessible and inviting to readers. I really enjoyed her voice and reading her stories, as will the fledgling chef in your life. Highly Recommended. show less

Summary: Kathleen Flinn had graduated from one of the most prestigious culinary schools in the world, but she still wasn't sure what she wanted to do with herself, until the afternoon that she started spying on other people's shopping carts, and found a woman who was filling her cart with boxed or processed frozen meals, while the ingredients needed to make identical meals were readily available, substantially healthier, and cost less per serving. And then Flinn realized that this woman was a representative of a much larger segment of the population: those who would like to cook for themselves and their families, but lack the know-how - and more importantly, the confidence - to do so. Or as one of her participants put it, "I've watched show more Gordon Ramsay while eating Tuna Helper." So she organized a pilot program, where nine women would let her into their homes, into their kitchen, and learn that cooking doesn't have to be something to be afraid of. She covers knife skills, tasting, pastas, chicken, meat, salads and eggs, leftovers, fish, soups, and cake, including lots of practical kitchen tips and recipes, all while trying to convince her participants - and her readers - that cooking real food, from real ingredients, is something that everyone can do, not just the people on TV.

Review: This book was great, right in my wheelhouse. It didn't make as much of an impact on my life as it might have had I read it a few years ago - while recently I've been cooking from scratch with real ingredients much more than I ever have before, and I love it, I spent most of my time in grad school and eating pretty terribly - lots of frozen meals for lunch and frozen pizzas or pasta with jarred sauce for dinner. After grad school, I was still eating a fair amount of frozen meals, but I also started getting more adventurous in the kitchen, taking on things that scared me - eggplants, bread, whole chickens. (Facilitated by the fact that at that time I was living alone - if something went terribly wrong, as they did occasionally, no one but me would have to know. I think that's actually a bigger factor than Flinn recognizes; many of the women in her study were responsible for feeding husbands and/or children, so if they were going to try cooking something, it had to work the first time.)

Now fast-forward to last year, when I read Cooked by Michael Pollan. It is very, very similar in its main ideas, although not necessarily in its approach, to The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: namely, that most Americans eat a crazy amount of processed food, that cooking has been deified to something that normal people can't achieve, but that it's healthy, cheaper, and ultimately more satisfying. That book pretty effectively lit a fire under my butt when it came to getting me into my own kitchen, so there were times that The Kitchen Counter Cooking School was treading familiar ground. But Flinn's writing is really lively, and because her book features a variety of real people confronting real problems, it makes it more applicable and more accessible. (One of the biggest problems I had with Cooked is that occasionally Pollan didn't seem to realize that not everyone works from home and has the time to do a five-hour braise on a weeknight.) Flinn's more laid-back, with some straightforward recipes, lots of practical tips, suggestions for flavor combinations, and an attitude that doesn't expect perfection - essentially, if you are thinking more about what you're eating, and cooking more of it for yourself, it's okay if you occasionally reach for a nostalgic Oreo every now and again.

So while this book wasn't exactly a transformative experience for me, it did re-motivate me to cook more (and more things), and my bookmark is full of little scrawled reminders to myself like "what type of steel are my knives? Get sharpened!" and "start sourdough culture - who can I get some from?". And on top of that, it was an engaging and quick read, and kept me entertained through a day of air travel - although it also made me hungry, so I am now totally guilty of eating terrible hyper-processed airplane snacks while reading about cooking classes. Ah well. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: More than anything, this book made me want to take cooking classes… but I think that if you're interested in cooking, but find yourself not doing it particularly often (or particularly confidently or well), this book would be a great read. show less

Down-to-earth and, dare I say it, even inspiring at times. As with her previous book, "The Sharper Your Knife ...", Flinn is an engaging storyteller, and she paints sympathetic and affectionate portraits of the women in her basic cooking classes. It's especially encouraging to see these volunteers gain mean knife skills, a broader knowledge of food beyond the box, and (above all) confidence in the kitchen. The few chapters on Flinn's other endeavors, while fun, are out of the place in the narrative; maybe she thought people would be bored only hearing about the classes, but not me (even if she hadn't had the occasional celebrity chef as guest instructor). My wife and I have already promised ourselves to be more adventurous about cooking show more this year, and reading this book will only strengthen that resolve. show less

A chef takes nine women, afraid of cooking, under her wing. She teaches them everything from knife skills to using soups to clean out your fridge. I learned so much from her accessible style and professional tips. I need to empty out all of my spices and buy new ones. I'd also like to try a few cooking styles, like braising, that have intimidated me. She puts a huge emphasis on staying away from packaged foods and learning where your meat comes from. Wonderful advice for any aspiring cook!

I savored this book. I am a late-bloomer in the world of cooking. My nickname back in college was the Lean Cuisine Queen. This book was very informative and inspired me to let go of my former hang-ups and just go for it in the kitchen. Because of this book I now question where my food comes from, I made a delicious chicken soup using the odds and ends in my crisper, and I finally lost my squeamishness in regards to raw chicken and can whip out roast chicken like a queen.

Many kitchen mavericks may see this book as too simple. Maybe the pros won't need its guidance. I, on the other hand, finally had the inspiration to meet my old foe on the cast iron battlefield, the Southern Buttermilk Biscuit. I tried and tried again and my biscuits show more went from the lead hockey pucks of old to high, fluffy creations from heaven, lightly browned on top and crisp on the bottom.

Saying I love this book is saying too little. The author has all of my gratitude. show less

I loved this book. At first I was afraid it was going to be condescending since the author is a Cordon Bleu trained chef. I couldn't have been more wrong. This was actually one of the most inspiring books I've read in a very long time.

The idea for this book started when Flinn was grocery shopping and noticed the truly horrible, processed, non-food food in a stranger's cart. She started up a conversation with the woman and ended up taking her around the store to get the "real" version of all the boxed stuff she had in her basket. The biggest problem is that the woman didn't know how to cook from scratch. When she thought about it, she realized that many folks are a generation or two away from that sort of cooking, and are unhealthy as a show more result.

So Flinn decides to do a research experiment, collecting 9 volunteers to attend a once weekly cooking class. But she first visits everyone's home, taking inventory of their cupboards and having them make a "typical lunch", as well as interviews these women to find out that their frustrations are about cooking. She then shapes classes around the several common problems they have, and teaches with a patience and grace, bringing these women along on a journey that literally changes each of their lives. The basics of the lessons as well as the recipes are in the book, and I could not resist heading for the kitchen to try many of them out. I learned so much from this book, and I am happily carrying it's inspiration forward. Do yourself a favor--read this book. show less

In my family there are some fundamentals: food and cooking are pleasure, politics are sport, books are a necessity. With food, as with most everything else, these fundamentals cross over into each other. I read cookbooks for pleasure, window shop at the grocery store, and think about how to make at home the things I eat out. I grew up in a household where everyone in my father's family cooked at a very high level and were devoted to it. In our house my father cooked and my mother baked. We ate lots of great (and to my friends "weird" stuff) my whole life and cooking was never a mystery - it was something you just do.

From a political perspective, food also has a firm place in my life. I am a committed pedestrian and have always valued show more proximity to work and to a grocery store over size of dwelling. I ride public transportation and take cabs when necessary. We have a car, but mostly use it every other weekend when we need to do a larger grocery store run to stock up on staples. Cars cost money that I'd rather spend on rent in proximity to work and groceries so I don't have to have a car, etc. You can see how the cycle works.

I am a huge fan of Michael Pollan's work and strongly believe that most people eat garbage most of the time. It's very sad. Processed "convenience" food rarely satiates our hunger so we eat and overeat and eat some more and are never truly satisfied, growing more and more obese as time goes on. Many Americans who live at or under the poverty line are trapped in massive food deserts with very few choices of what to eat and little to no ability to acquire fresh food in a way that makes sense. These living conditions contribute to poor health and the burden of chronic disease that they will carry with them their whole lives. Poor health and lack of nutrition are among the factors that keep people in poverty.

Add to this that we live in a country founded by Puritans. Eating has often been seen as something you do because you have to, not because it's enjoyable. The American cooking revolution has occurred within my lifetime, but has in most ways been confined to the upper and middle classes and even then convenience is revered. School lunches (often the only meal a child may have in a day) have been given over to fast food choices, schools are full of Coke machines and junk food dispensers and nobody teaches nutrition or home economics anymore. All of these factors combine to make people afraid of their kitchens and that is a real tragedy.

In The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, Kathleen Flinn works with ten different people of different ages and income levels to help them learn the basics of home cooking. Her approach is simple and basic without being boring. She avoids dogmatism and instead empowers her students in making real choices for themselves. She instructs in how to use leftovers and combine the food in your house to make new and yummy things and to help prevent food waste. She is practical, caring, and inspiring, sharing practical techniques and recipes suitable for any home cook - whether just starting out or already accomplished in the kitchen.

Particularly relevant in today's economy, Flinn's book is a great addition to a necessary discussion about how we can live well with less. For many people like myself who have chosen lifestyles with small footprints in smaller living spaces with better food, this book is affirmation. For those who are just now sorting out what to do within our new economic realities, this is true practicality delivered in an appealing package with a great deal of wit and wisdom. Highly recommended. show less