Every cook — whether a chef or a home cook, has his or her own style. I encourage you to do what I do: take a recipe or technique and make it your own. Make it several times in quick succession to really understand it, then start experimenting and substituting ingredients.
My guest, Cindy Pawlcyn, of the famed Mustards Grill in Napa Valley, and I cook very differently. Cindy cooks like an artist, blending techniques and ingredients and flavors from all different parts of the world. I'm more like an engineer: I start with a strong foundation and build one flavor on another to create a dish.
While Cindy trims artichoke hearts for a "master recipe", Lemon-Braised Artichokes — they're tossed with a lemony marinade then cooked in the oven — we talk about all the ways to use them. You can serve them on their own or on pizza or pasta, or pureed into white beans as we do on the show to serve with a Spiced Highway Pork Tenderloin.
Cindy has been one of my greatest teachers. We don't always agree on how to season a dish or which olive oil to use for general cooking — I use extra-virgin because I believe the more flavor you begin with, the more you'll have in the finished dish. She thinks I'm extravagant. Watch the show to learn to make a dish we agree is delicious: a one-pot supper of roasted carrots, artichokes, and fennel, with halibut and chive butter.
=
