The Improvisational Cook

“Schneider weans home cooks off their training wheels and provides a springboard from which they can leap out of the box, craft their own distinctive dishes, and let their new instinctive and creative juices flow.”
—Mario Batali

Everyday meat loaf, roast chicken, and cornbread become inspired new dishes in the hands of The Improvisational Cook. Sally Schneider, bestselling author of A New Way to Cook, encourages home chefs to be creative and daring, to “cook out of the box,” in order to create their own culinary magic. Encouraging freedom from strict recipes and set lists of ingredients, The Improvisational Cook is the ideal cookbook for anyone who has ever considered pairing prosciutto with roasted peaches or putting parmesan on french fries.

In The Improvisational Cook, Sally Schneider helps home cooks declare their independence from recipes and set lists of ingredients and offers an invitation to a fun, more spontaneous way to cook with whatever is on hand. But how do you become an improvisational cook?

Once you understand how a basic technique or a recipe works, you can then begin to improvise. Start with one of The Improvisational Cook's essential recipes, such as Caramelized Onions. A special "Understanding" section follows, explaining the internal "logic" of the recipe and its creative possibilities. With that in mind, a savory onion jam; a real onion dip; a quick bruschetta topped with the onions, anchovies, and olives; or a rustic onion soup with dried porcini mushrooms is just a step or two beyond. Sally's notated improvisations illustrate simple, clever approaches and can be followed as is or used as a jumping-off point.

The possibilities are endless. Slow-roast fish at 300 degrees, along with some cherry tomatoes and olives for a sauce. Prepare a savory lemon jam to go with lamb or veal chops, or turn it into a cake filling. Roast a whole lobster instead of a fish in a salt crust. Add minced rosemary or Earl Grey tea to butter cookie dough. Turn a brownie batter into an elegant pepper-scented chocolate cake.

Sally gives you the know-how to embellish, adapt, change, alter, modify, and experiment in your cooking with plenty of encouragement and helpful information -- the tools and insights you need to find your own voice and cook improvi-sationally. These include an exploration of the "inside" of improvisation -- the creative mind-set, where to find inspiration, how to deal with the unexpected, practical approaches to learning "what goes with what," including a chart of classic flavor affinities, and tips on organizing your kitchen to make improvising easier, from long-keeping pantry staples to makeshift tools.

Using The Improvisational Cook, you'll discover a way of cooking that's fun, unfussy, and truly pleasurable. Everyday cooking can become creative every day.

“Twice before, Sally Schneider has completely changed the way I cook. Now, she’s done it again by encouraging us to embrace improvisation in the kitchen, to open ourselves to the creative excitement of “What if....” I *love* Sally’s respect for the opportunity that lives within the accidental. Perhaps my favorite message comes from the many varieties she creates from each single recipe, nudging our own creativity along. It’s here that the dabbler becomes a real cook, when you find yourself fiddling around with recipes and you end up making them your own.” - Ted Allen, author of "The Food You Want to Eat," and food and wine specialist on Bravo's Emmy-winning "Queer Eye."

“Like learning to ride a bike, Schneider weans home cooks off their training wheels and provides a springboard from which they can leap out of the box, craft their own distinctive dishes and let their new instinctive and creative juices flow.” - Mario Batali

“What a triumph. One of the most gifted cooks I know thinks onto the page in a way that cossets the novice while inspiring the old hand to reach to new territory. You will build a reputation on this book and build a kind of confidence you know in the kitchen. Sally Schneider is the master of ease, imagination and style.” - Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of "The Splendid Table", American Public Media

“...if you want to become an excellent cook, and be able to create your own imaginative dishes, you have to learn to improvise. In The Improvisational Cook, Sally Schneider helps cooks understand how improvising works and gives some basic recipes and techniques to get started.” - Cincinnati Enquirer

“The Improvisational Cook, is an exploration into the concept of improvisation in the kitchen and provides some wonderful recipes and ideas along the way.” - Bay Area Bites food blog

“While plenty of books use the master-recipe-plus-variations format, few writers devote as much space as Schneider does to explaining how and why the variations were created—basically teaching the reader to think like a chef.” - O Magazine

“...teaching the reader to think like a chef.” - O Magazine

Schneider offers an original, practical and well-executed plan for improvisational cooking--experimenting, cooking creatively, playing with ingredients and recipes.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review)