Currently persuing

I am currently sprawled across the couch, on this lovely 9 degree Monday nursing bronchitis and perusing the following lovely tomes in pursuit of the 42 recipes ideas I need for the next 7 weeks of classes. 

In fact, I did a little math today and I realised that I must come up with 510 new recipes a year.

Five Hundred and Ten.

No repeats are allowed. 

All recipes must be executable by kids ranging in age from 9 - 13 and pleasing to the parents who generally eat it when it goes home with them after class.
I need a range of things since I have vegetarians, kosher eaters and food allergies, not to mention kid allergies to anything new and different.
I must plan these recipes to fit in to a prescribed amount of time varying from 2 - 3 hours.
I have 6 burners, 3 ovens and up to 10 kids in each class.
Downtime is not an option. Ever seen a group of bored kids?
Sometimes I must stick to a theme: World travel, American cities, Food fads, etc.

I can assure you that would exhaust even the best chef to come up with that many new ideas so I live with my nose buried in a cookbook or a cooking magazine.
I will search the Internet, but I won't rely on recipes from sites like Allrecipes.com or Cooksrecipes.com since I really don't trust many of their recipes. Anything made with a can or packet is rejected.  Everything must be made with fresh ingredients or things I can get from our suppliers.

When I do get things off of the internet I tend to stick to sources I know will have recipes that are relatively faultless like epicurious.com, because I can't always test a recipe before I use it.

In fact I have become amazingly adept, if I do say so myself, at glancing at a list of ingredients and deciding if a recipe will work or not.  Call it self preservation.  I also do not need a gorgeous picture to tell me whether or not to make a recipe, but of course it does help to inspire ideas.
Of course I also look to places in the food blogging world for inspiration like Elise at Simply Recipes or The Traveler's Lunchbox, Naughty Curry and Gluten-free Girl and all the other lovely places in my blogroll down over there on the right.

While you check out the book titles I am flicking through right now, why don't you leave me a note with the places, chefs and books that inspire you to cook.  I am always looking for some new inspiration.

Comments

[anasalwa]

Jo,
I hope you're feeling a lot better by now.
510 recipes a year is a lot of work, not to mention, the kosher, the vegetarians, the allergies and not to forget the parents :))
Have you tried Wok With Yan's site? Long time ago, I liked to watch his program.

[margalit]

Jo,

I notice that you don't have any Kosher cookbooks listed. It you would like some recommendations of the best, or would like to borrow some, just email me. But I have to recommend California Kosher, which is actually a temple sisterhood cookbook that is FABULOUS, and is widely available. You can get it at NEMBF as well as at the Israel Bookshop in CC, Brookline. I use it often and the recipes are guaranteed to please my kids!

[The Old Foodie.]

Naturally, I think some recipes with a historic basis would be great fun. What about WW II food made with ration allowances of sugar, butter etc? Or dishes eaten by Queen Victoria, or for particular days such as St Patricks day?

[Emily]

Hmm, came across your fun blog randomly. I enjoyed my quick visit, thank you. Wishing you well with the application thingy. I'll be bookmarking this site for more careful perusal when I have more time and my taxes are done!
The book that inspires me most these days in the kitchen is my aunt and uncle's: Memories of Philippine Kitchens by Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan. I may be biased on several counts, as the book features Filipino food and stories of famiy and friends but perhaps, it's just a matter of taste. Hmm. Then again, my stomach is directly linked to my heart so it makes sense to me! Best wishes!

[Melanie]

I'm making your tom ka gai. That's restaurant quality. My current favorite cookbook is "Cucina de Lidia" by Lidia Bastianich. I have yet to make a recipe out of that cookbook that was anything other than a smash.