The Cookwise Project

Cookwise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Cooking

So here is the new project that I’ve hinted about. I’m going to be cooking my way through Cookwise, Shirley Corriher’s book about the how’s and why’s of cooking. It’s a geek’s cookbook full of scientific explanations for everything you ever wanted to know about cooking.

The Cookwise Project will be a chronicle of my journey through Cookwise. Each month I’ll be focusing on a new chapter and going through the recipes. I’m not going to publish recipes from the book on this site, but I will list the recipes I cook from the book. Anything I develop inspired by the book will be published here. Each month will feature a new chapter from the book. I’ll start with chapter one in January covering bread, partially because the first chapter seems like a good place to start and also because I’m obsessed with bread. The rest of the chapters will be shuffled around because I refuse to handle the fruit/vegetable chapter in March — it will be the last part of the project covered in July.

I’m hoping this will be a learning experience as well as facilitate building a collection of original recipes. As some of the chapters contain over 60 recipes, I won’t be able to cook everything in the book, although I’m going to try to cook as many as possible. Sarah says I can’t dramatically alter our grocery budget which will eliminate some of the recipes, living in Missouri will also further limit what is available at various times of the year.

I’ve wanted this cookbook for quite some time, but didn’t get it for one reason or another. The opportunity to buy my own Christmas gift was the perfect chance. Nobody managed to guess what it was in the game of 20 questions. Sarah says that’s because I misleadingly answered yes to “Is it a tool?” As far as I’m concerned it is a tool. A tool for smart cooking.