Cook/author/wife/mother Michele Urvater was busier than usual when we talked to her a couple of weeks ago. Urvater, who lives and works in Manhattan, stopped briefly in Salt Lake City in the middle of an eight-week, 32-city tour, meeting with the media and discussing her newest venture, "The Monday-to-Friday Cookbook" (Workman Publishing Co., New York; 384 pages, comb-bound, $14.95; 448 pages, clothbound, $22.95).
This isn't just a cookbook, with page after page of recipes.There are recipes, of course - more than 300 of them - but this is also a new concept - a flexible, common-sense system. It's an innovative approach that should put some freedom back into what, for many families in the '90s, has turned weeknight cooking into a frenetic frenzy.
"The Monday-to-Friday Cookbook" is more like a blueprint. But there's nothing ironclad about the various recipes in the book. Urvater, who's accustomed to working in a typically tiny New York apartment kitchen, has built in a lot of options for the shopping and the cooking.
The beginning of each chapter also functions as a sort of basic "beginner's guide" with suggestions on how to cook and ideas on how to put your own individual stamp and taste on any recipe.
"My husband is not a cook and he's not organized," Urvater told us, "but he's doing it now because I'm on the road for eight weeks, and I'm only allowed to go home for 24 hours on the weekends."
Before she left on the first leg of the tour, she made sure her Manhattan pantry was stocked with items her husband, schoolteacher Michael Cook, and 9-year-old daughter, Alessia, needed to survive. Packages of ready-to-thaw chunked-up meat and vegetables were stockpiled in the freezer, so all her family has to do is follow the simple recipes.
Living in New York City, Urvater has ready access to some ingredients that landlubber Utahns might not be all that familiar with.
I took a copy of the cookbook home a few weeks ago just to try a few recipes out on my basically meat-and-potatoes family. Like Urvater's daughter, my children also have their own personal tastes. But my wife and I don't have the time (or budget) to turn our kitchen into a nightly short-order house.
Even with differing tastes, however, Urvater's book has many interesting suggestions.
When you're serving spaghetti (something most kids love), it's not that difficult to provide a plain sauce for the youngsters and more elegant one for sophisticated palates.
We had never cooked with couscous around our house - it always just sounded a little too exotic. But I cooked a panful one Sunday afternoon and discovered that it's quick, easy, fairly inexpensive and can be used in a variety of ways, from main courses to salads and desserts.
Urvater noted that her cookbook is designed "to appeal to different tastes and different schedules."
It's also written in such a way that it helps cooks construct an entire meal, not just one recipe here and another there. Some recipes can also be doubled and reserved for later in the week.
"When Leslie was 7, she loved artichokes and poached salmon," Urvater commented. "She also went through a very frustrating stage when nothing on her plate could touch anything else and she would eat every item in succession."
Urvater was pleased that this stage of her daughter's gastronomic experimentation was short-lived and that she's becoming a little more adventurous. But, like most kids, there are still some things that she has tried and hates.
The author suggests that parents don't turn mealtime into a battle of wills. Children will eat when they're hungry, and forcing them to sit at the table until everything on the plate is devoured only turns what should be a pleasant experience into a nightmare.
Urvater's book also has advice for doing the marketing. By planning ahead, cooks can stock their larders with the necessary ingredients for an entire week.
"It just takes old-fashioned common sense," Urvater said, pointing to Utah's pioneer heritage. "If the pioneers didn't smoke their hams, they'd starve during the winter. We have a wider variety of products to choose from, but we still need to plan ahead."
Almost all of Urvater's recipes allow for considerable leeway. In the "No-Work Salmon Chowder," if you don't have a can of salmon on hand, then substitute a couple of 7-ounce cans of water-packed tuna.
"Life has more variety than most dinner-in-minutes cookbooks would have you believe," she says. Urvater's strategies take into account many of the complications that can make getting dinner on the table such an arduous proposition. Many of the dishes can be stopped in midstream, then finished later, and many are also delicious eaten at room temperature.
Urvater, who works full-time as a corporate chef for a New York-based real estate development firm, has written five other cookbooks,including "Cooking the Nouvelle Cuisine in America" (co-authored with David Liederman in 1979), "Fine Fresh Food Fast" and "Cookies and Candies for Christmas."
On her regular job, she supervises the meals in an executive dining room, cooking lunches five days a week. Twice a week, it's a buffet for 16 executives. The other three days she cooks for just the chairman of the board (who's on a very strict diet) and for the vice presidents and their guests, usually just six to eight people.
Urvater has been a professional cook for 15 years. She's a graduate of the New York Technical School, has worked in restaurants and ran her own cooking school. She hated working in restaurants ("they're 14-hour days and very unglamorous") and closed her cooking school when her daughter was born. Her work as a corporate chef in New York City is perfect, however. Her daughter attends the same private school where her husband teaches, so either parent can take the youngster home after school.
- ACCOMPANYING THIS ARTICLE are three sample recipes from "The Monday-to-Friday Cookbook." We tested the Orange-Flavored Sweet Potatoes, the Cabbage and Pepper Slaw and one of the couscous recipes.
In her notes from the cookbook, Urvater states:
"By sauteing sweet potatoes instead of baking them, you can appreciate their fresh taste more than when you prepare them in the traditional ways. And, of course, sauteing takes less time."
In her comments about the slaw, she noted: "This recipe came into being on a night when I was musing about what type of salad I should bring to a school potluck supper that would take place two nights later.
"I was making coleslaw at the time when I realized I could triple the recipe and save most of it for the night of the potluck because the longer this salad stands, the better it tastes. This keeps well for about a week, even though the color will then look a little drab.
"To save some time on the night I was making the salad, I turned our portion into a complete meal by tossing in about one-half cup of tuna per person. Other ingredients that would do as well would be chick-peas, leftover roast beef or smoked ham."
(In the Lincoln house, we found that because the cabbage is thinly shredded in a food processor, adding tuna makes this dish a wonderful filling for pita sandwiches.)
We cooked the couscous and served it as a plain side dish with a Sunday dinner, but it can also be utilized in salads and other dishes. The cookbook has one recipe for Yellow and Orange Salad using couscous, oranges, carrots and a made-from-scratch lime-and-mint dressing.
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(recipes)
Orange-Flavored Sweet Potatoes
4 medium-size sweet potatoes or yams
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 teaspoon dried orange peel
1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon butter (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peel the sweet potatoes and grate them with the shredding disc in a food processor.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sweet potatoes and stir-fry for about 30 seconds just to get them cooking. Add the orange juice and peel. Cover the skillet and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Stir the potatoes every now and then to make sure they're not sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add the sugar if you like the potatoes sweeter; saute' uncovered until the potatoes begin to get a little crisp, 3-4 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the heat and swirl in the butter, if using. Season well with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
Cooking time: 30 minutes. Makes four servings.
Cabbage and Pepper Slaw
1/2 cup mayonnaise, regular or low-fat
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/3 cup cider, white wine or tarragon vinegar
1/2 bunch scallions (green onions)
1/2 bunch fresh parsley
1/2 head green cabbage
2 bell peppers, preferably red
Salt and freshly ground black pepper Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard and vinegar in a large serving bowl.
Trim and thinly slice the scallions. Rinse, stem and mince the parsley leaves. Add both to the bowl and mix them into the mayonnaise.
Core and thinly shred the cabbage. Add it to the salad bowl. Core, seed and thinly slice the peppers and add them to the bowl. Thoroughly mix all the ingredients together and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate covered until later.
Preparation time: 10 to 15 minutes. Makes six servings.
Quick and Easy Couscous
1 cup couscous (semolina or durum wheat)
11/4 cups hot water from the tap
1-2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Optional ingredients (choose one or more):
1 teaspoon dried herb (tarragon, oregano or thyme)
2-4 tablespoons minced fresh herb (dill, parsley or basil)
1/2 cup sliced scallions
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
1/4 cup chopped pimientos
1/3 cup chopped green chilies
1-2 cups diced cooked poultry, meat or seafood
1 package (10 ounces) frozen vegetables (such as peas or corn), thawed
1-2 cups leftover steamed vegetables (such as asparagus or cauliflower)
1-2 cups chopped fresh vegetables
1/2 cup salad dressing
Place the couscous in a small bowl and cover with the hot water; let stand until the grains have swollen and are soft, about 20 minutes.
Break up any clumps of couscous with your fingers or a fork. The grain is now ready to be heated or used "as is" in a cold preparation.
- TO HEAT THE COUSCOUS PLAIN: Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the plumped couscous and saute until the couscous is hot, about two minutes. Stir occasionally to make sure the couscous doesn't clump. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- TO HEAT COUSCOUS WITH DRIED OR FRESH HERBS: Heat 1-2 tablespoons oil in a medium-size skillet and add the dried herb with the plumped couscous. Saute as directed for plain couscous. When using fresh herbs instead of dried, saute the couscous plain until hot, then season to taste with salt and pepper and add the fresh herb. Stir together for a few seconds, just to gently wilt the herb, then remove the couscous from the heat.
- TO HEAT WITH OTHER INGREDIENTS except the salad dressing: Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a separate medium-size skillet. Add whatever ingredients you wish to season the couscous with and saute' to heat through. Add the plumped couscous and saute until all ingredients are heated through (about two minutes more). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- TO USE COUSCOUS IN A SALAD: Once the couscous has been rehydrated, it doesn't need further cooking and is ready to be combined with other ingredients in a salad. Once combined, toss with the dressing.