See Dad Cook

Noodads, this is the 21st century. It"s time to push your exhausted wives out of the way, strap on the apron, and start cooking for a change. All you need to master the kitchen and your family"s appetite is this new cookbook, "See Dad Cook" from father of two, author, and professional chef, Wayne Harley Brachman.

And we are pleased to announce that, compliments of Chef Brachman and Random House, Inc., we are giving away 3 FREE copies of this book. See details below.

 
The extended title on the front cover says it all: The Only Book a Guy Needs to Feed Family and Friends (and Himself). This book provides tons of recipes that are easy to prepare with ingredients that are easy to pronounce. And better yet, they are "battlefield-tested" dishes that your family will eat up. I made the Pizza Noodles and my finicky daughter mowed it down. I also tried the Macaroni Salad and both my kid"s plates were cleared.

This book is jam-packed with recipes in every category. From pancakes to barbecue chicken to cooking a perfect steak, this book has you covered all day. There"s even a recipe for hard boiled eggs which I can never get perfect. The layout is clean, easy to read and helpful "Do It Like The Pros" tips are sprinkled throughout the book as well as "Adults Only" suggestions for spicing up some dishes. This should be a must in every dad"s kitchen. And the stuffed double-baked potatoes should be a must in every dad"s stomach.
 

I recently had the opportunity to interview Chef Brachman and ask him some serious questions and some not so-serious ones:

Noodad: This book starts off with some basic cutting and chopping techniques. I know that properly chopped onions look nice, but I am all thumbs and have dull knives, will irregular onion shapes affect the outcome of my dish?

Chef Brachman: Yes, but not to worry. Unevenly cut onions will certainly affect the texture and, because they will cook at an uneven rate, might even affect the flavor. Of course, better technique will result in a better meal, but not so much that it will make that huge a difference. The most important thing is to establish standards that are feasible for you and use those as criteria. No matter how you chop, your meal will ultimately taste better than the pre-fab junk from fast food dump or pre-processed package.

Noodad: I love that most of your recipes contain basic ingredients and few steps—great for busy dads who don"t know their way through a spice rack, let alone a gourmet supermarket. The Pizza Noodle recipe I tried rocks and better yet, I could pronounce the entire list of ingredients. Are you saying that great meals don"t need hard-to-pronounce ingredients?

Chef Brachman: No. What I’m saying is that many great meals don"t need hard-to- pronounce ingredients. With a good, basic swing and some careful putting, you can break 100 but it takes years of practice and lessons to consistently shoot in the 80’s. If, however, you want to take your cooking to another level, then you will want to use more exotic ingredients and challenging techniques. As a pro chef, I am constantly searching out new ingredients.  

Noodad: Many of our readers are what we like to call "Predads". That is a guy who is about to become a dad. These guys, at best, may be used to cooking for their wives. Any advice on cooking for more than just adults?

Chef Brachman: Cooking for kids is a whole new and unpredictable world. They fundamentally taste things differently than adults. Possibly of more importance is to prepare for the change in your spouse. That appreciative culinary soul mate is about to turn into the restaurant critic from Hades…especially when the care and feeding of her brood is concerned.   

Noodad: I imagine you tested a lot of these recipes on your own kids. Were there any that your kids were especially fond of?

Chef Brachman: The Garlicky Broccoli and other green vegetable recipes are favorites with my kids and most of their friends. Chicken Schnitzels, Pasta with Meat sauce, steak, Pot Roast and pancakes are all fave family requests.

Noodad: Now for an opinion question: In recent years, child food allergies have become more commonplace. Let"s say you have 2 kids and one of them is allergic to peanuts. Do you stay nut-free for the whole family or cook special meals for the allergic one? Seems silly to deny the other kid with the brilliance of peanut butter, don"t you think?

Chef Brachman: Food allergies must be taken very seriously. In some cases, residue on utensils can pose a danger. Depending on the severity of the allergy and doctor’s recommendations, you must make a judgment call on what is safe.

Noodad: What do you think of kids and fast food in moderation? Sometimes, you just don"t seem to have time to cook and cleanup in time for bedtime.

Chef Brachman: Look at all those pale, depressed health food fanatics. Do they look very healthy? Humans are the only animals that will chose foods that taste bad over food that tastes good. It is not the stoic pain of eating raw twigs and roots that make for good health. It’s a well planned, moderated, varied diet. Sure fast food may be crap,  Sure you should give them a healthy meal, but you’ve got to figure out what’s practical… and you certainly can’t let ’em starve. A steady diet of fast food may eventually kill you but as a now-and-then treat, what’s it gonna do…..kill you?

Noodad: We recently featured an article on dressing up meals for your kids to get them to eat it. You know, like silly faces, words, etc. Do you think there is anything in this world that could get kids to eat liver and onions? Because I hear it is good in iron.

Chef Brachman: Ketchup, ketchup and then a little more ketchup.

Noodad: What is your favorite recipe in the book?

Chef Brachman: Rueben Quesadilla

Noodad: A food question because I am just so darn curious. Please tell me the difference between jelly, jam, preserves, and marmalade.

Chef Brachman: They all contain sugar and pectin. Jelly is made with fruit juice. Jam is made with fruit puree. Preserves is made with chunks of fruit.

Noodad: You have some great tips on grilling. I have a problem with grilling chicken. It comes out either salmonella-raw on the inside with a charcoal briquette on the outside, or dry as a bone throughout. Any advice?

Chef Brachman: Start over the hot part of the grill to sear, then move to a cooler part to cook through.

Noodad: I noticed there aren"t any Spam dishes in this book. Is it because Spam is just the untouchable wonder meat that is delicious straight from the can?

Chef Brachman: I just can’t groove on spam. Sorry

Noodad: What would you tell a dad who says, "I don"t even have enough time to watch Sports Center let alone cook a meal!"?

Chef Brachman: Wives have a Pavlovian response. If you lie down on the couch to watch a ball game, they reach for their battery of midlevel torture devices. If you’re cooking, they basically can’t touch you. Think back to the hunchback of Notre Dame. Your kitchen is “Sanctuary”

Thanks for reading noodad.com. The giveaway has ended and all free copies have been given out. You can buy See Dad Cook here.