The Ultimate College Cookbook

Easy, Flavor-Forward Recipes for Your Campus (or Off-Campus) Kitchen

Students will discover the joy and simplicity of cooking for themselves with 60 recipes for easy, delicious meals that can easily be made in any dorm room or shared apartment!

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

The Ultimate College Cookbook offers sixty recipes for everything from breakfast to weeknight cooking and weekend gatherings, on-campus or off. Each dish is designed to be cooked in a dorm-friendly appliance, including microwaves, toaster ovens, electric burners, rice cookers, and slow cookers.

Don't miss Baked Ravioli Lasagna (use frozen ravioli instead of pasta sheets!), Hot Chocolate Lava Cakes (baked in individual mugs), and even perfect jammy eggs cooked in a tea kettle (add them to noodle soups in a pinch). And with variations for easy twists (upgrade your oatmeal to Pumpkin-Spice All-Nighter Oats, or turn garlicky roasted cauliflower into something new with chili-laced miso), there's no chance of getting bored in the kitchen.
Introdution


If this is your first foray into cooking, fear not, young grasshopper. You made it past the SATs; this is nothing. In cooking, like anything, practice makes perfect—you find what you like and figure out how to do it the way that works for you. Now I know that, being young and brash and clever, you wish to make your own mistakes, but I’ve made enough of them myself to offer you some good advice. So take it. You can thank me later.

* Cook with your hands. (Wash them first.) In Italian, hands that have cooked and cooked well are called mani sapienti—knowledgeable hands. They’re your best tool. You’ll learn how things should feel and how to stop when you’ve reached the right texture. You’ll learn to measure without tools, and your food will taste like love.

* Cook with good salt and freshly ground pepper. The best ingredients are worthless if you’re seasoning them with subpar salt and pepper. Buy whole black peppercorns and put them in a pepper mill (it can be small and the cheapest you can find; it doesn’t have to be fancy) to grind them fresh each time you need to.

* Don’t skimp on salt. Our bodies are 0.04 percent salt and require it to function. Plus, salt brings out the flavor in food, both sweet and savory. Just remember to drink water.

* Don’t skimp on fat. Fat is brain food and fat tastes GOOD.

* Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. You gotta just roll with it when that happens, and it will happen. Some of the best discoveries started out as mistakes. Besides, that’s what garnishes and pretty plates are for.

* Be brave. Go forth and COOK, young grasshopper!
Victoria Granof is a Brooklyn-based food creative and stylist who earned her culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu. Cherry Bombe included her in their list of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Food. She has worked on cookbooks with the likes of Marcus Samuelsson and Anthony Bourdain, and her work has appeared in Bon Appétit, New York magazine, and The New York Times, among others. However, some of her favorite clients include her college-age nieces, who look to her for easy and creative ways to give simple dorm-room meals an extra boost. Victoria is also the author of Chickpeas. View titles by Victoria Granof

About

Students will discover the joy and simplicity of cooking for themselves with 60 recipes for easy, delicious meals that can easily be made in any dorm room or shared apartment!

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

The Ultimate College Cookbook offers sixty recipes for everything from breakfast to weeknight cooking and weekend gatherings, on-campus or off. Each dish is designed to be cooked in a dorm-friendly appliance, including microwaves, toaster ovens, electric burners, rice cookers, and slow cookers.

Don't miss Baked Ravioli Lasagna (use frozen ravioli instead of pasta sheets!), Hot Chocolate Lava Cakes (baked in individual mugs), and even perfect jammy eggs cooked in a tea kettle (add them to noodle soups in a pinch). And with variations for easy twists (upgrade your oatmeal to Pumpkin-Spice All-Nighter Oats, or turn garlicky roasted cauliflower into something new with chili-laced miso), there's no chance of getting bored in the kitchen.

Excerpt

Introdution


If this is your first foray into cooking, fear not, young grasshopper. You made it past the SATs; this is nothing. In cooking, like anything, practice makes perfect—you find what you like and figure out how to do it the way that works for you. Now I know that, being young and brash and clever, you wish to make your own mistakes, but I’ve made enough of them myself to offer you some good advice. So take it. You can thank me later.

* Cook with your hands. (Wash them first.) In Italian, hands that have cooked and cooked well are called mani sapienti—knowledgeable hands. They’re your best tool. You’ll learn how things should feel and how to stop when you’ve reached the right texture. You’ll learn to measure without tools, and your food will taste like love.

* Cook with good salt and freshly ground pepper. The best ingredients are worthless if you’re seasoning them with subpar salt and pepper. Buy whole black peppercorns and put them in a pepper mill (it can be small and the cheapest you can find; it doesn’t have to be fancy) to grind them fresh each time you need to.

* Don’t skimp on salt. Our bodies are 0.04 percent salt and require it to function. Plus, salt brings out the flavor in food, both sweet and savory. Just remember to drink water.

* Don’t skimp on fat. Fat is brain food and fat tastes GOOD.

* Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. You gotta just roll with it when that happens, and it will happen. Some of the best discoveries started out as mistakes. Besides, that’s what garnishes and pretty plates are for.

* Be brave. Go forth and COOK, young grasshopper!

Author

Victoria Granof is a Brooklyn-based food creative and stylist who earned her culinary degree from Le Cordon Bleu. Cherry Bombe included her in their list of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Food. She has worked on cookbooks with the likes of Marcus Samuelsson and Anthony Bourdain, and her work has appeared in Bon Appétit, New York magazine, and The New York Times, among others. However, some of her favorite clients include her college-age nieces, who look to her for easy and creative ways to give simple dorm-room meals an extra boost. Victoria is also the author of Chickpeas. View titles by Victoria Granof