Mollie Katzen is a happy home cook, better know as the cookbook author who changed the way we eat — at least according to Health magazine.
Mollie — who has over over six million books in print — is best known as the author-illustrator of the vegetarian classics, Moosewood Cookbook and The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. She’s also an inductee of the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame.
Her newest book — published yesterday — is The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2013).
“I’m very excited about my new book,” said Mollie. “It’s my biggest book yet (275 recipes, 500 pages) and it reflects how my cooking has evolved since I first published Moosewood Cookbook almost 40 years ago.”
In addition to posing our Guest Foodie questions to Mollie, we’ve gotten her to share her recipe for Caramelized Onion-Zucchini-Artichoke-Goat Cheese Frittata.
Which food product or gadget would you never give up? Olive oil. It is the basis of 95% of what I cook.
What do you like to serve when you entertain? Modular finger food – things to dip, things to spread. An assortment of textures and colors. Very casual.
Describe your “last meal?” Something cooked just for me by Yotam Ottolenghi (an Israeli-born chef, cookery writer and restaurant owner). He can choose.
What food is your secret guilty pleasure? I never use “guilty” around food – it’s against my religion. So, to re-phrase, my secret happy pleasure is TJ olive oil popcorn. And i expand that to homemade Cracker Jacks by adding toasted walnuts.
What is your go-to neighborhood restaurant? Fonda Solano in Albany CA. Mexican tapas, high-end tequila and rum, beer cocktails. Best guacamole north of the border. Lime-drenched, chili-coated peanuts. Mushroom quesadillas. I love to eat at the counter where I can watch the guys flash-cook brussels sprouts, slaw up the fish tacos, and juggle the plates.
What is one food product most people don’t know about, but should? TJ frozen Dorot garlic in little 1-teaspoon ice cube trays. Just pop them out. Very fresh tasting. I use them for cooking (but fresh garlic for raw). They have the fresh-frozen thing absolutely down pat.
Describe your worst kitchen disaster. Chocolate Eclipse turned into unintended chocolate volcano at DeGustibus. It was my second time teaching at the esteemed school, and I thought it would be a nice touch to have the room filled with chocolate aroma as the attendees filed in. But I had misgauged the size/shape of the pan, and the chocolate batter spilled over onto the oven floor. Best smell in the world: pure chocolate batter baking nicely. Worst? Same chocolate batter turning to charcoal.
Follow Mollie @molliekatzen
Photo credit for Mollie’s headshot: Lisa Keating
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