GOURMET MEALS IN CRAPPY LITTLE KITCHENS COOKBOOK: Crappy Title for a Terrific, Terrific How-To Book
By Staff Writer

Chef Jennifer Schaertl may have been making a marketing joke with the title, "Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens," but she is spot on as a creative chef. In addition to her tasty, mouth watering recipes, she brings space-saving techniques and practical tips to help the "kitchen impaired" cook.

To Chef Jennifer, "impaired" is defined as "a miniscule space, ancient appliances, a dismal appearance- or all three". But she believes that "cooking in a crappy little kitchen builds character and personality - two attributes of downright delicious gourmet meals exciting gourmet meals in them."

Jennifer begins the book defining her philosophy with "The Art" of Cooking in Your Crappy Little Kitchen, covering topics such as: Kitchen CLK Basics; It's Not What You Have, It's How You Use It ; The CLK Pantry; Preventing Crappy Little Casualties and her Nine Gourmet Rules.

Recipes cover the entire meal from appetizer to dessert, including "A"-Game Appetizers, Toss Everything but These Salads, Dignified One-Pot Creations, Artful Accompaniments, Saucy Sauces, and Desserts to Die For. The fun and adventure Jennifer had creating recipes in her own crappy little kitchen shows through in every page. :

The whimsical titles belie the array of intriguing and appetizing ingredients: When the Saints Come Marchin' in Gumbo includes information on the origins of okra and the cooking term, Gumbo File. She also a short cut of buying the vegetables pre-diced.

Other recipes with mouth watering ingredients include Smokin' Leftover Turkey Soup, Hot-and-Bothered Dragonfly Prawns, Wassup! Wasabi Chicken Salad, Caramelized Fennel and Goat Cheese with Roasted Tomato Vinaigrette, Hunka Hunka Monkfish, The Perfect Pot Roast, Snake-Charmin' Moroccan Lamb Chops, Barbequeless Barbequed Salmon, Rum-Infused, Caramelized Pork Chops, The-Morning-After Pasta Frittata, Butternutty Squash Bread Pudding and Fig and Lavender Honey Yogurt Pie.

Packed with color photos, line drawings, interactive sidebars, and chef tips and information, plus a list for the pantry, space saving tips. Other sections include How to double or triple the function of utensils to eliminate clutter, Swap It Skills: Replacing hard-to-find, gourmet ingredients with everyday items without sacrificing taste and ideas for beautiful plating and tips.

Each page has a Chefology that defines a term, such as short ribs and a Swap it box with substitutions to accommodate health concerns or to please a palate.

Tips are abundant. One, for example, is how to "fine grind" nuts without a grinder by putting the nuts in a freezer bag and crushing them by gently rocking a sauce pot back and forth over them.

Above all, she admonishes and then proves herself, "Remember, what sets your Crappy Little Kitchen apart from all the others, is the gourmet chef - - you."

Jennifer Schaertl met her first crappy little kitchen when she moved to New York and found the perfect brownstone apartment in Brooklyn except for 300 square foot kitchen. It was there that the inspiration for the book began, and where she honed her cooking skills.
Deciding to become a chef, she moved back to Texas to study culinary arts at El Centro in Dallas, where she received a technical education about cooking, food style, and preparation, as well as Old World knowledge about recipes and techniques. Jennifer's first job inside a professional crappy little kitchen was actually that of a dishwasher, where she eventually worked her way up to sous chef.

Since that humble beginning Jennifer has worked as a chef in some of Dallas' top restaurants, including Savory, Taste, and The Grape, and a pastry chef at Suze, all the while creating and documenting her own recipes both for her restaurant menus and her family gatherings.

A native of Texas, Jennifer Schaertl now lives in Dallas working as an Executive Chef at the North Central Surgical Center. She has already completed the pilot episode of the television series Gourmet Meals in Crappy Little Kitchens. To view this episode and join her monthly mailing list "The Crappy Little Newsletter," visit www.crappylittlekitchens.com.

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