On this episode of “The Federalist Radio Hour,” Christopher Kimball of Milk Street joins Federalist Publisher Ben Domenech to share tips from his new book “Milk Street Vegetables Cookbook” and offer his advice on the best ways to prepare food for the holidays.
“Cooking what’s available is what people used to do until fairly recently. So instead of planning your meals ahead of time, based on looking at a recipe, if you start the other way around, the way people have for tens of thousands of years, that’s really helpful because then you also become a better cook because you adapt to whatever is good,” Kimball said. “…So sometimes it’s better to cook with what you have or what you can find, and for a lot of people that’s the reverse, but I think that’s probably the better way to do it if you want to take the time to figure it out.”
When it comes to cooking for a particular occasion, Kimball said you don’t always have to diverge from your normal kitchen routine.
“I don’t feel a great need, especially around the holidays, to actually do something different,” Kimball explained. “…There are times when I do like to completely improvise, and once in a while, I would.”