READ THIS: BLUE JEAN CHEF: Comfortable in the Kitchen By Meredith Laurence

As we head into winter and the cold weather months, comfort food is essential to our health, well-being and general state of mind.  Also, as we get closer to the weekend where people in Manhattan would actually have time to cook, we want to bring your attention to a hot new cookbook: Comfortable in the Kitchen by Meredith Laurence.  After her weekday soiree diet of Champagne and Crabcakes, Peachy Deegan certainly needs to get some sensible food in her and this book has so many good ideas.  We love the organization and the color coding!  The recipes are easy to read, and simple to follow and execute.  If you don't live in Manhattan where you can eat at Swifty's every day, you should become acclimated with all of Meredith's ideas in this great compilation that is just perfect for your country house.

Get Comfortable in the Kitchen!

Are you as comfortable in the kitchen as you are in your blue jeans? The key to cooking a great meal is feeling as at home in your kitchen as you do in a favorite pair of jeans.

With the exclusive launch of her new book Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable in the Kitchen and Blue Jean Chef cookware and cooking tools, Meredith Laurence is aiming to nix your kitchen anxieties once and for all. Between her informative recipes and smartly designed cookware, you’ll be feeling confident in the kitchen, making great meals.

With the help of Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable in the Kitchen, you can settle into your kitchen comfort zone. Meredith brings home cooks the tips and tricks that she has acquired during years of working in cooking schools, test kitchens, and restaurants all over the world. Her explanations of recipes and techniques will give you the familiarity and ease that you need to whip up a fabulous meal. Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable in the Kitchen is available exclusively through QVC and will be featured on In the Kitchen with David on October 31, 2010 at 12pm EDT.

For seasoned professionals and beginning home cooks alike, Meredith’s new line of Blue Jean Chef Cookware is the key to cooking with ease. Blue Jean Chef Cookware will be featured on QVC on October 31, 2010 at 7pm EDT. The program, Meredith Laurence - the Blue Jean Chef ,part of the Chef Sundays series, will feature a dishwasher-safe hard anodized aluminum set of pans, kitchen towels, a round ceramic baking dish, a grill pan, cutting boards, a cookbook holder (perfect for Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable in the Kitchen), a trusty knife, and a selection of four of Meredith’s favorite wines to pair with recipes from her book. Blue Jean Chef products are designed to help you relax while you cook.

Blue Jean Chef: Comfortable in the Kitchen is designed to teach basic techniques and then strengthen skills, each chapter contains basic recipes that will give you a solid understanding of how the dish works, and four other recipes that build on that technique, but use different ingredients to create a unique and delicious meal. Once you’ve mastered the basic recipe and practiced the variations, you’ll be comfortable enough with the dish to improvise and make it your own! For example, start with the magically simple Basic Roast Chicken. Next, spice things up with Jerk Spiced Roast Chicken;Chipotle Orange Roast Chicken; Summer Ale Chicken with Caramelized Onions; and Five-Spice Roast Chicken. In addition to the basic recipes and their variations, each chapter has Blue Jean Chef Favorites: recipes that don’t fit into the basic groups, but are some of Meredith’s favorite dishes. With chapters on

-Soups and Salads

-Snacks and Sandwiches

-Pasta

-Meat and Poultry
-Fish and Seafood
-Vegetables

-Breakfast
-Desserts and Treats

Meredith will help you have all your bases covered. We spend a lot of time in the kitchen. You may as well get comfortable!

About the Author

Meredith Laurence was born in Canada, but has made Philadelphia her home since 2001. She is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute and has worked in numerous capacities and settings in the food world, from restaurants in France to California, cooking schools across the nation, and a culinary consulting test kitchen. Meredith’s belief garnered from her diverse experience is that being comfortable in the kitchen is the key to successful and enjoyable cooking. How comfortable? Well, as comfortable as you would be in your blue jeans, relaxing with friends. Meredith currently cooks on live television for QVC as the Blue Jean Chef.