Good food is worth writing down.
A kitchen notebook from Arun Kolian in Raleigh. Family favourites, useful leftovers, and the quantities that finally made it onto paper.
For years my recipe notes said things like “some cumin” and “the blue bowl of lentils.” That was fine until the blue bowl broke. This notebook is an attempt to give our favourite meals enough detail to survive a change of crockery, while leaving room for the way dinner actually happens.
Recipes with a place at the table
I live in Raleigh, where our kitchen window catches the last warm light of the afternoon. On Sundays I cook a pot of lentils while someone else sets the table and chooses the bowls. The meal is ordinary enough to repeat and flexible enough to feel different each time. A handful of chopped greens might appear; a squeeze of lemon nearly always does.
The Sunday lentils page holds one complete version, along with the small choices that make it ours. I write these recipes as a home cook, with the utensils and ingredients I actually use. The notes are personal rather than definitive. There is always another good way to make a familiar pot of food.
Read about our table for the story behind the notebook. My favourite entries are the ones with a practical scribble in the margin: use the wider pan, save a little lemon, this made enough for tomorrow. Those are the details that turn a recipe into something you can return to.