I’m so excited to announce that my cookbook “Kitchen Wizard Flexipes — Tips and Tricks from the Japanese Kitchen, Adapted to Today’s Lifestyle” is due in fall 2011!

Here’s a sneak peak from the book:

Frequent home-cooked meals don’t always have to mean spending a lot of time in the kitchen. Discovering ways to multiply the value of what you already have in your pantry — including leftovers — is the best cooking solution to stay efficient, economical, and eco-friendly. Kitchen Wizard Flexipes (Flex-ible Rec-ipes) will teach you how to cook using Japan’s best-kept secret: Making one dish into a variety of dishes with minimal time, effort, and cost. You’ll find simple methods and delicious recipes from around the world, along with creative tricks and tips to make everyday cooking much easier and more fun.

The Kitchen Wizard Method and Flexipes you will discover in this book is based on the secrets that every home cook in Japan utilizes to keep their kitchen efficient and their meals delicious and full of variety; yet this is virtually unknown in the U.S.   It’s a smarter, more flexible way to cook, eat, and thrive for busy home cooks who struggle in the kitchen with a lack of time, a desire for more variety, and lots of wasted food.

Quick Start: Ready-to-Go Kitchen

Many believe that simply having a collection of recipes is enough to get good food on the table fast. But the truth is, recipes are only half the battle. They can be great for a single meal, but most are too complicated and time-consuming for busy people to make on a daily basis.

The best way to optimize our daily cooking routine is to maximize what we have on hand, and let the kitchen process flow as efficiently and flexibly as possible. The first part of this book introduces my Kitchen Wizard Methods on how to keep your kitchen and ingredients “ready to go.” Having a prepared kitchen is half the battle in minimizing meal prep time and stress.

Batch Prepping Basics: 3 simple yet versatile tricks to keep your ingredients “ready to go” and help you start saving time right away.

Flexipes(Flex-ible Rec-ipes): Bases and Recipes

The second and core part of this book explains my original Kitchen Wizard Flexipes. These bases and recipes are designed to make more than one meal from a single base. It’s a smarter, more convenient, and more efficient way to cook. You can pre-make Flexipe bases in large batches from scratch, and use them to whip up quick, magically delicious meals throughout the week. You’ll also boost your confidence and the variety of meals you’re making in your kitchen.

With seven Flexipe bases, plus derivative recipes and other uses featured in this book, you’ll be able to mix and match for endless possibilities and maximum time-saving. You can easily make meals for an entire month or more without ever repeating a dish.

1. 1. Tomato and Onion Sauce

      1. Turkish Green Beans with Light Tomato Sauce
      2. Shrimp with Chili Sauce
      3. Indian Curry

   2. Sauteed mushrooms

      1. Warm Mushroom Salad
      2. Mushroom Spread
      3. Mushroom Bisque
      4. Chicken Marsala

   3. Sauteed Potato and Swiss Chard

      1. Soups
         1. Potato Broth
         2. Potato and Swiss Chard Soup
         3. Pureed Potato and Swiss Chard Soup
         4. Caldo Verde
      2. Potato and Swiss Chard Curry
      3. Spanish Omelet

   4. Nimono - Sauteed Root Vegetables Japanese Style

      1. Suiton (Chunky Miso Soup with Dumplings)
      2. Iri-dofu (Tofu Scrambles with vegetables)
      3. Takikomi-gohan (Mixed Rice with Tuna and Vegetables)

   5. Mirepoix - Sauteed Onion, Celery and Carrot

      1. Mirepoix Pilaf
      2. Rice-Stuffed Cabbage
      3. Stuffed Summer Vegetables
      4. Kwik Chili
      5. Kwik Bolognese Sauce

   6. Marinated Chicken with Garlic/Ginger/Lemon

      1. Chicken Roulade with Wine Sauce
      2. Shoga-yaki (Chicken Ginger)
      3. Kuwayaki-donburi (Rice Bowl with Sweet Soy Chicken)

   7. Asian Meat Base

      1. Lettuce Wrap
      2. Chinese Meatball Soup
      3. Gyoza (Pot Stickers)

List of Japanese Ingredients

This short cookbook will be deceivingly powerful in your culinary life. It’s incredibly simple to learn, it’s almost like magic! That’s my Kitchen Wizard promise. You can be a Kitchen Wizard too in no time!

There is already a quite a bit of buzz among the experts who have read the book… 

Here’s the advanced praise for “Kitchen Wizard Flexipes”.