Atlanta Journal-Constitution Living Section: 4/11/02

Good Eats' chef reveals kitchen chemistry

But all curious cooks, Southern or otherwise, will want to check out Alton Brown's new cookbook, "I'm Just Here for the Food: Food + Heat = Cooking" (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $32.50), to be released this month.

Brown is an Atlantan and the writer/star of "Good Eats," a geeky half-hour show on the Food Network that blends food science and food fun. ("Good Eats" airs nine times a week, with new episodes usually debuting at 9 p.m. Wednesdays.)

As in the show, the book relies on Brown's offbeat humor and quirky graphics to explain what really happens when food is fried, grilled, boiled or otherwise transformed by heat.

"The book is first and foremost for 'Good Eats' fans," Brown said. "But beyond that, it's for those who've become really curious about their food."

Brown said that from the time he began training in culinary school, he had a lot of questions about what was really happening with food in the cooking process. "This book is my working those questions out," he said.

He admits to a "hyper-geeky" attitude, but fans of the show know it's good geeky. To explain the difference between frying at 350 degrees and roasting at 500 degrees, for example, Brown drew a picture of Joe and Clive.

Joe is 320 pounds, an ex-football player with multiple injuries who idealizes Captain Kangaroo and is "currently sleepy from beer consumption." Clive is 130 pounds and "tanked up on black coffee, mad about being laid off from a dot-com job, hiding what appears to be a lead pipe behind his back."

Joe is roasting. Though the temperature may be hotter, it doesn't "hit" food as fast and furiously as frying, i.e. Clive.

The recipes in the book actually serve the same function as the graphics -- to illustrate a point. "I wanted to lay out theories and then come up with recipes that functioned as proofs," he explained.

So this is not a "normal" cookbook. There are no photographs of finished dishes. The recipes are divided into software (food ingredients) and hardware (pans, tools, etc.) The emphasis is on the "why" behind the "how," so home cooks are no longer "held hostage" by recipes, Brown said.

I chose slow-frying for my first lesson, a technique I was not familiar with. But Brown said Chicken in Garlic and Shallots is his "favorite dish of all time to cook," and it never hurts to start with the professor's favorite.

Here, I present the recipe just as Brown does in his book. (I used chicken thighs and a 12-inch iron skillet.) After cooking, pour a good bit of the oil in a bowl and put it on the table for bread dipping. This is easily the best thing to come from my kitchen so far this year.

Brown will be signing his book at 7 p.m. May 9 at Borders, 3637 Peachtree Road. Also look for him to be featured in the Food Network's "Couch Potato" weekend, April 20-21.

Chicken in Garlic and Shallots

SOFTWARE
1 whole chicken (broiler/fryer) cut into 8 pieces, or 10 chicken thighs
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
Several sprigs of parsley, sage and thyme (sorry, rosemary would put it over the edge)
10 peeled cloves of garlic
10 shallots, peeled and split in half from stem to root

HARDWARE
Large ovenproof saute pan with tight-fitting lid. (Straight sides are needed. If you don't have such a pan, you may need to brown the chicken in one pan and then finish the dish in a casserole.) Tongs for handling meat.