Table of Contents: From Breakfast With Anita Diamant to Dessert With James Patterson - a Generous Helping of Recipes, Writings and Insights From Today's Bestselling Authors (41 page)

Makes 4–6 servings

In
Cutting for Stone
, Hema arrives in Ethiopia after a month-long absence and sends Gebrew to a restaurant to bring back doro wot, which she has been craving. The stoic cook at Missing Hospital would also have regularly made this dish and fed it to the twins. This Ethiopian curry is eaten with
injera
, the pancake like bread. The key to making this dish is
berbere
, a spice mixture (found in Ethiopian stores abroad) that includes chile peppers, pepper ginger, cloves, coriander, allspice, rue berries, and
ajwain
. Berbere is a key ingredient for so many curries (
wot
) in Ethiopia.

Note:
Berbere can be purchased online and at local specialty and gourmet food stores.

1
In a deep skillet, heat oil, add onions, and lightly sauté until onions are soft. Add chicken pieces and garlic paste, and cook over medium heat until the chicken is lightly browned.

2
Add the berbere, stirring so that all pieces of the chicken get coated. Add tomato and stir again.

3
Pour in water, bring mixture to a boil, and add salt. Simmer over low heat until the meat is well cooked, approximately 30–45 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken pieces. (In Ethiopia, they say that the woman who loves her husband cooks it slowly so that each piece is tender and the gravy is thick.) You may add a pat of butter and/or hard-cooked eggs during the last 5 minutes of cooking, if desired.

Deborah Copaken Kogan

SELECTED WOEKS

The Uncoupling
(2011)

The Ten-Year Nap
(2008)

The Position
(2005)

The Wife
(2003)

Surrender, Dorothy
(1998)

Friends for Life
(1994)

Inspiration
The Ten-Year Nap
was inspired by my thoughts about women who stop working when their kids are born, and then a decade passes and they begin to think about how they want to spend the rest of their lives. I had gotten to know quite a few women who had had a similar experience; I met them through my own children, and was struck by the fact that this phenomenon hadn't often been written about in fiction. It had sometimes been written about in the kind of nonfiction book that took sides in the so-called “mommy wars,” a term that makes me highly uncomfortable. As for me, I had no position. A novelist's job, as I see it, is to show “what it's like,” and so I set out to do just that, without being judgmental about the complex, overlapping, and sometimes hard-to-choreograph worlds of work and motherhood.

Readers Should Know
I try to write about what I see in the contemporary world, often involving the dynamics between men and women, and among members of a family. Also, when I'm writing, I try to write the book that I would like to find on the bookstore shelf. I write to my own tastes and interests, assuming (I hope, correctly) that they're not all that idiosyncratic or specialized.

Readers Frequently Ask
Readers like to know about how a writer manages to be disciplined. As for me, I try to keep banker's hours, working in my home the way someone might work in an office, with the addition of the fact that I take power naps when needed and don't have to go on corporate retreats. I also never beat myself up when I have a bad work day; instead, I try to remember that there are some times when you're actually working without really knowing it. It almost happens on a cellular level. You're taking in ideas for your novel just by looking around you, and by listening to other people talk.

Influences on My Writing
Mrs. Bridge
by Evan S. Connell, Philip Roth's novels, and
Death in Venice
by Thomas Mann are all examples of exciting writing, which makes me want to write, or at least want to read.

Makes 2 servings

Shopsin's General Store was my hangout with my friends when I was in my twenties, and this was one of my favorite dishes. Much later, in my forties, I wrote the novel
The Ten-Year Nap
. The women characters in
The Ten-Year Nap
, over the course of a decade, gather frequently at a coffee shop during the day. I wanted to include passages in the book about the collegiality of a group of friends spending time together when their children are still young — strollers in the aisle, baggies of Cheerios at hand, the occasional whip-it-out moment of improvised breastfeeding. I remembered my own earlier experiences, pre-children, at Shopsin's, and I thought about how different my life was then, yet how strong and powerful the connection is between the important friendships of one's twenties and those of one's forties. And in both cases, at least for me, who has always been a food person in addition to a friend, writer, and mother, they involved the consumption of a lot of excellent food.

1
Cut chicken into 1-inch strips, approximately 3/8 inch thick. Pour flour on a plate or in a small bowl. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess flour.

2
Heat olive oil in a large heavy sauté pan over high heat until it's hot but not smoking. Carefully and gently drop chicken in pan, evenly distributing it around the pan. (This can be dangerous because everything is really hot. If you carelessly drop the chicken in, it will splatter on your arms and face.) Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 2–3 minutes. Check the underside of one piece. When it becomes medium brown, use tongs to turn the pieces over.

3
When all of the chicken has cooked on both sides (after about 5 minutes), add the cashews and scallions. Add the soy sauce and lemon juice. Agitate the pan to coat the chicken with the glaze. Pour in the chicken stock, adding more if necessary to cover the chicken, and cook for another 1–2 minutes. Pour the chicken and gravy over the rice and serve.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our wonderful agent Joelle Delbourgo, who championed this project from beginning to end. Her advocacy, wisdom, and sound advice have been invaluable. Our editor, Meredith O'Hayre, was passionate about our idea from the beginning, has intelligently guided us every step of the way, and been a pleasure to work with throughout the process.

We are grateful to Chris Duffy of Adams Media for his indispensable help in guiding us through acquiring the various permissions needed to put together a book like this.

We appreciate the assistance and support of the talented Adams Media staff who contributed to the project in many ways. Finally, warm thanks to each of our participating authors. It was a privilege to work with them in creating
Table of Contents.

We extend our appreciation to the restaurants and chefs who generously shared their recipes:

Behind the scenes, our devoted corps of recipe testers was critical in helping us perfect these delicious recipes. They donated their time and ingredients to prepare and sample the food and provided invaluable feedback. We are indebted to our testers:

Cheryl Aglio-Girelli, Kay Allison, Linda Bauer, Seth Bauer, Susan Bonaiuto and fam-ily, Heidi Brown, Molly Burgess, Laurie Burgess, Lucia Gill Case, Adam Gill Case, Ethan Ceplikas, Jesse Day, Joan Demers, Suzanne Diamond, Mary Kate Dillon, Denise Dirocco, Rebecca Drill, Kim Evans, Jody Feinberg, Elizabeth Freeman and family, Andrew Gelman, Doris Gelman, Loie Gelman, Kim Greenberg, Joyce Montag Greenberg, Holly Hartman, Joe Hutcheson, Louis Hutchins, Susan Katcher, Laura Katz, Jane Levin, Larry Masur, Barbara Matorin, Ana Maria Caballero McGuire, Yael Miller, Rich Moche, Elizabeth Nun-berg, Ceci Ogden, Carol Pankin, Allison Pisker, Debbie Pryor, Jayne Raphael, Larni Rosenlev, Tammy Sadok, Judy Safian, Emily Safian-Demers, Abby Schwartz, Daniela Sever, Donna Skinner, Sara Smolover, Dale Sokoloff, Deb Squires and family, and Leslie Zheutlin.

As always, we are grateful for the support of our family and friends.

Vicki: Thanks to my dad, Harvey Levy, and my sister, Larni Rosenlev, for their unwavering support and our Friday lunches that took my mind off recipe testing, and to Zhanna Volynskaya, cook extraordinaire and loving cheerleader. I appreciate the support and good taste of my teenagers, Aaron, Ben, and Joanna, who were always ready to sample new recipes and offer their honest opinions. Their visits to the kitchen, along with their warm and witty presence, kept me grounded throughout this process.

Judy: Thanks to my sons: Noah for your recipe sampling, feedback, and for sharing your space; and Danny for your excellent palate (and for introducing me to some fantastic New Orleans cuisine.) I am grateful to all of my friends and family who have offered support, encouragement, advice - and excel at recipe testing!