Eva's Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends Hardcover - 2011

Excerpt

My love affair with cooking started long ago, but I remember it so clearly. When I was about six years old, my mom was leaving for work early one morning and I told her I was hungry. “So cook something!” she answered. I vividly remember pulling up a chair to the stove and turning it on with a match. (I know—dangerous, but it was a different time!) I selected the smallest frying pan I could fi nd because I wanted to cook one egg. Not eggs, just one egg. I cracked the egg on the edge of the pan, as I’d seen my mom do effortlessly many times before, and emptied it into the frying pan.

Of course, the pan was full of eggshell. I didn’t use any butter or oil, so the egg stuck everywhere. I can’t even remember now what it tasted like, but I can recall the feeling of accomplishment I had after cooking that egg. I found it empowering and energizing. I was hooked from that day forward.

I wanted to learn everything! I wanted my little EASY-BAKE Oven to make casseroles like my mom’s. I wanted my lemonade stand to have more flavor options than just lemon. And for Christmas I wanted my own hand mixer! I eventually graduated from cooking an egg to making my own spaghetti sauce.

I have my family to thank for my cooking skills and the inspiration they gave me to begin my own culinary journey. My dad was a big believer in never eating fast food, so we were not allowed to have it. And nothing ever went to waste. I grew up on a ranch outside of Corpus Christi, Texas, and throughout my childhood my family grew our own vegetables and raised our own chickens. Every day my mom cooked with garden-fresh calabasa (squash), carrots, and beans, and freshly laid eggs. Every last bit of that garden’s harvest was always used, and any trimmings went right to the compost pile. She worked full-time as a special education teacher; took care of my oldest sister, who is developmentally disabled; and had three other daughters to drive all over town to cheerleading, band practice, work, and everywhere else busy teenage girls need to go. But in spite of it all, she always managed to have dinner on the table every night at 6P.M. for my dad. This was such an important lesson in my life. The fact that my mother clearly reveled in taking care of her family in addition to having a career inspired me to be the same way. I cannot count the number of times that I’ve found myself in a Gucci dress and heels—with full hair and makeup, about to run out to an event—pulling a roasted chicken out of the oven in order to make sure that my family is fed before leaving the house to face a hundred photographers on a red carpet.

Media reviews

“Eva and I both come from tight-knit families where nothing is more important than gathering for meals and celebrations. Her new cookbook will help entice your family to the table for wonderful memories.”
—GIADA DE LAURENTIIS
 
“Eva’s recipes are simple, delicious, and enticing, and they form a perfect bridge between down-home Texas, Latin zing, and easy-to-make perfection. I’d be happy to eat the spicy stuff in Eva’s kitchen every day.”
—MARIO BATALI
 
"Eva Longoria’s new book Eva’s Kitchen will get us all back to where we belong—the family table. Not surprisingly, it’s done with a little bit of spice! I’ll add this book to my collection for the tortilla soup alone!"
--BOBBY FLAY

“A wonderful book of family recipes and beautiful photos, Eva’s Kitchen proves that you can never miss when you cook with such passion for the people you love.”
—MARCELA VALLADOLID
 
“Eva’s recipes are delightfully personal and refreshingly simple and easy to follow. Aside from the recipes, the book is a gorgeous family album that tells a story that both our families share. I am thrilled to share my palette with Eva, and have her share her palate with me!”
—DAISY MARTINEZ
 
“Cooking and enjoying delicious food is one of Eva’s great passions, and she really puts her heart and her heritage into every dish that she serves. I know you’ll be as inspired as you cook your way through her book as I've been collaborating with her over the years at our restaurant, Beso!”
—TODD ENGLISH
 
“For me, so many of Eva’s recipes are like big hugs from great friends. They’re filled with the flavor of good times with loved ones, and of Eva’s and my shared love of the Southwest—where we were both raised.  Add to those heart-warming recipes a beautiful array of simple-to-do, up-to-the-minute dishes and you’ve got a cookbook to turn to time and again. Eva can cook for me any day!”
—RICK BAYLESS