The document provides information and advice for someone with a passion for cooking. It discusses focusing cooking skills to gain mastery, having flexibility when experiments don't work out, and finding a balance to keep creative energy focused while also satisfying less adventurous family members. It recommends mastering essential cooking skills so one's creative spirit can be brought to meals that please everyone. Various tools, recipes, and subscription services are also promoted to help the reader cook more easily and break out of cooking ruts.

1. The Maker
Your Power
Passion for cooking
and boundless
curiosity.
Your Potential
Focusing on specific
cooking skills for
greater mastery.
Your
Kitchen Confidante

2. Where others might see cooking as a
daily chore, an Explorer sees cooking as
a way to connect to their creativity.
You’re always trying new recipes and
food trends from poke bowls to french
fry boards (Google it now!).
Your confidence comes from openness
and flexibility when your experiments
don’t turn out. (No biggie, there’s leftover
homemade pad thai in the fridge!)
When life gets too busy, or you have
picky eaters at the table, you can feel
frustrated. A hungry family isn’t going to
wait all day for your homemade bucatini.
And, of course, you fell in love with
someone who thinks pepper is too spicy!
Grab some recipes and cooking tips
from a maker, who knows how to strike a
balance and keep your creative energy
focused. When you take the time to fully
master some essential cooking skills, you
can bring your creative spirit to meals
that can satisfy everyone.

3. This gives you the flexibility
and results you need. Get a
great sear, use it on any cook
surface, and hand it down to
another professional chef-in-
training in your family.
Cast Iron
Your Power Tool

4. TasteBuds is a monthly
subscription that delivers
seasonings, recipes, and fast flavor
ideas to your door. It’s just what
you need to break out of your
dinnertime rut.
Your Helper Tools
TasteBuds

5. Your Helper Tools
Cutlery
Ours is fully forged from a
single piece of high-carbon
German steel. What a
difference a high-quality
knife can make!

6. Recreate Takeout Favorites
Pizza, stir-fry, and pad thai!
Oh my!
Your Recipes

7. 1 large or 2 small leeks, trimmed
4 slices bacon
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (6 oz./175 g
each)
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken legs (4 oz./125 g
each)
2 tsp (10 mL) Lemon Pepper Rub
4 garlic cloves, pressed
½ cup (125 mL) pinot grigio or white cooking
wine
3 tbsp (45 mL) butter
1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard
2 tbsp (30 mL) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 mL) chicken stock
5 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups (500 mL) baby spinach leaves
Optional: Mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta
Prep 5 min - Cook 35 min – Ready in 40 min
THIS FLAVORFUL ONE-POT MEAL TASTES LIKE IT’S BEEN COOKING ALL DAY, BUT ONLY TAKES ABOUT 40
MINUTES ON THE STOVETOP. SERVE WITH RICE, PASTA, OR MASHED POTATOES.
INGREDIENTS
4 servings
BRAISED CHICKEN
YIELD
20-minute Recipes
Your Recipes
Recreate Takeout Favorites
Your Recipes

8. DIRECTIONS
1. Slice the leeks and cut the bacon into ½" (1-cm) pieces. Heat the 6-qt.
(5.7-L) Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven over medium-high heat for 1
minute. Add the bacon and cook until crisp and brown, about 5–7
minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Pat the chicken thighs and legs dry with paper towels and season each
side with the rub. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Working in two batches, brown the
chicken, skin-side down, about 5 minutes (see cook’s tip). Flip and cook
an additional minute. If there’s more than 2 tbsp (30 mL) of oil in the pan,
drain the extra.
4. Add the leeks to the pan and cook for 1 minute. Add the garlic and
cook until fragrant, about 20–30 seconds. Add the wine, cook until
reduced, about 3–4 minutes.
5. Add the butter and mustard. Once the butter has melted, stir in the
flour until combined. Add the stock, bacon, and thyme; stir.
6. Add the chicken thighs and legs back into the pan and place the
spinach on top. Cover and cook on medium-low until the chicken
reaches 165°F (74°C), about 13–15 minutes.
7.Cut the steak into thick slices and serve with the asparagus.
20-minute Recipes
Your Recipes
Recreate Takeout Favorites
Your Recipes
7. If you like, serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or pasta.

9. COOK'S TIPS:
The bottom of the pan will get
dark when browning the
chicken. Don’t worry, once
you add the wine, those
brown bits will release into
the sauce and add a deeper,
richer flavor. Yum!
.
NUTRIENTS PER SERVING:
U.S. nutrients per serving:
Calories 570, Total Fat 30 g,
Saturated Fat 9 g, Cholesterol 235
mg, Sodium 960 mg,
Carbohydrate 12 g, Fiber 2 g,
Total Sugars 2 g (includes 0 g
added sugars), Protein 53 g 4
Servings 5 Prep Time Total Time
mins 40 mins Braised Chicken 17
Main Dishes
Recreate Takeout Favorites
Your Recipes