INTRODUCTION<br >oday s Gourmet II is a continuation<br >of the type of cuisine I introduced in<br >the original television series and its<br >companion cookbook. My common-<br >sense approach to cooking--the way I cook at<br >home on a regular basis--has been extremely<br >well received， and I thank viewers for their<br >enthusiastic response to Today s Gourmet，<br >both the series and the book. ~ It is not my<br >intention to do dietetic cooking here， nor do I<br >banish all butter， cream， and other types of fat<br >from my recipes; rather， I use small amounts<br >of these ingredients， adding them at the<br >precise moment when they maximize flavor.<br >Essentially， I advocate the use of quality in-<br >gredients and the value and healthfulness of<br >organic products. ~ In the "happy cooking" I<br >do， I also want to teach you how to cook bet-<br >ter and faster. You should have fun in the<br >kitchen and then emerge from it with flavor-<br >ful， wholesome， attractive dishes that can be<br >served to both family and guests. Some of the<br >recipes are simple， lending themselves more<br >to family meals; others， containing costlier in-<br >gredients， are more elaborate， better suited to<br >parties. ~ All the recipes in the book reflect<br >my style of life and my approach to cooking，<br >suggesting how I incorporate cooking into the<br >context of my family life， which includes<br >countless gatherings. Food is the common de-<br >nominator that brings people together in my<br >house， and this way of life is represented in<br >the recipes that follow.<br >INTRODUCTION TO TODAY S GOURMET I<br >When I recall the food that we used to serve<br >at Le Pavillon in New York when I first came<br >to America thirty years ago， I realize how<br >much cooking in general has changed and im-<br >proved， especially in the last twenty years or<br >so. ~ I like to think that my cooking has<br >changed a great deal， too. Through the years，<br >I have tried to keep abreast of what s going on<br >and have made adjustments in my cooking to<br >accommodate changes brought about， for ex-<br >ample， by the social upheavals of the sixties<br >and seventies， spanning everything from<br >women s liberation to organic gardening--one<br >offshoot of a tremendous national concern<br >about health. ~ Paradoxically， the current<br >preoccupation with health as it relates to food<br >is not a new or revolutionary phenomenon.<br >