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'fix Me A Plate' Is The Cookbook You Need For Hearty Meals
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Welcome to “Cookbook of the Week.” This is a series where I highlight cookbooks that are unique, easy to use, or just special to me. While finding a particular recipe online serves a quick purpose, flipping through a truly excellent cookbook has a magic all its own.
I’ve reached a state of eating that I shall call “Deep Winter.” I know there are much colder environments in the world, but my weak New York City constitution makes it impossible to have fun out in the 20-degree weather. I prefer to stay indoors, comment on the snow like a Progressive commercial, and cook hot comfort food. If you share any of these inclinations, I’ve got a great cookbook for you: Fix Me a Plate.
A bit about the book
Fix Me a Plate is a collection of soul food recipes, both traditionally prepared and dishes with a twist. This cookbook comes to us from chef Scotty Scott, and was published in 2022. It reads as much like a cookbook as it does a personal account of how Scott came to be a chef and his family history with some dishes. I know personal stories are meant to “hook” us, but dammit, it just works. I’m hooked. Probably because we all have some special history with different meals, and many of us can relate to the feeling of choosing one career path and realizing later that maybe we should be feeding our creative side.
This book has 60 recipes, from side dishes to sweets, and each one is written with a refreshing dose of Scott’s personality. Many cookbooks take on the air of something official, or the wisened scientific approach. I love that, and there’s a place for that. But cooking is also a joyous activity that you can mess with. Fix Me a Plate is fun to read, and it feels like a friend is teaching you their recipes. There’s space for substitutions and wiggle room with spices. It’s like when the boss is out of work for the day: You get your work done, but you can talk to your buddy for a little longer too.
A great cookbook for hearty eats
Every recipe in this book looks like I could just nestle in its arms and fall asleep—from the Chicken and Brown Butter Sweet Potato Waffles to Slow and Low Red Beans and Rice. This is not a “diet” cookbook. There isn’t a leafy green salad in sight. There’s nothing dainty in here, and I like it.
The last thing I want right now is a light meal that leaves me searching for a snack 20 minutes later. This is the cookbook you grab when your family is grumpy or your weekend getaway plans get ruined. It's the one you reach for when you have something or someone to celebrate or, heck, when you just want to feel full. It works for me in my current state of Deep Winter because all I seem to be craving are soups, stews, powerfully savory meats, beans, and saucy vegetables. Oh, and I almost forgot—carbs. Few things are as delicious to me as pasta, bread, grits, potatoes, or rice with some sort of gravy situation. Fix Me a Plate has it all.
As an added benefit (and surely unexpected when it published in 2022), Scott doesn’t eat stand-alone eggs. You won’t be missing out on any breakfast scrambles, omelets, or quiche recipes in here because of skyrocketing egg prices. Of course, there are recipes where eggs are mixed in, but he keeps them to a minimum. (If you need other eggless breakfast ideas, read here.)
The dish I made this week
Credit: Allie Chanthorn Reinmann
I have a bag of shrimp in my freezer this week, (it’s part of my cheap eats shopping list) so I settled on the Blackened Shrimp and Fried Polenta recipe from The Soul Remix chapter. It wasn’t the simplest of recipes I could have chosen—there are multiple components with the polenta, chopped veggies, and shrimp—but it was completely worth the effort.
I appreciate how Scott organizes the ingredient list in separate sections if the recipe includes multiple parts, which they often do. Some cookbooks just have a long running list, but seeing what I need for the polenta separated from the shrimp component is less overwhelming.
Many of the recipes, including this one, encourage you to take advantage of spices and small amounts of fresh and dried ingredients. The shrimp sauce uses a mixture of dried spices, dried herbs, aromatics, and shrimp stock—shrimp stock that Scott includes a recipe for in the Sauce and Spice section. I made my shrimp stock a little differently, but I did make it myself after shelling my shrimp, and what an incredible difference it made. Each ingredient intentionally layers flavors and aromas, so when you finally chow down, each bite boasts a robust depth of flavor.
I had to stop myself from making the Southern Raised Biscuits with Spicy Sausage Cream Gravy (I had just made a loaf of Irish soda bread so I needed to focus), but it’s next on my list.
How to buy it
Fix Me a Plate is available in softcover online, or as an ebook for a great price. But you know me: I’d rather you go to a big, old, gloriously dusty bookstore. Support your local one when you can, even if it’s not dusty; let’s keep them in business. Check their shelves for this cookbook or see if they can order it to their location.
