Maxi's Kitchen

Introduction

Welcome to my first-ever cookbook! I’m honored and excited that you’re here reading this, and I appreciate your support so much. It’s honestly surreal. If we’re just meeting for the first time: Hi, I’m Maxine! I’ve always loved to cook (since I was a little girl—more on that below), and in 2018 I started a cooking blog called Maxi’s Kitchen while working a full-time corporate job. When I was laid off in 2022, I decided to take the leap and dedicate myself to the art and science of recipe development. Thanks for joining me in this next chapter of my journey!

During the early creative process of writing this book, I reflected on the many cookbooks in my home. My collection essentially falls into two categories: books I turn to all the time (few), and those that look nice on my bookshelf but sit gathering dust (most). My dream for this book is that it falls into the former category in your collection. I hope that in the coming weeks, months, and years, Maxi’s Kitchen will become covered in stains from repeated use, with handscribbled notes in the margins and lots of dog-eared pages bookmarking your favorite recipes the oldschool way.

My mission in everything I do is to inspire people to cook more. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good restaurant (understatement), so it’s not about staying home instead of dining out. Rather, what I’ve come to realize is that many people view cooking as a chore, and some even find it stressful. However, I am here to tell you that cooking can be a calm, meditative experience that you can enjoy and look forward to.

That’s what this cookbook is all about: discovering your weekly go-to recipes that help you build confidence and have fun in the kitchen. I’ve organized the chapters by day of the week, along with a chapter at the end for simple sides, because I’ve found that the natural rhythm of a week influences what I’m in the mood to cook and eat. On busier, more stressful days, I need something simple and quick. Later in the week, I tend to have more time, so I might be inspired to cook a recipe that requires a bit more energy and love. And no matter what day it is, I’m always trying to keep it nourishing and delicious.

On Monday, you’ll start the week with quick and easy recipes like Creamy Mushroom Chicken (page 34). Tuesday is centered on one-pot meals like Shrimp and Broccoli StirFry (page 53), where the entire dish is cooked in one skillet, pan, or wok. Wednesday is for having some fun to get through the midweek slump: sandwiches, tacos, and wraps, along with colorful and vibrant bowls. Thursday, as we near the end of the week, is about indulging in restaurant-grade date-night meals, such as Spicy Creamy Shrimp Spaghetti (page 114). Friday is an opportunity to host a group of friends or family with tapas-style recipes, like French Onion Crostini (page 160) and Grandpa’s Korean Vegetable Pancakes (page 157). Saturday is for experimentation and fun projects, without time restrictions, like Mom’s Red and White Lasagna (page 167) or Chinese Hand-Pulled Noodles with Chili Oil and Scallions (page 165). And Sunday is all about brunch, rest, and relaxation, with lots of eggs and the fluffiest pancakes you’ll ever taste (page 208). My hope is that by breaking down the week with these different intentions and providing a wide variety of flavors, ingredients, and cuisines, you can find something that matches what you’re in the mood for, no matter the day.

I can’t wait to hear which recipes become part of your weekly rotation, and let me tell you a secret: My real dream is for these dishes to really become yours, for my mom’s spaghetti and meatballs to become your family recipe. My brothers and I would constantly ask my mom to make the dishes we craved, and I’d love for the same to happen in your household—for the recipes in this book to become the ones you return to over and over again, until you know them as well as I know my grandma’s wontons.

And speaking of those wontons, you could say that’s where much of my journey into cooking began.

Although I was too young to remember, baby Maxine really loved food. It was actually a running joke in my family (and still is to this day). My mom and grandma always tell the story of when they fed me a banana, then another, and another, and another, until my grandma finally turned to my mom and said that was probably enough. I could not stop eating!

It makes sense, given that there was no shortage of amazing food at home when I was growing up. My mom, Ann, is an incredible cook. Her parents were both first-generation immigrants (my grandma is Chinese, and my grandpa was Korean) and taught her recipes from their countries of origin. Because my mom is the eldest of three sisters and her parents worked late as pharmacists, she often cooked dinner for the family. When she met my dad in San Francisco in her early twenties, she wooed him with her cooking, surprising him with fried rice and chocolate chip cookies at the end of a workday. My dad, on the other hand, grew up in a Jewish family on Long Island. His parents were of Romanian, Polish, and Russian descent. As you cook through my book, you’ll see that many of the dishes are inspired by my family’s rich and diverse culinary traditions—often recipes that were passed down from my grandparents to my parents, from their home countries to their kitchens in Illinois and New York, and finally to my home in Los Angeles.

My mom and I have always been close, so when I went through a lonely year in middle school after a falling-out with my friends, she took me under her wing and taught me all our family recipes. That year, she really became my best friend. Since I had a lot more time at home and no invitations to hang out with the girls at school, my mom said: “Every time I cook something, let’s do it together.” Over the course of many, many hours spent together in the kitchen, learning to make dishes like my grandma’s wontons and my nana’s broccoli and cheese–stuffed chicken, something sparked inside me, and I started to really enjoy the process and ritual of cooking. That year with my mom lit a fire in me that still burns to this day. We joke that I learned to fold wontons before I ever held hands with a boy. (It’s true!) Though my culinary education began from a painful adolescent experience, it showed me how food can be comforting—I’ll forever associate cooking with the feeling of being home and cared for.

In 2017, I was in my twenties, living alone in New York City in a tiny studio apartment, when I started to miss cooking at home with my mom. If you’ve lived in New York before, you’re familiar with the infamously cramped apartments and comically small kitchens. That, plus the world-class dining scene, is why it’s so tempting to eat every meal out. However, right there in the mecca of the restaurant world, I found myself starting to rekindle some of the magic of homecooked food.

I had also recently gotten into a serious relationship, and I was consciously (or subconsciously) trying to reel in my boyfriend (now husband), Doug, with my cooking—folding wontons in a flash and making him veggie scrambles and smoothies before work (sound familiar?). Writing that last sentence makes me giggle—it’s a little embarrassing, but it’s true: My love language is food.

One day, Doug and I were talking, and I shared a “crazy idea” I had about starting a cooking blog on Instagram. We both laughed and then thought about it for a minute. Why not? Who cares if no one sees it! This would be a fun creative outlet on evenings and weekends, when I wasn’t working my day job in sales at a tech company. At first it was terrifying; it took me a whole year to muster the courage to film and post a video of my go-to spaghetti sauce. But once I got going, working on my cooking blog quickly became my passion. I loved building a community around my recipes and felt so fulfilled inspiring people to cook.

Four years later, in December 2022, I had built a modest following on Instagram. That’s when I got the news that I had lost my job. Embarrassed and dejected, I spent most of the day crying. I was a model employee, took pride in my work, and had a great relationship with my colleagues. Although it was a gut punch at that moment, I woke up the next day and decided to consider it a blessing in disguise. I was going to bet on myself and find a way to make cooking my full-time job.

What has followed has been the craziest chapter of my life (in a good way!). Ever since then, I’ve been chasing my dream at full speed, filming hundreds of recipes and sharing them with you all! When I develop a recipe, I’m always thinking about how to make it easy, doable, and exciting for you, whether you’re a student on a tight budget, someone completely new to the kitchen feeling nervous about getting started, a busy parent feeding their family, or an experienced cook who’s stuck in a dinner rut.

Writing this cookbook and fine-tuning every recipe so it’s just right for you allowed me to slow down, trust my instincts more, and remember what I love the most about cooking: the pure joy of being in the kitchen and unwinding as I prep dinner. Although it sounds cheesy, I honestly feel that this is what I was put on earth to do, and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.