Chicago's world-renowned chef, Charlie Trotter, has returned to airwaves with his show "The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter". As a big fan of cooking shows, I've watched the first few episodes of the new season with a careful eye.

The show centers on Trotter preparing a couple different dishes in a kitchen, but now also includes a narrated visit to food sources like organic vegetable farms or the source of unique artisanal cheeses. The visits outside of the kitchen set the mood and the theme for the cooking portion, and reflect Trotter's dedication to cooking with pure, fresh ingredients.

I have learned quite a bit from watching Charlie Trotter cook on television. His approach is not to walk you through a recipe with exact measurements and durations. He is, more simply, demonstrating an approach to cooking, constantly fostering a love of improvisation. He makes suggestions on substitutions for items he is adding, often saying things like, "If you don't like this, you can leave it out altogether." A wilted arugula salad with sliced rabbit loin and goat cheese on a recent show could have easily been reproduced with chicken breast and spinach. The approach taken by Trotter makes you feel comfortable about using whatever you have available instead of having to search for premium ingredients.

After watching the first episode, I was reminded of another public television favorite, "The Joy of Painting" with Bob Ross. I remember watching Ross move his brush across the canvas talking about "happy little trees" that I couldn't really make out. In the first half of the show, the painting looked haphazard and disparate. In the blink of an eye, the painting would come to life and his landscape would look vibrant. I have a similar experience watching Trotter. Three-fourths of the way through cooking a dish, he has a group of ingredients spread across his work area. None of them look particularly outstanding or interesting, but you know that he's going somewhere with it. He will declare it "time to put this together", and the dish takes shape. In the blink of an eye, he moves from a few separate items into a creation that you would pay a lot of money for.

Unlike many "recipe" cooking shows, watching "The Kitchen Sessions" makes you feel as though someone is telling you a secret rather than dictating instructions. Charlie Trotter is trying to pass along attitudes rather than instructions, valuing improvisation and experimentation over rules and guidelines. It's a pleasure to watch a master at work.

Check out "The Kitchen Sessions with Charlie Trotter" on WYCC, channel 20 at 5pm on Sundays.