Free yourself from the shackles of recipes!

That's what author Michael Rhulman says, at least.  His new book, "Ratio," is about the fundamentals of cooking, as in what ratio of flour to water will make bread, and so on.  The idea is that once you know the ratio, then you can play around with the extras.  In the case of bread, that might mean adding some herbs, or cheeses, or olives, or dried fruit.  He won't tell you what flavors go together -- that's for you, the budding chef, to figure out.