Six Basic Cooking Techniques
Culinary Essentials for the Home Cook
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Welcome to New York City's most popular cooking class -- now in a book! This vividly photographed manual is a peek inside culinary instructor Jennifer Clair's best-selling class her cooking school, Home Cooking New York (homecookingny.com), where just six cooking techniques lay the groundwork for a solid culinary foundation. You'll learn the proper way to handle a chef's knife, cook meat to perfection, create impressive pan sauces, and prepare restaurant-worthy vegetable dishes. Plus, you'll discover which ingredients truly make a difference in a home kitchen (kosher salt, extra-virgin olive oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, to start). Each technique chapter includes a collection of flavorful recipes, so you can practice your newfound skills while cooking delicious meals. And throughout the book, myth-busting "Students Ask" and "Chefs Say" columns feature pearls of indispensable kitchen wisdom (why you should never mince basil, mint, or sage; why blanching vegetables is better than steaming; what are the three key flavors that make all food taste better; and more). Confidence is what makes a great cook, and this practical culinary guide is filled with the teachings you need to gain control of your kitchen.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Those intimidated by the prospect of entering a kitchen, let alone preparing a dish, will benefit from this simple and slim debut by Clair (Gourmet Cooking on a Budget), a former food editor at Martha Stewart Living and founder of the Home Cooking New York cooking school. In this bare-bones tutorial, she clearly and patiently guides readers through six techniques: basic knife skills, cooking meats, preparing pan sauces, blanching green vegetables, roasting vegetables, and cooking leafy greens. With that knowledge, readers can prepare and serve a number of classic mains and sides, such as pan-roasted lemon-rosemary chicken; steak with a red wine sauce; mashed potatoes and gravy; and braised collard greens with bacon and onions. A recipe for Best Vegetable Soup You'll Ever Make calls for store-bought chicken stock rather than homemade (a simple but important skill one could master). Still, beginning cooks will appreciate Clair's insight and recommendations on outfitting one's kitchen with the proper tools, the art of seasoning, knife-sharpening 101, and cooking with convection ovens. The book's simplistic design and layout feels amateurish, but those hoping to learn fundamental skills and techniques will find this to be a terrifically helpful guide. (BookLife)
