Cooking Know-How: Be a Better Cook With Hundreds of Easy Techniques, Step-by-Step Photos, and Ideas forover 500 Great Meals - Hardcover

Weinstein, Bruce; Scarbrough, Mark

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470180803 ISBN 13: 9780470180808

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009

Synopsis

Welcome to a whole new kind of cookbook."Knowing how to cook has challenged lots of men. Women, too. What most people learn is a specific how to make this pasta sauce, or that loaf of bread. What about learning how to cook in general? And not just the 'how' but the 'how come?' That requires a technique book."What you'll find in this book is an alphabetical list of sixty-five recipe-driven, technique-centered explications that build out into hundreds of dishes."Armed with the knowledge of the simple mechanics of a dish, the five or so steps it takes to make it, you can walk into the market, find what's fresh (or on special), bring it home, and have dinner on the table without any worries, any overly romantic pretensions, or any cookbooks piled on the fresh every time--and your way, too."--from the Introduction"The recipes are structured without being fussy and the majority are relatively easy. This is a welcome rarity, imparting a useful, innovative framework as well as the confidence to depart from it."--"Publishers Weekly"

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough are the bestselling authors who penned the Ultimate cookbook series, including The Ultimate Ice Cream Book. They are contributing editors to Eating Well and columnists for weightwatchers.com ("The Every Day Gourmet"), as well as Today's Health & Wellness ("Five After Five"). They file regular features for Cooking Light and Relish magazine, and have written for Gourmet, the Washington Post, Wine Spectator, Fine Cooking, and numerous other publications. Weinstein and Scarbrough have appeared on the Today show, the CBS Early Show, and The View, among other programs. They find their peace in the northern woods of Litchfield County, Connecticut. Visit their interactive Web site for this book at cookingknow-how.com.

Lucy Schaeffer is a New York City–based food, travel, and lifestyle photographer. She worked for five years as a photo editor and photographer at Food & Wine magazine.

From the Inside Flap

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough have written more than a dozen bestselling cookbooks. But their latest book, Cooking Know-How, is a radically new sort of project. Offering far more than just a collection of recipes, it explains the how's and why's of cooking?and gives you the techniques and know-how you need to become a better cook.

But don't think it's going to get "cheffy." No chopped chervil here! In a conversational and entertaining way, Cooking Know-How offers sixty-five kitchen-friendly, technique-driven recipes for a wide range of dinnertime favorites, from Roasted Birds, Risotto, and Meatballs to Enchiladas, Ribs, and Veggie Burgers. For each recipe, Bruce and Mark provide detailed, step-by-step explanations (not just directions) that demystify cooking, along with full-color how-to photographs. Who knew dinner could be so much fun?

Or you can skip the explanations and just try one of the eight or so tasty variations that follow each entry. After Beef Stew, for example, you'll find a Sunday Pot Roast Stew with bacon, potatoes, and tomatoes; a French-Inspired Beef Stew with pancetta, prunes, and ground allspice; or even a knock-it-out-of-the-park version of the Belgian classic, Carbonnades Flamandes. Once you understand the science and art of roasting birds, you'll never think twice about making roast chicken, game hens, and even that holiday turkey. Or better yet, create your own signature variations based on the flavors you like or what's fresh at the market.

Throughout the book, Bruce and Mark sprinkle in a wealth of kitchen tips and tricks of the trade. The more you use Cooking Know-How?and you'll find more than 500 specific dishes in total?the more you'll build your cooking skills and expand your dinner repertoire.

Illustrated throughout with more than 300 color photographs, including hundreds of how-to shots, Cooking Know-How distills the kitchen wisdom Bruce and Mark have gained through decades of writing about food. The result is a brand-new kind of cookbook: a beginner's guide, a pro's library of favorites, a reader's cookbook all in one. It's just what you need to cook with confidence, creativity, and flair.

Reviews

Starred Review. In this unconventional, friendly cookbook, Weinstein and Scarbrough, the authors of the Ultimate cookbook series, have selected 65 basic savory dishes that, taken together, make up a diverse, international repertoire of nightly dinners. A How to Use section orients readers to the particular style of the book and some important considerations for translating the general explication to the specific recipe. Each general dish, be it a bean soup or tagine, begins with a description of the basic technique, with photos illustrating each step. Included in the description are suggestions for the cook who wants to improvise with different spices or needs to use up that lone parsnip in the refrigerator. Following the recipe is a chart with multiple variations: eight different versions of enchiladas (including turkey and walnut) or eight different meals cooked in parchment packets, such as ratatouille-style fish and Japanese-style chicken. The recipes are structured without being fussy and the majority are relatively easy. This is a welcome rarity, imparting a useful, innovative framework as well as the confidence to depart from it. (Apr.)
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Joining titles such as Sally Schneider’s A New Way to Cook (2001) and Mark Bittman’s revised edition of How to Cook Everything (2008), this volume from the creators of the well-known Ultimate cookbook series encourages home cooks to master and then improvise on the basics, rather than re-create fussy, elaborate, restaurant-style dishes. Like Schneider and Bittman, the authors use reference charts to guide readers through variations on basic soups, salads, roasts, and other cornerstones of a home cook’s repertoire. Each chapter is devoted to a “master recipe,” and the selection reflects Americans’ growing preferences for global flavors: sections devoted to biryani, vindaloo, and tagine appear alongside those for beef stew, omelets, and chicken soup. Photos illustrate the step-by-step instructions, followed by extensive charts listing alterations to the basic ingredients that will result in new, widely varied recipes. The back-to-basics approach extends to equipment suggestions as well: “The best way to separate an egg? Through your clean fingers.” Clear and comprehensive, this innovative title will educate and inspire both beginning and seasoned cooks. --Gillian Engberg

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0470180803
• ISBN 13: 9780470180808
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 406