Six Basic Cooking Techniques: Culinary Essentials for the Home Cook

SIX BASIC COOKING TECHNIQUES                      JENNIFER CLAIR

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 cooking class, 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.

PAT'S REVIEW

This is a wonderful cookbook for the person who cannot make it to a cooking class but enjoys cooking, or would like to increase some of the skills that they already have. I have been cooking since very young when my father would have me in the kitchen and I learned quite a few basics from him. How to hold a knife and cutting meats and vegetables. For me this change when I began cooking in restaurants as I got older and it is there where I began to learn the difference of over and undercooking food. Here in this book, the author will take you through a course as if you are working in a restaurant or taking different classes. Learning the difference of using better knives and difference between each one, how to cut vegetables, meat, and then the proper way of cooking them. How a lot of people think that it is best to always have an extremely hot skillet when really you should lower the temp as you go along which will lower the chance of burning what you are cooking. Using the proper equipment actually does make what you are cooking taste better especially when you spend a lot still for homemade food. This is a good book for the person who wants to learn or even myself you have been cooking and working in restaurants but at times forget what I have learned. An excellent book. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com