The Confident Cook

Anyone who can understand the reasoning behind basic cooking techniques can become a creative, relaxed, and confident cook. Chalmers takes the would-be chef through how the addition or substitution of a few ingredients can transform a simple dish into a culinary masterpiece. The Confident Cook, invaluable to experienced cooks as well as to beginners, demonstrates that in fact there are only four or five basic methods of cooking food. Once mastered, these basic methods can be used with many different ingredients to create countless dishes. Chalmers shows how beef stew, braised veal, coq au vin, and a vegetable casserole, for example, are similar in their preparation; how a simple beef stew can become a hearty Mulligan, a Belgian carbonnade, a French boeuf bourguingnon, or your own less classic invention. More important, she shows how you can whip up something delectable from whatever supplies you have available without being tied to a recipe with specified ingredients. About two hundred recipes are given with logical and practical directions, and some seventy-five original line drawings clearly illustrate each technique and some of the finished dishes. But the heart of this book is the information that makes it possible to dispense altogether with recipes and to start experimenting—confidently and successfully—with your own creative cooking ideas.

Provides recipes made with natural foods and packed with nutrients--from burgers and crispy sweet potato fries to dark chocolate rose petal cake--in a book that also includes a jumpstart plan and ideas for quick weeknight meals.

Anyone who has ever used a Lauraine Jacobs recipe from the famous Cuisine magazine knows how fantastic they are and how well they work. Celebrating New Zealand's clean green, flavour-filled produce and recommending wine matches from among our huge range of peerless wines, this book by the longtime food editor of CUISINE is aimed at home cooks who want to cook well and expand their repertoire and who are passionate about food and wine. Lauraine Jacobs is the doyenne of New Zealand food writers and in choosing her 133 favourite recipes from over the years at Cuisine she is creating the stuff of many happy dinner parties to come. With beautiful photographs by Kieran Scott and presented in a stunningly handsome layout, this book is destined to become a classic. "I would easily classify Lauraine Jacobs as the high priestess of the international food and wine scene. The Confident Cook brilliantly serves up the ideas, recipes and thoughts that have propelled her to become one of the true leading lights of the gastronomic world. It's one thing to merely love all things food and wine with an extreme exuberance, but quite another to have professorial-like knowledge on the matter. Thank you, Lauraine, for this incredible and inspiring work from the heart!" Charlie Trotter Lauraine has done New Zealand proud. New Zealand food and wine lovers will feel a glow of pride at this collection of lovely recipes that does justice to New Zealand's excellent produce, including its outstanding wines. The photographs are delightfully evocative. And visitors will be steered towards the very best wherever they find themselves.o Stephanie Alexander

Kitchen Confidence is packed with Catherine’s personal selection of recipes, based around what her family enjoys and the dishes she keeps coming back to time after time. Every recipe is accompanied by a full colour photo (which she styled and snapped whilst making her impatient family wait to eat!) as well as including note pages which contain beautiful illustrations by Harry Stone. From breakfast to dinner and dessert, within the pages of Kitchen Confidence, you’ll find loads of ideas that will tickle your taste buds and maybe inspire you to turn the occasional date with the oven into a full-blown culinary affair with your kitchen! Each recipe is straightforward, with a guide as to how long it will take, what ingredients you could substitute and sometimes even a little bit of history. There’s a guide to useful store cupboard ingredients, equipment you might want to invest in and some tips and techniques for success in the kitchen. So whisks at the ready as you keep calm and curry on and discover a new-found confidence in the kitchen!

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A thoroughly modern guide to becoming a better, faster, more creative cook, featuring fun, flavorful recipes anyone can make. ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: NPR, Food52, Taste of Home “Surprising no one, Molly has written a book as smart, stylish, and entertaining as she is.”—Carla Lalli Music, author of Where Cooking Begins If you seek out, celebrate, and obsess over good food but lack the skills and confidence necessary to make it at home, you’ve just won a ticket to a life filled with supreme deliciousness. Cook This Book is a new kind of foundational cookbook from Molly Baz, who’s here to teach you absolutely everything she knows and equip you with the tools to become a better, more efficient cook. Molly breaks the essentials of cooking down to clear and uncomplicated recipes that deliver big flavor with little effort and a side of education, including dishes like Pastrami Roast Chicken with Schmaltzy Onions and Dill, Chorizo and Chickpea Carbonara, and of course, her signature Cae Sal. But this is not your average cookbook. More than a collection of recipes, Cook This Book teaches you the invaluable superpower of improvisation though visually compelling lessons on such topics as the importance of salt and how to balance flavor, giving you all the tools necessary to make food taste great every time. Throughout, you’ll encounter dozens of QR codes, accessed through the camera app on your smartphone, that link to short technique-driven videos hosted by Molly to help illuminate some of the trickier skills. As Molly says, “Cooking is really fun, I swear. You simply need to set yourself up for success to truly enjoy it.” Cook This Book will help you do just that, inspiring a new generation to find joy in the kitchen and take pride in putting a home-cooked meal on the table, all with the unbridled fun and spirit that only Molly could inspire.

The key to confident cooking lies not in learning to follow intricate recipes but rather in mastering a select handful of truly appealing yet straightforward dishes that invite experimentation and improvisation to reflect the seasons and the cook's own palate. In Salt to Taste, Chef Marco Canora presents a tempting repertoire of 100 soulful recipes that embody this philosophy perfectly: food that is comforting and familiar but with a depth of flavor and timeless appeal that mark the dishes as true essentials of the contemporary table. Each meticulously written recipe offers insightful lessons drawn both from memories of his mother's cooking and his years as one of New York's most respected chefs, guiding the way to a delicious dish every time. Extensive chef's notes suggest ways to streamline the process and enhance the savory results, marrying the precision of the professional kitchen with the warmth of home cooking. Those looking to elevate their cooking from merely good to truly spectacular will find much here to inspire them, while those in need of culinary coaching will learn that creating greatness is within reach. With a little forethought, care, practice, and observation, any cook can quickly gain the confidence to "salt to taste."

From chef and social media star Dennis Prescott, over 100 bold and delicious recipes to ignite your cooking and make mealtimes fun and stress-free. For Dennis Prescott, cooking is all about connection—sharing great food with those you love. Cook with Confidence encourages you to do just that, loaded with recipes guaranteed to satisfy and accessible techniques to elevate your cooking. Packed with advice, Dennis guides you step-by-step through tackling any cooking quandary, from opening an oyster to making fresh pasta, choosing sustainable fish, or mastering the grill. Inside you’ll find recipes that are impressive as they are approachable, inspired by Dennis’s travels, his work in professional kitchens, and his Maritime roots. There’s no shortage of scrumptious options, starting with snacks and starters for every occasion like Carrot and Coriander Fritters with Turmeric Yogurt. Add a seasonal salad or succulent side by serving Roasted Squash and Heirloom Tomato Panzanella or Zucchini, Blue Cheese, and Leek Gratin. Enjoy plant-powered, mouth-watering mains like Falafel Mezze Bowls or Mushroom Ragù with Cheesy Grits. While showstopping fish and meat dishes include Grilled Halibut Tacos with Creamy Slaw and Avocado Crema, and Steak Frites with Creamy Whiskey Peppercorn Sauce. Dennis invites cooks of all levels to approach each recipe through his eyes: as your next great adventure. Exploring dishes that hone important kitchen skills and impart crucial cooking wisdom, Cook with Confidence inspires readers to get excited about cooking—and to create community and conversation over irresistible food.

Host of Cooking Channel's Kelsey's Essentials and fan favorite on season four of The Next Food Network Star, Kelsey Nixon shares the essential recipes, techniques, and tools that new home cooks need in their back pocket. A young food star and new mom, Kelsey is an invaluable friend in the kitchen to everyone settling into their first kitchen of their own. Her recipes, which are broken down into simple steps, teach readers how to cook, highlighting key tools and basic techniques everyone should know. And yet her flavors are anything but basic; Kelsey gives everyone the confidence to start with the 2.0 version of a recipe instead of the boring standards. For example, she makes her house pilaf with quinoa instead of rice, and her addictive fruit salad is a savory first course instead of a lackluster dessert. With 100 recipes and 60 color photographs, Kitchen Confidence brings home all of the energy and spirit of the Cooking Channel show of the same name, making it an excellent handbook for newlyweds, recent college graduates, and those discovering their kitchens for the first time.