Cooking Know-how: Be a Better Cook with Hundreds of Easy Techniques, Step-by-step Photos, and Ideas for Over 500 Great Meals

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough, the creators of the bestselling Ultimate cookbook series, are known for their great recipes. But in their exciting new book, Weinstein and Scarbrough provide more than just recipes: they demonstrate the essential techniques people need to become more confident in the kitchen. Cooking Know-How is organized around 65 "master recipes" for a wide range of dinnertime favorites, from Filet Mignon, Ribs, and Pot Roast to Enchiladas, Thai Curry, and Vindaloo. The authors use each master recipe as a jumping-off point to teach basic techniques, providing detailed step-by-step instructions along with full-color how-to photographs. Once cooks understand the techniques, they can try out one of the eight recipe variations the authors provide at the end of each master recipe section (for Bean Soup, for example, the eight choices range from Black Bean Soup to Minestrone). Or, even better, they can start improvising their own variations. Filled with authoritative how-to instructions, lively advice and asides, over 300 illuminating color photographs, and more than 500 terrific recipes, Cooking Know-How is a one-of-a-kind how-to cookbook--the ideal kitchen companion for both cooking beginners and veteran home chefs seeking to expand their skills and repertoire. Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough (Colebrook, CT) are the authors of the bestselling series of single-topic Ultimate cookbooks, including The Ultimate Ice Cream Book (978-0-688-16149-1). They are contributing editors to Eating Well and columnists for Cooking Light, Today's Health and Wellness, weightwatchers.com, and Relish. Weinstein and Scarborough also write regularly for other magazines and newspapers and have appeared on the Today show, the CBS Early Show, and The View , among other programs.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments. Introduction. Bean Soup. Beef Stew. Biryani. Boneless Center-Cut Pork Chops with a Pan Sauce. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts with a Pan Sauce. Braised Bone-in Chicken Breasts or Thighs. Braised Bone-in Pork Chops. Brunswick Stew. Burgers. Cacciatora. Chicken and Rice. Chicken Soup. Chili. Chilled Fruit Soup. Creamy Vegetable Soup. Duck Breasts with a Fruit Sauce. East Indian Curry. Enchiladas. Escabeche. Filets Mignons and Other Red Meat Medallions with a Simple Sauce. Fish Fillets with a Simple Pan Sauce. Fricassee. Fried Rice. Frittata. Gratin. Hash. Jerk Casserole. Lo Mein. Macaroni and Cheese. Marinara. Meatballs. Mediterranean Fish Stew. Mussels. New England Chowder. Omelet. Oven-Frying. Packets. Pad Thai. Paella. Pan-Frying. Pasta in a Cream Sauce. Picadillo. Pizza. Poached Fish Fillets. Pot Pie. Pot Roast. Rack of Lamb. Ribs. Risotto. Roasted Birds 1: Under 4 Pounds Each. Roasted Birds 2: Large Birds. Roasted Fish. Roasted Meat. Roasted Shrimp. Scallops or Shrimp with a Pan Sauce. Scaloppine. Shanks and Bones. Skewers. Souffle. Steaks 1: Strips and Sirloins with Herb Butter. Steaks 2: Rib-Eyes, T-Bones, Veal Chops, and Other Bone-In Steaks. Steamed Whole Fish. Steam-Roasted Duck and Goose. Stir-Frying. Strata. Tagine. Tetrazzini. Thai Curry. Veggie Burgers. Vindaloo. Index.

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.

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 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.) RED STAR REVIEW ( Publishers Weekly , December 15, 2008)