How to Cook Everything: The Basics: All You Need to Make Great Food--With 1,000 Photos: A Beginner Cookbook(2 How to Cook Everything Series)

The next best thing to having Mark Bittman in the kitchen with you Mark Bittman's highly acclaimed, bestselling book How to Cook Everything is an indispensable guide for any modern cook. With How to Cook Everything The Basics he reveals how truly easy it is to learn fundamental techniques and recipes. From dicing vegetables and roasting meat, to cooking building-block meals that include salads, soups, poultry, meats, fish, sides, and desserts, Bittman explains what every home cook, particularly novices, should know. 1,000 beautiful and instructive photographs throughout the book reveal key preparation details that make every dish inviting and accessible. With clear and straightforward directions, Bittman's practical tips and variation ideas, and visual cues that accompany each of the 185 recipes, cooking with How to Cook Everything The Basics is like having Bittman in the kitchen with you. This is the essential teaching cookbook, with 1,000 photos illustrating every technique and recipe; the result is a comprehensive reference that's both visually stunning and utterly practical. Special Basics features scattered throughout simplify broad subjects with sections like "Think of Vegetables in Groups," "How to Cook Any Grain," and "5 Rules for Buying and Storing Seafood." 600 demonstration photos each build on a step from the recipe to teach a core lesson, like "Cracking an Egg," "Using Pasta Water," "Recognizing Doneness," and "Crimping the Pie Shut." Detailed notes appear in blue type near selected images. Here Mark highlights what to look for during a particular step and offers handy advice and other helpful asides. Tips and variations let cooks hone their skills and be creative.

Table of Contents:
Why Cook? ix Getting Started 1 Breakfast 41 Appetizers and Snacks 69 Salads 107 Soups and Stews 135 Pasta and Grains 171 Vegetables and Beans 215 Meat 263 Poultry 305 Seafood 345 Breads 381 Desserts 419 Making Menus 458 List of Lessons 460 Index 464 Converting Measurements 486

About the Author :
MARK BITTMAN is the author of thirty acclaimed books, including How to Cook Everything. He was a New York Times columnist for more than two decades and has hosted four TV series, including the Emmy-winning Years of Living Dangerously. He is currently on the faculty at Columbia University and is the editor in chief of Heated. He lives in New York City.

Review :
'A gem for the inexperienced and experienced...this is a most useful book to add to any cookery shelf.' (Yorkshire Gazette & Herald, 30th May 2012)