Recipe Weekend. Cookbook Review: Six Basic Cooking Techniques by Jennifer Clair

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this book, free of charge,from the author, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it


Looking for something to take YOUR cooking skills up a notch, or to PROPERLY introduce your kids to cooking skills? Then this is the book you need!

Six Basic Cooking Techniques  cover


Synopsis:

Based on the most popular class at Jennifer's New York City cooking school, Home Cooking New York, this book represents the first in a series of "cooking class in a book"-style culinary manuals that will allow our most popular classes to be available to home cooks beyond the NYC border. Six Basic Cooking Techniques is by far our best-selling class, so it was a natural inaugural cookbook. 

This is a one-of-a-kind culinary guide that fills the need for approachable, non-intimidating, and immediately-engaging books for beginner and amateur home cooks, all in just 112 pages.

Bursting with vibrant photographs, step-by- step photo tutorials, delicious recipes to test out new-found skills, and clear, concise instructions, SIX BASIC COOKING TECHNIQUES focuses on the six essential skills needed to create a strong foundation so that any home cook can maximize his/her culinary potential: Knife Skills, Cooking Meats, Making Pan Sauces, Roasting Vegetables, Blanching Green Vegetables, and Cooking Leafy Greens. And after the last 15 years of teaching hands-on cooking classes (as well as having been a cookbook editor, Food Editor at Martha Stewart Living, and Recipes Editor at The Wall Street Journal), Clair knows exactly what questions burn in the minds of home cooks and answers them in the “Students Ask” pages peppered throughout the book. 

She covers:
 What salt you should use for cooking: kosher, table, or sea
 How to remove the smell of garlic from your fingertips
 Why you should never mince basil or mint
 How to achieve restaurant-worthy crispy chicken skin
 How to check the internal temperature of meat
 Which vegetables should be roasted together and why
 Why blanching green vegetables is better than steaming them
 And so much more….

Just like the class it’s based on, SIX BASIC COOKING TECHNIQUES is an intimate guide that offers home cooks confidence and leaves them with an “I can do it” attitude.


Review:

 I LOVE this cookbook, and wish I had had it when I first bmoved out on my own. HOW many calls it would have lept me from bugging my mother with! LOL. From the basics of setting up a kitchen, with WHAT you actually need, to how you need to actually use the (only) 3 knives you need in the kitchen, to what sauces will expand your repitoire and allow you to make fresh food GREAT! The photos are clear, as is the writing. You'll feel like you're there with Jennfier taking the class! I was also thrilled to find a long-lost recipe for Pork Temderloin with Bacon and Apple Cider Gravy. This is the exact recipe I had lost, and I can't wait to make it again!

This is an amazing book and I would recommend giving it to every coed moving out on their own, or to every newlywed on your list, with a set of great knves or cookware. I can't recommend it enough for EVERY cook!


Recipe:

Check out this reduction sauce from the book- it is SO simple and easy, yet tastes AMAZING. All the pictures in the book are just this clear and easy to understand too! 

reduction sauce


About the Author:

Jennifer Clair is a culinary instructor and the founder of Home Cooking New York, a cooking school in New York City. She is a former Food Editor at Martha Stewart Living and the former Recipes Editor at The Wall Street Journal. She lives in the Hudson Valley, NY.

Comments