Synopses & Reviews
Best-selling author Delia Smith presents a simple and enjoyable cooking course for people of all ages and abilities. We live in a time when everyone can buy food products from literally anywhere in the world at the local supermarket, when people can assemble instant suppers from food bars, where on almost every city corner there's a take-out or fast-food chain. But many people have forgotten the joys and simple pleasures of putting together a delicious, nutritious meal on their own. In a busy world where people have less and less time for cooking, many feel intimidated by even the thought of cooking. Delia's How To Cook restores a respect for food in its simplest, purest form, bringing everyone back to the basics skills of cooking. Adapted for the US market, Dorling Kindersley's How To Cook is a combination of two separate volumes Delia published in the UK on the basic art of cooking. In Book One, she starts at the very beginning, explaining in detail the staple ingredients of all cooking -- eggs, flour, potatoes, rice, and pasta. Book Two proceeds through the fundamentals of preparing fish, meat, poultry, fruit, and vegetables. In her typically friendly, accessible style, she guides beginners through the basics that will serve them for a lifetime of cooking. Boiling and poaching an egg, bread and pastry baking, making sauces and cooking all kinds of rice -- these are some of the many techniques she presents that will remove intimidation from the cooking process and inspire total confidence. For those who have already mastered these techniques, who are already accomplished cooks, How To Cook provides a sparkling collection of recipes, incorporating new ideas such as fat-free white sauces, french 'fries' you don't have to fry, and souffles that don't collapse, all presented in Delia's inimitable style.
Review
...wonderful recipes that are sensibly and attractively presented. (Rocky Mountain News Columbus Dispatch)
Review
In How To Cook, which has clean, inviting photographs...[Delia] shares recipes that are not only delicious but also easy to prepare. (Town and Country)
About the Author
Delia Smith is Britain's best-selling cooking author, her books having sold over fourteen million copies in the UK. She has presented cooking programs on BBC television for 28 years. Her book, Delia Smith's Summer Collection was published in the US in 1999 by Dorling Kindersley, Inc., and she has published several other titles in the UK including Delia Smith's Winter Collection, Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course, and Delia Smith's Christmas. She is also Consultant Food Editor of Sainsbury's Magazine, published in the UK by the Sainsbury chain. Delia and her husband, the writer and editor Michael Wynn, live in Suffolk, England. Delia Smith's How To Cook is a companion book to the PBS Television series GREAT FOOD, presented by WNET 13, New York.
Table of Contents
PART ONE Chapter 1 All about eggs Boiling, poaching, frying, scrambling, and baking Chapter 2 The art of the omelette Frittata, tortilla, soufflé omelettes Chapter 3 Separate ways with eggs Egg whites, egg yolks, meringues, custard, soufflés, hollandaise Chapter 4 Rediscovering bread White and whole wheat loaves, potato bread, soda bread, bruschetta, pizza Chapter 5 First steps in pastry Shortcrust pastry, tarts, quiches, flaky pastry, galettes Chapter 6 Cakes and cookies for beginners Sponge cakes, loaf cakes, Christmas cake, tea bread, crunchies Chapter 7 Flour-based sauces and batter White sauces, béchamel, gravy and accompanying recipes, batter and pancakes Chapter 8 Real potatoes Baked, mashed, crunchy roast potatoes, boulangère, oven-roasted wedges, gnocchi Chapter 9 All kinds of rice Perfect rice, risottos, stir-fried rice, red rice, jambalaya, pilau rice, rice pudding Chapter 10 Pasta revisited Spaghetti, linguine, penne, cannelloni, lasagne, macaroni PART TWO Chapter 11 The serious cook's pantry From anchovies to wasabi, the ingredients you shouldn't be without Chapter 12 Fish without fear How to handle fish: broiling, roasting, and cooking in foil Chapter 13 How to cook meat Perfect steaks, succulent roasts, comforting casseroles, and more Chapter 14 Chicken and other birds Real chicken, crisp duck, roast quail, and garlicky guinea fowl Chapter 15 A vegetable calendar Your year-round guide to buying, cooking, and making the most of vegetables Chapter 16 Salads and dressings for beginners Discovering the simple joys of dressing sensational salads Chapter 17 What's new in the dairy An introduction to the growing array of dairy products; using them in sauces and sweets Chapter 18 Fruits for cooking Berries, orchard fruit, exotic fruit, and wonderful ways to cook with them Chapter 19 Cheese in the kitchen In pasta, pizza, Welsh rabbit, soups, fritters, and other delights Chapter 20 Proper chocolate And what it can do for desserts and cakes Suppliers Sources for cookware, specialty foods, and products Index