How to Cook Everything The Basics Simple Recipes Anyone Can Cook

Here’s the book that will get you cooking.

Whether you need to cook for your family or you love to eat and want to learn how to cook, How to Cook Everything™: The Basics is your indispensable guide.

Mark Bittman, author of the bestselling, award-winning comprehensive cookbook How to Cook Everything™, presents just what a cook needs to know in order to prepare essential and classic recipes–a great steak, a perfect omelet, or delicious brownies.

Among the 100 core recipes, you’ll find:

• Staple dishes like Simple Roast Chicken, Sautéed Pork Chops, Classic Beef Stew, Mashed Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, and Corn Bread
• Popular modern classics including Shrimp Cocktail, Classic Risotto, Pan-Grilled Salmon Fillets, and Stir-Fry Chicken with Broccoli
• Updated fast versions of traditional favorites like Weekday Morning Scrambled Eggs, Quick-Braised Carrots with Butter, Fastest Yeast Bread, and Quick Coffee Cake

You’ll also find 30 additional recipes:

• "Good To Know" dishes including Black Bean Soup and Herb-Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast–simple, delicious choices that are worth adding to your repertoire
• "Best From Scratch" recipes, like Quickest Chicken Stock, that are used in core dishes from chicken soup to risotto–preparations that you might buy in the store but are far better homemade

To go beyond the basics, there are detailed flavor variations and lists of simple ideas. If you need more background, there are "Basics of . . ." boxes, plus tips on buying, preparing, and cooking foods, and step-by-step illustrations for tricky techniques like shucking clams and preparing peppers.

Throughout the book you’ll also find information that will help build your foundation of cooking knowledge, written in Bittman’s relaxed, straightforward style. There’s a nuts-and-bolts review of essential kitchen tools and core cooking techniques like grilling, roasting, and braising. Each chapter begins with basic guidelines on the food in that chapter, explaining how to buy fish, include vegetables in any meal, bake pies, and more. And for quick reference on what "parboil" or "reduction sauce" means, there’s a glossary.

With How to Cook Everything™: The Basics Mark Bittman, who learned to cook in his own home kitchen, will help you cook good, simple food for every meal.

"Like a more concise version of The Joy of Cooking, Bittman's streamlined book is the one to keep handy in the kitchen. Perfect for first-time cooks, the book is chock-full of essential recipes and lessons." (Bon Appetit, December 2003)

Here's the book that will get you cooking.

Whether you need to cook for your family or you love to eat and want to learn how to cook, How to Cook Everything™: The Basics is your indispensable guide.

Mark Bittman, author of the bestselling, award-winning comprehensive cookbook How to Cook Everything™, presents just what a cook needs to know in order to prepare essential and classic recipes — a great steak, a perfect omelet, or delicious brownies.

Among the 100 core recipes, you’ll find:

• Staple dishes like Simple Roast Chicken, Sautéed Pork Chops, Classic Beef Stew, Mashed Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, and Corn Bread
• Popular modern classics including Shrimp Cocktail, Classic Risotto, Pan-Grilled Salmon Fillets, and Stir-Fry Chicken with Broccoli
• Updated fast versions of traditional favorites like Weekday Morning Scrambled Eggs, Quick-Braised Carrots with Butter, Fastest Yeast Bread, and Quick Coffee Cake

You’ll also find 30 additional recipes:

• "Good To Know" dishes including Black Bean Soup and Herb-Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast — simple, delicious choices that are worth adding to your repertoire
• "Best From Scratch" recipes, like Quickest Chicken Stock, that are used in core dishes from chicken soup to risotto — preparations that you might buy in the store but are far better homemade

To go beyond the basics, there are detailed flavor variations and lists of simple ideas. If you need more background, there are "Basics of..." boxes, plus tips on buying, preparing, and cooking foods, and step-by-step illustrations for tricky techniques like shucking clams and preparing peppers.

Throughout the book you’ll also find information that will help build your foundation of cooking knowledge, written in Bittman’s relaxed, straightforward style. There’s a nuts-and-bolts review of essential kitchen tools and core cooking techniques like grilling, roasting, and braising. Each chapter begins with basic guidelines on the food in that chapter, explaining how to buy fish, include vegetables in any meal, bake pies, and more. And for quick reference on what "parboil" or "reduction sauce" means, there’s a glossary.

With How to Cook Everything™: The Basics Mark Bittman, who learned to cook in his own home kitchen, will help you cook good, simple food for every meal.

How to Cook Everything: The Basics gives you essential recipes and easy-to-follow guidance to help you cook with confidence. Mark Bittman, the bestselling, award-winning author of How to Cook Everything, shows you how to make a good burger or delicious pasta for everyday meals as well as chicken soup on a cold day, lasagne because you love it, and prime rib for company. Not only will you make some of the best food youve ever eaten, youll save money and eat more healthfully, too.

Anyone can cook

• Simple, satisfying recipes with easy-to-follow directions
• Tips to help you shop for, prepare, and cook the recipes
• Recipe variations and lists of ideas to adapt dishes to your taste
• Step-by-step illustrations for tricky techniques like mincing garlic

Simple. Straightforward.

Just what you need to cook well.

How to Cook Everything: The Basics gives you essential recipes and easy-to-follow guidance to help you cook with confidence. Mark Bittman, the bestselling, award-winning author of How to Cook Everything, shows you how to make a good burger or delicious pasta for everyday meals as well as chicken soup on a cold day, lasagne because you love it, and prime rib for company. Not only will you make some of the best food you’ve ever eaten, you’ll save money and eat more healthfully, too.

Anyone can cook

• Simple, satisfying recipes with easy-to-follow directions
• Tips to help you shop for, prepare, and cook the recipes
• Recipe variations and lists of ideas to adapt dishes to your taste
• Step-by-step illustrations for tricky techniques like mincing garlic

Simple. Straightforward.

Just what you need to cook well.

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 thats 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.

The next best thing to having Mark Bittman in the kitchen with you, How to Cook Everything The Basics is the ultimate teaching cookbook: 1,000 photos illustrate  the fundamental skills and recipes every home cook should know, and Bittman's practical tips and clear instructions make it easy for anyone to learn to cook.

Mark Bittman is a nationally known authority on cooking and author of "The Minimalist," the weekly cooking column in the New York Times. His bestselling cookbook, How to Cook Everything™, won both the Julia Child (IACP) and James Beard awards, one of the few ever to do so. Bittman has written a number of other books including The Minimalist Entertains and Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking. He lives in Connecticut.

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