Cooking Basics For Dummies

Cooking Basics For Dummies

Cooking Basics For Dummies

Cooking Basics For Dummies

Paperback(5th ed.)

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Overview

Get started cooking now with Cooking Basics For Dummies, 5th Edition!

Are you looking to dig yourself out of microwave dinners and learn the ropes of home cooking? Cooking Basics For Dummies, 5th Edition takes the intimidation out of cooking and helps you start cultivating your culinary prowess in no time. From learning fundamental cooking techniques like dicing, chopping, and saut'ing to creating delicious, easy-to-follow recipes, you'll discover how to cook up crowd-pleasing meals the whole family will enjoy—all without breaking a sweat!

Even if you've never cracked an egg, this friendly, practical guide gives you all the ingredients to become a superior home cook. In plain English, it explains step-by-step how to master popular cooking techniques, such as dicing vegetables, hard boiling an egg, making quick and delicious sauces, planning menus, stocking your pantry, and so much more.

  • Packed with more than 150 easy-to-follow recipes for every meal of the day, from mouth-watering mains to sumptuous sides to delectable desserts
  • Helps you master grilling, slow cooking, baking, roasting, pressure cooking, and more
  • Includes tips on adapting meals to meet the latest dietary trends, such as low-sugar, low-sodium, low-fat, plant-based, and vegetarian diets
  • Covers shopping at farmer's markets and buying organic foods

Cooking Basics For Dummies, 5th edition is for every beginner cook or polished chef looking for a refresher on breathing new life into home-cooked meals.


P.S. If you think this book seems familiar, you’re probably right. The Dummies team updated the cover and design to give the book a fresh feel, but the content is the same as the previous release of Cooking Basics For Dummies (9781118922316). The book you see here shouldn’t be considered a new or updated product. But if you’re in the mood to learn something new, check out some of our other books. We’re always writing about new topics!

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781119696773
Publisher: Wiley
Publication date: 03/04/2020
Series: For Dummies Books
Edition description: 5th ed.
Pages: 464
Sales rank: 121,909
Product dimensions: 7.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bryan Miller is a food and wine writer and a former restaurant critic for The New York Times. He has written and cowritten a number of books. Marie Rama is a food writer, recipe developer, and coauthor of Grilling For Dummies.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1 Getting Started With Cooking 5

Chapter 1 Cooking with Confidence 7

Creating a Cook-Friendly Kitchen 8

Declutter your countertops 9

Let there be lighting 9

Organize your pantry 10

Introducing Major Appliances: Friends, Not Foes 11

Stovetop and oven 11

Microwave ovens 13

Refrigerator 15

Freezer 16

Dishwasher 16

Garbage disposal 17

Kitchen Safety 101 17

Now Get Crackin'! 18

Chapter 2 Investing in the Essential Tools 21

Collecting Your Cookware Basics 22

Picking Pots and Pans 23

Doing some comparison shopping 23

Buying the essentials 24

Getting fancy 27

Selecting Tools for Mixing and Baking 30

Considering Small Appliances 33

Graters and Mashers and Peelers, Oh My! 35

Chapter 3 The Bare Necessities: Stocking Your Pantry and Fridge 39

Dry Goods: The Pantry's Backbone 40

Stocking Up on Baking Supplies 40

Spicing Up Your Life with Herbs, Spices, and Seasonings 42

Working with herbs 42

Studying spices 43

Peanut Butter and Beyond: Bottled and Canned Goods 46

Cooling It with Refrigerated and Frozen Staples 48

Squeezing the Melon: Buying and Storing Fruits and Vegetables 50

Where to purchase produce 52

Going organic 53

Selecting, Buying, and Storing Meat, Poultry, and Fish 54

Beef 54

Chicken 55

Fish and other seafood 58

Part 2 Know Your Techniques 61

Chapter 4 The Cutting Edge: Working with Knives 63

Buying Knives for All Occasions 64

Investing in the three essentials 64

Adding to your knife block 65

Shopping wisely 66

Caring for Your Knives 67

Storing and washing 67

Sharpening twice a year 67

Honing before each use 68

Using Knives Correctly (and Safely) 69

Chopping, Mincing, Julienning, and More 70

Chopping and mincing 70

Julienning 72

Cubing (or dicing) 72

Halving tough-skinned vegetables 73

Slicing 74

Paring 74

Carving Poultry and Meats 76

Showing a turkey or chicken who's boss 76

Cutting a pot roast 77

Slicing a leg of lamb 78

Handling a ham 78

Chapter 5 Boiling, Poaching, and Steaming 81

Water, Water Everywhere … Now What? 82

Making Hard- and Soft-Cooked Eggs 83

Giving Your Veggies a Hot Bath 84

Parboiling, blanching, and steaming veggies 84

Boiling and steaming a dozen fresh vegetables 85

Making vegetable purées 88

Poaching and Steaming Seafood 88

Chapter 6 Simply Sautéing 95

Knowing When to Use Oil or Butter 96

Combining Sautéing with Roasting 97

Making Great Sauce from Bits in the Pan: Deglazing 98

Getting Versatile with Your Sautéing 99

Vegetables 99

Firm, rich fish 100

Chicken and turkey 100

Beef 100

Chapter 7 Braising and Stewing: Slow and Seductive 111

Cooking in Liquid 112

Browning before braising 112

Taking time to stew 113

Braising greens 113

Keeping Herbs and Spices in Check 114

Chapter 8 Roasting Poultry, Meats, and Veggies 125

Roasting the Right Way 125

Seasoning your roasts 126

Brining to retain moisture 126

Searing meat before you roast 126

Basting during cooking 127

Taking a rest 128

Roasting Times and Temperatures for Poultry and Meat 128

Putting Poultry in the Oven 132

Mastering Roasted Meats 134

Beef 134

Pork 135

Ribs 135

Ham 136

Lamb 138

Remembering (to Roast) Your Veggies! 139

Chapter 9 Coals and Coils: Grilling and Broiling 155

Mastering Your Grill 156

Charcoal grilling 156

Gas grilling 158

Grilling with wood chips 158

Marinating for Flavor 159

Perfecting Your Grilling Technique 160

Making Each Dish Delicious 161

Burgers 161

Chicken 162

Vegetables 162

Steak and pork 163

Seafood 163

Chapter 10 Baking Basics 175

Don't Wing It: Measuring with Care 176

Measuring dry ingredients 177

Measuring wet ingredients 177

Measuring other types of ingredients 178

Working with Eggs 178

Breaking with care 178

Separating an egg 179

Folding, Whipping, Kneading, and More: Getting the Techniques Right 180

Perfecting Your Pie Crust 183

Making Cakes and Quick Breads for a Sweet Treat 186

Part 3 Expand Your Repertoire 195

Chapter 11 Conquering Breakfast 197

Starting the Day with the Incredible, Edible Egg 198

Understanding the grade, size, and color of eggs 198

Deciding whether to splurge on specialty eggs 198

Cooking Perfect Eggs 200

Simply scrambled 200

Frankly fried 201

Perfectly poached 201

Beautifully boiled 202

Craftily folded omelets 202

Oven-worthy frittatas and stratas 203

Making Mouth-Watering Breakfast Meats 204

Breaking the fast with bacon 204

Spicing it up with savory sausage 206

Steak-ing your claim (to breakfast!) 206

Taking a Tour of Breakfast Breads 206

French toast 206

Pancakes and waffles 207

Blending Your Way to a Healthy Breakfast 207

Chapter 12 Super Soups and Savory Salads 217

Mastering Essential Soup Skills 217

Sautéing meat and vegetables first 218

Thickening your soup 218

Skimming soups and stocks 220

Enriching store-bought stocks 220

Peeling and seeding a tomato 221

Showing garlic, onions, and herbs some respect 221

Trying Your Hand at Pureed Soups 222

Stimulating Your Palate with Fresh Salads and Dressings 223

The soul of the salad: Crisp, fresh greens 223

Skipping the greens but keeping the salad 228

So many dressings, so little time 229

Ten easy salad ideas 233

Chapter 13 From Sides to Mains: Great Grains and Pastas 247

Sprucing Up Standard Rice 248

Checking Out Other Grains 249

Canoodling with Everyone's Favorite: Pasta 251

Don't sweat the fresh stuff: Dried versus fresh pasta 252

Pasta tips and tricks 252

Name that pasta: Pasta types and cooking times 254

Topping Your Pasta with the Perfect Sauce 256

Chapter 14 Making Sensational Sauces: Fear No More 269

Starting with the ABCs of Sauces 270

Deglazing for Delicious Pan Sauces 271

Whirling Light Blender Sauces in Minutes 272

Sweetening Things Up with Delectable Dessert Sauces 273

Chapter 15 Delectable Desserts 285

Creating Creamy Chocolate Sweets 285

Finding the Indulgent Side of Fruit, Fresh from the Oven 286

Collecting Cookies: All You Need Is a Glass of Milk 287

Taking on Tiramisu 290

Part 4 Now You're Cooking! Real Menus for Real Life 303

Chapter 16 Taking It Easy with One-Pot Meals 305

Slow Cookers: Small Input, Big Output 306

From Oven to Table: Simplicity in a Casserole Dish 307

Chapter 17 Making More (and Better) for Less 319

Creating Big Dishes for Small Bucks 320

Crowd-pleasing chili 320

Stir-fry for pennies 320

Dressing Up Your Meals with Super Sidekicks 321

Root vegetables 321

Seasonal vegetables 321

Dried beans 321

Chapter 18 Going Global with Asian and Mediterranean Dishes 331

Discovering the Asian Pantry 332

Stocking up on Asian staples 332

Starting with the basics: Asian noodles 335

Getting it right with Asian rice 335

Exploring the World of Mediterranean Cooking 336

Meeting popular Mediterranean meats 336

Goat cheese and feta cheese 337

Olives 337

Preserved lemons 338

Chapter 19 Quick Picks: Cooking with Fewer Ingredients 353

Whipping Up Dinner with Convenience Foods 354

Keeping Things Simple and Delicious 355

Chowing down on cheese 355

Serving more-substantial meals quickly 356

Seeing the Pasta-bilities! 357

Chapter 20 Summertime Soirees 365

Planning the Menu 365

Mixing Fruity Drinks for Thirsty Crowds 367

Preparing in Advance for a Stress-Free Party 368

Chapter 21 Feeding Holiday Hordes: Festive Winter Menus 379

Planning the Menu 380

Getting Yourself Organized 380

All about Turkey 382

Teasing the Palate with Fresh Dips 384

Scrumptious Stuffings and Sides 384

Last Man Standing: Holiday Desserts 386

Warming Up with Holiday Libations 386

Part 5 The Part of Tens 399

Chapter 22 Ten Ways to Think Like a Chef 401

Know the Basic Techniques 401

Use Only the Freshest Ingredients 401

Get It Together 402

Understand Flavor Combinations 402

Think about Your Plate 403

Plan Your Menus in Advance 403

Be Thrifty 403

Don't Be a Slave to Recipes 404

Simplify 404

Above All, Have Fun 404

Chapter 23 Ten Common Cooking Myths 405

Marinating Meat Tenderizes It 405

Searing Meat Traps in the Juices 406

Basting Chicken Creates Crispy Skin 406

Adding Oil to Pasta Water Keeps It from Sticking Together 406

Using Quality Olive Oil Is Important for Sautéing or Pan-Roasting 406

Using a Garlic Press Extracts More Flavor 407

Soaking Dried Beans before Cooking Improves Flavor and Texture 407

Adding a Potato to an Oversalted Soup or Stew Reduces the Saltiness 407

Cooking with Wine or Spirits Burns Off All the Alcohol 408

Rinsing Raw Mushrooms Causes Them to Absorb More Water 408

Appendix A Glossary of 100 (Plus)

Common Cooking Terms 409

Appendix B Common Substitutions, Abbreviations, and Equivalents 417

Index 425

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