The Essential James Beard Cookbook

The Essential James Beard Cookbook

Some of the iconic chef’s best recipes, drawn from French, Italian, Indian, African, and other cuisines and adapted to American kitchens and techniques. “One of the most influential figures in American cooking. . . . It’s wonderful to see his recipes reprinted in this functional collection.” —Library Journal (starred review) Known as the Dean of American Cooking, James Beard set a standard of culinary excellence that’s still a benchmark today. He was an early television presence who helped shape what America ate in restaurants and cooked at home, and was both an innovative recipe writer and a scholar of American foodways, preserving classic dishes from the past for his readers to cook in the present. Compiled from twelve of his classic books and freshened for a modern audience, The Essential James Beard will stand with definitive and lively cookbooks such as The New York Times Cookbook and The Joy of Cooking. It covers the best and most necessary recipes in every category: - appetizers and hors d’oeuvres - soups - pastas and noodles - fish and shellfish - meat and game - rice, potatoes and stuffings - breads - desserts - and more “Those too young to have already encountered Beard’s sensible and always tasty rendition of American cooking will welcome this volume onto their shelves.” —Booklist

Essentials of Cooking

In this unrivaled practical guide, one of America's most widely respected cookbook authors distills his vast knowledge and experience into the 100 essential techniques that every cook needs to know. Seven hundred and fifty photographs unravel the mysteries of the method and provide practical application on the spot. Each technique is further explained in terms of how it makes the food taste: What happens, for example, if you cook the fish in butter versus oil? Why does roasting make vegetables taste so good? How do you decide whether you want to make a chicken stew or sautT? Here are answers to just about every cooking question, from the simple to the sublime: how to boil an artichoke or cook a soft-boiled egg, or how to clean soft-shell crabs or even butcher and roast a whole saddle of lamb. Knowing how to execute a technique makes you efficient; knowing why you've chosen that technique makes you a master.

Library Journal