How to Cook Everything, Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food
by Mark Bittman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Mark BittmanBrand: Mark Bittman
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-10-20
ISBN: 0764578650
Number of pages: 1056
Publisher: Wiley
Book Reviews of How to Cook Everything, Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food
Book Review: A wonderful resource that I can't say enough good things about.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is not only a wonderful resource; it is a rather significant achievement. The book is useful and helpful for beginning and developing cooks as well as a handy reference for experienced culinary professionals. Much of this usefulness flows from the way Mark Bittman has organized the book around 102 Essential Recipes. He then shows you other dishes and variations that build on or can be adapted from the core recipe. For example, on page 508 he has a nice recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese (which I made and my family loved). He then provides four variations and then six mac-and-cheese combos. So much of learning to cook is developing the ability to see how dishes relate to each other and gaining a sense of what you can do with them even without a specific recipe or permission from some authority to do something different. You gain understanding and freedom through experience and seeing connections. This book fosters the development of this understanding and way of looking at food.
You can tell the core recipes because they have a white star inside a red circle by the recipe title. The author also uses three other handy symbols (all in red circles). F means that the meal is fast and can be made in less than thirty minutes. M means you can make the dish ahead (or at least to significant degree of completion) of when it will be needed. V means it is a vegetarian recipe.
I like the way Bittman takes care to explain things to the reader without condescension. He assumes that someone using the book will need to know, for example, what basic pots and pans he should have or what her basic set of knives should be. Every beginning cook needs to learn how to use knives safely and what core ingredients should be in their pantry. Bittman explains all this and so much more. He also uses helpful diagrams to explain to how carve chickens, prepare fish, peeling and deveining shrimp, dice veggies, and so forth. The book also has many tables to help you get at the core types of ingredients such as apples, spices, herbs, and so much more. This is a cooking resource, not just a collection of recipes.
The way the author writes the recipes is especially helpful. He does not use the cryptic shorthand seen in so many recipes. The steps he provides are careful explanations of not only what you should do, but they also include explanations of why you need to do it and if something might be unclear he also tells you how to do it. Sometimes he even includes alternative approaches in the steps of a recipe. The recipes read as if he were talking to you as a friend and sharing with you so you can share in the fun he is having. Each recipe also tells you the yield in servings and the amount of time you should plan on spending to make the dish. He also lets you know when most of the time making the dish is actually in unattended mode.
You should also go to the back of the book for some other handy resources. These pages all have a red edge. He offers a series of menu ideas for Breafast and Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, and Celebrations. He also lists the 102 Essential Recipes on page 974 and 975. He then provides his own top 100 fast recipes, his top 100 make-ahead recipes, and top 100 vegetarian recipes. On page 982 he provides a list of specialty resources you can use for items you might need if they aren't available in your area. Of course the book has an index, which is extremely useful. Inside the front and back covers are some handy bits of conversion and temperature information.
Does the book really tell you how to cook everything? Pretty much. Remember, this isn't about cooking every possible dish in the universe, but of providing ways of handling a vast range of ingredients to get wonderful and easy to prepare dishes. I didn't find dishes with foie gras or caviar in the book. But they might well be there and I just missed them. However, it is insignificant either way. This subtitle is spot on: "Simple Recipes for Great Food" and that is what you need to know in approaching this wonderful book.
I recommend this to everyone who loves food and wants to begin cooking or develop their repertoire of dishes from the few they use over and over again. Take the plunge and you can thank me later. This book would also be a terrific gift to kids and grand kids setting up their own house or apartment. Learning to cook will not only be cheaper than eating out or ordering in, it will be far healthier. And it offers much more opportunity for healthy socializing than the usual stuffing of faces in front of a glowing tube.
Strongly and fervently recommended.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
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Summary of How to Cook Everything, Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food
Mark Bittman's award-winning How to Cook Everything has helped countless home cooks discover the rewards of simple cooking. Now the ultimate cookbook has been revised and expanded (almost half the material is new), making it absolutely indispensable for anyone who cooks?or wants to. With Bittman's straightforward instructions and advice, you'll make crowd-pleasing food using fresh, natural ingredients; simple techniques; and basic equipment. Even better, you'll discover how to relax and enjoy yourself in the kitchen as you prepare delicious meals for every occasion."A week doesn't go by where I don't pull How to Cook Everything down from the shelf, so I am thrilled there's a new, revised edition. My original is falling apart!"
?Al Roker
"This new generation of How to Cook Everything makes my 'desert island' cookbook choice jacked up and simply universal. I'll now bequeath my cookbooks to a collector; I need only this one."
?Mario Batali
"Mark Bittman has done the impossible, improving upon his now-classic How to Cook Everything. If you need know-how, here's where to find it."
?Bobby Flay
"Mark Bittman is a great cook and an incredible teacher. In this second edition, Mark has fine-tuned the original, making this book a must for every kitchen."
?Jean-Georges Vongerichten
"Throw away all your old recipes and buy How to Cook Everything. Mark Bittman's recipes are foolproof, easy, and more modern than any others."
?Isaac Mizrahi
"Generous, thorough, reliable, and necessary, How to Cook Everything is an indispensable reference for both experienced and beginner cooks."
?Mollie Katzen, author of the Moosewood Cookbook
"I learned how to cook from How to Cook Everything in a way that gives me the freedom to be creative. This new edition will be my gift to new couples or for a housewarming; if you have this book, you don't really need any others."
?Lisa Loeb, singer/songwriter
Today's favorite kitchen companion?revised and better than ever.
Mark Bittman's award-winning How to Cook Everything has helped countless home cooks discover the rewards of simple cooking. Now the ultimate cookbook has been revised and expanded (almost half the material is new), making it absolutely indispensable for anyone who cooks?or wants to. With Bittman's straightforward instructions and advice, you'll make crowd-pleasing food using fresh, natural ingredients; simple techniques; and basic equipment. Even better, you'll discover how to relax and enjoy yourself in the kitchen as you prepare delicious meals for every occasion.
"A week doesn't go by where I don't pull How to Cook Everything down from the shelf, so I am thrilled there's a new, revised edition. My original is falling apart!"
?Al Roker
"This new generation of How to Cook Everything makes my 'desert island' cookbook choice jacked up and simply universal. I'll now bequeath my cookbooks to a collector; I need only this one."
?Mario Batali
"Mark Bittman has done the impossible, improving upon his now-classic How to Cook Everything. If you need know-how, here's where to find it."
?Bobby Flay
"Mark Bittman is a great cook and an incredible teacher. In this second edition, Mark has fine-tuned the original, making this book a must for every kitchen."
?Jean-Georges Vongerichten
"Throw away all your old recipes and buy How to Cook Everything. Mark Bittman's recipes are foolproof, easy, and more modern than any others."
?Isaac Mizrahi
"Generous, thorough, reliable, and necessary, How to Cook Everything is an indispensable reference for both experienced and beginner cooks."
?Mollie Katzen, author of the Moosewood Cookbook
"I learned how to cook from How to Cook Everything in a way that gives me the freedom to be creative. This new edition will be my gift to new couples or for a housewarming; if you have this book, you don't really need any others."
?Lisa Loeb, singer/songwriter
Exclusive Recipe Excerpts from How to Cook Everything
? Grilled or Broiled Chicken Kebabs
? Roasted Shrimp with Herb Sauce
? Warm Spicy Greens with Bacon and Eggs
? Author Tip: 7 Ways to Vary Chicken Kebabs [PDF]
10 Reasons You Need the New How to Cook Everything (even if you already have the original)
1. The 2000+ simple recipes will make cooking at home easier, so you can spend less and eat better.2. With 1,446 new recipes and variations such as Beer-and-Butter Chicken Wings, Roasted Corn Chowder, BLT Salad, Paella with Chicken and Chorizo, Caramelized French Toast, and Popcorn Brittle, this book provides a whole new array of recipes.
3. The many new techniques covered in this edition will help you to expand your repertoire of kitchen skills to include frosting a cake, grinding your own chili powder, or even de-boning a quail.
4. Your husband, wife, brother, sister, son, daughter, or best friend needs a little help in the kitchen (okay, maybe a lot). The new How to Cook Everything contains more expert advice like ?12 Must-Have Kitchen Tools,? ?Super-Easy 3-Ingredient Soups,? and ?The Basics of Cutting.?
5. You trust Bittman?s no-nonsense opinions and can?t wait to read the thousands of new ones packed into this edition. He?ll even help you to select the best inexpensive fish (ex. mackerel is versatile, tasty, healthy, and plentiful; tilapia can taste kinda muddy).
6. The index of ?Essential Recipes? points you to Bittman?s favorite dishes in each chapter, so there?s less reason to be intimidated by all those recipes.
7. There are more helpful lists in the new How to Cook Everything than ever before. Bittman shows how to jack up the basics with easy ideas like ?4 Ways to Thicken a Sauce?, and ?Infinite Ways to Season or Serve Any Grilled or Broiled Chicken Dish.?
8. With this edition?s brand new charts, it?s absurdly easy to look up the cooking times for grains, heat factor for chiles, and other need-to-know information about everything from herbs and spices to flour and noodles.
9. You know it?s cheap, easy, and fast to serve your family boneless chicken breasts every week, but sometimes you run out of ideas. That?s why you really need all the new recipes, variations, and other suggestions for chicken breasts like ?11 More Ways to Vary Grilled or Broiled Boneless Chicken.?
10. There are plenty of new illustrations which incorporate more detail than many photos. They?ll show you how to use a pastry bag, how to eat crabs, and even how to puree soup using an immersion blender (it?s is way less messy than a regular blender).
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