Master the Art of Cooking with These Technique-Driven Cookbooks

    If you're looking to elevate your culinary skills beyond just following recipes, these cookbooks focus on essential techniques that will transform your cooking. Discover the principles behind flavor, texture, and preparation, allowing you to create dishes with confidence. Dive into these books and unlock your potential in the kitchen!

    Cover of The New Cooking School Cookbook

    The New Cooking School Cookbook

    681 pages

    Attend your personal culinary grad school and learn to cook your best, with 100 advanced courses full of 400+ recipes and new-school techniques given by 20 expert test-kitchen instructors. Finally, a cookbook written for confident home cooks ready to explore new territory and learn by cooking spectacular recipes. Travel beyond the basics into 100 engaging themed courses such as Stuffed Pasta, Pho, Grilled Salad, Koji Magic, and Soufflés. Enhance your skills and satisfy your curiosity by whipping up creamy ice cream and gelato, frying crunchy chicken, rolling out and shaping gnocchi (and gnudi) with ease, fermenting vegetables, and perfecting pastry cream to fill choux au craquelin, Boston cream pie, and bolo bao. Within the course structure, recipes are supplemented by illustrated core techniques, food science sidebars, and infographic resource pages packed with valuable behind-the-recipe information. You will confidently learn to: • make your own cheese • be your own butcher • fearlessly fry • bake challah, baguettes, and croissants • put the icing on all kinds of cakes.

    Cover of The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

    The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science

    1768 pages

    Over 1 Million Copies Sold A New York Times Bestseller Winner of the James Beard Award for General Cooking and the IACP Cookbook of the Year Award "The one book you must have, no matter what you’re planning to cook or where your skill level falls."—New York Times Book Review Ever wondered how to pan-fry a steak with a charred crust and an interior that's perfectly medium-rare from edge to edge when you cut into it? How to make homemade mac 'n' cheese that is as satisfyingly gooey and velvety-smooth as the blue box stuff, but far tastier? How to roast a succulent, moist turkey (forget about brining!)—and use a foolproof method that works every time? As Serious Eats's culinary nerd-in-residence, J. Kenji López-Alt has pondered all these questions and more. In The Food Lab, Kenji focuses on the science behind beloved American dishes, delving into the interactions between heat, energy, and molecules that create great food. Kenji shows that often, conventional methods don’t work that well, and home cooks can achieve far better results using new—but simple—techniques. In hundreds of easy-to-make recipes with over 1,000 full-color images, you will find out how to make foolproof Hollandaise sauce in just two minutes, how to transform one simple tomato sauce into a half dozen dishes, how to make the crispiest, creamiest potato casserole ever conceived, and much more.

    Cover of The Flavor Bible

    The Flavor Bible

    951 pages

    This book is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to enhance their cooking skills, as it provides a comprehensive guide on which ingredients pair well together and explores how taste, aroma, and texture can influence food.

    Cover of Good Eats (Text-Only Edition)

    Good Eats (Text-Only Edition)

    851 pages

    Alton Brown's Good Eats cookbooks are fantastic because they combine recipes with textbook-style information, offering insights on the how and why of cooking, making it a great learning experience.

    Cover of Joy of Cooking

    Joy of Cooking

    896 pages

    The Joy of Cooking offers fantastic introductions to each section, explaining the why and how of the recipes, making it a valuable resource for both novice and experienced cooks.

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    Where Cooking Begins

    274 pages

    This book is a fantastic guide for anyone looking to improve their cooking skills. Carla shares simple strategies and techniques, along with everyday recipes that come with multiple variations, making it easy to adapt to what you have on hand. Plus, her delightful writing style adds to the enjoyment!

    Cover of Flour Water Salt Yeast

    Flour Water Salt Yeast

    274 pages

    This book takes you on a journey to master sourdough, starting from a simple 6-hour dough to a complex double leavened sourdough, making it perfect for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of bread making.

    Cover of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1

    Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1

    754 pages

    This book is fantastic for grasping cooking techniques, offering detailed descriptions that prepare you to handle any meats and vegetables, even if the recipes are a bit complex.

    Cover of The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001–2022

    The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001–2022

    1177 pages

    22 years of foolproof recipes from the hit TV show captured in one complete volume The Complete America's Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook is a living archive of every recipe that has been on every episode of public television's top-rated cooking show, including the new season that debuts in January 2022. It also includes the top-rated equipment and ingredients from the new testing and tasting segments. Cook along with Bridget and Julia and the test kitchen chefs as the new episodes of the 2022 season air with all-new recipes. Every recipe that has appeared on the show is in this cookbook along with the test kitchen's indispensable notes and tips. A comprehensive shopping guide shows readers what products the ATK Reviews team recommends and it alone is worth the price of the book.

    Cover of The Art of Simple Food

    The Art of Simple Food

    719 pages

    It's a good one!

    Cover of Ratio

    Ratio

    307 pages

    Ratio was absolutely mindblowing to me when I first read it. It's had the largest impact on my overall cooking compared to other cookbooks, and it's affordable too!

    Cover of The Professional Chef

    The Professional Chef

    971 pages

    The Professional Chef is the quintessential kitchen companion from The Culinary Institute of America, used by hundreds of America's top chefs. This updated 10th Edition presents the skills and quality standards needed to master the fundamentals of cooking. A refreshed, modern design features simplified definitions and techniques streamlined into step-by-step instructions to support aspiring chefs and culinary students of any level. Revisions in the 10th edition include using modern plant-forward ingredients, in line with the CIA and Harvard's Menus of Change initiative, highlighting that vegetables can also be the star at the center of the plate. The authors merged meat and vegetable cookery chapters, and updated some recipes to feature plant-based ingredients, all revised in the CIA's own test kitchen. Chapters are reorganized to follow the CIA Culinary Fundamentals course more closely, with new troubleshooting sections based on frequent classroom questions, to help students and chefs solve problems before they occur, with updated text and photo examples. Updates for instructors and students include: "Method at a Glance" and "Method in Details" features provide overviews and in-depth step-by-step guidance "Beyond the Basics" sections offer ideas for expanding and improving upon techniques and recipes, with "Tips of the Trade" advice from real world kitchens "Preserving the Flavor" provides finishing instructions for each recipe and suggestions for reusing recipe byproduct Techniques now include two sections of recipes: base examples, and "More to Try" variations for further exploration, plus "Quality Criteria" that describe the expected results from each technique Includes even more recipes, illustrated with over 100 new full-color photos of ingredients, techniques, and plated dishes. Over 300 photos in total With focus on the simplicity and freshness of food and perfect kitchen technique, The Professional Chef, Tenth Edition is an essential introduction for students, and reference for every professional and home cook.

    Cover of The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001–2024

    The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001–2024

    1281 pages

    This book offers excellent methods to enhance your kitchen skills while also providing new recipes to try.

    Cover of Jane Brody's Good Food Book

    Jane Brody's Good Food Book

    748 pages

    This book is a comprehensive guide that covers everything from selecting fresh produce and meat to the final touches in cooking, all without requiring specialized kitchen equipment.

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    BAKE

    459 pages

    This book is fantastic for building a solid foundation in baking, explaining the reasons behind techniques, and includes a variety of savory bakes. Plus, once you start baking bread, you'll find it hard to stop!

    Cover of Ruhlman's Twenty

    Ruhlman's Twenty

    370 pages

    James Beard Award, 2010 winner! — Ruhlman's Twenty — Redefining how we cook Michael Ruhlman cookbook: Rare is the cookbook that redefines how we cook. And rare is the author who can do so with the ease and expertise of acclaimed writer and culinary authority Michael Ruhlman. Ruhlman's Twenty distills Michael Ruhlman's decades of cooking, writing, and working with the world's greatest chefs into twenty essential ideas—from ingredients to processes to attitude—that are guaranteed to make every cook more accomplished. Learn Michael Ruhlman's twenty key cooking concepts: Whether cooking a multi-course meal, the juiciest roast chicken, or just some really good scrambled eggs; Ruhlman reveals how a cook's success boils down to the same twenty concepts. With the illuminating expertise that has made him one of the most esteemed food journalists, Michael Ruhlman explains the hows and whys of each concept and reinforces those discoveries through 100 recipes for everything from soups to desserts. A game-changing James Beard Award winning cookbook: Ruhlman's Twenty shows you how he does it in over 300 photographs. Cooks of all levels will revel in Michael Ruhlman s game-changing Twenty. If you liked The Food Lab: Better Cooking through Science, you'll love Ruhlman's Twenty

    Cover of An Everlasting Meal

    An Everlasting Meal

    272 pages

    This book is a must-read for anyone looking to transform their cooking and eating habits. It's filled with practical advice and inspiring ideas that make cooking feel effortless and enjoyable.

    Cover of How to Cook Without a Book, Completely Updated and Revised

    How to Cook Without a Book, Completely Updated and Revised

    274 pages

    New York Times bestselling author Pam Anderson updates her classic cookbook—which put "cooking by heart" on the map—to include modern flavors and new techniques that today's home cooks will love, with new and original full-color photographs. It's been 17 years since the blockbuster How to Cook Without a Book was published, and Pam Anderson's method of mastering easy techniques to create simple, delicious meals is even more relevant today. From the working professional who loves cooking to the busy family member trying to get dinner on the table, today's modern home cook wants to master useful techniques and know how to stock pantries and refrigerators to pull together delicious meals on the fly. Understanding that most recipes are simply "variations on a theme," Pam innovatively teaches technique, ultimately eliminating the need for recipes. The new edition will reflect ingredients and techniques home cooks love to use today: chicken dishes are revamped by using thighs instead of boneless skinless breasts; hearty, dark greens like kale and swiss chard replace hearts of Romaine in salads; roasted Brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes move from side dish to the main event in more meatless entrees; plus, tips for creating a whole meal using one pot or one sheet pan (instead of dirtying multiple dishes). Each chapter contains helpful at-a-glance charts that highlight the key points of every technique and a master recipe with enough variations to keep you going until you've learned how to cook without a book.