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How to Cook: Building Blocks and 100 Simple Recipes for a Lifetime of Meals
An empowering collection of 100 delicious, practical recipes that will teach young adults and kitchen novices how to cook for themselves—from a James Beard Award-winning chef and author.
Acclaimed chef, TV star, and dedicated father Hugh Acheson taught his teenage daughters that cooking is an essential life skill. But he also knew that people don't need to know how to cook like a chef to feed themselves and their friends. Really, they only need to learn a handful of skills to enjoy a lifetime of cooking.
So, in How to Cook, Hugh distills the cooking lessons that everyone should master into twenty-five basic building blocks: easy-to-grasp recipes that can turn anyone, young or old, into a confident home cook. Each of these recipes teaches a fundamental skill, such as roasting or whisking together a classic vinaigrette, and each stands alone as a stellar back-pocket basic. After laying the groundwork, How to Cook then offers recipes that expand on these foundations, whether it's remixing the flavors of one of the basic recipes, or combining a couple of them, to show you how you can produce a lifetime's worth of dishes.
How to Cook is the book Hugh is going to give his kids when they leave home, knowing that with these 100 recipes, they'll be prepared to feed themselves for the rest of their lives.
Acclaimed chef, TV star, and dedicated father Hugh Acheson taught his teenage daughters that cooking is an essential life skill. But he also knew that people don't need to know how to cook like a chef to feed themselves and their friends. Really, they only need to learn a handful of skills to enjoy a lifetime of cooking.
So, in How to Cook, Hugh distills the cooking lessons that everyone should master into twenty-five basic building blocks: easy-to-grasp recipes that can turn anyone, young or old, into a confident home cook. Each of these recipes teaches a fundamental skill, such as roasting or whisking together a classic vinaigrette, and each stands alone as a stellar back-pocket basic. After laying the groundwork, How to Cook then offers recipes that expand on these foundations, whether it's remixing the flavors of one of the basic recipes, or combining a couple of them, to show you how you can produce a lifetime's worth of dishes.
How to Cook is the book Hugh is going to give his kids when they leave home, knowing that with these 100 recipes, they'll be prepared to feed themselves for the rest of their lives.
224 pages, Paperback
Published October 20, 2020
58 people are currently reading
107 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 16, 2021
This book was received as an ARC from Clarkson Potter in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.
Being a fan of Top Chef, I am widely familiar with the culinary career of Chef Hugh Acheson. He is a widely known chef and now as we see in How to Cook, he is also a family man with two daughters. I also love how they were his inspiration for writing this book. Basically, when his daughters leave for college, they will be taking this cookbook with them so they will always know what to eat and how to make it and how cooking should be a way of living not an intimidation. All of the recipes look delicious and I can't wait to try his take on pork and grits and especially the Frisee Bacon Salad. I know his daughters will never be hungry in college and they will have lots of friends because of it.
We will consider adding this title to our TX Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
Being a fan of Top Chef, I am widely familiar with the culinary career of Chef Hugh Acheson. He is a widely known chef and now as we see in How to Cook, he is also a family man with two daughters. I also love how they were his inspiration for writing this book. Basically, when his daughters leave for college, they will be taking this cookbook with them so they will always know what to eat and how to make it and how cooking should be a way of living not an intimidation. All of the recipes look delicious and I can't wait to try his take on pork and grits and especially the Frisee Bacon Salad. I know his daughters will never be hungry in college and they will have lots of friends because of it.
We will consider adding this title to our TX Non-Fiction collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.
December 17, 2020
Excellent cookbook for those learning to cook or for experienced cooks who want to try something different. Straightfoward recipes with great photos! Love that the author includes "why would I want to make this" with each recipe. Highly recommend!
October 22, 2020
Hugh Acheson is genuinely hilarious, and this book will help everyone from kitchen newbies to experienced cooks prepare better meals.
January 23, 2021
This is a book to give to people moving out on their own for the first time. Great "for dummies" breakdown, answering questions like "why do I want to make this."
January 26, 2024
Three things I like about this book: Beautiful illustrations, and each recipe has its own picture. The first half of the book is basics such as how to make poached eggs, but it doesn't just tell you how to make the egg, it also tells you different ways you can use the egg with referenced recipes. Each "building block" has a "why and how," as in why you would want to learn certain skills and how to use the skills in multiple recipes.
Three things I did not like about this book: The header font was difficult to read with the H's looking more like a lowercase L and a T. Sometimes, the text placed over images could also be difficult to read. The recipe difficulties did not seem well balanced. A lot were super simple like slightly fancy avocado toast or multiple versions of salad, but then others required rib-eye steak and pork belly with very specific chilis or spices that are not always readily available. They are either rather boring or intimidating.
The how-to section is good, but the recipes aren't practical. I would encourage a a beginner cook to try this book out as long as they were not easily discouraged.
Three things I did not like about this book: The header font was difficult to read with the H's looking more like a lowercase L and a T. Sometimes, the text placed over images could also be difficult to read. The recipe difficulties did not seem well balanced. A lot were super simple like slightly fancy avocado toast or multiple versions of salad, but then others required rib-eye steak and pork belly with very specific chilis or spices that are not always readily available. They are either rather boring or intimidating.
The how-to section is good, but the recipes aren't practical. I would encourage a a beginner cook to try this book out as long as they were not easily discouraged.
May 18, 2021
When someone reviews a book, they have to adhere to a set of standards. It isn't enough to say that a book is either terrible or marvelous. You have to have a reason. It is also beneficial to have a point of comparison.
"How To Cook" is the first cookbook I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Hugh Acheson is a professional chef and presents 100 recipes intended to teach you the basics of cooking. Acheson talks about spices, knife skills, and required equipment. More than that, he provides ideas to generalize the cooking process.
As I mentioned in the previous paragraphs, I don't have a reference point for cookbooks. I don't know what makes a cookbook terrible or marvelous. "How To Cook" did have one other thing going for it, though. I wanted to try the recipes in the book for myself.
"How To Cook" is the first cookbook I have ever read. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Hugh Acheson is a professional chef and presents 100 recipes intended to teach you the basics of cooking. Acheson talks about spices, knife skills, and required equipment. More than that, he provides ideas to generalize the cooking process.
As I mentioned in the previous paragraphs, I don't have a reference point for cookbooks. I don't know what makes a cookbook terrible or marvelous. "How To Cook" did have one other thing going for it, though. I wanted to try the recipes in the book for myself.
December 24, 2020
For being a beginning cookbook, I thought the recipes that followed the "building blocks" section had ingredients that would intimidate a new cook. Maybe today's new cooks are up for an adventure immediately.
January 29, 2022
Really liked the way this author approached "How to Cook".
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews