The New Cooking School Cookbook: Fundamentals

by America's Test Kitchen

Great cooks never stop learning. Go to cooking school in your own kitchen with over 80 themed courses to learn more than 200 skills and cook 400 recipesThis all-new exploration of the fundamentals of cooking is perfect for anyone (from brand-new to experienced cooks) who wants to learn not just the “hows” but also the “whys” of cooking. Why does pizza bake better on a stone? Why do mushrooms benefit from water when sautéing? Why should you salt food at multiple stages during the cooking process? More than 80 focused courses let you dive into your favorite topics, whether it's Pizza, Fried Rice, Fish on the Grill, or Birthday Cake, and take a mini-bootcamp on the subject, each introduced by an ATK test cook. The courses are presented in easily digestible sections so you don't have to read a lot before you pick up your knife and start cooking. Cooking principles, technique, key takeaways, food science, and more are woven into each course so you learn as you cook. Jump into a class on Fresh Italian Pasta to learn how  • make fresh pasta from scratch without a machine• cut fettucine and make Fettucine Alfredo• make a classic marinara sauce and basil pesto Infographic pages take you farther behind recipes and See how olive oil is really produced, or how temperature affects the state of butter (and why firm, soft, and melted butter behave differently in cooking). Every chapter progresses from the basics of the best way to poach a perfect egg and make chicken broth to upping your game with huevos rancheros and mastering the elusive roast chicken. If you want to feel accomplished and really know how to cook, come learn with America's Test Kitchen.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction, Culinary

680 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 16, 2021

About the author

America's Test Kitchen, based in a brand new state-of-the-art 60,000 sq. ft. facility with over 15,000 sq. ft. of test kitchens and studio space, in Boston's Seaport District, is dedicated to finding the very best recipes for home cooks. Over 50 full-time (admittedly obsessive) test cooks spend their days testing recipes 30, 40, up to 100 times, tweaking every variable until they understand how and why recipes work. They also test cookware and supermarket ingredients so viewers can bypass marketing hype and buy the best quality products. As the home of Cook's Illustrated and Cook's Country magazines, and publisher of more than one dozen cookbooks each year, America's Test Kitchen has earned the respect of the publishing industry, the culinary world, and millions of home cooks. America's Test Kitchen the television show launched in 2001, and the company added a second television program, Cook's Country, in 2008.

Discover, learn, and expand your cooking repertoire with Julia Collin Davison, Bridget Lancaster, Jack Bishop, Dan Souza, Lisa McManus, Tucker Shaw, Bryan Roof, and our fabulous team of test cooks!

Learn more at https://www.americastestkitchen.com/.

Reviews

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

My summer project is to improve my cooking. Only started trying the recipes but I like all of the pointers on basic cooking skills. It’s making me much more confident and adding some nice variety to dinners. Just what I was looking for.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

America’s Test Kitchen is my go-to, and I am so glad Santa dropped off this cookbook. ATK gives tips along with their recipes, and the research and detail is impeccable.

[AllBookedUp · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you ever needed a cookbook, THIS is the one to get. It is broken down so beautifully that it brought me such happiness. Let me explain further...

There are the normal "cooking basics" in all cookbooks. Now comes the beauty of it all. The lists are broken down to Eggs and Tofu (plus sub-categories such as modern scrambled, fry, hard-cooked and soft cooked, etc), Vegetables (sub-categories such as Basic-not-boring boiled and steamed vegetable, simply sauteed, pan-roasting, etc), the list goes on and you get the gist of it.

This is a cookbook that I will enjoy and I deem it "it should be a classic staple" to all those who cook.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a large, heavy book. That's the only "bad" thing about it. America's Test Kitchen (ATK) is simply the best. They do things a bit differently, and it is always better.

This fundamentals book covers all types of food. Recipes range from super simple (3 ingredients) to the inclusion of some rather rare ingredients. The beauty of ATK is that they work hard to make even the more complicated recipes seem approachable. Lots of photos and plenty of explanation of steps taken and why they are recommending them.

You can stick with the simple techniques or broaden your skills. Highly recommended.

[Starr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great cookbook.

[Dray · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great instructional resource. I wish I had been gifted this book as a teen as it really contains a lot of know how in approaching most major cooking projects, along with delicious recipes. I like test kitchen, they are, in my view, the best "compendium" type books and combine a lot of testing for recipes, often sadly lacking in home cookbooks. Even if you know a fair amount about cooking, there are info bits and pieces that broaden your view. So...as M McLuhan remarked - it's a rare medium that's well done. This is one of them.

[Daunte Gaiter · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one was ok. If you have the cooking school's first issue, you should be fine. They just updated a few recipes and added more pictures to the book. There are more techniques that they teach you and they add more color to produce a vibrant feel to the reader. But really it's the exact same book.

[Jess B. B. Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be given to every kid when they move out. It’s an amazing learning tool.

[Brad Theado · Rating 5 out of 5]

took a while to finish this one but it's good