Cookbook Profile: Cooking School Secrets

Cooking School Secrets
for Real-World Cooks

Tips, Techniques, Shortcuts, Sources, Hints, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Plus 100 Sure-Fire Recipes to Make You a Better Cook

by Linda Carucci

When it comes to food, Linda Carucci is at the top of her class. As a cooking instructor with more than 20 years of food industry experience, no one is more qualified than Linda to reveal the indispensable everyday secrets and shortcuts that professional chefs use constantly in their cooking. Each of the more than 100 sensational recipes-soups and salads, pasta and risotto, main courses and side dishes, plus indulgent desserts-offers truly useful guidelines and tips.

What is a chinois and why will this make homemade chicken stock better? Why are Turkish bay leaves preferable to the California variety? What cut of meat will ensure the most flavorful pork chop? Why is a marinade essential when grilling a flank steak? Why should granita be frozen in a square, rather than round, pan?

The recipes go from down-home good and simple-to-prepare favorites (Tomato Cheddar Soup, Spaghetti and Meatballs) to guest-worthy, look-what-I-can-do feasts (Double-Crusted Timpano, Rack of Lamb). Clear illustrations show techniques such as how to cut the skin from a salmon fillet and slice basil into a chiffonade (and what is a chiffonade anyway?). Add to that a myriad of user-friendly charts (recommended temperatures for meat doneness; typical cuts of poultry, meat, and pork), menus, and resources, and any new cook-as well as the not-so-new ones-will quickly find that going back to school is way more fun (and delicious) than they ever remembered.

About the Author

Linda Carucci is an award-winning cooking teacher, chef, and culinary consultant. She was presented with the Cooking Teacher of the Year Award of Excellence from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. In addition to teaching classes in the San Francisco Bay Area, Linda is the Julia Child Curator of Food Arts for Copia: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts in Napa, California.

Buy the Book!

Cooking School Secrets for Real-World Cooks
Tips, Techniques, Shortcuts, Sources, Hints, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Plus 100 Sure-Fire Recipes to Make You a Better Cook
by Linda Carucci
Chronicle Books
Paperback; 392 pages; $22.95
ISBN: 0811842436
Information provided by the publisher.