"Tips, techniques, shortcuts, sources, hints, and answers to frequently asked questions, plus 100 sure-fire recipes to make you a better cook"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 327) and index.

Cooking basics -- Equipment matters -- Knife skills and cuts -- Mise en place -- Do no harm: food safety -- Cooking methods -- How cooking changes the texture and flavor of foods -- Using your senses when you cook -- Understanding your palate -- Cooking with the seasons -- Seasoning to taste -- Brining and today's new meats and poultry -- Attentive tasting -- A few words about menu planning -- Creative cooking -- A few words about plate presentation -- Recipes -- Guidelines for preparing the recipes in this book -- Stocks, soups, and salads -- Secrets for successful stocks and broths -- Recipes that use homemade chicken stock, chicken broth, or vegetable broth -- Secrets for successful soups -- Secrets for successful salads -- Risottos and pastas -- Secrets for successful risotto -- Secrets for cooking perfect pasta -- Seafood, poultry, and meat main dishes -- Secrets for preparing fish and shellfish successfully -- Secrets for selecting and cooking poultry successfully -- Secrets for preparing meats successfully -- On the side -- Secrets for pairing side dishes with main dishes -- Sweet endings -- Secrets for choosing an appropriate dessert -- Secrets for preparing successful desserts -- Seasonal recipes, menus, sources -- Seasonal recipes -- Twelve seasonal menus for casual and special occasions.