What to Cook and How to Cook it [Hardcover]

Jane Hornby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2010

"What to Cook and How to Cook It" is the ultimate cookbook for beginners, showing how to cook easy, delicious meals for every day of the week. With a winning combination of clear step-by step-photographs, and authoritative, foolproof recipes, it takes 100 favourite everyday dishes and guides the reader through every step of the cooking process with recipes that absolutely anyone can follow. Each ingredient and stage of the cooking process is illustrated with a clear colour photograph, and the striking, simple design will encourage anyone who lacks confidence at cooking to have a go at producing nutritious, home-cooked food for their family and friends. Every stage is clearly explained, with no prior knowledge taken for granted. Even common terms such as 'finely chopped' are explained in an illustrated glossary. The recipes are written by a highly experienced food writer with years of expertise in creating simple, foolproof recipes, and each one has been tested several times to ensure that it is easy to follow. Additional hints and tips are provided on how to choose ingredients, how to rescue a recipe if things go wrong, and how to adapt the dish with different ingredients. Unlike most beginners' cookbooks, this one does not attempt to teach techniques, such as pastry and breadmaking: it focuses purely on creating straightforward, enjoyable meals that are easy to cook. The recipes are extremely practical, using ingredients available in any market or supermarket, do not require specialist equipment, and are economical and nutritious. To make it simple to decide what to cook, the recipes are divided into chapters on breakfasts and brunches, light weekday meals and lunches, dishes for sharing, quick and easy suppers, weekend main meals that take longer to cook, and desserts and baking. What to Cook will equip any novice cook with a repertoire of simple, crowd-friendly dishes that they can cook to perfection with confidence.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. UK food writer Hornby's voluminous compendium of culinary classics deserves to make the short list for novice cooks interested in learning how to make the basics from scratch. Over the course of the book's 400-plus pages, Hornby guides readers through everyday favorites like Huevos Rancheros, Lasagna, Paella, chicken wings and blue cheese dip, and apple pie. Though there are the occasional minor variations on classic recipes (a bay leaf is added to milk simmering for mac and cheese), Hornby's by-the-book approach to everyday eating is a terrific resource for those with a taste for tradition. Each dish is accompanied by step-by-step photos, ensuring those cooking along with the author will be able to pull off Cinnamon Rolls, a Chocolate Truffle Cake, or Shrimp Pad Thai with confidence. While thoughtful, this approach can veer into the extreme (assembling an antipasti plate or making a BLT?), but it's a vital component of creating more complicated fare like Eggs Benedict or Roast Beef & Yorkshire Puddings (she is British, after all). More experienced cooks are likely to find the dishes rather elementary, but those curious about how to prepare a Margherita pizza or beef stew will find this a terrific guide.

Review

'a chunky hardback packed with good illustrative photographs - a great gift for beginner cooks and students who want to cook well for themselves.' Irish Examiner, 1 October 2010 'One of the most heavily illustrated cookbooks of all time - Nothing's left to chance and everything is beautifully explained - It could just be the best book for novice cooks ever.' Shannon Denny, Westside, October 2010 'The kind of book that should be on standby in every kitchen.' Tesco Real Food, October 2010 'Jane Hornby likes to think of a recipe as a story with a beginning, middle and happy ending, and her aim in her new book [ - ] is to show her readers how to produce their own happy endings every time.' Taste Italia, November 2010 'makes cooking a doddle' Sunday Times, Style, 21 November 2010 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Phaidon Press (October 20, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0714859583
• ISBN-13: 978-0714859583
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 9 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 68 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this cookbook October 31, 2010

By Missyplaymate3

Format:Hardcover

This book is great for anyone learning how to cook or even people who have been cooking for a while. Its very neat and the pictures are great. All the recipes include pictures from the start of the meal to the end. Ms. Hornby also took the time to show all the ingredients and what it would look like for the homecook. Most of the ingredients can be found in the supermarket or farmer's market. The recipes are economical and thats great in a cookbook. Here is a list of how the book is set up

Introduction:
Tips on how to make recipes work for you. Basic kitchen equipment like knives, roasting pan and food processor. Next is ingredients, shopping tips and basic pantry.

Breakfast & Brunch:
Smoothies, cinnamon rolls, eggs( eggs benedict and scrambled eggs), muffins, french toast, huevos rancheros, pancakes and corncakes.

Light Lunches:
Ham Cheese Sandwich, warm goat cheese salad, spicy vegetable soup, couscous& harissa salad, warm goat cheese& beet salad, chicken caesar salad, chicken &corn quesadilias, BLT sandwich and shrimp & mushroom laksa.

Simple Suppers:
Chicken stir-fry, mushroom risotto, thai curry with beef, lamb chops and mint salad, cheeseburgers, breaded fish and tartar sauce, macaroni& cheese, sausage and mashed potatoes with onion gravy, stuffed chicken with tomatoes and arugula, shrimp pad thai, cajun chicken and pineapple salsa and penne with tomato/olive sauce.

Food for sharing:
Sticky BBQ ribs, stuffed potato skins, chicken wings and blue cheese dip, antipasti with tapenade and tomato bruschetta, cheese nachos and guacamole, hummus with marinated olives and pitas, chicken tikka and raita lettuce cups, pizza margherita and chicken satay.

Weekend Cooking:
Pan Fried Fish, chilli con carne with baked potatoes, coq au vin, creamy fish pie, roast chicken with lemon and leek stuffing, eggplant parmigana, lasagne, paella, crab cakes, beef stew, chicken pot pie, fish stew and roast pork.

Side Dishes:
Roast potatoes, rataouille, coleslaw, maple roast winter vegetables, oven fries, dressed green beans, glazed carrots.

Desserts:

Apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, frosted cupcakes, key lime pie, lemon tart, vanilla ice cream, brownies and panna cotta with raspberries.

Also Ms. Hornby includes tips on planning a menu and basic preparations like cutting garlic, onions and herbs.

I did my best to list most of the dishes. I did not list them all. I just wanted to give everyone an idea of whats in the book. This book is great for family and friends. This cookbook is great for any level of the homecook. I am glad I have this book and I will continue to make more of the dishes. Last night I made the spicy vegetable soup. Tonight I made for dessert the key lime pie. I cant wait until its ready.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, concise, clever and well organized. November 9, 2010

By Andrew B. Hurvitz

Format:Hardcover

I saw this book, in, of all places, URBAN OUTFITTERS.

This is a new, delightfully laid-out and easily understandable cookbook which proceeds on the assumption that everyone is new to cooking.
I have not seen a book like this one, where each step of a recipe is photographed. For example, with Coq au Vin, there are photos showing the vegetables, then the slicing, then the chicken, when to put the wine in, etc.

The calm and articulate prose that accompanies the recipes is noteworthy for its gentle but authoritative ability to reassure the cook.

It's true that the internet has made recipe finding easy. But a book like "What to Cook and How to Cook It" is something one will have for years, and is as essential to a kitchen as salt, knives, butter and water.

31 of 32 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Well thought out, simple to use. Fantastic! October 28, 2010

By bucajack

Format:Hardcover

I cannot recommend this book enough. I love cooking but I have a hard time following many recipies in other cook books and from websites. The reason is that I am quite a visual person. I need to see what the dish should look like when you are finished. This book does that but it also takes it a number of steps further.

Every recipe is laid out from start to finish with a picture for each step. Even the ingredients are shown in their measurments to make it easier for you to see where to begin. The book also has a picture of the dish at critical points in the preparation so you can see how it should look.

The recipes are easy to follow and are not overly complicated. The recipes are also all based around food that everyone loves. Things like Chicken Pot Pie, Coc au Vin, chicken wings, BBQ ribs.

This book is great for anyone who is new to cooking and even intermediate cooks who like that visual style cookbook.