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Imagine having Martha Stewart at your side in the kitchen, teaching you how to hold a chef’s knife, select the very best ingredients, truss a chicken, make a perfect pot roast, prepare every vegetable, bake a flawless pie crust, and much more.
In Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, you get just that: a culinary master class from Martha herself, with lessons for home cooks of all levels.
Never before has Martha written a book quite like this one. Arranged by cooking technique, it’s aimed at teaching you how to cook, not simply what to cook. Delve in and soon you’ll be roasting, broiling, braising, stewing, sautéing, steaming, and poaching with confidence and competence. In addition to the techniques, you’ll find more than 200 sumptuous, all-new recipes that put the lessons to work, along with invaluable step-by-step photographs to take the guesswork out of cooking. You’ll also gain valuable insight into equipment, ingredients, and every other aspect of the kitchen to round out your culinary education.
Featuring more than 500 gorgeous color photographs, Martha Stewart’s Cooking School is the new gold standard for everyone who truly wants to know his or her way around the kitchen.
Stewart's trademark ability to simplify everything that seems complex or overwhelming in domestic life serves her well in this excellent foundation course in cooking techniques. Like Stewart herself, its pages exude authority along with accessibility, with numerous helpful checklists, charts and boxed tips artfully arranged throughout the numbered lessons that build from essentials such as roasting chicken perfectly or wilting leafy greens just so to more involved, less frequently used methods featured as "extra credit," such as grinding and binding meat into paté or producing a peerless vegetable puree. Each technique is illustrated by numerous stylish yet instructive photos, and accompanied by a few carefully selected recipes and variations that successfully aim to familiarize cooks with a basic procedure without inundating them with the full range of possibilities right away. They will also appreciate Stewart's concise but enlightening introductions to each chapter and the lessons within, For new cooks looking to establish a core set of kitchen skills as well as for those just looking to brush up or to have a ready reference to cooking fundamentals, this impressive volume will be an ideal choice. Color photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.This huge new cookbook is the result of what Stewart refers to as her "mission to teach the methods of home cooking." Chapters are organized by technique, from "How To Make White Stock" to "How To Make Pâte à Choux." Master recipes are followed by others that build on them, and there are hundreds of color photographs, including many step by steps for essential techniques. The illustrated "Basics" section that opens the book covers equipment, knife skills, herbs and spices, "the onion family," and citrus fruits. Charts, buying guides, and sidebars are featured throughout, along with dozens of tips on ingredients, special techniques, and more. The "Dessert" chapter, at slightly fewer than 60 pages, seems a bit skimpy, but most libraries should already have Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook. Highly recommended.
MARTHA STEWART is the author of dozens of bestselling books on cooking, entertaining, gardening, weddings, and decorating. She is the host of The Martha Stewart Show, the Emmy-winning, daily national syndicated program, and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, which publishes several magazines, including Martha Stewart Living; produces Martha Stewart Living Radio, channel 112 on SIRIUS Satellite Radio; and provides a wealth of ideas and information on www.marthastewart.com.
SARAH CAREY graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. In 1999, she joined MSLO, where she is food editor of Martha Stewart Living and a regular contributor to Everyday Food magazine. She is also one of the hosts of the PBS television show Everyday Food.
Prime Rib Roast
Serves 8
Prime rib, or standing rib roast, has long been a mainstay at the holiday table (where it is often paired with Yorkshire pudding, a British specialty made from the pan juices and a simple batter of flour, eggs, and milk). As it is expensive, prime rib should be handled with extra care. It is imperative that you have an instant-read thermometer for determining the internal temperature; if allowed to cook too long, the meat will no longer be a rosy pink inside, the optimal color for any high-quality roast. Remove the roast when still rare, as it will continue to cook as it rests, rising as much as 10 degrees in 20 minutes.
Rubbing meat (as well as chicken and fish) with herbs, spices, and a bit of oil will add tremendous flavor. Here, the beef is coated with a mixture of bay leaves, sage, and orange zest, all familiar holiday flavors. Allowing the meat to “marinate” in the rub overnight deepens the flavor even more. A similar result is achieved by simply salting the meat a day or two before roasting, whereby the salt will have penetrated the meat much like a brining solution.
Larger roasts such as prime rib, crown roast, and a whole turkey are started at a high temperature (450°F) to sear the meat, then the temperature is lowered after 30 minutes to prevent the outside from burning before the meat is cooked through. The exterior won’t develop a crust right away, but the initial high heat gives the outside a head start so that it will be perfectly browned in the end.
For Rub
• 15dried bay leaves, crumbled
• 1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh sage leaves, plus several whole leaves for garnish
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup finely grated orange zest (from 2 to 3 oranges)
For Roast
• 1 three-rib prime rib of beef (about 7 pounds), trimmed and frenched
Prepare meat: Stir together crumbled bay leaves, sage, the oil, 1½ teaspoons salt, and the orange zest in a small bowl. Season with pepper. Rub herb mixture all over the beef, coating evenly. Refrigerate overnight, covered. About 2 hours before you plan to cook the beef, remove it from the refrigerator. Place beef, fat side up, in a roasting pan and allow it to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450°F.
Roast: Cook beef for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 350°F and continue roasting until an instant-read thermometer inserted into meat (away from bone) registers 115°F to 120°F (for rare), about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes longer. Let rest 20 minutes.
Carve and serve Slice meat away from ribs, cutting along the bones. Then, slice meat crosswise to desired thickness. Serve, garnished with whole sage leaves.
Anonymous
Posted July 14, 2009
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Anonymous
Posted June 21, 2009
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Overview
Imagine having Martha Stewart at your side in the kitchen, teaching you how to hold a chef’s knife, select the very best ingredients, truss a chicken, make a perfect pot roast, prepare every vegetable, bake a flawless pie crust, and much more.
In Martha Stewart’s Cooking School, you get just that: a culinary master class from Martha herself, with lessons for home cooks of all levels.
Never before has Martha written a book quite like this one. Arranged by cooking technique, it’s aimed at teaching you how to cook, not simply what to cook. Delve in and soon you’ll be roasting, broiling, braising, stewing, sautéing, ...