Well Fed Network

Posted by Patsy Kreitman on Paper Palate.

The much anticipated release of Martha Stewart’s Cooking School: Lessons and Recipes for the Home Cook has arrived in time for the holiday shopping season.  Martha has produced a cookbook that will please anyone on your gift giving list that enjoys cooking.  From the basics of cooking eggs through braising and roasting, it’s covered in this easy to follow book.

Upon opening this book, I was struck by the beautiful, step-by-step photos throughout each chapter.  The various ways of cutting vegetables are not only described, but also appear in photographs on the same page.  Deeper into the book, the step-by-step photos take you through prepping a chicken for roasting through what it will look like when it’s ready to come out of the oven.  Martha takes it a step further by showing the novice how to carve a turkey or a chicken as well.

The chapters are set up according to the type of food, such as Eggs, Meats and Poultry, Vegetables, and Desserts.  Within these chapters, each method of cooking is discussed and a recipe accompanies that method.  There are suggestions on how to use the method in other ways, and you are encouraged to use those recipes as a jumping off point and experiment on your own.

When I was trying to decide where to begin in this book that is full of information I wanted to soak up, it seemed that the chapter of vegetables kept calling to me.  My side dishes on weeknights really need some more imagination and this chapter appealed to me because of the variety of techniques that are included.  Roasting vegetables always seemed like it would be something that would be more appropriate for a weekend as roasting just sounds like it should take hours.  What I learned was that if the vegetables are cut into uniform pieces and sprinkled with even the smallest amount of seasonings and oil, they are done in no more than 30 minutes.  They require only the occasional stir while the rest of meal is prepared. It’s not so much a recipe as it is a technique.

The result of roasting a butternut squash was sweet and delicious.  It allowed us to try a new vegetable at home and my oldest son loved it.  I’m still working on my youngest, but I imagine that he’ll warm up to it eventually.  I’ll be returning to this book frequently as I try to master more cooking techniques and then as a reference book in the future.

Photo credit:  Patsy Kreitman