James Peterson is the author of nine award-winning and short-listed cookbooks, including the James Beard Cookbook of the Year Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making, as well as Essentials of Cooking, Glorious French Food, and What's a Cook to Do? He teaches, writes about, photographs, lives, breathes, and cooks fine food.

BASICS

HOW TO:

Peel Vegetables

Shuck, Stem, Trim, and Seed Vegetables

Cut Up Vegetables and Herbs

Prepare Fruits

Take the Meat out of a Coconut

Make a Chicken Broth

Make a Fish Broth

Make a Crustacean Broth

Make a Green Salad

Make a Vinaigrette

Make Infused Oils

Make a Mayonnaise

Make a Hollandaise Sauce

Clarify Butter

Make a Flavored Butter

Make a Beurre Blanc

Make a Tomato Sauce

Make Fresh Egg Pasta Dough

Roll and Cut Fresh Pasta Dough

Make Stuffed Pasta Shapes

Make Gnocchi

Make Blini and Crepes

Cook Risotto, Pilaf, Fluffy Rice, and Paella

Determine Doneness of Foods

VEGETABLES & FRUITS

HOW TO:

Roast Vegetables

Make a Vegetable Gratin

Slow-Cook (Braise) Green Vegetables

Glaze Root Vegetables

Deep-fry Vegetables

Make Potato Chips and French Fries

Grill Vegetables

Steam and Boil Vegetables

Saute Vegetables

Cook Artichokes

Make Mashed Potatoes and Other Vegetable and Fruit Purees

Make a Vegetable Flan

Make a Chunky Vegetable Soup

Make a Creamy Vegetable Soup

Roast Fruit

Poach Fruit

FISH & SHELLFISH

HOW TO:

Poach a Big Fish

Poach a Small Fish

Poach Fish Steaks and Fillets, Small Whole Fish, and Shellfish

Cook Fish Fillets en Papillote

Bake Fish and Make a Sauce at the Same Time (Braise)

Roast a Whole Fish

Deep-fry Seafood

Grill Seafood

Saute Seafood for a Crisp Crust

Cook Squid (and Other Tentacled Creatures)

Stir-fry in a Wok

Steam Shellfish

Shuck Oysters

Prepare Lobster

Prepare Soft-shell Crabs

Cook Crayfish

Use Salted Anchovies

Make Miso Soup

POULTRY & EGGS

HOW TO:

Roast a Chicken

Poach Chicken in a Pot

Cut Up a Chicken

Make a Chicken Stew

Make a Chicken Saute

Make Fried Chicken

Grill Chicken

Saute Breaded Chicken Breasts

Make a Chicken Liver Mousse

Roast a Turkey and Make Giblet Gravy

Cut Up a Duck

Boil Eggs

Poach Eggs

Bake Eggs

Make an Omelet

Make a Souffle

MEAT

HOW TO:

Roast a Leg of Lamb

Roast a Rack of Lamb and Make a Jus

Roast a Rack of Pork

Roast a Prime Rib of Beef

Grill (or Broil) Chops and Steaks

Saute Steaks, Chops, Noisettes, and Medallions (and Make a Pan Sauce)

Saute a Small Whole Loin of Pork, Veal, or Venison

Make Pot-au-Feu and Other Boiled Dinners

Poach a Tender Cut of Meat

Make a Pot Roast

Make a Stew

Cook Veal, Beef, and Lamb Shanks

Make a Stew Without Browning

Make a Veal Stew

Prepare Sweetbreads

WORKING FROM SCRATCH

HOW TO:

Prepare a Wbole Round Fish

Fillet a Salmon

Bone a Whole Round Fish

Prepare a Whole Flatfish

Scale, Clean, and Bone Whole Small Fish

Hot-Smoke Fish Fillets

Cold-Smoke Fish Fillets

Cure Seafood (Brining and Salting)

Trim and Cut Up a Breast of Veal for Stew

Trim and Partially Bone a Leg of Lamb

Butcher a Double Rack of Lamb

Trim and French a Rack of Lamb

Trim and Roast a Saddle of Lamb

Cut Up a Rabbit

Prepare and Braise a Large Rabbit

GLOSSARY

INDEX