Cooking Basics: What Everyone Should Know

"Presented in partnership with The Culinary Institute of America and filmed at the CIA’s flagship facility in Hyde Park, New York, Cooking Basics: What Everyone Should Know provides the step-by-step instructions you need to become a confident, productive cook in your own home. These 24 easy-to-follow lessons demonstrate everything you’ll need to enjoy creating a wide variety of exciting, flavorful dishes. Your instructor, Chef Sean Kahlenberg, carefully walks you through the many dozen original recipes he presents in this course. You’ll learn that your success in the kitchen begins with your mise en place—the French term often translated as “everything in its place.” In the kitchen, this refers to having all your ingredients together before you start cooking—each item measured, peeled, or sliced exactly as you’ll need it for your specific recipe—allowing you to move forward in a logical and calm manner once you begin cooking. You’ll learn how to cut vegetables into the appropriate dimensions required by your recipe; how to assess, clean, skin, and fillet round and flat fish; how to assess, break down, and brine chicken and turkey; how to assess and clean clams, mussels, and shrimp; and how to trim and portion beef. As you follow Chef Kahlenberg’s directions, you’ll learn to prepare many classics with a new twist and branch out to cook international dishes you might never have tried. But no matter which of Chef’s Kahlenberg’s recipes you choose to make, you will always find easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions to guide you—from ingredient list, through mise en place, to cooking techniques and plating. And afterward, you’ll serve and enjoy each mouth-watering meal with pride!"