Linda's Cookbook

Cooking School Secrets
for Real World Cooks

Tips, Techniques, Shortcuts, Sources, Hints, and Answers to Frequently Asked Questions, Plus 100 Sure-Fire Recipes to Make You a Better Cook

By Linda Carucci

FROM THE BACK COVER:

As a cooking instructor with more than 20 years of food industry experience, no one is more qualified than Linda to reveal the indispensable everyday secrets and shortcuts that professional chefs use constantly in their cooking. Each of the more than 100 sensational recipes—soups and salads, pasta and risotto, main courses and side dishes, plus indulgent desserts—offers truly useful guidelines and tips. What is a chinois and why will this make homemade chicken stock better? Why are Turkish bay leaves preferable to the California variety? What cut of meat will ensure the most flavorful pork chop? Why is a marinade essential when grilling a flank steak? Why should granita be frozen in a square rather than a round pan?

The recipes go from down-home good and simple-to-prepare favorites (Tomato Cheddar Soup, Spaghetti and Meatballs) to guest-worthy, look-what-I-can-do feasts (Double-Crusted Timpano, Rack of Lamb). Clear illustrations show techniques such as how to cut the skin from a salmon fillet and slice basil into a chiffonade (and what is a chiffonade anyway?). Add to that myriad user-friendly charts (recommended temperatures for meat doneness; typical cuts of poultry, meat, and pork), menus, and resources, and any new cook—as well as the not-so-new ones—will quickly find that going back to school is way more fun and delicious than they ever remembered.

The recipes are modern and up-to-date favorites—food people want to cook and eat today. Each recipe details a variety of cooking tips and wisdom that Linda has collected over the years to ensure that each dish is a complete success. Browse sample recipes: Grilled Asparagus and Linguine Aglio e Olio.

See In the News for Linda's current cookbook reviews. Purchase the book at amazon.com.


Rave reviews for Cooking School Secrets

Starred Review. "Carucci has no TV program or series of books to her name. She is, foremost, a teacher who has worked her way through the ranks of culinary America for 20 years. Trained at the California Culinary Academy, she went on to become one of the IACP's Cooking Teachers of the Year. If this first cookbook is any indication, that was a well-deserved honor. There's much to learn here, and Carucci presents the information clearly without dumbing it down, whether she's addressing the crucial roles of salt and butter or the fact that an enzyme in some people's saliva makes cilantro taste, to them, like soap. The first 50 pages cover cooking basics and dig into topics like understanding the palate and using knives. Drawings throughout illustrate such feats as slitting squid and butterflying boneless chicken breasts. Of the 100 recipes offered, the best combine Carucci's formal training with her Italian ancestry. There are cinematic mega-dishes like Double-Crusted Timpano with Fusilli, Ricotta, and Tender Little Meatballs; staples like Chicken Cacciatore, and Braised Calamari in Red Sauce; and four different risottos. Adventuresome dishes include Vietnamese-Style Honey-Glazed Pork Skewers, and Turkey Mole, with over two dozen ingredients. Chocolate appears not only in that mole but also in a handful of rich desserts like Devil's Food Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache. However, the greatest pleasures are the scores of tips and secrets alluded to in the title. "Beware of scallops that look pure white." "Potatoes cook evenly if you start with cold water." Who knew?
—Publisher's Weekly
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Linda imparts her invaluable culinary knowledge gently and sensibly, inspiring her readers to lose any anxieties they may have of cooking. One can imagine her peering over their shoulder, helping each one understand the recipe while at the same time enjoying the entire process. She is the consummate teacher, cook and coach all rolled into one."
—Thomas Keller, The French Laundry

"Now, with Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks, you can glean the best tips and insights from a cooking school experience right in your own kitchen. And, how better to provide this 'behind the scenes' glimpse than legendary cooking teacher Linda Carucci? What a timely and inspired work—congratulations Linda, you've hit one out of the park!"
—Charlie Trotter, Restaurateur and Author

"A must-have for both beginner cooks and pros. Between the encyclopedic information and tantalizing recipes, the plain commonsense advice and touches of humor, there is a lot of great stuff here—figuratively and literally—to chew on."
—Marie Simmons, Cookbook Author

"The secret is out! Linda Carucci is at her best when she shares her culinary pearls of wisdom with professional chefs and home cooks alike. Each of the 100 recipes in this wonderful book begins with a great tip from Linda—something she learned from the California Culinary Academy. Now I wish I had taken better notes when I was in cooking school!"
—Martin Yan, Author of Martin Yan Quick and Easy


To buy Linda's book, go to amazon.com. See In the News for more rave reviews of Linda's cookbook.


Return to Top.