Done.: A Cook's Guide to Knowing When Food Is Perfectly Cooked

by James Peterson

Overview

A unique cooking-times reference from a multiple James Beard Award winner that “will give confidence and reassurance to new and veteran home cooks alike” (The Kitchn).

It’s the age-old question that stumps all cooks: Is it ready yet? In this infinitely handy kitchen guide, the celebrated author of Essentials of Cooking, James Peterson, gives at-a-glance answers for more than eighty-five of the most vexing-to-cook foods, from sauces, vegetables, fish, and meats to sweets.

Detailed descriptions of smell, sound, look, and texture provide a quick reference to getting the timing just right, while more than five hundred color photographs clearly capture each key stage of doneness. With distilled explanations of the ten basic cooking methods for context, this is an instant classic that brings professional-chef style expertise to your own kitchen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452132280
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	67,367
File size:	30 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

James Peterson is the James Beard Award–winning author of 15 cookbooks and the technique instructor at New York City's Institute of Culinary Education. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2014
In this handbook, award-winning author Peterson (Vegetables, Revised) uses step-by-step photographs to show what omelets, pot roast, and other foods look like when perfectly cooked. He shares multiple techniques for determining doneness, but many can't be put into practice without a separate cookbook. For instance, his guides to shrimp tempura and hollandaise sauce can be used as recipes, but those for blinis and pastry cream, which contain no ingredient quantities or ratios, cannot. VERDICT A helpful visual reference for beginners. Similar titles with recipes, such as Clara Paul and Eric Treuille's 200 Skills Every Cook Must Have, may be more versatile.

Library Journal

Anyone who has dithered over salmon on the grill or a roasting leg of lamb, fearful that medium-rare is sneakily becoming medium, will appreciate Done…can you tell when blond becomes brown, when brown becomes dark brown, and when you have gone too far and burned the darned thing? Peterson will hold your hand and guide you through.

The New York Times Book Review - William Grimes

"I'm betting each of us can think of someone in our lives who would love this book - and most likely that "someone" is ourselves! ...This is one of those books to keep handy next to the stove for quick reference - it will give confidence and reassurance to new and veteran home cooks alike." - The Kitchn

"I'm betting each of us can think of someone in our lives who would love this book - and most likely that "someone" is ourselves! ...This is one of those books to keep handy next to the stove for quick reference - it will give confidence and reassurance to new and veteran home cooks alike." - The Kitchn

"I'm betting each of us can think of someone in our lives who would love this book - and most likely that "someone" is ourselves! ...This is one of those books to keep handy next to the stove for quick reference - it will give confidence and reassurance to new and veteran home cooks alike." - The Kitchn

From the Publisher