My new book, How To Sauté, publishes tomorrow and Little Brown is giving away the whole set (which includes How To Roast and How To Braise).
Enter here for your chance to win— May 23rd is the last day.
Or order now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or from Indiebound.
People familiar with my work know my conviction that mastering a single technique is better than having a hundred recipes. So I've devoted these short books to the finer points of the critical techniques. Sauté is the most used of all techniques and the nuances of it are many. Whether it's in the preparing of veal scallopine, a classical poulet sauté, shrimp, or a flatiron steak, each sauté is a little different.
I discuss types of pans, cooking tools, cooking fats, the critical herbs and aromatics that are most valuable in sautéing, and how to handle the sauces that make sautéed food come alive. Of course all the nuances are described with (I think) really good, fun, accessible recipes (Sautéed Soft Shell Crab "Louis" Sandwiches, Chicken-Fried Steak with Okra and Black-eyed Peas, and Sautéed Duck Breasts with a Rhubarb Gastrique, for example).
Wait a minute—is chicken-fried steak a sauté, do we sauté bacon? I love this minutia, because it's all connected to the broader importance of cooking fundamentals.
When we feel comfortable with all the nuances of a technique, our food is tastier and easier to prepare.
My publisher would like me to repeat the words of my friend, the extraordinary Alton Brown, regarding my work: "I'm not sure if Michael Ruhlman is a great writer who cooks or a great cook who writes, but either way he always manages to make my favorite thing: good sense."
I don't know about that, but I do know this: When we cook our own food, our bodies are healthier, our families are healthier, our communities are healthier, and our environment is healthier.
Happy cooking!
If you liked this post, check out these other links:
- My past posts on Please, Consider the Egg, Boulevardier, and Bacon Time.
© 2016 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2016 Donna Turner-Ruhlman. All rights reserved.
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