HOW TO COOK IN 10 EASY LESSONS

A spiral-bound cookbook teaches solid cooking skills and presents recipes to practice those skills.

Ten essential cooking skills—using knives; peeling and grating; crushing and juicing; mashing and puréeing; frying, sautéing, and browning; boiling, steaming, and poaching; grilling, roasting, and baking; making sweet and savory sauces; beating, whipping, and whisking; mixing, folding, and kneading—are interspersed throughout the cookbook, each recipe referencing the skills needed to make it and what page they can be found on. The recipes themselves are well laid out, each with a list of ingredients, a visual list of the equipment needed, and numbered steps that are easy to follow. Quick Tip… boxes give further instructions, and Try This! boxes offer some alternative ways to prepare the dishes. Each skill is followed by two to four recipes that feature that skill (and usually others as well), and these are a nice mix of dishes, from snacks and appetizers and drinks to main courses, desserts, and breads. The section on using knives, for example, has kids making tomato sauce for pasta, minestrone soup, a veggie platter, and a fruit salad. Other recipes include French toast, cheese omelets, chicken satay, carrot and pecan muffins, steamed Asian dumplings, fish sticks, and key lime pie.

A solid cookbook emphasizing the skills kids will need to be successful in the kitchen and a range of recipes that will entice them to try new things.