Need "Non-Cookbook Cookbook" to learn to cook without recipes

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Okay, I did preheat and everything. I let my husband cut the steak, and I think he just cut it straight. Would cutting it across the grain make it less stringy as well? Also, I could cook, say, a New York strip steak in this way, right?

I admit I returned the cookbooks in a fit of frustration. I mean, I'm cooking for my husband, and he looked at the recipe and said the recipe was no good. So... Will I be heading to the bookstore to sheepishly buy them back? lol I don't know. I'll check out the other books first, I think.
 
And maybe instead of watching Dr. Phil or Oprah while I fold laundry I'll watch the Food Network, yeah?
 
Would cutting it across the grain make it less stringy as well?
Absolutely!!! The way you cut a skirt steak makes all the difference in the world. Cutting it with the grain guarantees it will be tough and stringy. Cutting it against the grain (assuming it is not overcooked) will ensure tender easy to chew meat.

I would really recommend getting Alton's book again, but do not use it for the recipes. It is not a cookbook after all. Use it just to learn how and why to do things. Use that knowledge along with another actual cookbook (How To Cook Everything is a great one) and you will have your husband asking for seconds and thirds in no time.

If you have a mind for science then another great book is What Einstein Told His Cook.
 
Okay. If I get his books again I'll have to go to the next town over or something; I live in a small town and the bookseller would look at me funny if I bought the books I returned the day before! ::chuckle:: Wow, I got a lot of books to check out. And next time I make a skirt steak, I'll cut across the grain.
 
The grain in a steak are long fibers of meat. If you slice with the grain, you are basically cutting yourself one long continuous fiber. If you cut across the grain, you end up with a slice composed of many fibers.

When you chew it, the meat breaks apart into the individual fibers making it easier to chew. It gives you the perception that it is more tender because it breaks apart into the smaller fiber pieces, and each fiber is only as long as the meat is thick.
 
Thanks for the explanation. That makes sense!

I'll check my library/bookstore/Amazon for the books you've all recommended.

Thanks very much!!
 
If you have a decent-sized library, plan to go there and spend an hour or two. There you can examine a lot of the books recommended at one time, compare them to each other, bring one or two home for more detailed examination, then decide which is worth buying - all for free.
 
I don't know the author of it, but I'd highly reccomend "Culinary Artistry". It's a book that discusses ingredients by season, and has many recipes and tables regarding what sorts of foods and flavors and textures go well together, what foods are appropriate during certain season, etc.
 
Hi there. I'm on a mission to improve my abysmal cooking skills and had a question for you all. I'd like to learn the basics, not just in a sense of techniques, but also in terms of improvisation. I can follow a recipe okay, but I'd like to learn to cook the way one learns to dress with style. You don't buy a book with pictures of outfits to wear, you just learn the principles of style, right? So I want to learn what flavors go together, stuff like that. I've paged through "The Improvisational Cook" which looked neat, except about 70% of the book is recipes, many of which are a little too "gourmet" for me and my family.

Can anyone recommend any books I should look into?

Thanks,
~K
Pam Anderson's "How to Cook Without a Book" sounds like exactly what you are looking for. and NO! it's not the busty Pam Anderson! :rolleyes:
 
The recipe was for a skirt steak. I followed the directions but the steak was VERY rare. I wanted to get it to maybe a medium or medium rare, but it took a lot longer than the recipe stated. And then the steak was tough and stringy. A question: If less-expensive cuts should be cooked slower than more expensive, then why should my $4 steak cooked on high heat? (Sorry, I'm sure it's obvious, but I know right around nothing about steak. I don't even like steak.


I looked up that recipe in his book last night and it's spot on. He also explains why it's cooked that way and also explains why you need to cut it on the bias.

His book focus on technique (in this case, searing) and uses recipes as examples for the techniques he explains. That's why its a very good book for a beginner cook. It's important to read the prose and not just make the recipe.

In your case, I suspect that your pan wasn't hot enough. Also, like others have said, cutting it properly is absolutely key.

The only thing I would take issue with is that IMO skirt steak and flank steak are great cuts to marinate before cooking. If you make that recipe again, try marinating the meat for 8 hours or so in a teriyake or fajita marinade or something. Dry it well before you sear it, though.

Steaks of all types should be cooked via high heat.
 
The only thing I would take issue with is that IMO skirt steak and flank steak are great cuts to marinate before cooking. If you make that recipe again, try marinating the meat for 8 hours or so in a teriyake or fajita marinade or something. Dry it well before you sear it, though.
I second this. Alton has great advice and knowledge, but like anyone he is human and sometimes makes mistakes. Not marinading the skirt steak is a mistake IMO. Not a horrible one, but a mistake nonetheless.
 
k Yes you got some great book suggestions! I will share a joke about a boy who didn't know how to swim. His friend gave him a book on how to swim. A week later his buddy said come on lets go swimming. He said no thanks I read the book. The point being it takes trying failing and trying again. Learn the terms, know your pots stove etc. get the best ingredients. Start simple and be patient with yourself remember mistakes and don't repeat them. You would be surprised just playing with green beans or an egg what can go wrong and how many wonderful ways they can be prepared.
 
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