Sear, Sauce and Serve: Mastering High-Heat, High-Flavor Cooking

Chef, restaurant owner, and food writer Rosenfeld's (150 Things to Make with Roast Chicken) three-step approach to cooking could come off as gimmicky, but instead makes for a terrifically accessible and varied book for cooks interested in broadening their skill sets and repertoire. Though segments on the cooking aspect, such as grilling chicken, burgers, and saut%C3%A9ing ground meat, may seem overwritten and overly complicated to even casual cooks, Rosenfeld's heart is in the right place%E2%80%94the book is peppered with tips on choosing the right fish, adding smoke to a gas grill, how to use alcohol-based ingredients in sauces and more. Readers who choose to skip his detailed protein tutelage can fall back on his detailed and useful charts on various cooking methods for proteins including prep notes and doneness. But the heart of the book, and where it truly excels, is in Rosenfeld's superlative collection of sauces, most of which require just a handful of readily available ingredients. Approachable enough for the novice and varied enough for veteran cooks, this is a terrific collection that deserves some shelf space for cooks interested in expanding their repertoire. (May)