Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham

by Marion Cunningham

Here at last is a much needed cookbook designed to instruct and inspire beginning cooks who don't know how to cut up an onion or scramble an egg--and who are reluctant to try.

Marion Cunningham, today's Fannie Farmer--who embodies the best of American home cooking--is the perfect guide for the uncertain cook. Not only are her recipes simple, they are easy to master, because she writes in clear, straightforward language that anyone can understand. She addresses the needs and concerns of beginning cooks: how to shop, how to determine the quality of ingredients, how to store fresh produce and to ripen fruits, what basic kitchen utensils to use, and how not to waste food.

With 150 recipes woven through eleven seductive chapters, such as Soup for Supper, A Bowlful of Salad, Thank Goodness for Chicken, and Extras That Make a Meal, Ms. Cunningham reveals the secrets of relaxed and efficient home cooking. She stresses the importance of thinking ahead--not just one recipe at a time. Today's dinner can be recycled into a lunch treat for tomorrow, Sunday's leftover polenta is fried up and topped with Parmesan for a weekday supper dish, small treasures in the fridge can make an omelet filling, a pasta garnish, or stuffing for a baked potato, and homemade biscuits can be transformed into strawberry shortcake.

The side dishes she recommends are simple and are coordinated with the timing of the main dish. Often she gives us a recipe in which everything is cooked together--for instance, a chicken is roasted along with onions, carrots, and potatoes, so everything is ready at once, and when you're finished there's only one pan to clean; easy fish is baked over a bed of vegetables; a steak supper combines watercress, mushrooms, bread, and a delicious steak all in one.

Above all, Ms. Cunningham demonstrates that the satisfaction of cooking lies not only in the good taste of all these wonderful home-cooked dishes but also in the pleasure of sharing them with friends and family.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Food, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 20, 1999

About the author

Marion Cunningham was born in Southern California in 1922, and now lives in Walnut Creek. She was responsible for the revision of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and is the author of The Breakfast Book, and Cooking with Children. She travels frequently throughout the country giving cooking demonstrations (some with James Beard), has contributed articles to "Bon Appetit," "Food & Wine," and "Gourmet" magazines, and writes a column for the "San Francisco Chronicle," and the "Los Angeles Times." Over seventy episodes of her television series "Cunningham & Company" appears regularly on the Food Network.

In 1993, Marion received the Grand Dame award from Les Dames d'Escoffier "in recognition and appreciation of her extraordinary achievement and contribution to the culinary arts." In 1994, she was named Scholar-in-Residence by the International Association of Culinary Professionals.

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for the beginner cook. Many basics are included such as how to cut an onion, tips on buying produce, how to carve a chicken, etc. Pictures are included for more detailed tasks. The recipes are delicious and written simply. This book helped me get over my anxiety of cooking with its clearly written instructions and hints.

[Beesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best-ever cookbooks. In addition to being a great cook, Cunningham was a fanastic writer. Reading her lean, spare, wry prose is such a pleasure. The recipes are all winners, good for both beginners and experienced cooks who want some straight forward, bomb-proof recipes for the classics. The hard back version of the book is a beautiful edition as well.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most-used cookbook. Very helpful, because the author 1) doesn't assume that I know the basics, 2) walks me through the steps needed to cook simple, delicious dishes, and 3) teaches me the rudimentary techniques which my grandma classified as common sense.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this for my 40+ son who just learned how to fry an egg, is engaged, and FINALLY wants to learn to cook...so I borrowed a copy from the library just to see what was included.
I think it's basic enough for a true non-cook...but it's also pretty dated now, including several recipes that I don't think people (at least not California people) would eat these days.
And, while I agree wholeheartedly w her tutorial on chopping an onion, I strongly disagree with her method for mincing garlic. The chopping part is fine, but the PEELING part sucks! She has you use a paring knife to peel off the sin! What??? You just smash it w the flat blade of a heavy knife and the skin slips right off! I texted my son immediately about that faux pas!
Otherwise, good enough...

[Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book for learning how to cook. She assumes no prior knowledge or special equipment.

She teaches good home cooking. Nothing fancy, but you will learn how to cook well enough to feed yourself and invite people over for a delicious meal.

[Yaaresse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific for beginning cooks. Has held up well over the years and still makes a good "first kitchen" housewarming gift.

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the only cookbook I use, and everyone likes the food I make, so she must know something.