Mastering Sauces: The Home Cook's Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors: The Home Cook’s Guide to New Techniques for Fresh Flavors

flimsy, poorly made tools are never a bargain.

Chop, sauté, deglaze, simmer, strain, heat, season, enrich, and finish; that’s how that wonderful sauce was made.

I know a vegetarian who can’t pass up the occasional bite of roasted duck, avid carnivores who order soy lattes, and cooks at award-winning earth-to-table restaurants who have a fondness for Coke Slurpees and late-night fast-food drive-thrus. I love that!—it seems very human.

Don’t give up on your food—try to reimagine it. Different isn’t bad. Now and then you will make mistakes. That’s okay: The best chefs in the world do too. They just don’t broadcast it. They think of alternative ways to get good food on the table.

three fundamental principles: maximize flavor, manipulate texture, and season confidently.