“The solid advice in this indispensable book will help you go from convection novice to convection expert in record time–and fast results are what convection ovens are all about.” —Rick Rodgers, author of Thanksgiving 101, Christmas 101, and Celebrations 101.

A variety of time-saving recipes from one-dish family dinners to crowd-pleasing appetizers.

All recipes list ingredients needed, cook times, nutrition information, and calorie counts.

A special bonus chapter featuring simple and quick-to-prepare 5-ingredient side dishes serve-alongs.

Dozens of recipes for tantalizing slow-cooked desserts.

Linda Carucci has more than 20 years' experience as a professional cook and teacher in the Bay Area, and in this book she skillfully combines these two talents, giving her readers their money's worth and then some. Her editors and publisher did a fine job visually breaking up the book with many sidebars -- most prominently Recipe Secrets -- that avoid the tedium of feeling bombarded with too many facts, college-textbook style.

Carucci -- at one time dean of the California Culinary Academy and now the Julia Child curator for food arts at Copia, the American Center for Food, Wine & the Arts in Napa -- knows the key element of successful teaching: Don't just tell students what to do, but explain to them why they are asked to do it. This is especially useful when instructions seem to run counter to common wisdom.

Carucci, for instance, advocates salting meat, poultry and fish well in advance of cooking. But haven't we heard over and over that salt will draw out moisture, so chickens, steaks or burgers will be dry if salted in advance? That has been the prevailing opinion, she admits -- and it's dead wrong.

Without getting too technical, Carucci explains that initially, salt does draw out moisture. But after a while, reverse osmosis causes the meat to reabsorb the liquid. The result will be a finished dish that's more tender, moist and flavorful.

And you don't just have to take Carucci's word for this. She quotes two local culinary heavyweights for support. Both sausage maker par excellence Bruce Aidells and Zuni Cafe chef Judy Rodgers (famous for her stellar roast chicken) are devoted practitioners of early salting.

On the subject of salt, the book also tells what kind of salt to use for what purpose and -- of course -- why. It explains the benefit of trussing a roasting chicken and how to do it; how to seed, peel and chop fresh tomatoes; how to get every drop of a heavy sauce out of a food processor; why farmed fish is hardly the panacea it was once considered; and why and when to use wooden spoons for stirring sauces.

The amount of information presented in this medium-size paperback would be considered respectable in a volume twice its size.

And we haven't even talked about the recipes yet. There are more than 100, all tested by Carucci's veritable army of home cooks across the country who give her feedback, which, if critical, prompts rethinking and revising. So the recipes are rock-solid and interesting, yet sensible.

Some are indisputably easy; in others, the amount of time required for preparation depends largely on the competence of the cook.

For example, the roasted pineapple salsa served with honey-mustard glazed ham (a great savory variation on the hackneyed ham and pineapple theme) is a snap if you have good knife skills. If you don't, it can be time consuming.

Trying to stay the critic rather than a booster, I thought hard about how this book could be improved. Two things come to mind: The typeface is so small that cooks who don't have 20/20 vision may find it taxing. Plus, a few more of the black-and-white illustrations of techniques would be nice.

But, hey, this is not a coffee-table book, and it doesn't carry a coffee- table book price tag. It's a kitchen table book, and one of the best I have run across in quite a while.. -San Francisco Chronicle

Small cookbook packs plenty
Every time I watch a chef chop an onion, I learn something about that person," Linda Carucci says.

She's an award-winning cooking teacher; the Julia Child Curator of Food Arts at Copia, the food museum in Napa, Calif., and, most recently, the author of a cookbook that's receiving raves online.

Carucci's chief delight, it seems, is learning and teaching. For her, it's a natural continuum. Inhale, exhale. Take in new information, give it to other people.

Her subject, of course, is cooking, and her first book ("Probably my only book -- I don't know if I have any words left") is Cooking School Secrets for Real World Cooks (Chronicle, $22.95). I was surprised to find that although it's packed with tips, illustrations, recipes, advice, anecdotes and explanations, it's a convenient-size paperback. This mountain of information is organized for accessibility and offered in reader-friendly prose. In our recent interview, Carucci praised the editors, designers, recipe testers, chef colleagues and her husband, Allen Rehmke, for their part in the project.

Cooking School Secrets makes a great gift for the recent college graduate setting up a new apartment and facing a kitchen alone for the first time. It's also a great refresher course for experienced cooks. Each recipe is explained so thoroughly that it's almost a class in itself. Not surprising, since the book is based on the author's eight years running her own school, Linda Carucci's Kitchen, in Oakland, Calif.

It's a book that begs to be used, and the reward isn't just recipes so tasty you forget they're instructional (do try the accompanying recipes for grilled marinated flank steak au jus and the savory corn pudding). You also have the pleasure of "meeting" Carucci herself in her writing. Her sense of enjoyment is an invigorating, illuminating force.

"In my proposal I said I don't want a big, heavy coffee table book with a big price tag," she says. "I don't want something that's going to make a dent in your belly when you read it in bed." But producing this usable, affordable cookbook was easier said than done. "On the surface, you wouldn't know there were 116 recipe testers -- that there were home cooks in Burlington, Vt.; Elgin, Ill., and Glendora, Calif., who told me they could find pomegranate molasses for the muhammara [a Middle Eastern condiment that also includes roasted red peppers and walnuts] or rice noodles for the Vietnamese grilled pork salad. Or that on the East Coast they told me their halibut fillets always come with the skin on." (West Coast halibut fillets come skinless.)

She realized the originally agreed-upon 150 recipes was just too much, and her editor agreed, then slashed the total by a breath-snatching 50. After Carucci had whittled down her "little darlings," the editor went over the revised recipe list and noted, "You don't have a chocolate cake in this book. You have to have chocolate cake."

And she had to have it in a week. She started with an idea from Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur, Calif., that sounds a bit quirky: This chocolate cake calls for beets. (It's true, but your kids won't know they're eating a root vegetable unless you tell them.) Then she experimented with two kinds of icing: chocolate ganache, using Nick Malgieri's technique, and her own adaptation of Hershey's cocoa fudge frosting.

Fifty of her testers could turn a recipe around in 48 hours, so she sent half of them the cake and ganache; the other half, the cake and fudge frosting. She expected this to determine which icing worked better, but it was a tie. Even her editor couldn't decide, so both frostings are in the book.

What kept her from writing it sooner? Carucci says it was the prospect of sitting alone at a computer terminal through 100,000 words and scads of recipes. She was associate dean of students at Occidental College in Los Angeles when, in 1983, she moved to San Francisco to attend the California Culinary Academy. She was one of its earliest "older students" (she was in her 20s at the time) and later became its dean. She has been a caterer and, since 1997, has operated her own cooking school -- all people-related occupations.

Furthermore, she says, she tested "off the chart" as an extrovert on the Myers-Briggs personality profile. That doesn't mean she has to be the life of every party, but that "I draw my energy from other people." Sit at a computer every day for a year? "What a dull, boring, horrible thing that would be for me." The recipe testers became her "lifeline," she says. "Every single morning I woke up and I ran to the computer" to see who'd checked in with triumphs, questions, comments, new problems, possible solutions. "It was like I was teaching online."

And learning, of course. She gleans information from every experience, even breast cancer, which was diagnosed about 15 years ago. She doesn't refer to herself as a survivor; the experience was a career-altering fact of her life. She left the academy -- "The guys couldn't handle it" -- and after free-lancing for a while, she started her school in 1997. She was back with her first love, teaching, working directly with people.

"If you're by yourself, how much fun can you have?" she asks. And enjoyment -- fun -- is one of the priorities lined up in her life. "That's one thing breast cancer does for you. I got to live. A lot of my friends in my support group didn't. So I just figure, it's got to be fun." -Chicago Sun-Times

True, cast iron is old; it's been around since the Middle Ages. And it is heavy. No one can dispute that even a small, cast-iron pot has a heft to it that no other cookware has. Nevertheless, cast-iron cookware has a place in today's kitchens, and that doesn’t mean simply hanging on the wall for decoration. Cast iron has much to offer modern-day cooks; it's easy to use, easy to care for, economical, versatile, and durable, and let's face it, it has a nostalgic appeal that no other cookware has. But more compelling than all those reasons is that it's a great cookware that makes great food. In fact, most cast-iron cooks will tell you that food cooked in cast iron tastes better than food cooked in anything else!

Cast-Iron Cooking For Dummies is for those cooks who may want to inject a little adventure and variety into their cooking. If you've never even thought of using cast-iron cookware, or you have a few cast-iron pots lying around, you'll discover all you need to know about making great food using cast iron. Here just a sampling of what you'll find in Cast-Iron Cooking For Dummies:

• Selecting the right cast-iron cookware for you
• Seasoning a new cast-iron pan
• Caring for your cast-iron cookware
• Discovering techniques to enhance your cast-iron cooking
• Enjoying cast-iron cooking in the Great Outdoors
• Tons of delicious recipes, from main and side dishes to desserts and international dishes
• Top Ten lists on ways to make your cast-iron cookware last longer, the best dishes suited for cast iron, and tips for achieving success in cast-iron cooking

So, whether you're a cooking novice or an experienced chef, you can find plenty of enjoyment from cooking with cast iron – and Cast-Iron Cooking For Dummies can show you the way.

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Packed with cast-iron cooking tips, tricks, and recipes

Become a cast-iron chef in no time – the fun and easy way®!

Unlock the secrets of cast-iron cooking at home or in the great outdoors with this easy-to-use cookbook and guide! You’ll find everything you need to buy and use cast-iron pots and pans, plus more than 100 tempting recipes – from classics like Fried Chicken and Buttermilk Biscuits to modern dishes like Apricot-Ginger Glazed Pork Rib Roast and more.

Discover how to:

• Choose the right cast-iron cookware for you
• Season, clean, and care for cast-iron pots and pans
• Whip up tasty cast-iron main dishes, sides, and sweets
• Cook with cast iron indoors and outdoors
• Rescue and restore old or worn cast iron

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Even if you don’t know anything about cooking or running a business, you might still have a great idea for a restaurant — and this handy guide will show you how to make your dream a reality. If you already own a restaurant, but want to see it do better, Running a Restaurant For Dummies offers unbeatable tips and advice of bringing in hungry customers. From start to finish, you’ll learn everything you need to know to succeed:

• Put your ideas on paper with a realistic business plan
• Attract investors to help get the business off the ground
• Be totally prepared for your grand opening
• Make sure your business is legal and above board
• Hire and train a great staff
• Develop a delicious menu

If you’re looking for expert guidance from people in the know, then Running a Restaurant For Dummies is the only book you need. Written by Michael Garvey, co-owner of the famous Oyster Bar at Grand Central, with help from writer Heather Dismore and chef Andy Dismore, this book covers all the bases, from balancing the books to training staff and much more:

• Designing and theme and a concept
• Taking over an existing restaurant or buying into a franchise
• Stocking and operating a bar
• Working with partners and other investors
• Choose a perfect location
• Hiring and training an excellent staff
• Pricing menu items
• Designing the interior of the restaurant
• Purchasing and managing supplies
• Marketing your restaurant to customers

If you’re looking for a new career as a restaurateur, or you need new ideas for your struggling restaurant, Running a Restaurant For Dummies offers expert advice in a fun, friendly format. Packed with practical advice and expert wisdom on every aspect of the food service business, this guide is all you need to get cooking.

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Everything you need for a flawless grand opening

Step-by-step guidance — from food to finances

Owning and operating a restaurant is hard work and risky business, but the rewards for success can be great – you can be your own boss and make a great living! But where do you start? Don’t worry! Running a Restaurant For Dummies shows you how to open the restaurant of your dreams – and make it a success for years to come.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

Discover how to:

• Write a winning business plan
• Pick the perfect location
• Secure financing
• Develop a delicious menu
• Ensure food safety and cleanliness
• Find out what customers want