Learn how to prepare dozens of recipes with step-by-step instructions for meats, pasta, vegetables, seafood, and more, with tips and tricks from an experienced professional chef.
Cooking Basics: What Everyone Should Know
We started with salt and pepper and ended with scallops and polenta-and we are still flabbergasted at how easy it all was.
Rated 5 out of
5
by
The Cosmic Bogan from
Looks like the basics to me
The title is appropriate, it all looks like basics to me. I think people are mistaking his skills for what is in his pot. Rice and vegetables are basics. If he was preparing a 'Puffer Fish' I could see your point but, asparagus is pretty safe.
Date published: 2024-08-25
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Liz29 from
Excellent but not really "basic"!
This was a very enjoyable course and I picked up a lot of tips which I didn't previously know. It's great to see how a pro chef prepares things, and some behind the scenes insight into restaurant cooking. It's well presented and easy to follow. My only quibble would be the title - although there are great techniques displayed, I would say some of the dishes are not what one might expect from a course entitled "basics". It's a good course though, but perhaps a step up from what the title suggests. highly recommend it though if you already have a little knowledge of cooking.
Date published: 2023-03-24
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Sabrinagt from
Great course!
I learned so much and very much enjoyed the risotto recipe.
Date published: 2023-02-02
Rated 2 out of
5
by
Scottzil from
Not Cooking Basics
This is a misleading titlte to the content of this course. It's a good course, it's just not cooking basics.
Date published: 2023-01-03
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Rich12 from
Very informative
My wife very much enjoyed the course. Very informative. The instructor delivered a very good presentation. Worthwhile course.
Date published: 2022-11-20
Rated 5 out of
5
by
Fishes from
Excellent resource!
While not a trained chef, my wife and I love cooking, have lots of cook books, subscribe to magazines with recipes, and have experimented with all types of cuisine over decades. That being said, I have learned a lot of detailed information from this course and plan to give it as a gift to my son and his wife for Christmas.
Date published: 2022-11-13
Rated 1 out of
5
by
judpro from
cooking basics
very disappointed in this book. I'm a novice cook & felt like this would give me a good, basic start to cooking. Much too advanced after scanning guide book. I am returning the dvd for refund. showed ingrediates i never heard of. very disappointed
Date published: 2022-10-29
Rated 2 out of
5
by
missasch from
Title not at all accurate
I don't think that everyone should know how to make octopus or a corn soup with lobster. I wanted to use this to watch with my teenagers to get some ideas of how to give them some good beginner dishes. While I found the first 2 episodes interesting from a experienced cooks perspective (like the actual reactions we get when salting water) I didn't feel that risotto was the best first episode or that using asparagus and red cabbage (boiled) was the best choices for a "how to cook any vegetable" episode.
Date published: 2022-09-13
Overview
About
Sean Kahlenberg is an Assistant Professor of Culinary Arts at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) at Hyde Park, New York, where he also earned his AOS in Culinary Arts. Additionally, he is a Certified Hospitality Educator. At the CIA, he teaches classes and oversees the campus’s innovation kitchen, and he is the executive chef of the school’s farm-to-table restaurant, American Bounty.
Trailer
01: Risotto and What to Do with the Leftovers
Rice is one of the most versatile grains in the world, and this risi e bisi, “rice with peas,” is one of the most delicious ways to use it. Among other techniques, you’ll learn how to keep the chlorophyll from turning black while cooking, how to relax the risotto on the plate for best presentation, and how to make perfect arancini with the leftovers.
29 min
02: Choosing the Best Method to Cook Vegetables
Should you peel a vegetable before cooking or not? Cook it in water or oil? Put a lid on the pot or leave it off? Add salt to the water—and if so, why? Chef Kahlenberg answers these questions and more as he begins with kitchen basics. Learn which knives you need in the kitchen and other tools you might need to add.
26 min
03: An Elegant Corn Soup with Lobster
In this lesson, you will cook, shave, and milk corn to create a delicious corn soup with julienned vegetables, an accompaniment to freshly cooked lobster. And once the lobster is cooked, you’ll learn the correct way to separate it to best access all its sweet meat.
31 min
04: Sautéed Scallops with Roasted Cauliflower
As you begin to prepare your scallops, Chef Kahlenberg shares the “secret” way chefs decide whether or not this seafood is truly fresh. You’ll also learn how to season and baste scallops to perfection. Roasted and puréed cauliflower seasoned with a white mirepoix makes just the right side dish.
28 min
05: How to Poach an Octopus
In this lesson, you’ll learn a dual-cooking method for preparing octopus—poaching and sautéing—for just the right flavor and consistency, as well as how to cut and plate the octopus. Your meal is completed with fingerling potatoes and a Spanish romesco sauce.
26 min
06: How to Break Down and Roast a Chicken
In this lesson, you’ll learn how and why to truss a chicken before roasting and the best way to season and oil the bird. Using a chef’s thermometer, you’ll learn how to manage the Maillard reaction while making sure the interior retains its juices.
35 min
07: Braising Short Ribs and Making Polenta
Cooking short ribs takes patience because it takes time to break down the connective tissue in the protein—but the result is well worth it! In this lesson, you will simmer, steam, and braise the meat before plating with cheesy polenta and delicious root vegetables.
28 min
08: Pork Milanese and the Art of Breading
Learn how to safely pound pork to create a thin, wide cutlet that will fill almost your entire plate. You’ll also learn how to bread the pork with seasoned flour, egg, and breadcrumbs, and how to pan fry it, not deep fry. In addition, you’ll make a beautiful salad with suprêmed grapefruit.
35 min
09: Grilled Salmon: Breaking Down a Round Fish
Starting with a whole salmon, you’ll learn how to check for freshness; create the filets; and remove the ribs, pin bones, skin, and as much bloodline as possible. In addition to finishing the salmon on a grill pan, you’ll learn how to parch and cook quinoa for a delicious quinoa pilaf.
39 min
10: One-Dish Cookery: Coq au Vin
Coq au vin is a French chicken dish, all made in one pot. You’ll learn how to create a 24-hour marinade, braise the chicken while keeping the fond golden-brown, safely add and cook off brandy, and create the perfectly sized cartouche for oven cooking. To accompany the chicken, you’ll make a pomme purée and a garnish of onions and mushrooms.
32 min
11: Monkfish: From Bycatch to Haute Cuisine
You might think monkfish is an unusual choice for a gourmet meal: It’s a bottom-feeder formerly called garbage fish and is considered so “ugly” that it’s almost never sold with the head on. But with Chef Kahlenberg’s instruction, you will turn monkfish to a golden-brown delicacy, accompanied by a whole-grain salad.
28 min
12: How to Make Rack of Lamb Persillade
What really brings color to this meal is the bright green persillade that will coat the lamb after it has been seared in a pan and before it goes into the oven. You’ll also learn to make a caponata—a warm vegetable salad with eggplant, raisins, capers, and pine nuts—as an accompaniment. A beautiful meal.
36 min
13: Making Your Own Pasta: Potato Gnocchi
Gnocchi, sometimes called Italian dumplings, is a pasta made with flour and potatoes. Learn about a few of the 200+ types of potatoes, their range of starch-to-moisture ratios, and which potatoes are best for making gnocchi. You’ll learn to mill, cut, and shape this pasta with a gnocchi pallet—and make a delicious sauce to accompany this Mediterranean comfort food.
23 min
14: Making Your Own Pasta: Butternut Agnolotti
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to determine exactly how much flour and eggs you’ll need to measure for pasta. Once the dough is made and rested, you’ll learn how to use the pasta roller until the dough is exactly the correct consistency and how to use a piping bag to insert the roasted butternut squash mixture. Delicious!
25 min
15: Cooking the Perfect Thanksgiving Turkey
To brine or not to brine? While there are pros and cons to both, in this lesson, you’ll learn Chef Kahlenberg’s method of brining and cooking turkey, as well as creating delicious stuffing and cranberry sauce. With the chef’s tips on prep and cook times, it will all come together exactly as you’ve always hoped.
50 min
16: Seafood Delight: How to Make Cioppino
Cioppino is a Portuguese seafood stew that made its way to San Francisco and is now considered a classic of that area. For this dish, you’ll learn how to prepare shrimp, mussels, calamari, clams, halibut, and scallops, as well as cleaning, cutting, and cooking leeks. Grill a baguette to finish and you’ll have the perfect seafood meal!
39 min
17: Finding Your Roots: Maple-Roasted Celeriac
While vegan menus can be a challenge for any chef, as umami can be difficult to include, Chef Kahlenberg shares his own tricks to address the issue. You’ll learn how to clean, peel, and prepare celeriac; clean and prepare a variety of carrots; and how to season, cook, and plate this delicious vegan meal.
29 min
18: How to Make Great Paella
Paella is an ancient, summertime, one-pot seafood and rice dish originating near Valencia, updated here to include pork and chicken. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to render fat from chorizo to use as a cooking medium, create a sofrito, parch rice, bloom saffron, prepare artichokes—and bring it all together in one special pan for a unique culinary experience.
32 min
19: Smoking Pork with Mexican Street Corn
This recipe requires a bit of advanced planning, as the marinated and fully seasoned pork must be smoked for 16 hours. You’ll also learn how to prepare corn so it can both steam and grill at the same time for maximum flavor, and to create and dress the perfect Virginia slaw.
35 min
20: Dover Sole: Breaking Down a Flat Fish
Dover sole is a flat fish and a bottom-feeder that almost always comes whole with the intestines left in, requiring very different preparation and cooking than a round fish. Chef Kahlenberg demonstrates how to remove the skin by hand, which must be done before cooking. You’ll also make perfectly sized fondant potatoes, as well as beautiful asparagus.
34 min
21: You Too Can Make Ratatouille
This French vegetable stew is given such a beautiful presentation by Chef Kahlenberg that it almost looks like a work of art! Step by step, you’ll learn how to remove the bitterness from eggplant and how to cut all vegetables to the exact same size, including using a ring mold for the red and green peppers. In addition, you’ll make a delicious branzino and tapenade.
33 min
22: Making Roast Beef and Potato Gratin
Learn how to trim, score, and tie beef before you start cooking to help with flavor and presentation later on. After oven searing, you’ll use a chef’s thermometer to determine when to remove the meat, resting it with carryover cooking to complete the process. You’ll learn to make a delicious potato gratin, as well.
29 min
23: Patience, Pickles, and Crispy Fried Chicken
These easy-to-make pickles need to sit in brine for one week before eating, so you’ll need to start early on that one! The chicken also requires patience, as you’ll prepare your 9-cut, leaving it for 24 hours in brine and then 24 hours in buttermilk. At that point, it will be ready for dredging in spiced flour and fried to a beautiful golden brown. Coleslaw is the perfect way to top off this classic American dish.
26 min
24: My Big Steak: Executing a Three-Course Meal
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to create a three-course meal and have it all come together with perfect timing. You’ll prepare filet mignon from a beef tenderloin, create a spinach salad, a potato salad, and a chocolate tarte with raspberry coulis. Bon appétit!
58 min
