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Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen: Learning to Cook with 65 Great Chefs and Over 100 Delicious Recipes Kindle Edition

by Dana Cowin (Author), Julia Turshen (Author), Thomas Keller (Foreword) Format: Kindle Edition
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
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An uproarious, inspiring cookbook from the longtime editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine, in which the first lady of food spills the secret of her culinary ineptitude, while learning—finally—to cook, side-by-side with some of the greatest chefs working today, from David Chang to Alice Waters to Thomas Keller.

For years, Dana Cowin kept a dark secret: From meat to veggies, broiling to baking, breakfast to dinner, she ruined literally every kind of dish she attempted. Now, in this cookbook confessional, the vaunted “first lady of food” finally comes clean about her many meal mishaps. With the help of friends—all-star chefs, including April Bloomfield, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Tom Colicchio, among many others—Cowin takes on 100 recipes dear to her heart. Ideal dishes for the home cook, each recipe has a high “yum” factor, a few key ingredients, and a simple trick that makes them special. With every dish, she attains a critical new skill, learning invaluable lessons along the way from the hero chefs who help her discover exactly where she goes wrong.

Hilarious and heartwarming, encouraging and instructional, Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen showcases Cowin’s plentiful cooking mistakes, inspiring anyone who loves a good meal but fears its preparation. Featuring gorgeous full color photography, it is an intimate, hands-on cooking guide from a fellow foodie and amateur home chef, designed to help even the biggest kitchen phobics overcome their reluctance, with delicious results.

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  1. Print length
    325 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Ecco
  5. Publication date
    October 14, 2014
  6. File size
    21631 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The end result is gorgeous, simple recipes that even a rank beginner can manage. Plus, you get to see some of your favorite celebrity chefs hamming it up in Cowin’s kitchen.” (NPR, Best Books of 2014)

“[T]his cookbook is foremost a collection of reliable recipes and straightforward advice... [that] relies on simple equipment, techniques, and ingredients.” (Library Journal)

“[Cowin] promises not just cooking lessons from master chefs, but cookable recipes from them, and a few life lessons along the way. Having lived with [Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen] for over a month, I’d have to say she delivers on all counts.” (Bookotron)

“[An] ultra-accessible guide to becoming a more than passable home cook.” (BookPage)

“In this honest, confessional cookbook, Cowin shares lessons she’s learned from her magazine’s staff and 65 top chefs, including things like never cutting corners, getting to know your oven’s quirks, and not trusting your instincts until you’re entirely sure your instincts deserve to be trusted.” (The Oregonian (Portland))

“[An] entertaining (and educational!) cookbook.” (Seattle King 5- TV / New Day NW)

“The editor of Food & Wine magazine consults dozens of great chefs and comes away with plenty of handy tips--as well as lots of manageable recipes.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Delightful…candidly humorous… accessible…sure to motivate home cooks to head fearlessly for their kitchens and try these tempting ideas. The simple and tasteful dishes are accompanied by extremely helpful tips…Cowin’s culinary education makes for a charming and important book for both would-be and accomplished chefs.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review))

“A hilarious, inspiring cookbook from the longtime editor-in-chief of Food & Wine magazine, in which the first lady of food spills her secret culinary ineptitude, while learning-finally-to cook, side-by-side with some of the greatest chefs working.” (Publishers Weekly, Fall 2014 Top Ten Cookbooks)

“In her new cookbook, Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen, Cowin embarks on a journey to improve her cooking--and to give readers easy, smart tricks that will help them, too… The resulting cookbook is densely packed with advice that will turn anyone into a better cook.” (Today.com)

“This cookbook is charming and encouraging-a breath of relief for all of us who worry about our skills in the kitchen.” (The Kitchn)

From the Back Cover

For years, Dana Cowin kept a dark secret: From meat to vegetables, broiling to baking, breakfast to dinner, she ruined literally every kind of dish she attempted to make. Now, in this cookbook confessional, the vaunted first lady of food and exceptional entertainer finally comes clean about her many meal mishaps. With the help of friends—all-star chefs, including Mario Batali, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Tom Colicchio, among many others—Cowin takes on 100 recipes dear to her heart. Ideal dishes for the home cook, each recipe has a high "yum" factor, a few key ingredients, and a simple trick that makes it special. With every dish, she acquires a critical new skill, learning invaluable lessons along the way from the hero chefs who help her discover exactly where she goes wrong.

Hilarious and heartwarming, encouraging and instructional, Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen will inspire anyone who loves a good meal but fears its preparation. Featuring gorgeous full-color photography, it is an intimate, hands-on cooking guide from a fellow foodie and amateur home chef, designed to help even the biggest kitchen phobics overcome their reluctance, with delicious results.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ICN04SU
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco (October 14, 2014)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 14, 2014
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 21631 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 325 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Julia Turshen

    Julia Turshen

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    Julia Turshen is a New York Times bestselling cookbook author. Her latest book Simply Julia is a National Bestseller. She has written for multiple publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, and more. She is the founder of Equity At The Table (EATT), an inclusive digital directory of women/non-binary individuals in food, and the host and producer of the podcast Keep Calm and Cook On. She sits on the Kitchen Cabinet Advisory Board for the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and is a member of God’s Love We Deliver’s Culinary Council. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her wife and their dogs.

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  2. Dana Cowin

    Dana Cowin

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    Discover more of the author’s books, see similar authors, read author blogs and more

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
59 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dina Fleischmann
5.0 out of 5 stars This is one of the most useful books that I own
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is one of the most useful books that I own! I heard a repeat of Ms. Cowan's Interview on NPR last week, and inspired, went right on to Amazon to buy. Already I've created light and crispy waffles that my children love, delicious little meatball sliders and am gearing up to face the perils of cooking duck breast. I find the helpful hints from the chefs that I so love and admire beyond helpful and truthfully, this book is a stand in for one of life's great lessons -- "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." In this case, a better and more confident cook.

Holed up here in my house on snowy days with a bunch of kids is a great excuse to try one recipe after another. The pages are already stained with ingredients.
6 people found this helpful
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Richard G. Schagrin
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2015
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Well written and a different approach with renown restaurateur offering advice.
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ww2tt
5.0 out of 5 stars This cookbook is fantastic in pointing out the most common errors in cooking
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2015
Verified Purchase
We have changed our entire diet, buying organic and cooking everything from scratch, non GMO grains and no preservatives. The problem was most of my old recipes call for some sort of time saving ingredient that we could not have. I had to go back to the basics of cooking and baking. This cookbook is fantastic in pointing out the most common errors in cooking. Each recipes teaches you a skill that translates to other recipes not in this cookbook. I also appreciated how each recipe was written in the ordering which you used each ingredient. I wish all cookbooks took this ingredient listing, then steps to use those ingredients. Each recipe I have tried was wonderful. I will definitely buy Ms. Cowin's next cookbook.
3 people found this helpful
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a reader
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2016
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She's kind of whiney and yet can whip up great meals which is more than I can do.
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Andrew Solomon, Author
5.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting, illuminating, hilarious, excellent
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2014
Verified Purchase
In this brilliant, witty, useful book, Dana Cowin describes how she learned to cook--from the best chefs in the world. Unlike Martha Stewart et al., she does not present herself as a shimmering example of perfection to which the rest of us can only aspire; instead, she describes how much she has struggled to master the art about which she edits and writes so well. The stories she tells are hilarious and elegantly written, and her sense of humor about herself is refreshing and enchanting. Most significant, however, are the recipes and the information that goes with them. I've made about a third of the recipes in the book and they are one more delicious than the next, and the tips from pro chefs (and indeed from Dana Cowin herself) will allow you to make better food with more confidence than you ever have before. Oh, and did I mention the gorgeous photography? This book is indispensable. I've already bought copies for half my Christmas list.
55 people found this helpful
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HAPPY
2.0 out of 5 stars Not Food & Wine worthy to have
Reviewed in the United States on January 30, 2015
Verified Purchase
Honestly, I am disappointed....the recipes are not my style at all, and the assistance from all the chefs are more or less useless.....I had hoped for more from the chief editor of the magazine. I didn't mark one single recipe either.
5 people found this helpful
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Belinda
4.0 out of 5 stars This is a fantastic everyday cookbook
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
This is a fantastic everyday cookbook. I use it often. The ziti recipe and the gas station fried rice (with potato chips!) are my kids' new favorite dinners. I love the mexican-style spicy spaghetti and the sugar snap pea & shallot salad. The only section that was a miss for us was the breakfast chapter. I have better granola recipes, and the muesli bars were not good. I haven't been inspired to try any of the desserts either, but the rest of the cookbook is wonderful.
2 people found this helpful
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ErinN
5.0 out of 5 stars Useful, inspiring, lovely.
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2014
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This is one amazing cookbook. I cooked a birthday dinner for one of my best {foodie} friends a couple of weeks ago and the group is still talking about it! Highlights were the kale salad, the braised chicken with leeks, mushrooms + peas, and the brussels sprouts with caper-raisin sauce. The only disappointment was opening the fridge the next day to find that the brussels sprouts "mysteriously" disappeared the because one of our house guests couldn't contain himself! An added bonus was the fact there was a lot you could co-create or cook ahead. So flexible. Well done!!!
32 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Norman W. Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Recipes and Educational on Techniques
Reviewed in Canada on January 9, 2017
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Saw this at my daughter's place and wanted my own copy. Good recipes and even better explanation for what can go wrong and how to prevent/fix it.
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Psychoochef
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in Canada on June 24, 2015
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Great collection of recipes and tips!
One person found this helpful
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