Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes to Make You a Great Cook: A Cookbook Kindle Edition

This book is caked in so much flour, sauce and grease that many of the pages are warped, sticking together, and torn. Every home cook knows that this is the sign of a (cook)book well loved. I have particularly loved her method for making galettes so much that I won't even try another dough or method, but rather occasionally just get some ideas from other places and then use her method as my base. I have made so many galettes since buying this book that it is probably the dessert I am most associated with.Onto the rest of the book, though. This is laid out somewhat uniquely in that it really spends the first part of the book not on recipes, but on techniques, which then give way to ideas. The point is that you learn techniques that can give you the confidence and skill to tackle the tougher stuff, while also allowing as much creativity in the process.Aside from that, the book is just overall beautiful. The different textures to the pages, the photos. The book is mostly simple and approachable recipes and ideas that can be done as is, and certainly that can be added to for an extra something. I've made probably only about 8-10 recipes from this book, but have repeated them so many times, and that's what makes me really love this book is that I have built favorites and staples from it.Must makes: chicories with garlic bread croutons, marinated halloumi with seared lamb patty, and fresh figs with manchego and wet walnuts.

I bought this cookbook after watching Carla’s bon appetit video on pasta e fagioli. Her laid back approach is what really attracted me. This book has given me so much (desperately needed) freedom in my kitchen. Spending a good portion of my younger years in the hospitality industry taught me a lot about entertaining for crowds, but when it came down for cooking for my family of 6….with kids kindergarten to high school, I found myself in the same boat as Carla (or does she go by Lalli?)……throwing away a bunch of big batch items after a couple of days in the fridge. Since buying this book: my (29”) refrigerator has stayed tidy and functional, my veggie drawer doesn’t have any old veggies- and my veggie intake has increased dramatically! I appreciate her advice to leave out an ingredient or spin it if you don’t have the right one. Everything delicious, nothing complicated. This book is essential to any kitchen: single, newlywed or family……it is foundational to a functional kitchen and really great cooking. Carla Lalli Music is my spirit chef.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this cookbook cover to cover, which is a rare thing! As I usually shop and cook much like the author I felt very validated in my super amateur approach! There was lots of good things to be learned from the recipes, and they have all been tasty. (Music has been one of my favorite chefs to watch and try to replicate from social media. She is how I discovered Eggs in Purgatory!) Not my all time favorite cookbook for straight cooking, but its one of the tops for overall enjoyment. I'll definitely purchase anything she publishes in the future!Note: Perhaps not the greatest or most effective cookbook for those that don't have easy access to lots of fresh and unique ingredients, which is sadly a large potion of the USA.

Ohmygosh I love this cookbook. It's fun to read, interesting, and so incredibly useful.I've been cooking for years and years and consider myself to be a pretty experienced cook. But this book offered a fresh perspective that I sorely needed. In addition to covering basic cooking methods, Carla offers recipes and pantry staples with tons of alternatives so you can absolutely make anything work.The most valuable thing for me is the way this changed my approach to summer cooking. Summers are the hardest in the kitchen -- it's hot, I'm uninspired, we're so busy etc. etc. I think I'll be able to do things differently this summer thanks to this book. And I'm excited about it.I think this would be a fantastic book for beginner cooks, but I also think it could be useful for *any* cook who wants some inspiration or perspective. Plus Carla has a great writing voice, so it really is a fun and engaging read, and the recipes are delicious and fully customizable. This is the best cookbook I've bought in years!

Love the recipes I tried but wish she had a better dessert selection!! Simple yet delicious recipes

We've enjoyed the recipes we have cooked and the flexibility of options.

You know that thing, when you open a cook book and start paging through and realize, before cooking even one recipe, that it's good. That's this book. It's so dense with good and useful information, and the recipes are beginning to end fantastic. We should expect nothing less from Carla Lalli Music who has been developing recipes forever. In fact, I'm finding that recipe developers often write the best, most useful cook books (think Alison Roman) because the recipe writing isn't the hardest part, so they can focus on making the cookbook actually usable on a daily basis for home cooks.My favorite parts so far are the techniques section with "five ingredient" suggestions to put the technique to use, and the "spin it" suggestions in every recipe that provide alternative pantry subsitutions that actually make sense and sound delicious.I mentioned that I haven't cooked even one recipe, however, I have purchased, borrowed, inherited and used many, many cookbooks and feel like I have something like a sixth sense about what will be frequently used (this book) and what won't (Ottolenghi's latest, which pains me). I just finished going through the book with a fresh pad of mini post-its, marking out the recipes to try as the growing season starts. The post-its are almost gone and I'm excited to start cooking.

Carla book is good.

It will literally change your thinking about meal planning - the simplicity of food and how to prepare it is spot on. Gives great ideas for dinners and using new finds from the market or grocery store. Highly recommend.

El libro llegó en el tiempo estipulado sin embargo la caratula externa llegó un poco rasgada y algo sucia; parecía usado a pesar de haberlo comprado nuevo.El contenido increíble, fue un regalo perfecto para alguien especial que le gusta cocinar.

It’s not just a cookbook. Carla takes you places. I love how she writes about food in general. Every recipe is honest, uncomplicated and elegant in its simplicity. A delight!

This is a wonderful cookbook and now one of my favourites. I love that Carla focused on the processes and techniques for home cooks, starting with grocery shopping and talking about organisation, stocking pantries, seasonality and making swaps and substitutions to your taste and availability of ingredients. It will encourage and build the confidence of any level of home cook. There's great take away lessons/applicability to fit a range of lifestyles/cooking patterns and starting with the basics of ingredients, cooking techniques and flavours is indispensable.Carla has a great writing voice, I find it authentic, witty, funny and inviting. Not only does it feel like she's there with me in the kitchen, but through her cooking philosophies and approach, it's revitalised my joy for shopping for ingredients, meal inspiration, cooking and eating of course. I'm slightly upset she hasn't written a Harry Potter-length series of cooking novels, because of how great it would be in her voice.It's clear how her extensive experience, skills and knowledge from so many different areas of the food and food media industry have coalesced into this book. Much respect to Carla, and I eagerly anticipate her 2nd and as many more books as she decides to write after that! :)

Delicious simple recipes, with easy-to-follow instructions. The chicken recipes are so good! Great teaching guide to get a beginner into learning cooking techniques for different types of food.