Culinary Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training With the Culinary Institute of America

Discover the secrets of The Culinary Institute of America?s popular week-long "Boot Camp" course -- five days of dynamic, hands-on instruction in cooking basics that help teach the non-professional cook to think like a chef -- with Julia Child Award-winning cookbook author Martha Rose Shulman. Combining Shulman?s entertaining and compelling narrative with a wealth of invaluable culinary information, you'll take a "step up" in the kitchen with this vicarious adventure through basic training at one of the country?s finest professional cooking schools.

DAY 1: "Our 'drill sergeant' comes into the room and writes his name on the board. He wears the CIA staff jacket, a green name badge, and the chef's kerchief around his neck, which he later shows us how to tie. 'YOU ARE MINE!' he says with a sly smile on his face, and we know that he's going to give us the guidance we need. He'll be strict, but kind."

DAY 2: "Until I went to Boot Camp, I was never very comfortable around (or succeessful with) lots of hot oil in a pan. That was all about to change."

DAY 3: "One of the most important terms for dry heat cooking is 'carryover cooking.' Carryover cooking refers to the fact that heat penetrates meat from the outside to the inside, and when you remove it from the oven, the meat will continue to cook. That's why it must rest, during which time the carryover cooking continues, the temperature equalizes, and the juices relax and flow through the meat."

DAY 4: "Our dessert was a Warm Dark Chocolate Pudding Cake, and it was served with a glass of Quady Elysium from Madera County, California. They named their black muscat dessert wine Elysium because, in their words, 'Drinking this, you can almost feel you have fallen into a rose garden and been transported to heaven.' And I must say I did. I transported myself to bed instead, thinking what an appropriate meal this had been after our first wine lecture, and about the wines I would serve with my own next dinner party."

DAY 5: "We sampled each team's handiwork, and as we were polishing off this large meal, our chef stood up to congratulate us and hand out our 'certificates of accomplishment.'"