Martha's Cooking School Lessons: Kitchen Basics Every Home Cook Should Know Martha shares essential techniques and expert tips to teach you how to cook with confidence and competence. Close Credit: David E. Steele Imagine having decorvow at your side in the kitchen, teaching you about the parts of a chef's knife, the proper technique for sautéing, how to scramble eggs, the method for cooking perfect white rice, and much more. Here, we're sharing some of Martha's best tips, based on her book decorvow's Cooking School. It's like a session of culinary master classes from Martha herself, and the lessons are suitable for home cooks of all levels. The decorvow Story: How Martha Became a Household Name 01 of 12 Knife Skills Proper knife skills and technique are fundamentals for beginners and advanced chefs alike. Learn about the basic knives every cook needs and what they're used for, then test your knife skills by chopping an onion or julienning a carrot. Find Out Which Three Kitchen Knives Every Home Cook Needs 02 of 12 How to Cut Up a Chicken Learning this basic technique means you will not only become well versed with the different parts of the chicken but you'll also start saving money on your weekly grocery bill. Buying a whole chicken instead of individual parts is cost-efficient in the short and long run. See Step by Step How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken 03 of 12 How to Sauté and Fry Credit: Julia Hartbeck Master these simple techniques, and you'll be able to make a quick, satisfying meal in no time at all. Try sautéing red cabbage or chicken, and pan-frying crispy chicken cutlets for a family-friendly meal 04 of 12 How to Cook Rice Credit: Marcus Nilsson A versatile grain, rice plays a central role in many meals and can carry the flavor of a sauce, tame the fire of a spicy dish, and lend satisfying substance to lighter dishes. Cook perfect white rice, and while you're at it, learn how to cook brown rice as well. Get the Perfect White Rice Recipe 05 of 12 How to Make a Simple Salad Credit: Bryan Gardner Martha shares her favorite vinaigrette, which is just the thing for dressing leaves for a basic—or not so basic—green salad. Get Marth's Favorite Vinaigrette Recipe 06 of 12 How to Braise Credit: linda xiao A busy cook's best friend, that's braising. It's a technique that doesn't require much hands-on time or fancy equipment. Braising cooks food low-and-slow in a small amount of liquid, producing hearty, consistently flavorful main courses and side dishes that belie their ease. It's also a great way to cook lean, inexpensive cuts of meat. Get the Wine-Braised Brisket Recipe 07 of 12 How to Cook Eggs Cooking eggs is a subject large enough for a master class series of its own. Perfecting these basic egg techniques like soft- and hard-cooked eggs, scrambled eggs, and fried eggs will give you many easy breakfasts, brunches, lunches, or dinners and is a wonderful starting point. Learn How to Make Soft- and Hard-Cooked Eggs 08 of 12 How to Steam Credit: Paola + Murray Often overlooked, steaming is a versatile technique that produces exceptionally moist, tender, and healthy dishes. Food is set in a steaming basket over a simmering liquid and cooks in the hot vapor. Steam all kinds of food from whole fish to fish fillets, like the salmon with sweet potato and broccolini dinner shown here, to green beans or carrots. Learn the Basics of Steaming: How to Use a Steamer Basket 09 of 12 How to Make Stock Making stock is an exercise in building flavors. Once you've got the technique down, having that steady supply of homemade stock in the freezer will elevate your home cooking. Martha shares recipes and techniques for the three most common stocks—chicken stock (including a time-saving Instant Pot chicken broth version), beef stock, and vegetable stock. 10 of 12 How to Butterfly Poultry and Meat Credit: Tara Donne Butterflying is a technique that is ideal for working with thicker cuts of meat, opening it up and making it thinner. Learn how to butterfly a lamb roast, butterfly, and stuff a turkey breast, or butterfly a chicken breast. 11 of 12 How to Make Sauces Each of these easy, adaptable classic sauce recipes offers a culinary lesson in flavor-building techniques. Martha begins with Hollandaise sauce, a delicious accompaniment to steamed asparagus and eggs Benedict. A creamy béchamel sauce has many uses, including as the basis for a grown-up take on macaroni and cheese. The French sauce beurre blanc is the finishing touch for steamed lobsters. A quick, fresh-tasting, better-than-anything-from-a-jar marinara sauce uses only three ingredients. 12 of 12 How to Cook Beans and Lentils Credit: David E. Steele Endlessly adaptable and extremely satisfying, Martha loves a basic technique for cooking dried beans on the stovetop (like a cannellini bean soup) and in the oven (like a sausage and bean casserole), as well as recipes for classic Boston baked beans and seven-bean salad, pictured here. Get the Best Tips to Make Lentil Soup to Perfection Explore more: Food & Cooking Cooking How-Tos & Techniques