A unique cooking-times reference from a multiple James Beard Award winner that "will give confidence and reassurance to new and veteran home cooks alike" ( The Kitchn).

It's the age-old question that stumps all cooks: Is it ready yet? In this infinitely handy kitchen guide, the celebrated author of Essentials of Cooking, James Peterson, gives at-a-glance answers for more than eighty-five of the most vexing-to-cook foods, from sauces, vegetables, fish, and meats to sweets.

Detailed descriptions of smell, sound, look, and texture provide a quick reference to getting the timing just right, while more than five hundred color photographs clearly capture each key stage of doneness. With distilled explanations of the ten basic cooking methods for context, this is an instant classic that brings professional-chef style expertise to your own kitchen.