Four cookbook authors (see their books below) offer the equipment foundations of a working kitchen for new graduates and newlywed couples just setting up house. None of it is fancy, but all of it is necessary.
Knives: All of our experts recommend a paring knife, a chef's knife (a 6- to 10-inch blade, depending on the cook's comfort level) and a serrated knife (for bread and tomatoes). A note of warning: Always store knives in a knife block or mounted on a magnet, not loose in a drawer.Vegetable peelers: Feel around for peelers. Elaine Corn recommends buying three kinds - "You'll end up using two, and one will always be left in the drawer." Once you've found your favorites, give the leftover to a friend.
Colander: For cleaning greens, straining stock or draining pasta, a colander is indispensable. Hang it up by the sink, where you'll be sure to have it on hand when it's needed.
Cast-iron skillet: Handle them correctly and these inexpensive pieces of Americana will become heirlooms. Great for searing steaks, roasts or stew meat and for any sort of saute work.
Wooden spoons: Inexpensive and nearly indestructible, these must-haves won't damage your nonstick pots and won't react with acidic foods. For even better contact with food, use a wooden spatula that can easily reach around the sides of a pot.
Whisks: Take the pain out of stirring sauces or whipping egg whites by using air-incorporating wire whisks, available in various sizes.
Cutting boards: If you want to spare your Formica, cutting boards are a must. A plastic one for meats and a wood one for vegetables will make it easier to avoid cross-contamination.
Spatula: Frying eggs and flipping burgers, two Cooking 101 requirements, make one of these war horses a must-have.
Measuring spoons: New cooks can't guess, so measuring according to recipes is mandatory. Long, thin-handled spoons are the best to have for getting into those pesky,narrow-necked spice jars.
Measuring cups: Buy two sets of measuring cups - one for dry measures such as flour and another for liquids. This Pyrex pourer gets bonus points because it can go into the microwave for zapping small amounts.
Timers and thermometers: If new cooks walk away from a stove, they need a timer to tell them when to return. Because beginners probably can't tell doneness by eye alone, thermometers are also invaluable.
Nesting bowls: Several bowl sizes are a must, but most beginners have small kitchens. The solution? Buy a nesting set of glass or ceramic bowls that can do double duty in the microwave.
Garlic peeler: If you love Italian food, you've got to have one of these little fellows that takes the pain out of removing the tissue-paper-thin sleeve on garlic. Slip the bulb of garlic in the tube, press the tube with your hand on a countertop, and out rolls the naked garlic.
Bench knife: Dough kneaders and bread bakers know these utilitarian fellows can make scraping and cleaning up work areas a snap.
Aprons: A piece of cloth to wear around your neck - get used to it. Aprons can save the cook from hot splashes, save clothes from the dry cleaner and store that extra spoon you don't want to cross the kitchen to get. A bonus: You can use the hem to wipe up spills.
Tea towels: Paper towels aren't cheap - and also aren't always up to heavy kitchen tasks. Keep a damp towel nearby to clean up counters as you work. Do as professionals do and loop a tea towel through your apron string to have on hand to grab pot handles and to clean up stove messes.
Reamer/juicer: It's amazing how often recipes call for "fresh lemon juice." A juicer takes the work out of the chore.
Miniprocessor: Chopping and dicing are two of the chores at which beginners are most inept. Don't let that tedium keep you out of the kitchen. Little processors are costly but not nearly as high as their big brothers.
Corning Ware: Lora Brody loves the new Corning Ware line "Simple Elegance." It goes from oven-to-broiler-to-microwave-to-freezer and doesn't have "that dippy little blue thing on it."
Book learning: A cook's best protection in the kitchen can be a well-written, step-by-step guide through the perils of freezer bite and meat mincing. Here are our choices for new best friends.
"Cooking for Dummies" by Bryan Miller and Marie Rama (IDG Books, $19.99) takes this popular series out of the computer lab and into the kitchen. The authors employ the humor used in their other books to draw the reader into the subject.
And although this book does address the basics (eggs, for instance, the single person's ideal meal, and barbecuing, a bachelor's bonanza) it also ventures into more adventurous creations such as sauces. So if you've made it past Beenie Weenies and want something a little more difficult, here's a text that will teach you how to clean mussels.
"The Kitchen Survival Guide" by Lora Brody (Morrow, $20) is a spiral-bound guide that takes the novice from basic inventory to making desserts.
Brody's recipe format is user-friendly, addressing questions such as: Can it be frozen? Can it be doubled? Is it good as a leftover? and, the most important question for new cooks who want to entertain, Can it be made ahead?
Brody's recipes are approachable and her style is chummy. You've got to love an author who writes "Don't freak out when you see the long list of ingredients here."
"Something Tastes Funny" by Sean Donnellan (Warner, $9.99) is written in the comedic style of the star of the TV Food Network's "How to Boil Water." This book is not so much a primer as it is a stand-up comedy routine interspersed with recipes for the kitchen klutzy but menu savvy.
The recipes are geared for people who have seen their share of restaurants and don't want to be cooking plebeian dishes if they're going to attack their own kitchen. Recipes, instead, are for such dishes as lemongrass coconut rice, cold sesame noodles and lamb shanks in Guinness. And they're certainly doable for beginners.
"Now You're Cooking" by Elaine Corn (Harlow & Ratner, $24.95) is strictly for beginners. Corn begins with equipment and pantry items and fleshes it out with to-scale illustrations defining chopped, diced and minced.
The basics are here; a baked potato (and not in the microwave, please), scrambled eggs and everyday buttermilk dressing. But Corn moves the reader along the food chain with steak in cabernet sauce and chicken that makes its own sauce.
One of the book's best features is its recipe format with instructions such as "do this first," "do this second" and "wrapping it up." And Corn's sidebars, titled "Let's talk,"are packed with supplementary information and variations for each recipe.