If you’re someone who has been paying attention to Christopher Kimball’s reinvention, you know that he invented Milk Street as a food media empire (television show, radio show, podcast, magazines, and a plethora of digital content that can be unlocked for a subscription) as well as classes, cookbooks, and food and kitchen products. But he did it all with a vision of what he wanted to bring to his customers. He wanted to change the old, staid ways of cooking and connect people with new flavors, new ideas, and new techniques. His latest cookbook brings that all together.

Milk Street: The New Rules promises readers a new way to cook. Kimball and his cadre of chefs have spent hours and hours testing recipes, traveling the world for new inspiration, and asking themselves if there is a better way to achieve more flavor, with easier cooking techniques and simpler recipes for home cooks who may be pressed for time.

The New Rules starts with the rules, 75 of them in all, and then moves on to the recipes. So when he says to grate root vegetables to make them sweeter, he later illustrates this with a Moroccan Carrot Salad with grated carrots. Or when the new rule is to treat herbs as greens, not as garnish, then he shows this through several salads such as a Grape Tomato Salad with Parsley and Dill or a Parsley and Arugula Salad with Lemon and Sesame.

He starts with his new rules for Vegetables, and then moves to Beans and Grains, Noodles and Breads, Eggs, Seafood, Chicken, Pork, and Beef. Rule 13: Stop Stirring Your Polenta (recipe: Creamy Polenta with Savory Sauces). Rule 34: Add Yogurt to Make Dough Flavorful and Flexible (recipe: Flatbread PIzza Dough). Rule 39: Steam, Don’t Boil, Your Eggs (recipe: Soft-Cooked Eggs with Coconut, Tomatoes and Spinach).

Rule 44: Stick with Single-Sided Searing (recipe: Pan-Seared Halibut with Spicy Mint-Lemon Sauce). Rule 49: Flat Birds Cook faster, Crisp Better (recipe: Crispy Chicken Under a Brick). Rule 63: Don’t Marinate Without Also Saucing (recipe: Japanese Ginger Pork. Rule 69: Sauce Meat as It Rests (recipe: Pan-Seared Steaks with Sherry and Caper Viniagrette). And then there is Rule 75: Salt Your Drinks, Not Your Glassware.

If you’re feeling intimidated by Milk Street’s recipes, I get that. I’ve been there too. But this cookbook has a lot of simple recipes as well as a wealth of information that can elevate your cooking in general. Don’t feel ready to try something like Hot-and-Sour Curried Chickpeas? No problem. The New Rules also has basics on steaming and roasting vegetables, cooking eggs, toasting spices, choosing beans, understanding chiles, and how and when to use which spices. There are also lots of photos, not just of the finished dishes but of the technique basics used to get to those finished dishes.

Milk Street: The New Rules is a beautiful cookbook that you can use as a collection of clever and flavorful recipes, or a primer on cooking techniques, or as a combination of both. However you choose to use this compendium of a cookbook, you will raise your game on flavors, cooking techniques, and all-around kitchen know-how.

A galley of Milk Street: The New Rules was provided by Little, Brown and Company through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Obviously I'm in he minority, but this was not the cookbook for me. I should have j own just from the title; "Rules". I hate rules. I don't think there is any room for rules in my kitchen. That being said most,of these recipes are complex and time consuming, and not made for my lifestyle. Further the layout and flow was not user friendly. Not for the casual home cook.

A well-organized book with more than 200 recipes and 75 new ‘rules’ and techniques to use in today’s kitchen. A great variety of recipes, some simple, others more challenging, most using easily obtainable ingredients and common sense techniques to cut down time spent in the kitchen. A gorgeous books with lots of good advice and beautiful photos.
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Christopher Kimball has been one of my go to instructors when I bump into confusing or complicated recipes and need a little...or a lot...of help. His easy to follow, interesting and educational cookbooks are reference guides for many of us. Milk Street is the next chapter in his long career of teaching us the best ways to keep our diets varied and nutritious while not spending all day in the kitchen. If you've never watched America's Best or read Milk Street magazine, you are in for a very pleasant surprise. If you have, then you know you are gaining new skills while still enjoying the art of cooking.

The pictures are amazing and makes me wish the food was in front of me in real life not on a page!

I love the advice Kimball gives to the recipes and helps us that cook that often better understand what he means with them.

The recipes also look user friendly and makes me want to cook them all! They all look so yummy and healthy. I have a lot of food issues and these look like I could actually do them, which is a super nice change.

I also really like how the book is set up with the different rules to help you Change the way you cook! Like Number 75... no I idea!!

Will need to add this to my permanent cookbook collection!

I included this in a new cookbooks review post. The details will be sent to the publisher in the next round of this process.

Milk Street has always been one of my go-to cookbooks for classic cooking techniques. Over the years I have learned so much from the cookbooks and website. I was excited to read the newest cookbook! Milk Street: The New Rules did not disappoint. The photography is beautiful and the recipes while updated and fresh will be classics for sure!

Thank you NetGalley and the author for the advance copy to review. I look forward to purchasing the physical cookbook when it is released.

This book is like having a sensible aunt in the kitchen, giving you cooking tips. The advice is all very good, but you know, as soon as she’s left, you’ll just go back to your old, slapdash ways.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

The setup of this cookbook is unlike anything that I have ever come across but it goes with the idea of New Rules. Milk Street is all about new ways to make classic dishes and also the best ways to make foreign dishes when you might not have access to the ingredients that make the dish great.

This cookbook is all about taking the traditional cooking rules and completely changing them. While this book is not broken into the normal categories like starters, vegetables, beef, etc the rules do still come in a slight order so that if you are looking for vegetable based recipes they tend to be clumped together.

I like this idea about how one can cook differently than the rules say and make some great food. There are so many dishes I cannot wait to try.

I am a big fan of Christopher's, and have been waiting excitedly for this book to come out. It didn't disappoint, as it's filled with creative recipes and educational explanations about what makes them work. Chris outlines simple rules or techniques such as "salt your vegetables" and then recipes where you can test these concepts. This is really beneficial for someone like me who doesn't have a lot of experience cooking without exactly following a recipe. It really seems like this book will help me learn while cooking.
The variety of recipes is great as well, with a nice mix of styles; for instance the chicken section has a mix from Peruvian chicken to Japanese chicken katsu.

This is such an innovative and unusual cookbook. It explores many new methods for cooking some stand-by, yet it remains approachable.

The gorgeous photos were so inspiring!

Thank you to the always brilliant Christopher Kimball and to NetGalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I love it when restaurants bring out cookbooks. It shows to me how proud they are off their food and their willingness to allow people to recreate dishes at home.
I thought that putting the 75 rules to "Change The Way You Cook" right in the beginning was brilliant. In the e-book version I reviewed, a simple tap on the "rule" took you straight to that section - brilliant! And under every chapter, the "rule" plus recipes were well laid out - also one click takes you there in the e-book version. SO handy!!
The rules themselves were interesting and definitely a new way to look at cooking. Lots of them just make perfect sense and you wonder why they aren't the "usual rule"!
I've never thought of the ingredients of a recipe in three parts before - foundation; counterpoint and embellishment - but it makes so much sense. This is something I will be using in future with all my meal planning and cooking.
Very detailed recipes with useful explanations as to why certain things are done a certain way. The methods are well- explained too and easy to follow.
Beautiful photography through out too.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

Milk Street is a magazine that I've been reading since it first came out. I'm a big fan of Christopher Kimball so I was really excited to see this book. It's organized in a really interesting way-there are 75 rules that Kimball puts forth to change the way you cook. For each rule, there are two or three recipes that feature the problem solving strategy for the rule. As usual for Milk Street, the recipes are interesting sounding and delicious looking, clearly written, with explicit directions and gorgeous photographs. What I loved about the e-book version was the hyper links-so I could click on a rule and go right to that recipe. SO EASY. The recipes are terrific and I assume they all will come out well, because Kimball is usually obsessive about that kind of thing so I can't wait to try some of them. This is a great addition to any home cook's library.

This is a unique take on a cookbook, as it gives 75 "New Rules" for cooking that are designed to improve taste and texture of food. A few examples: "Tenderize Beef with Baking Soda," "Tame Garlic with an Acid Touch," or "Caramelize Pasta..." For someone who's really into cooking, this would be a great book. It includes novel recipes, detailed suggestions for certain techniques, and lots of great photographs. For me, someone who just cooks to prepare meals without anything fancy, it wasn't as helpful. But, I can certainly see how it could be a very interesting book for someone who is more involved in the kitchen.

3 out of 5

**OMG! I cannot believe that these reviews haven't been done! I am so sorry they are so late!!!**

I wish I cared about this book. I thought it would convince me to cook in different ways, but it is just a bunch of stuff I would probably not eat. I also don't ever have the budget to cook things like this. This would definitely be better suited for someone who is more adventurous than me.
#Milkstreet #Netgalley

I like the approach taken in this book. Kimball begins by explaining the "75 new rules of cooking" aimed toward achieving maximum flavor while streamlining time in the kitchen. These are not necessarily earth-shattering ideas--I've been massaging my greens for a while now--but some are new and interesting, at least to me (am I the last one to know I can cook polenta in the oven?!).

Next, Kimball outlines "The Milk Street Way" of building dishes, which is a simple formula: "Give your meals a Foundation, a Counterpoint, and an Embellishment." Many cooks may already do this instinctively, but it is good info for those who don't know, and a good reminder for everyone else. In addition, he encourages cooks to pay attention to three individual-ingredient elements: "Texture, Flavor, and Sensation." Again, useful reminders of what makes a dish or a meal a success on the palate.

What about the recipes? They are arranged by category--Vegetables, Beans & Grains, Noodles & Breads, Eggs, Seafood, Chicken, Pork, and Beef. (I thought it was interesting that the only fowl included was chicken. Does that make this a more "basic" cookbook?).

At the beginning of each chapter, Rules are paired with recipes which illustrate the principle. So in the chapter Vegetables, paired with the rule to "Banish One-Note Flavors and Textures," we have Bitter Greens and Orange Salad with Walnuts and Goat Cheese, or Avocado and Arugula Salad with Smoked Almonds. The photos of the dishes are gorgeous, and add a lot to the pleasure of reading the rules and recipes.

THE VERDICT: Shelf-Worthy. No earth-shakingly new recipes, certainly, but very nicely arranged, making for easy access to recipes that feel "do-able." And having so many appealing recipes already gathered in one book, rather than having similar ones saved randomly on Pinterest or in an app, makes it a winner for me. Plus, the photos are wonderful, and they make me want to get in the kitchen. This would also be a great gift book for a new(er) cook, or someone looking to expand their knowledge of technique and flavor/texture combinations.

This is a gorgeous book of a variety of timeless and more modern takes of delicious food.

I find the writing engaging, the photographs lush and gorgeous, and the recipes simple and easy to follow.

The new rules are rules to follow! I enjoyed learning about herbs and infusing flavors, and I especially enjoyed that some of the recipes are off the beaten path with new International flavor profiles.

A good selection of vegetarian recipes and side dishes also was appreciated. This is the type of book that will have you reconsidering take out.

Thanks to NetGalley.com, the author and publisher for my ARC.

Is your cooking in a rut? Do you enjoy currently popular cuisine? Then this cookbook is for you. Some slight variations on cooking techniques and a large variety of cuisines including Asian and Mediterranean. Very vegetable forward too.

Who else, but Christopher Kimball, celebrated television chef and cookbook author, is qualified to change the long followed cooking rules? Milk Street: The New Rules: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook is an innovative cookbook with new ways to cook almost everything. The recipes reflect Kimball’s style of working with foods until they turn out perfectly. The cookbook is actually brilliant, and cooks, both beginning and advanced will learn new techniques that will help them be more efficient in the kitchen.

The cookbook has beautiful photographs of most of the mouthwatering dishes, and succinct, easy-to-follow instructions. Kimball doesn’t use time-saving appliances, so the recipes can be made easily in small kitchens or kitchens without gadgets.

The recipes are collected from all over the world, and fit with the direction of modern food. There are dozens of Asian recipes, as well as Latin, Italian, and Middle Eastern. A few require a trip to a specialty store, but the recipes turn out so well, it is well-worth it. The book includes information modern cooks need, like a primer on chilies, which spices and spice mixes should be in the kitchen at all times, and a primer on modern ingredients.

For those who like cocktails, there is an excellent section on them, and new ways to serve them as only Kimball could present. Other than that, there are dozens of salads (a favorite is a Moroccan Carrot Salad which goes well with his excellent recipe for a scrumptious Toasted Pearl Couscous with Chicken and Chickpeas). The recipes are unique, innovative, and appealing. Favorites include Chinese Sesame-Scallion Bread for those who like to bake, as well as Mexican Shrimp in Garlic Sauce and Dukkah-Crusted Chicken Cutlets with Carrot-Cashew Salad. In a lesson on meatballs and how to keep them from falling apart while cooking, Kimball presents Meatballs in Chipotle Sauce (yum!), a dozen or so pasta dishes that are irresistible, and pizzas and flatbreads. Kimball makes good use of vegetables, greens, chicken, beef, pork, and seafood.

This excellent cookbook should definitely be on every cookbook shelf. It makes a good gift for a bride to be, as well as those who might need a little help with their cooking. Fans of Kimball, as well as those new to him will love this book and the recipes will keep everyone learning new techniques and shortcuts for years. Highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.