Tony K Walker

Increase your meat counter confidence with this must-have companion for cooking beef, pork, lamb, and veal with more than 300 kitchen-tested recipes.

Meat is a treat; we teach you the best methods for center-of-the-plate meats like satisfying Butter-Basted Rib Steaks (spooning on hot butter cooks the steaks from both sides so they come to temperature as they acquire a deep crust), meltingly tender Chinese Barbecued Roast Pork Shoulder (cook for 6 hours so the collagen melts to lubricate the meat), and the quintessential Crumb-Crusted Rack of Lamb.

Also bring meat beyond centerpiece status with complete meals: Shake up surf and turf with Fried Brown Rice with Pork and Shrimp. Braise lamb shoulder chops in a Libyan-style chickpea and orzo soup called Sharba.

Learn tricks like soaking ground meat in baking soda before cooking to tenderize, or pre-roasting rather than searing fatty cuts before braising to avoid stovetop splatters.