Book excerpt: Master Recipes is an exciting new approach to the fundamentals of good cooking. Stephen Schmidt offers more than just a collection of wonderful recipes. He lays bare the secrets of how cooking really works. First, he gives you detailed instructions for making basic versions of favourite dishes. Then, in the 'variation recipes' that follow, he shows you how to create endless versions of these kitchen classics simply by making a few changes. In addition to its thousands of master and variation recipes, the book is full of shopping advice, timing instructions, scores of 'rescue' tips for common problems, menu suggestions and guidance for entertaining with ease. Includes over 100 charts, tables and illustrations.