Don’t Forget About “Forgotten Skills”

Dubbed the "Julia Child of Ireland," Chef Darina Allen has run the renowned Ballymaloe Cookery School just outside of Cork since 1983. Set amidst a working organic farm, the school teaches students as much about the ingredients themselves as how to cook them.

Allen's latest cookbook, Forgotten Skills of Cooking: The Time-Honored Ways Are the Best —Over 700 Recipes Show You Why, is packed with instructions stretching from preparing offal to smoking meats. Should you find yourself with a couple of recently slaughtered hares or pheasants (and who wouldn't), there's a comprehensive game chapter with skinning and plucking instructions. And Allen's heritage doesn't limit her to traditional Irish preparations: Recipes for paneer, béarnaise sauce, and limoncello live happily together.

Allen has a penchant for hearty, rustic foods simply prepared—we love her Pasta with Roasted Chicken, Raisins, Pine Nuts, and Parsley and her Pork and Apple Burgers. Each delivers big, bold flavors. No skinning involved!