Curtis Stone is a chef with impeccable credentials and a master at developing recipes for the home cook. In this book, his mission is to celebrate fresh seasonal ingredients, to stir a passion for using them innovatively, and to demystify the techniques needed for cooking with them.

He has chosen a mix of traditional favourites (lamb, chocolate, rhubarb) and more unusual fare (scallops, vanilla, truffles) - the kind of food that gets chosen from restaurant menus time and again, but that few people know how to prepare at home. The unique 3-step approach offers a simple, a standard and a more challenging recipe for each basic ingredient, so that kitchen confidence is built gradually. Everyone should be able to master the basics - the simple recipes usually feature just 5 ingredients and 4 or 5 steps of preparation. The challenge is to take it further and successfully prepare restaurant-style food in the home kitchen.

With useful chef's tips and pictures of every recipe to whet the appetite, Curtis gradually develops the reader's cooking confidence so that even beginners will find themselves with an impressive repertoire of knock-out dishes before long.