Learn the art of making a quick, tasty, and convenient meal from scratch.

Sear, deglaze, enhance, and serve: flavorful dinners can be that simple. A master teacher, Susan Volland first explains how to skillfully wield a hot skillet to sear entrees, then shows how quickly a fresh, easy sauce can be made in that same hot pan. In more than sixty enticing recipes that cover seafood, poultry, meats, vegetables, tofu, and eggs, Volland invites home cooks to adapt her recipes for taste, diet, and ingredient availability.

A classic Sole Meuniere can work for chicken, calamari, or salmon: simply top with browned butter, a squeeze of lemon, and a sprinkling of parsley. Feistier contemporary dishes such as Tamarind-Glazed Chicken, Lamb Patties with Berbere Gravy, and Provolone “Steaks” with Warmed Cherry Tomatoes also offer creative substitutions. Searing Inspiration will embolden cooks to invent dishes, bringing the age-old pan sauce to modern tastes and kitchens.

50 photographs