Best of
Ethnic

2009

Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes


Lidia Matticchio Bastianich - 2009
    All of the recipes reflect the regions from which they spring, and in translating them to our home kitchens, Lidia passes on time-honored techniques and wonderful, uncomplicated recipes for dishes bursting with different regional flavors—the kind of elemental, good family cooking that is particularly appreciated today.Penetrating the heart of Italy—starting at the north, working down to the tip, and ending in Sardinia—Lidia unearths a wealth of recipes:From Trentino–Alto Adige: Delicious Dumplings with Speck (cured pork); apples accenting soup, pasta, salsa, and salad; local beer used to roast a chicken and to braise beefFrom Lombardy: A world of rice—baked in a frittata, with lentils, with butternut squash, with gorgonzola, and the special treat of Risotto Milan-Style with Marrow and SaffronFrom Valle d’Aosta: Polenta with Black Beans and Kale, and local fontina featured in fondue, in a roasted pepper salad, and embedded in veal chopsFrom Liguria: An array of Stuffed Vegetables, a bread salad, and elegant Veal Stuffed with a Mosaic of VegetablesFrom Emilia-Romagna: An olive oil dough for making the traditional, versatile vegetable tart erbazzone, as well as the secrets of making tagliatelle and other pasta doughs, and an irresistible Veal Scaloppine BologneseFrom Le Marche: Farro with Roasted Pepper Sauce, Lamb Chunks with Olives, and Stuffed Quail in ParchmentFrom Umbria: A taste of the sweet Norcino black truffle, and seductive dishes such as Potato-Mushroom Cake with Braised Lentils, Sausages in the Skillet with Grapes, and Chocolate Bread ParfaitFrom Abruzzo: Fresh scrippelle (crêpe) ribbons baked with spinach or garnishing a soup, fresh pasta made with a “guitar,” Rabbit with Onions, and Lamb Chops with OlivesFrom Molise: Fried Ricotta; homemade cavatelli pasta in a variety of ways; Spaghetti with Calamari, Shrimp, and Scallops; and Braised OctopusFrom Basilicata: Wedding Soup, Fiery Maccheroni, and Farro with Pork RagùFrom Calabria: Shepherd’s Rigatoni, steamed swordfish, and Almond BiscottiniFrom Sardinia: Flatbread Lasagna, two lovely eggplant dishes, and Roast Lobster with Bread Crumb ToppingThis is just a sampling of the many delights Lidia has uncovered. All the recipes she shares with us in this rich feast of a book represent the work of the local people and friends with whom she made intimate contact—the farmers, shepherds, foragers, and artisans who produce local cheeses, meats, olive oils, and wines. And in addition, her daughter, Tanya, takes us on side trips in each of the twelve regions to share her love of the country and its art.From the Hardcover edition.

Top Secret Recipes Unlocked: All New Home Clones of America's Favorite Brand-Name Foods


Todd Wilbur - 2009
    Wilbur takes readers behind the scenes, revealing the key ingredients in some of our favorite foods such as Starbucks' Peppermint Brownie, Krispy Kreme's original glazed donuts, Panera Bread's cranberry walnut bagel and Wendy's Garden Sensations Mandarin Chicken Salad. The book will feature 115 new recipes, including 40 previously unpublished recipes.

The Dumpling: A Seasonal Guide


Wai Hon Chu - 2009
    Wai Hon Chu—who has worked in the in the kitchens of March, Clementine, and The Russian Tea Room, and is creator of El Eden Chocolates, named Best Gourmet Chocolate by New York Press—and Connie Lovett take dumpling aficionados on a culinary tour around the globe, offering more than 100 mouthwatering recipes that cover the full range of dumpling possibilities.

Justice Older Than the Law: The Life of Dovey Johnson Roundtree


Katie McCabe - 2009
    1914) sought justice. Though she is a legendary African American figure in the legal community of Washington, D.C., she remains largely unknown to the American public.Justice Older than the Law is her story, the product of a remarkable, ten-year collaboration with National Magazine Award winner Katie McCabe. As a prot�g� of Mary McLeod Bethune, Roundtree became one of the first women to break the gender and color barriers in the United States military. Inspired by Thurgood Marshall and James Madison Nabrit, Jr., at Howard University Law School, Roundtree went on to make history by winning a 1955 bus desegregation case, Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company. That decision demolished "separate but equal" in the realm of interstate transportation and enabled Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to combat southern resistance to the Freedom Riders' campaign in 1961.At a time when black attorneys had to leave the courthouses to use the bathrooms, Roundtree took on Washington's white legal establishment and prevailed. She led the vanguard of women ordained to the ministry in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1961 and merged her law practice with her ministry to fight for families and children being destroyed by urban violence. Hers is a vision of biblical and social justice older by far than the law, and her life story speaks movingly and urgently to our racially troubled times.

Give My Poor Heart Ease: Voices of the Mississippi Blues


William Ferris - 2009
    Now, Give My Poor Heart Ease puts front and center a searing selection of the artistically and emotionally rich voices from this invaluable documentary record. Illustrated with Ferris's photographs of the speakers and their communities and including a dual CD/DVD that presents his original field recordings and films, the book features more than twenty musicians who relate frank, dramatic, and engaging narratives about black life and blues music in the heart of the American South.Here are the stories of artists who have long memories and speak eloquently about their lives, blues musicians who represent a wide range of musical traditions--from one-strand instruments, bottle-blowing, and banjo to spirituals, hymns, and prison work chants. From celebrities such as B. B. King and Willie Dixon to artists known best in their neighborhoods, they express the full range of human experience--joyful and gritty, raw and painful. In an autobiographical introduction, Ferris reflects on how he fell in love with the vibrant musical culture that was all around him but was considered off limits to a white Mississippian during a troubled era. This magnificent volume illuminates blues music, the broader African American experience, and indeed the history and culture of America itself.

Entertaining in the Raw


Matthew Kenney - 2009
    He combines his love of art and philosophy on food to bring you recipes for outstanding raw food dishes that will titillate your guests' taste buds.The recipes span many ethnicities, including Asian, Latin, French, and Indian, and feature appetizers, tapas, main dishes, breads, sauces, and decadent desserts. Matthew's focus is always on fresh fruits and vegetables, organic, and buying food locally and in season.