Best of
Food-And-Wine

2006

What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers


Andrew Dornenburg - 2006
    for Best Book on Matching Food and Wine<!--EndFragment--> Prepared by a James Beard Award-winning author team, "What to Drink with What You Eat" provides the most comprehensive guide to matching food and drink ever compiled--complete with practical advice from the best wine stewards and chefs in America. 70 full-color photos.

The Complete Keller: The French Laundry Cookbook Bouchon


Thomas Keller - 2006
    First there was French Laundry in Napa Valley, setting a new standard for American fine dining. Then there was The French Laundry Cookbook, setting a new standard for American cookbooks. In 1998, Chef Keller opened Bouchon, “so that I’d have a place to eat after cooking all night at the French Laundry,” and that restaurant, too, gave birth to a groundbreaking cookbook. Now, fifteen years after Thomas Keller first set foot in what would become a landmark restaurant, these two extraordinary books are offered in a striking new slipcased edition. With this year’s opening of the Bouchon Bakery in New York City, and last year’s momentous Michelin guide that awarded Keller’s Per Se the top honors, Keller is increasingly in the limelight—and his inventive, delicious food is increasingly in the consciousness of a national audience. The Complete Keller is the perfect gift for anyone who loves fine food.

The Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate


John Scharffenberger - 2006
    Founded in 1996 by Robert Steinberg, a physician and amateur chef, and John Scharffenberger, an award-winning vintner, the company's confections have won a following among food professionals and home cooks alike. Now, in their first cookbook, the duo shares their passion with the world.The Essence of Chocolate features more than one hundred spectacular -- and often simple -- recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs. It is divided into three sections: "Intensely Chocolate," which includes such decadent treats as That Chocolate Cake, in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; "Essentially Chocolate," with lighter chocolate desserts like White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Brown Butter Blondies; and "A Hint of Chocolate," with recipes that use chocolate's spicier qualities to their best effect, like Vegetarian Chili and John's Cocoa Rub. And all will work magnificently with any high-quality chocolate. Filled with helpful tips, sumptuous photographs, and the story of how chocolate is really made, here is a book that is every bit as seductive as its subject.Robert Steinberg had been practicing medicine for twenty years when he went to France in 1994 to explore chocolate making, then returned to his own kitchen to create the first versions of what would be Scharffen Berger chocolate. He lives in San Francisco and until recently practicedat the San Francisco Free Clinic. John Scharffenberger founded Scharffenberger Cellars, one of the premier sparkling wine manufacturers in the United States. He sold his interest in the winery, and in 1996 he and Steinberg founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. Scharffenberger lives in Berkeley and Mendocino County.

Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier’s Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food


Evan Goldstein - 2006
    No longer is the choice simply red or white, or wines from California, France, or Italy. The typical shopper today has access to wines from those regions plus South Africa, Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, and Australia. If that isn’t confusing enough, Asian, Creole, and Latin American dishes might find their way onto the same table. Perfect Pairings, by well-known Master Sommelier and respected restaurant industry veteran Evan Goldstein, provides straightforward, practical advice for how to pair wine with each meal. The quintessential resource for matching wine and food, Perfect Pairings acts as a guide to wine, wine terminology, and wine-growing regions as well as a cooking guide: this versatile coffee table book includes 58 companion recipes developed by celebrated chef Joyce Goldstein that showcase each type of wine.Perfect Pairings combines in-depth explorations of twelve grape varietals, sparkling wines, and dessert wines with guidance about foods that enhance the wide range of styles for each varietal. Whether the Chardonnay is earthy and flinty, or rich, buttery, and oak-infused; whether the Pinot Noir fruity and tropical, or aged and mature, Goldstein explains how to match it with dishes that will make the wine sing. His clear, educational, and entertaining approach towards intimidating gastronomical questions provides information for all readers, professional and amateur chefs alike. * 16 full-color photos * Six seasonal and special occasion menus * Tips for enhancing food and wine experiences, both at home and in restaurants * Glossary of wine terminology * Overview of the world’s primary wine-growing regions * Recommendations of more than five hundred wines, ranging in price from everyday to splurge

Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean


Ana Sortun - 2006
    Inspired beyond measure, Sortun opened her own restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the award-winning Oleana, where she creates her own interpretations of dishes incorporating the incredible array of delicious spices and herbs used in eastern regions of the Mediterranean.In this gorgeously photographed book, Sortun shows readers how to use this philosophy of spice to create wonderful dishes in their own homes. She reveals how the artful use of spices and herbs rather than fat and cream is key to the full, rich flavors of Mediterranean cuisine -- and the way it leaves you feeling satisfied afterward. The book is organized by spice, detailing the ways certain spices complement one another and how they flavor other foods and creating in home cooks a kind of sense-memory that allows for a more intuitive use of spice in their own dishes. The more than one hundred tantalizing spice categories and recipes include:Beef Shish Kabobs with Sumac Onions and Parsley Butter Chickpea and Potato Terrine Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Spinach, Onion, and Tahini Crispy Lemon Chicken with Za’atar Golden Gazpacho with Condiments Fried Haloumi Cheese with Pear and Spiced DatesAbsolutely alive with spices and herbs, Ana Sortun’s recipes will intrigue and inspire readers everywhere.

Cooking with Cafe Pasqual's: Recipes from Santa Fe's Renowned Corner Cafe


Katharine Kagel - 2006
    Inspired by the cuisines of Old Mexico, New Mexico, and Asia, chef Katharine Kagel creates her memorable comfort food from the freshest cheeses, chile sauces, chorizos, and more. In COOKING WITH CAF?â PASQUAL'S, Kagel shares her favorite recipes, along with an extensive source list for purchasing special ingredients.A collection of recipes from Caf?© Pasqual's, an intimate, bustling Santa Fe restaurant known for its outstanding Southwestern cuisine, eclectic decor, and hospitable proprietor.Includes more than 70 easy-to-prepare recipes for every meal of the day and 70 full-color food and locations shots.Caf?© Pasqual's is committed to serving organic greens, eggs, coffee, dairy, and flour and naturally raised beef, pork, and chicken.Caf?© Pasqual's won the 1999 James Beard Award for American Regional Classics.Reviews"The kind of book wherein you can sense the author really, really loves her own cooking, and the photographer delighted in making them look as good as they taste."-John Mariani's Virtual Gourmet"The 75-plus recipes that are presented here fully represent Caf?© Pasqual'¬?s in all its colorful glory." -Wine News"Just looking at the gorgeous illustrations in this cookbook will make you feel as though you'¬?re basking in the Santa Fe sunshine."-Taste for Life Magazine

¡Baja! Cooking on the Edge


Deborah M. Schneider - 2006
    Any day, in any town, you can choose from a vast array of made-to-order tacos and salsas, fresh-from-the-ocean seafood cocktels, grilled corn, succulent fruits skewered with lime and chili powder, vivid fruit juices, piping-hot cinnamon churros, neon-bright candies that stick in your teeth, and frozen treats with names like Angel's Kiss…and that's just the beginning."--from Chapter 1Join acclaimed chef and seasoned Baja traveler Deborah Schneider for an intriguing and appetizing journey through the Baja California region of Mexico, from the dusty towns south of the U.S. border all the way down to breezy Cabo San Lucas at the peninsula's southern tip.Featuring more than 150 tantalizing recipes as well as vivid stories and images, this deliciously unorthodox cookbook transports you to the real Baja, with all its vibrant flavor and brilliant color, a place still largely undiscovered by los turistas.The famous Baja fish taco is here, of course, in a mixture of authentic recipes and Schneider's own Baja-inspired dishes—ingenious creations for which Bon Appétit magazine named her "the reigning queen of San Diego chefs."No matter how far north of the border you may be, with Schneider's easy-to-follow recipes, now you can feast on uniquely Baja delights like Clams in Tequila Butter, One-Pan Paella, Garlic Cilantro Steak, and Chocolate-Jalapeño Truffles. Enjoy.

The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook: Healthful, Healing Recipes for Life


Amrita Sondhi - 2006
    It is an ancient system in which physical and spiritual well-being comes from a number of sources, including a healthful diet based on one’s individual constitution.Ayurveda is about achieving a physical and spiritual balance through a number of means, including yoga, aromatherapy, and diet. This all-vegetarian cookbook based on Ayurvedic traditions features delectable and nutritious recipes that appeal to particular doshas, which are one’s personal constitution based on physical and mental characteristics: fire (pitta), air (vata), and earth (kapha). (The book includes a dosha questionnaire so readers can determine their own.) And while the recipes are authentically Ayurvedic, they feature easy-to-find ingredients and modern-day cooking methods appropriate for busy schedules.The book also includes yoga postures, cleansing programs, and information on aromatherapy, color therapy, and Abhyanga massage. There are also suggested meat substitutions for non-vegetarians. (Ayurveda is not exclusively vegetarian, although this book is.)Written with both converts and beginners in mind, The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook is a twenty-first-century approach to a five-thousand-year-old tradition that will restore your health, energy, and sense of well-being.Two-color throughout.

White Slave


Marco Pierre White - 2006
    auto-biography

My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen: 100 Family Recipes and Life Lessons


Eileen Yin-Fei Lo - 2006
    This inspiring and instructive book collects 100 recipes the author learned in her grandmother's kitchen, along with the life lessons, observations, and other gifts she hopes to pass on to readers and future generations. Cherished holiday recipes include steamed buns and fish congees for birthdays, vegetables prepared during the Lunar New Year, and rice dumplings made for the Dragon Boat Festival. All the essential techniques of the Chinese kitchen are represented, including stir-frying, steaming, roasting, stewing, braising, and more. A volume to cook from, to share, and to read as a memoir in its own right, My Grandmother's Chinese Kitchen celebrates a great culinary tradition by sharing family wisdom and timeless recipes.