Best of
Foodie

2008

The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book


America's Test Kitchen - 2008
    Featuring more than 700 kitchen-tested recipes, 800 step-by-step photos, opinionated product ratings, and at-a-glance tutorials, The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book is a practical guide to baking basics for the beginning baker as well as an accomplished one.

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China


Fuchsia Dunlop - 2008
    How can something she has eaten readily in China seem grotesque in England? The question lingers over this "autobiographical food-and-travel classic" (Publishers Weekly).

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives: An All-American Road Trip . . . with Recipes!


Guy Fieri - 2008
    From digging in at legendary burger joint the Squeeze Inn in Sacramento, California, baking Peanut Pie from Virginia Diner in Wakefield, Virginia, or kicking back with Pete's "Rubbed and Almost Fried" Turkey Sandwich from Panini Pete's in Fairhope, Alabama, Guy showcases the amazing personalities, fascinating stories, and outrageously good food offered by these American treasures.

Cook's Country Cookbook


America's Test Kitchen - 2008
    This debut collection from the editors of Cook's Country magazine celebrates the landscape of American home cooking from yesterday and today. In the tradition of great American cookbooks like The Fannie Farmer Cookbook and The Settlement Cookbook, The Cook's Country Cookbook is, at its core, a wide-ranging, comprehensive collection chock-full of beloved classics like roast chicken, beef stew, biscuits, blueberry pie, and more. In addition, the editors of Cook's Country magazine have also reached back in time to revive old favorites to suit modern tastes and lifestyles. Here you'll find Chicken Divan without the soup mix--only tender chicken and crisp broccoli blanketed in a velvety cheese sauce. You'll learn that it's possible to serve a from-scratch comfort food classic like meatloaf on a weeknight when time is tight: our mini-meatloaves cook in a fraction of the time of traditional versions. Discover fresh, new, and sometimes regional recipes that illuminate the depth and personality behind American cooking--recipes such as North Carolina Pulled Pork (a slow-cooker dish with real barbecue flavor); 24-Hour Salad (a make-ahead salad where the vegetables remain crisp and fresh); and King Ranch Casserole (a kid-friendly creamy chicken casserole with toasty corn chips and Southwestern spices, made famous by Lady Bird Johnson). In addition to foolproof recipes, The Cook's Country Cookbook also pulls back the curtain to reveal the often fascinating origins of classic American favorites, such as the use of breakfast cereal in party snack mixes or how Bundt pans gave rise to the popular cake. Muchmore than a collection of foolproof recipes, The Cook's Country Cookbook provides a lively, in-depth portrait of the great American table.

Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run


Alton Brown - 2008
    This time, Alton Brown and his motorcycle-mounted crew are off on a thousand-mile, south-to-north journey that follows America’s first “superhighway”—the Mississippi. Starting at the great river’s delta on the Gulf of Mexico and ending up near its headwaters in Minnesota, Alton and buddies travel the heartland’s byways to scout out the very best of roadside food—and to get to know the people who spend their lives preparing and serving it.A companion to the six-part Food Network series airing in fall 2007, Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run is a travel diary, photo journal, and, of course, cookbook. Alton’s itinerary includes big-city eateries and small-town chat ’n’ chews, as well as markets, inns, ice cream parlors, museums, barbecue joints—and even an alligator farm.Louisiana-style Grilled Alligator Tail (served simply, with lemon and butter) is one of the book’s forty original road-food recipes. Others include Pecan-Coconut Pie from an Arkansan roadside restaurant; BBQ Pork Ribs in Mississippi that Brown eats over pancakes; Vegetable Borscht from St. Paul’s Russian Tea House; and Fried Catfish from a riverside burg in Illinois. When it comes to America’s foodways and folkways, there’s no better tour guide than Alton Brown.

Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook


Martha Hall Foose - 2008
    Born and raised in Mississippi, Foose cooks Southern food with a contemporary flair: Sweet Potato Soup is enhanced with coconut milk and curry powder; Blackberry Limeade gets a lift from a secret ingredient–cardamom; and her much-ballyhooed Sweet Tea Pie combines two great Southern staples–sweet tea and pie, of course–to make one phenomenal signature dessert. The more than 150 original recipes are not only full of flavor, but also rich with local color and characters. As the executive chef of the Viking Cooking School, teaching thousands of home cooks each year, Foose crafts recipes that are the perfect combination of delicious, creative, and accessible. Filled with humorous and touching tales as well as useful information on ingredients, techniques, storage, shortcuts, variations, and substitutions, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea is a must-have for the American home cook–and a must-read for anyone who craves a return to what cooking is all about: comfort, company, and good eating.

Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives


Carolyn Steel - 2008
    Yet few eaters are conscious of the processes that are required to bring food into a metropolis. This original and revolutionary study examines the way in which modern food production has damaged the balance of human existence, and reveals a centuries-old dilemma that holds the key to a host of current problems, among them obesity, the inexorable rise of the supermarkets, and the destruction of the natural world. The rise and impact of such American hallmarks as industrialized food and meat production, the supermarket, fast food restaurant chains, and processed edibles on city life is examined alongside the historical roots and the contemporary issues at each stage of the food cycle, from farm to plate to landfill. Original and inspiring, this is a warning call to the waste and destruction caused by today’s food systems, and a guide to correcting its errors.

Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes


Mark Bittman - 2008
    Think about it this way: In terms of energy consumption, serving a typical family-of-four steak dinner is the rough equivalent of driving around in an SUV for three hours while leaving all the lights on at home.Bittman offers a no-nonsense rundown on how government policy, big business marketing, and global economics influence what we choose to put on the table each evening. He demystifies buzzwords like "organic," "sustainable," and "local" and offers straightforward, budget-conscious advice that will help you make small changes that will shrink your carbon footprint -- and your waistline.Flexible, simple, and non-doctrinaire, the plan is based on hard science but gives you plenty of leeway to tailor your food choices to your lifestyle, schedule, and level of commitment. Bittman, a food writer who loves to eat and eats out frequently, lost thirty-five pounds and saw marked improvement in his blood levels by simply cutting meat and processed foods out of two of his three daily meals. But the simple truth, as he points out, is that as long as you eat more vegetables and whole grains, the result will be better health for you and for the world in which we live.Unlike most things that are virtuous and healthful, Bittman's plan doesn't involve sacrifice. From Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing to Breakfast Bread Pudding, the recipes in Food Matters are flavorful and sophisticated. A month's worth of meal plans shows you how Bittman chooses to eat and offers proof of how satisfying a mindful and responsible diet can be. Cheaper, healthier, and socially sound, "Food Matters" represents the future of American eating.

Carmine's Family-Style Cookbook: More Than 100 Classic Italian Dishes to Make at Home


Michael Ronis - 2008
    Carmine's flavors are the tastes Americans love to cook and eat at home--fresh garlic, bubbling tomato sauce, and pasta boiled just to the perfect al dente. Try any of the recipes in Carmine's Family-Style Cookbook and bring home that classic Italian flavor to your family.

The Asian Vegan Kitchen: Authentic and Appetizing Dishes from a Continent of Rich Flavors


Hema Parekh - 2008
    It caters to the growing segment of people who eschew animal products, yet still want to add some global spice and excitement to their diet. Illustrated.

The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook: The Essential Recipe Collection for Today's Home Cook


Williams-Sonoma - 2008
    The increasing availability of high-quality, local, and exotic ingredients has transformed the way we cook with delicious results. This comprehensive volume, , reflects this new diverse interest in food. Among its more than 370 recipes are time-tested classics, fresh new favorites gleaned from restaurant menus, popular ethnic dishes customized for the home cook, and dozens of breakfast and dessert choices, from the simple to the spectacular. Whether you are stir-frying a spicy basil-scented chicken dish for a simple weeknight supper, grilling fish steaks for a summer cookout, preparing a standing rib roast as the centerpiece for a multicourse special-occasion meal, or simply looking for a recipe for classic chocolate chip cookies, this book is the perfect resource. The recipes are organized into 12 chapters so you can easily find the right dish for your needs. These include: Appetizers; Soups; Salads; Fish and Shellfish; Poultry; Beef and Veal; Pork and Lamb; Vegetables; Breads; Desserts; and Breakfast and Brunch. Sumptuous photographs for every recipe will show you how the finished dish should look. Dozens of photographed sidebars throughout the book illuminate cooking techniques, explain how to work with unfamiliar ingredients, and suggest flavorful sauces or condiments to accompany the main recipe. Among the recipes are classics that you will come back to again and again, like stuffed mushrooms, Cobb salad, potato gratin, Louisiana-style gumbo, bistro-style roast chicken, eggs Benedict, and devil's food cake. You will also find many dishes inspired by international flavors, such as pot stickers, gazpacho, tabbouleh, carnitas, tandooristyle chicken and tiramisu -- all destined to become new favorites in your home. Look, too, for plenty of kid-friendly recipes such as baked macaroni and cheese, chicken potpie, spaghetti and meatballs, and chocolate brownies, all of which could become some of the most-requested dishes in your cooking repertory. No matter the occasion, The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook will provide the perfect recipe and plenty of inspiration for many years to come.

Cherry Cake and Ginger Beer: A Golden Treasury of Classic Treats


Jane Brocket - 2008
    This nostalgic cookery book takes you back to the children's books of yesteryear--for example, Enid Blyton, Pippi Longstocking, What Katy Did--and shows how to cook the feel-good foods that feature so strongly in them.

On the Line


Eric Ripert - 2008
    How does a 4-star restaurant stay on top for more than two decades? In On the Line, chef Eric Ripert takes readers behind the scenes at Le Bernardin, one of just three New York City restaurants to earn three Michelin stars. Any fan of gourmet dining who ever stole a peek behind a restaurant kitchen's swinging doors will love this unique insider's account, with its interviews, inventory checklists, and fly-on-the-wall dialogue that bring the business of haute cuisine to life. From the sudden death of Le Bernardin's founding chef, Gilbert Le Coze, to Ripert's stressful but triumphant takeover of the kitchen at age 29, the story has plenty of drama. But as Chef Ripert and writer Christine Muhlke reveal, every day is an adventure in a perfectionistic restaurant kitchen. Foodies will love reading about the inner workings of a top restaurant, from how a kitchen is organized to the real cost of the food and the fierce discipline and organization it takes to achieve culinary perfection on the plate almost 150,000 times a year. Meanwhile, Le Bernardin's modern French cuisine, with its emphasis on seafood, comes to life in sophisticated recipes, including Striped Bass with Sweet Corn Puree, Grilled Shishito Peppers, Shaved Smoked Bonito, and Mole Sauce, and Pan-Roasted Cod with Chorizo, Snow Peas, Piquillo Peppers, and Soy-Lime Butter Sauce.

The Lost Recipe for Happiness


Barbara O'Neal - 2008
    Haunted by an accident of which she was the lone survivor, Elena knows better than anyone how to survive the odds. With her faithful dog, Alvin, and her grandmother’s recipes, Elena arrives in Colorado to find a restaurant in as desperate need of a fresh start as she is–and a man whose passionate approach to food and life rivals her own. Owner Julian Liswood is a name many people know but a man few do. He’s come to Aspen with a troubled teenage daughter and a dream of the kind of stability and love only a family can provide. But for Elena, old ghosts don’t die quietly, yet a chance to find happiness at last is worth the risk.

Arthur Schwartz's Jewish Home Cooking: Yiddish Recipes Revisited


Arthur Schwartz - 2008
    JEWISH HOME COOKING presents authentic yet contemporary versions of traditional Ashkenazi foods-rugulach, matzoh brei, challah, brisket, and even challenging classics like kreplach (dumplings) and gefilte fish-that are approachable to make and revelatory to eat. Chapters on appetizers, soups, dairy (meatless) and meat entrees, Passover meals, breads, and desserts are filled with lore about individual dishes and the people who nurtured them in America. Light-filled food and location photographs of delis, butcher shops, and specialty grocery stores paint a vibrant picture of America's touchstone Jewish food culture. Stories, culinary history, and nearly 100 recipes for Jewish home cooking from the heart of American Jewish culture, New York City. Written by one of the country's foremost experts on traditional and contemporary Jewish food, cooking, and culinary culture. Schwartz won the 2005 IACP Cookbook of the Year.Reviews & AwardsJames Beard Foundation Cookbook Award Finalist: American Category IACP International Association of Culinary Professionals Cookbook Awards, American Category Finalist  "Jewish Home Cooking helps make sense of the beautiful chaos, with a deep and affectionate examination of New York's Jewish food culture, refracted through the Ins of what he calls the Yiddish-American experience."—New York Times Book Review Summer Reading issue, cookbook roundup“Schwartz breathes life into Yiddish cooking traditions now missing from most cities' main streets as well as many Jewish tables. His colorful stories are so distinctive and charming that even someone who has never heard Schwartz's radio show or seen him on TV will feel his warm personaality and love for food radiating from the page . . . Cooks and readers from Schwartz's generation and earlier, who know firsthand what he's talking about, will appreciate this delightful new book for the world it evokes as much as for the recipes.”—Publishers Weekly

Mastering Knife Skills: The Essential Guide to the Most Important Tools in Your Kitchen


Norman Weinstein - 2008
    And of all kitchen skills, perhaps the most critical are those involving the proper use of knives. Norman Weinstein has been teaching his knife skills workshop at New York City’s Institute of Culinary Education for more than a decade—and his classes always sell out. That’s because Weinstein focuses so squarely on the needs of the nonprofessional cook, providing basic instruction in knife techniques that maximize efficiency while placing the least possible stress on the user’s arm. Now, Mastering Knife Skills brings Weinstein’s well-honed knowledge to home cooks everywhere. Whether you want to dice an onion with the speed and dexterity of a TV chef, carve a roast like an expert, bone a chicken quickly and neatly, or just learn how to hold a knife in the right way, Mastering Knife Skills will be your go-to manual. Each cutting, slicing, and chopping method is thoroughly explained—and illustrated with clear, step-by-step photographs. Extras include information on knife construction, knife makers and types, knife maintenance and safety, and cutting boards, as well as a 30-minute instructional DVD featuring Weinstein’s most important techniques.

A Taste of My Life


Raymond Blanc - 2008
    His cooking has been described as 'an extraordinary process of creativity, passion, subtlety, indeed genius'. His life and career to date have been utterly dedicated to the search for culinary perfection.Raymond is entirely self-taught and over the years has been developing and refining his philosophy of food and eating. Such is his reputation that his restaurant near Oxford, Le Manoir, was awarded two Michelin stars even before it opened in 1984. He has taught many of Britain's most successful chefs, including Marco Pierre White and Heston Blumenthal. He has maintained extraordinary levels of excellence at Le Manoir for over two decades and it remains one of our premier destination restaurants.Now, for the first time Raymond is going to share the fruits of all that hard work and experimentation, and reveal the secrets of his gastronomy. Woven around stories from his years at the sharp end of the food business are his thoughts about where food is going and a passionate appeal for sustainable cuisine. Essential reading for anyone with an interest in food and cooking, this is the definitive book by a culinary genius.

Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table


Sara Roahen - 2008
    For Wisconsin native Sara Roahen, a Sazerac is also a fine accompaniment to raw oysters, a looking glass into the cocktail culture of her own family and one more way to gain a foothold in her beloved adopted city. Roahen's stories of personal discovery introduce readers to New Orleans' well-known signatures: gumbo, po-boys, red beans and rice, and its lesser-known gems: the pho of its Vietnamese immigrants, the braciolone of its Sicilians, and the ya-ka-mein of its street culture. By eating and cooking her way through a place as unique and unexpected as its infamous turducken, Roahen finds a home. And then Katrina. With humor, poignancy, and hope, she conjures up a city that reveled in its food traditions before the storm – and in many ways has been saved by them since.

The Best of the Best and More, Volume 1


Best of Bridge - 2008
    

Flavors of Morocco


Ghillie Basan - 2008
    With such a rich and diverse history, which draws from the East, the Mediterranean and Africa, Morocco is home to the most tantalizing food imaginable.   Start your culinary journey by discovering Kemia & Salads. Kemia are small bites eaten at the start of a meal. Try recipes for Mini Fish Kefta with Saffron or a Carrot and Cumin Salad with Orange Flower Water. Next enjoy Soups, Breads & Savoury Pastries. Try Rustic Tomato and Vegetable Soup with Ras-el-Hanout or Creamy Pumpkin Soup with Aniseed and Saffron, served with Moroccan Country Bread. Bake the Classic Chicken Pie with Cinnamon (B’Stilla); or little Pastries Filled with Spicy Minced Meat.A chapter on Tagines, K’dras & Couscous features the popular Lamb Tagine with Almonds, Prunes and Apricots; Chicken Tagine with Preserved Lemons, Green Olives and Thyme; K’dras (stews), such as Chicken K’dras with Chickpeas, Raisins and Red Peppers, all served with buttery couscous. Grills, Pan-fries & Roasts include Souk Kebabs with Roasted Cumin and Paprika; Baked Trout Stuffed with Dates; and Roast Duck with Honey, Pears and Figs.Delicious Vegetables, Side Dishes & Preserves include Casablancan Stuffed Tomatoes and Honey-glazed Pumpkin with Spices. Finally, Sweet Snacks, Desserts & Drinks brings treats such as Fresh Figs with Walnuts and Honey and Rose-flavoured Milk Pudding – all perfect served with Mint Tea.Throughout the book are essays on key aspects of Moroccan culinary culture, from The Olive and the Argan to The Souks, Spices and Sensual Flavours, that help to bring the food of this vibrant and exotic land to life.

Urban Italian: Simple Recipes and True Stories from a Life in Food


Andrew Carmellini - 2008
    After a brilliant career in professional kitchens (including a 6-year tour as chef de cuisine at Café Boulud), he was faced with the harsh reality of life as a civilian cook: no prep cooks, no saucier, no daily deliveries - just him and his wife in their tiny Manhattan-apartment kitchen.Urban Italian is made up of the recipes that result when a great chef has to use the same resources available to the rest of us. In these hundred recipes - covering five distinct courses, cocktails, and base recipes - Carmellini shows how to make stunning, soulful food with nothing more than the ingredients, techniques, and time available to the ordinary home cook. Recipes include crisped artichokes with yogurt, mint, and sauce picante; duck meatballs with cherry moustarda sauce; roast pork with Italian plums and grappa; spicy cod with rock shrimp; and marinated grapes with red-wine granita.Along with the recipes (beautifully photographed by Quentin Bacon), Carmellini and his wife, Gwen Hyman, have written a number of sections to help readers bring home more of a great chef's experience. These begin with a narrative that traces Andrew's culinary education, and continue with short pieces on places and ingredients, placed alongside recipes to shed light on the history and practice of simple, beautiful cooking.

Sales and Service for the Wine Professional


Brian K. Julyan - 2008
    Tailored to meet the needs of students of liquor studies and those employed in the service of drinks, this text provides theoretical and practical knowledge, and covers drinks products, taste characteristics and the skills needed for quality service.

Foods: Facts and Principles


Shakuntala Manay - 2008
    Each food is discussed from the point of its production, processing and utilization in the Indian context. Foods of special importance in the Indian diet like pulses, spices and nuts are considered at length. The book gives a comprehensive account of foods and their products with regard to production, composition, nutritive value, uses and preservation. Indigenous food preparations based on fermented rice and pulse, milk and Indian confectionery have been discussed. Various laws issued by the government to control food quality are highlighted.Food is more than nutrients. In addition to nursing our body and promoting good health, foods have an effect on our mind, emotion and spiritual life. There is of late, a great awareness in the relationship of food and spiritual life.In the second edition a new chapter on Nutrition, Health and Food Consciousness was included. In addition to it, this edition deals with body, mind, emotion and its relation to spiritual health. Health as a constant growth of spirit is a progressive unfoldment, a growth which is teleotic (or Teleosis) and the limitation of the present concept backed up with scientific study in connection with the same, has been cited, thus bridging the gap between pure science and spiritual life.Contents: IntroductionPart I: Food ChemistryCarbohydratesLipidsProteinsVitaminsMineralsWaterPigments and ColoursFlavourEnzymesProperties of FoodsPart II: Food and Food ProductsBeveragesFruitsVegetablesCerealsCereal ProductsPulsesNutsOils and Fats in FoodsSpicesMilk and Milk ProductsEggsMeatPoultrySeafoodsSugar and ConfectioneryPart III: Food Preparation, Preservation and ProcessingCooking of FoodsFood QualityFood AdditivesFood Preservation and ProcessingNutrition, Health and Food Consciousness

A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes


David Tanis - 2008
    The other six months, Tanis lives in Paris in a seventeenth-century apartment, where he hosts intimate dinners for friends and paying guests, and prepares the food in a small kitchen equipped with nothing more than an old stove, a little counter space, and a handful of wellused pots and pans. This is the book for anyone who wants to gather and feed friends around a table and nurture their conversation. It’s not about showing off with complicated techniques and obscure ingredients. Worlds away from the showy Food Network personalities, Tanis believes that the most satisfying meals—for both the cook and the guest—are invariably the simplest. Home cooks can easily re-create any of his 24 seasonal, market-driven menus, from spring’s Supper of the Lamb (Warm Asparagus Vinaigrette; Shoulder of Spring Lamb with Flageolet Beans and Olive Relish; Rum Baba with Cardamom) to winter’s North African Comfort Food (Carrot and Coriander Salad; Chicken Tagine with Pumpkin and Chickpeas). Best of all, Tanis is an engaging guide with a genuine gift for words, whose soulful approach to food will make any kitchen, big or small, a warm and compelling place to spend time.

New Good Food Pocket Guide, rev: Shopper's Pocket Guide to Organic, Sustainable, and Seasonal Whole Foods


Margaret M. Wittenberg - 2008
    Focusing mainly on core food products available at large-scale supermarkets and natural foods stores, easy-reference entries help shoppers navigate their many options when choosing organic, whole, local, and sustainably and ethically produced foods.  An updated pocket-size edition of the definitive guide to buying, storing, and preparing whole foods. Handy charts and tables summarize what's in season when. Organic food sales totaled nearly $17 billion in 2006, up 22 percent from the previous year, in the U.S. alone.

WineWise


Steven Kolpan - 2008
    It gives readers a basic introduction to wine: how to select different varieties and identify their flavors, how to read wine labels, and how to identify grapes from wine-growing regions all over the world. The interior features detailed maps, examples of wine labels, and hundreds of four-color photos. Chapters include Enjoying Wine, White Grapes, Red Grapes, Living with Wine, Wine and Food, and Wine in Restaurants, as well as chapters on wine-growing regions from France, Italy, and Germany to California and New York State to South America, Australia, Spain, and Portugal. There is also a chapter on Bargains, featuring the greatest inexpensive wines from around the world. Detailed information on grapes, flavor profiles, regions, and food and wine pairings makes it easy for consumers to choose the right wine for any occasion and any budget. Filled with understandable, consumer-friendly, expert advice, this book is the ideal companion for any wine enthusiast.