The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution


Alice Waters - 2007
    Her simple but inventive dishes focus on a passion for flavor and a reverence for locally produced, seasonal foods.With an essential repertoire of timeless, approachable recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients, The Art of Simple Food is an indispensable resource for home cooks. Here you will find Alice’s philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen, to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long. Always true to her philosophy that a perfect meal is one that’s balanced in texture, color, and flavor, Waters helps us embrace the seasons’ bounty and make the best choices when selecting ingredients. Fill your market basket with pristine produce, healthful grains, and responsibly raised meat, poultry, and seafood, then embark on a voyage of culinary rediscovery that reminds us that the most gratifying dish is often the least complex.

The Vegetable Butcher: How to Select, Prep, Slice, Dice, and Masterfully Cook Vegetables from Artichokes to Zucchini


Cara Mangini - 2016
    The skills of butchery meet the world of fresh produce in this essential, inspiring guide that demystifies the world of vegetables. In step-by-step photographs, “vegetable butcher” Cara Mangini shows how to break down a butternut squash, cut a cauliflower into steaks, peel a tomato properly, chiffonade kale, turn carrots into coins and parsnips into matchsticks, and find the meaty heart of an artichoke. Additionally, more than 150 original, simple recipes put vegetables front and center, from a Kohlrabi Carpaccio to Zucchini, Sweet Corn, and Basil Penne, to a Parsnip-Ginger Layer Cake to sweeten a winter meal. It’s everything you need to know to get the best out of modern, sexy, and extraordinarily delicious vegetables.

The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: 150 Fresh Ideas for America's Favorite Pan


Ellen Brown - 2014
    . . a damn fine work that's at once a treatise, chronicle, and paean to perhaps the most versatile tool in a cook's arsenal. . . . I promise you, with this book your cast iron skillet will never again leave the top of your stove. It’s that good." —David Leite, publisher of the two-time James Beard Award-winning website Leite’s Culinaria (LCcooks.com) Cast iron skillets are booming in popularity: they're versatile, they're relatively inexpensive, and they don't have the toxic chemicals released by artificial nonstick pans. Though cast iron was the only pan in grandma's kitchen, these 150 recipes are fresh and updated. They range from traditional skillet favorites, like Seared Chicken Hash, Spanish Potato and Sausage Tortilla, and pan-seared steaks and chops, to surprising dishes like cornbread with an Italian spin; quesadillas filled with brie, papaya, and pineapple; and a gingerbread cake topped with fresh pears.

Big Fat Cookies


Elinor Klivans - 2004
    No matter what the occasion, nothing beats the big, fat, homemade kind. With this deliciously fun cookbook and a few simple ingredients, anyone can whip up a quick batch of one of 50 different gigantic crispy, chewy, or fancy-pants sandwich cookies. From classic Super Chocolate Chip to colossal Mocha Mud Mountains, Jumbo Coconut Macaroons to Lemon Whoopie Pies, this is total cookie satisfaction. Introductory material includes tips on buying the best ingredients, techniques such as mixing and forming the perfect round, baking ahead and storing, andfor those who actually like to share their cookieshow to pack them up safely so they won't break on the way to the party. So, get that sweet tooth ready and bite into a Big Fat Cookie.

The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs


Karen Page - 2008
    Drawing on dozens of leading chefs' combined experience in top restaurants across the country, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg present the definitive guide to creating "deliciousness" in any dish. Thousands of ingredient entries, organized alphabetically and cross-referenced, provide a treasure trove of spectacular flavor combinations. Readers will learn to work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients; experiment with temperature and texture; excite the nose and palate with herbs, spices, and other seasonings; and balance the sensual, emotional, and spiritual elements of an extraordinary meal.Seasoned with tips, anecdotes, and signature dishes from America's most imaginative chefs, THE FLAVOR BIBLE is an essential reference for every kitchen.

The Tassajara Bread Book


Edward Espe Brown - 1970
    It requires nurturing and care. In this twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the international best-seller that started a generation of Americans baking, Ed Brown shows how to make—and enjoy—breads, pastries, muffins, and desserts for today's sophisticated palates. And in a new afterword, he reflects on the widespread influence of the book and offers five new recipes.This is 2010. I have just purchased a new copy of this book, which I first owned back in 1970 or 1971. I love them and use them until they fall apart. I believe they are a GREAT introduction to breakmaking for a new baker, and an excellent wedding gift.

Mad Hungry Cravings


Lucinda Scala Quinn - 2013
    So you decide to eat out at a local ethnic or roadside restaurant, or do take-out. It's expedient, but is the food really that good? Really really good? Because Lucinda Scala Quinn's versions of all those dishes families crave will knock your socks off and prove beyond a doubt that the foods you love can be made better, faster, tastier, cheaper, and more healthfully at home.Lucinda Scala Quinn is all about smart strategies that simplify and make for great taste, so why outsource feeding our families when it takes less time, money, and effort to cook these favorite comfort foods ourselves? And why miss out on the untold gifts of sitting at home with your family around the dining room table? So next time there's a request for pulled pork or deep-dish pizza or chicken fettuccine Alfredo, or cold soba noodles or fried rice, forget about soggy takeout and overpriced restaurants--just crack open this book and you'll find simple recipes for all those dishes your family wants to eat, right now.

Bobby at Home: Fearless Flavors from My Kitchen: A Cookbook


Bobby Flay - 2019
    In his most personal cookbook yet, Bobby shares over 165 bold, approachable recipes he cooks at home for family and friends, along with his well-earned secrets for executing them perfectly. Everyday favorites--from pan-seared meats and hearty pastas to shareable platters of roasted vegetables, bountiful salads, and casual, homey desserts--go bigger and bolder with Bobby's signature pull-no-punches cooking style. Expect crowd-pleasing classics taken to the next level with exciting flavors, such as Spanish-style shrimp and grits, pumpkin pancakes with apple cider syrup, and sticky-savory-sweet Korean BBQ chicken. Riff on go-to dishes just as Bobby does with his master recipes for essentials, along with creative variations that take the base recipe in a range of directions to suit your mood, such as crispy bacon glazed with pomegranate molasses, deviled eggs topped with fried oysters, and mussels steamed in a heady green curry broth. With Bobby by your side, cooking at home just got a lot more exciting.

The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook: Home Cooking from Asian American Kitchens


Pat Tanumihardja - 2009
    Their mastery of delicious home-cooked dishes and comfort food makes them the ideal source for this cookbook. Author Pat Tanumihardja has assembled 130 tantalizing dishes from real Chinese fried rice to the classic Filipino Chicken Adobo to the ultimate Japanese comfort dish Oyako donburi. This is hearty food, brightly flavored, equally good to look at and eat. Flavors range from soy and ginger to hot chiles, fragrant curries, and tart vinegars. The author has translated all of the recipes to work in modern home kitchens. Many of them have been handed down from mother to daughter for generations without written recipes, and some appear in tested and written form for the first time. An exhaustive Asian Pantry glossary explains the ingredients, from the many kinds of rice and curries to unfamiliar but flavorful vegetables.

In the Kitchen with David: QVC's Resident Foodie Presents Comfort Foods That Take You Home


David Venable - 2012
    And as the beloved host of QVC’s popular program, In the Kitchen with David,® he’s put that passion on mouthwatering display, welcoming some of the greatest names in the food world. But Venable’s own culinary skills—honed in the Carolina kitchens of his mother and grandmothers—are nothing short of remarkable and tantalizing.   Now, in his anticipated debut cookbook, Venable shares 150 delicious recipes of hearty, easy-to-make, comforting dishes. In the Kitchen with David covers everything from appetizers and breads to soups and salads to main courses and sides, as well as his lifelong love of bacon (The Divine Swine!). You’ll get ideas for quick Monday-to-Friday dinners, let-it-cook-all-weekend suppers, savory breakfasts and brunches, cocktail party fun, game-day eats, and family reunion feasts. And of course, no Southern-influenced cookbook is complete without a little something sweet. Venable’s favorites include  Party Starters: White Bean and Sun-Dried Tomato Dip, Chicken Nachos, Cheddar-Broccoli Poppers with Ranch Dipping Sauce, Cheesy Crab Stuffed MushroomsSupporting Players: Summer Squash Fritters with Garlic Dipping Sauce, Scrumptious Hush Puppies, Mom’s “Browned” Rice, Sweet Potato-Pineapple Casserole Main Events: Breaded Pork Cutlets, Chicken Marsala, Braised Beef Short Ribs, Low Country BoilSweet, Sweet Gratification: Deep Dish Apple Pie, Flourless Chocolate Cake, Banana Pudding Cheesecake, Peach Cobbler   Loaded with gorgeous photographs, helpful “Dishin’ with David” tips, and personal anecdotes, In the Kitchen with David encourages you and your family to gather around the dinner table for great meals and, more important, great memories. After all, the portions are generous; the options are limitless.  Foreword by Paula DeenAdvance praise for In the Kitchen with David  “David Venable’s unbridled love for good, hearty comfort food is absolutely infectious. He knows what delicious food tastes like, and one peek at the recipes in his book had me positively drooling. I haven’t been this excited about a cookbook in a long, long time!”—Ree Drummond, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pioneer Woman Cooks   “David definitely knows his way around the kitchen, and he sure gets cooking with some comfort food in this book. And that’s saying something coming from the two of us comfort food lovers!”—Pat and Gina Neely, hosts of Down Home with the Neelys

Zingerman's Bakehouse


Amy Emberling - 2017
    Find your favorite Bakehouse recipes: Since 1992, Michigan's renowned artisanal bakery, Zingerman's Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, has fed a fan base across the United States and beyond with their chewy-sweet brownies and gingersnaps, famous sour cream coffee cake, and fragrant loaves of Jewish rye, challah, and sourdough. It's no wonder Zingerman's is a cultural and culinary institution. To coincide with its 25th anniversary, Bakehouse co-owners Emberling and Carollo have crafted a cookbook that intimately blends the business's unique history and philosophy of service with never-before-published recipes for its best-loved baked goods.Features 65 meticulously tested, carefully detailed recipes in a beautiful hardcover book.Showcases more than 50 color photographs and bountiful illustrations.Includes behind-the-scenes stories of the business that enrich this collection of best-of-kind, delicious recipes for every "I can't believe I get to make this at home!" treat.Notably, the book includes a wealth of traditional Hungarian and Jewish foods.Bring home delicious and enjoy the Zingerman's classics (and discover new favorites!) in your very own kitchen.Contains 8 chapters featuring various topics that are full of fantastic recipes, as well as a recipe index so you can quickly find the one you're looking.Makes an excellent gift for any fan of Zingerman's or anyone who appreciates a good bakery treat.

Honey & Co: The Baking Book


Sarit Packer - 2015
    Lunch is a crisp, crumbly shell of pastry filled with spiced lamb or burnt aubergine, and at teatime there are cheesecakes and fruit cakes, small cakes and massive cookies - so many cakes that it's hard to choose one. (There's no need to worry, whatever you choose will be great!) After dinner there might be poached peaches with roses or something more traditional, sweet and salty Knafe drenched in orange blossom syrup, or maybe just a small piece of fresh marzipan. There's something sweet, something in the oven for everyone, all day long - welcome to Honey & Co.

The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook: From Cauldron Cakes to Knickerbocker Glory--More Than 150 Magical Recipes for Wizards and Non-Wizards Alike


Dinah Bucholz - 2010
    A proper cuppa tea and rock cakes in Hagrid's hut. Cauldron cakes and pumpkin juice on the Hogwarts Express. With this cookbook, dining a la Hogwarts is as easy as Banoffi Pie! With more than 150 easy-to-make recipes, tips, and techniques, you can indulge in spellbindingly delicious meals drawn straight from the pages of your favorite Potter stories, such as:Treacle Tart--Harry's favorite dessert, Molly's Meat Pies--Mrs. Weasley's classic dish, Kreacher's French Onion Soup, Pumpkin Pasties--a staple on the Hogwarts Express cartWith a dash of magic and a drop of creativity, you'll conjure up the entries, desserts, snacks, and drinks you need to transform ordinary Muggle meals into magickal culinary masterpieces, sure make even Mrs. Weasley proud!

The Good Cook


Simon Hopkinson - 2011
    The Good Cook is the result of over 40 years' experience and is based on Simon's belief that a good cook loves eating as much as cooking. How the ingredients you choose and the way you cook them will turn a good recipe into a great dish. That a cheap cut of meat cooked with care can taste as nice as a choice cut prepared by indifferent hands.Structured around Simon's passion for good ingredients (Anchovy and Aubergine, Cheese and Wine, Smoked and Salted Fish, Ham, Bacon and A Little Pig) and written with Simon's trademark perfectionism and precision, this is a book that you will cherish for life.

Mastering the Art of French Cooking


Julia Child - 1961
    Featuring 524 delicious recipes, in its pages home cooks will find something for everyone, from seasoned experts to beginners who love good food and long to reproduce the savory delights of French cuisine, from historic Gallic masterpieces to the seemingly artless perfection of a dish of spring-green peas. Here Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle break down the classic foods of France into a logical sequence of themes and variations rather than presenting an endless and diffuse catalogue of dishes. Throughout, the focus is on key recipes that form the backbone of French cookery and lend themselves to an infinite number of elaborations--bound to increase anyone's culinary repertoire. With over 100 instructive illustrations to guide readers every step of the way, Mastering the Art of French Cooking deserves a place of honor in every kitchen in America.