Dishes & Beverages of the Old South


Martha McCulloch-Williams - 1913
    Proper dinners mean so much-good blood, good health, good judgment, good conduct. The fact makes tragic a truth too little regarded; namely, that while bad cooking can ruin the very best of raw foodstuffs, all the arts of all the cooks in the world can do no more than palliate things stale, flat and unprofitable. To buy such things is waste, instead of economy. Food must satisfy the palate else it will never truly satisfy the stomach. An unsatisfied stomach, or one overworked by having to wrestle with food which has bulk out of all proportion to flavor, too often makes its vengeful protest in dyspepsia. It is said underdone mutton cost Napoleon the battle of Leipsic, and eventually his crown. I wonder, now and then, if the prevalence of divorce has any connection with the decline of home cooking? A far cry, and heretical, do you say, gentle reader? Not so far after all-these be sociologic days. I am but leading up to the theory with facts behind it, that it was through being the best fed people in the world, we of the South Country were able to put up the best fight in history, and after the ravages and ruin of civil war, come again to our own. We might have been utterly crushed but for our proud and pampered stomachs, which in turn gave the bone, brain and brawn for the conquests of peace. So here's to our Mammys-God bless them! God rest them! This imperfect chronicle of the nurture wherewith they fed us is inscribed with love to their memory Almost my earliest memory is of Mammy's kitchen. Permission to loiter there was a Reward of Merit-a sort of domestic Victoria Cross. If, when company came to spend the day, I made my manners prettily, I might see all the delightful hurley-burley of dinner-cooking. My seat was the biscuit block, a section of tree-trunk at least three feet across, and waist-high. Mammy set me upon it, but first covered it with her clean apron-it was almost the only use she ever made of the apron. The block stood well out of the way-next the meal barrel in the corner behind the door, and hard by the Short Shelf, sacred to cake and piemaking, as the Long Shelf beneath the window was given over to the three water buckets-cedar with brass hoops always shining like gold-the piggin, also of cedar, the corn-bread tray, and the cup-noggin. Above, the log wall bristled with knives of varying edge, stuck in the cracks; with nails whereon hung flesh-forks, spoons, ladles, skimmers. These were for the most part hand-wrought, by the local blacksmithThe forks in particular were of a classic grace-so much so that when, in looking through my big sister's mythology I came upon a picture of Neptune with his trident, I called it his flesh-fork, and asked if he were about to take up meat with it, from the waves boiling about his feet. The kitchen proper would give Domestic Science heart failure, yet it must have been altogether sanitary. Nothing about it was tight enough to harbor a self-respecting germ. It was the rise of twenty feet square, built stoutly of hewn logs, with a sharply pitched board roof, a movable loft, a plank floor boasting inch-wide cracks, a door, two windows and a fireplace that took up a full half of one end. In front of the fireplace stretched a rough stone hearth, a yard in depth. Sundry and several cranes swung against the chimney-breast. When fully in commission they held pots enough to cook for a regiment. The pots themselves, of cast iron, with close-fitting tops, ran from two to ten gallons in capacity, had rounded bottoms with three pertly outstanding legs, and ears either side for the iron pot-hooks, which varied in size even as did the pots themselves."

I Love Coffee!: Over 100 Easy and Delicious Coffee Drinks


Susan Zimmer - 2007
    It's an addiciton. It's . . . coffee. Celebrate this delicious drink with this engaging book of recipes.Now coffee lovers can make delicious cappuccinos, cold coffee quenchers, decadent coffee desserts, and classy coffee martinis year-round using simple techniques with gourmet results in this indispensable coffee guide and cookbook.In I Love Coffee! coffee connoisseur Susan Zimmer shares expert advice and techniques, from how to brew the perfect cup and how to make a basic cappuccino without a machine to a World Barista Latte Art Champion's tips for making masterful latte art designs. It is brimful with a wealth of coffee understanding from the "ground" up, from bean to cup, including international coffees and brewing techniques best suited to a variety of preferences, all topped off with plenty of problem-solving tips and delectable full-color photographs.* I Love Coffee! features over 100 easy-to-make coffee drinks, including the Black Forest Latte, Sugar-Free Java Chai Latte, Iced Orange Mochaccino, Tiramisú Martini, and Candy Cane Latte.* I Love Coffee! brings the passion for coffee into your home with a creative variety of hot and cold drinks. It is the ultimate how-to handbook for the 111 million coffee drinkers in North America.

The Low Carb Cookbook: The Complete Guide to the Healthy Low-Carbohydrate Lifestyle--With Over 250 Delicious Recipes, Everything You Need to Know about Stocking the Pantry, and Sources for the Best Prepared Foods and Ingredients


Fran McCullough - 1997
    Supporting a growing nutritional movement that emphasizes a reduction in carbohydrate intake, the author of Great Food without Fuss, who herself lost sixty pounds on a low-carb diet, provides readers with all the detailed information they need to make the dietary switch.

BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts


Stella Parks - 2017
    Whether down-home delights like Blueberry Muffins and Glossy Fudge Brownies or supermarket mainstays such as Vanilla Wafers and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, your favorites are all here. These meticulously tested recipes bring an award-winning pastry chef’s expertise into your kitchen, along with advice on how to “mix it up” with over 200 customizable variations—in short, exactly what you’d expect from a cookbook penned by a senior editor at Serious Eats. Yet BraveTart is much more than a cookbook, as Stella Parks delves into the surprising stories of how our favorite desserts came to be, from chocolate chip cookies that predate the Tollhouse Inn to the prohibition-era origins of ice cream sodas and floats. With a foreword by The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt, vintage advertisements for these historical desserts, and breathtaking photography from Penny De Los Santos, BraveTart is sure to become an American classic.

Mediterranean Diet Cookbook: A Lifestyle of Healthy Foods


Stacy Michaels - 2013
    More accurately, it is a lifestyle involving activities, foods, and wine in moderation. The Mediterranean Diet has been studied and documented by numerous leading scientists as one of the healthiest lifestyles in the world.</p><h2 align="center"><br>In this book, you will find excerpts from leading scientific studies citing the health benefits of following a Mediterranean Diet, along with reference to the full length study should you wish to do further research on your own.</h2><p>Almost as important is the fact that the Mediterranean Diet is full of delightfully appetizing, flavor-filled dishes and meals, and this cookbook will provide you with a variety of easy, yet healthy and delectable dishes such as these:</p><ul><li>Sicilian-Style Strata</li><li>Seared Sea Scallops with Spinach and Toasted Pistachios</li><li>Portuguese Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes</li><li>Cioppino with Cod, Mussels &amp; Shrimp</li><li>Almond-Crusted Chicken with Romesco Sauce</li><li>Mediterranean Pizza</li><li>Figs with Balsamic Vinegar, Mascarpone, and Walnuts</li></ul><h2 align="center">Doing things in moderation is a wise approach in everything we do in life.&nbsp;</h2><p>A balanced and healthy diet should accommodate most foods and drinks, and this can be accomplished if the diet is based on the fundamentals of moderation and wise choices.&nbsp;&nbsp; Savoring a grilled steak with a glass of red wine and topping it with a small piece of cake are important aspects of being human.&nbsp; But as always, moderation is the key.</p>

Make-a-mix Cookery


Karine Eliason - 1978
    Made with 58 easy do-it-yourself mixes. Better nutrition. No preservatives. Enjoy delicious breads, breakfasts, main dishes, appetizers and super desserts.

The Pleasures of Cooking for One


Judith Jones - 2009
    It’s a fulfilling and immensely economical process, one perfectly suited for our times—although, as Jones points out, cooking for one also means we can occasionally indulge ourselves in a favorite treat.Throughout, Jones is both our instructor and our mentor, suggesting basic recipes—such as tomato sauce, preserved lemons, pesto, and homemade stock—that all cooks should have on hand; teaching us how to improvise using an ingenious strategy of building meals through the week; and supplying us with a lifetime’s worth of tips and shortcuts. From Child’s advice for buying fresh meat to Beard’s challenge to beginning crêpe-makers and Lidia Bastianich’s tips for cooking perfectly sauced pasta, Jones’s book presents a wealth of acquired knowledge from our finest cooks.The Pleasures of Cooking for One is a vibrant, wise celebration of food and enjoying our own company from one of our most treasured cooking experts.

Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza


Ken Forkish - 2012
    For Portland-based baker Ken Forkish, well-made bread is more than just a pleasure—it is a passion that has led him to create some of the best and most critically lauded breads and pizzas in the country. In Flour Water Salt Yeast, Forkish translates his obsessively honed craft into scores of recipes for rustic boules and Neapolitan-style pizzas, all suited for the home baker. Forkish developed and tested all of the recipes in his home oven, and his impeccable formulas and clear instructions result in top-quality artisan breads and pizzas that stand up against those sold in the best bakeries anywhere. Whether you’re a total beginner or a serious baker, Flour Water Salt Yeast has a recipe that suits your skill level and time constraints: Start with a straight dough and have fresh bread ready by supper time, or explore pre-ferments with a bread that uses biga or poolish. If you’re ready to take your baking to the next level, follow Forkish’s step-by-step guide to making a levain starter with only flour and water, and be amazed by the delicious complexity of your naturally leavened bread. Pizza lovers can experiment with a variety of doughs and sauces to create the perfect pie using either a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet. Flour Water Salt Yeast is more than just a collection of recipes for amazing bread and pizza—it offers a complete baking education, with a thorough yet accessible explanation of the tools and techniques that set artisan bread apart. Featuring a tutorial on baker’s percentages, advice for manipulating ingredients ratios to create custom doughs, tips for adapting bread baking schedules to fit your day-to-day life, and an entire chapter that demystifies the levain-making process, Flour Water Salt Yeast is an indispensable resource for bakers who want to make their daily bread exceptional bread.

The Mediterranean Table: Simple Recipes for Healthy Living on the Mediterranean Diet


Sonoma Press - 2015
    The cuisine of the Mediterranean is some of most nourishing and delicious in the world, and The Mediterranean Table includes more than 150 recipes that promise to make keeping the Mediterranean diet a natural, simple lifestyle change.While other Mediterranean cookbooks have a strict culinary focus or a strict diet focus, The Mediterranean Table marries the two—and proves that you don’t have to have a Sicilian grandmother to fill your kitchen with the flavors and traditions of this classic way of eating. With cooking tips, easy-to-prepare recipes, detailed nutritional information, an at-a-glance meal plan, and regional spotlights for every recipe, The Mediterranean Table will take readers on a culinary journey through Southern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East, all while sharing a time-tested tradition of healthy eating.

Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You): Low-Fat Recipes with Half the Fuss and Double the Taste: A Cookbook


Frances Price - 1997
    Healthy Cooking for Two (or Just You) by Frances Price offers:* More than 200 creative, low-fat recipes for today's smaller households* Unique two-column recipe format for hassle-free preparation* Tips on shopping for one or two, and streamlining your kitchen* Full nutrient analysis with every recipe* Special chapter of delicious, no-fuss menus* Plenty of 30-minute recipes-- plus meatless meals, divine desserts, tip-packed boxes and more

Dinner: Changing the Game: A Cookbook


Melissa Clark - 2017
    With more than 200 all-new recipes, Dinner is about options: inherently simple recipes that you can make any night of the week.Each recipe in this book is meant to be dinner--one fantastic dish that is so satisfying and flavor-forward it can stand alone--maybe with a little salad or some bread on the side. This is what Melissa Clark means by changing the game. Organized by main ingredient--chicken, meat, fish and seafood, eggs, pasta and noodles, tofu, vegetable dinners, grains, pizza, soups, and salads that mean it--Dinner covers an astonishing breadth of ideas about just what dinner can be. There is something for every mood, season, and the amount of time you have: sheet pan chicken laced with spicy harissa, burgers amped with chorizo, curried lentils with poached eggs, to name just a few dishes in this indispensable collection. Here, too, are easy flourishes that make dinner exceptional: stir charred lemon into pasta, toss creamy Caesar-like dressing on a grain bowl.Melissa Clark's mission is to help anyone, whether a novice or an experienced home cook, figure out what to have for dinner without ever settling on fallbacks.

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking


Samin Nosrat - 2017
    Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhances flavor; Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture; Acid, which balances flavor; and Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food—and anything you cook will be delicious. By explaining the hows and whys of good cooking, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will teach and inspire a new generation of cooks how to confidently make better decisions in the kitchen and cook delicious meals with any ingredients, anywhere, at any time. Echoing Samin’s own journey from culinary novice to award-winning chef, Salt, Fat Acid, Heat immediately bridges the gap between home and professional kitchens. With charming narrative, illustrated walkthroughs, and a lighthearted approach to kitchen science, Samin demystifies the four elements of good cooking for everyone. Refer to the canon of 100 essential recipes—and dozens of variations—to put the lessons into practice and make bright, balanced vinaigrettes, perfectly caramelized roast vegetables, tender braised meats, and light, flaky pastry doughs. Featuring 150 illustrations and infographics that reveal an atlas to the world of flavor by renowned illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat will be your compass in the kitchen. Destined to be a classic, it just might be the last cookbook you’ll ever need. With a foreword by Michael Pollan.

Old Havana Cookbook: Cuban Recipes in Spanish and English (Bilingual Cookbooks)


Rafael Marcos - 1999
    It was a popular winter destination for North American tourists in the 1950s, and this cookbook recaptures the spirit of Old Havana-- Habana la vieja-- and its celebrated culinary traditions. Cuban cuisine, though derived from its mother country, Spain, has been modified and refined by locally available foods like pork, rice, corn, beans and sugar, and the requirements of a tropical climate. Fine Gulf Stream fish, crabs and lobsters, and an almost infinite variety of vegetables and luscious tropical fruits also have their places on the traditional Cuban table. This cookbook includes over 50 recipes, each in Spanish with side-by-side English translation-- all of them classic Cuban fare and old Havana specialties adapted for the North American kitchen. Among the recipes included are: Ajiaco (famous Cuban Stew), Boiled Pargo with Avocado Sauce, Lobster Havanaise, Tamal en Cazuela (Soft Tamal), Quimbombo (okra), Picadillo, Roast Suckling Pig, and Boniatillo (Sweet Potato Dulce), along with a whole chapter on famous Cuban cocktails and beverages.

The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook


Robyn Webb - 2011
    Unfortunately, most people think that having diabetes means the days of enjoying these hearty classics are long gone, and that their favorite foods are a thing of the past. Author Robyn Webb shows that healthy eating doesn't have to mean giving up on favorite foods! Diabetes can be overwhelming, but it doesn't mean reinventing the wheel when it comes to cooking. Just a tweak here and there and familiar foods can remain favorites, guilt-free, and enjoyed every day.The American Diabetes Association Diabetes Comfort Food Cookbook creates a “go-to” collection of updated comfort foods for families that need to cook nutritionally sound and diabetic-friendly meals that will satisfy and soothe the souls of the member (or members) of the family with diabetes—and do the same for the rest of the family. No need to cook two meals to please everyone in the household. Now everyone can enjoy the same hearty and nutritious meals. This book will ease the stress of planning meals by offering easy and flavorful recipes and a menu planning guide that allows for mix and match meals that will keep everyone in the family happy, healthy, and satisfied.Filled with gorgeous original photography and a beautiful four-color design, this cookbook will look as good as it's meals. Sprinkled with helpful tips and time-saving advice, The American Diabetes Association Comfort Food Cookbook will not only make classic comfort foods healthier and diabetes friendly, it will make them a snap to prepare as well.Following a diabetic meal plan doesn't have to be a flavorless chore. Now everyone can enjoy the classic foods they know and love!

Bar Tartine: Techniques & Recipes


Nicolaus Balla - 2014
    Bar Tartine--co-founded by Tartine Bakery's Chad Robertson and Elisabeth Prueitt--is obsessed over by locals and visitors, critics and chefs. It is a restaurant that defies categorization, but not description: Everything is made in-house and layered into extraordinarily flavorful food. Helmed by Nick Balla and Cortney Burns, it draws on time-honored processes (such as fermentation, curing, pickling), and a core that runs through the cuisines of Central Europe, Japan, and Scandinavia to deliver a range of dishes from soups to salads, to shared plates and sweets. With more than 150 photographs, this highly anticipated cookbook is a true original.