Good Eats: The Middle Years


Alton Brown - 2010
    Showcasing everything Alton Brown fans (and they are legion!) have ever wanted to know about his award-winning television show, The Middle Years is chock-full of behind-the-scenes photographs and trivia, science-of-food information, cooking tips, and—of course—recipes.Brown’s particular genius lies in teaching the chemistry of cooking with levity and exuberance. In episodes such as “Fit to Be Tied” (meat roulades), “Crustacean Nation” (crab), and “Ill-Gotten Grains” (wheat products), Brown explains everything from how to make the perfect omelet to how to stuff your own sausages. With hundreds of entertaining photographs, along with Brown’s inimitable line drawings and signature witty writing, this comprehensive companion book conveys the same wildly creative spirit as the show itself.

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.

Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Easy Recipes for Fast & Healthy Meals


Laurel Randolph - 2016
    The Instant Pot® Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook will teach you to create a variety of healthy, easy-to-make recipes with confidence. From savory breakfasts and hearty stews to decadent desserts and more, this Instant Pot® cookbook is sure to satisfy everyone at the table.In the pages of this bestselling Instant Pot® cookbook you’ll find: 100+ no-fuss meals with options for vegetarian, gluten-free, and Paleo-friendly diets Low-maintenance recipe guidelines including pressure levels and cooking times Handy prep-time labels that specify meals that cook in 20 minutes or longer (45+ minutes), as well as kid-friendly dishes Perfect for beginners or long-time enthusiasts, this Instant Pot® cookbook is your A-Z guide for all things Instant Pot®."For this busy mom, [the Instant Pot] was like learning to cook all over again…until I got this Instant Pot cookbook. Whether you are new to the Instant Pot or you are a pressure-cooker pro, this Instant Pot cookbook needs to be in your kitchen!" —Julie Clark, Tastes of Lizzy T blog“This Instant Pot cookbook has everything you need to know to use your Instant Pot…I highly recommend [it], It has been the best purchase I made since getting my Instant Pot.” ―LMFerron, Amazon Top 500 Reviewer

Jacques Pépin Fast Food My Way


Jacques Pépin - 2004
    In this companion volume to his new series on public television, Jacques shows you how to create great-tasting dishes ranging from stunning salads such as Tomato and Mozzarella Fans to Supreme of Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar and Shallot Sauce to his breathtaking Almond Cake with Berries, all special enough for company, yet easy enough for those weekday evenings when you have no time. Fast food Jacques's way involves no compromises in taste but saves you hours in the kitchen. His Instant Beef Tenderloin Stew, for instance, not only is far faster to make than traditional versions, but tastes brighter and fresher. With concise, clear directions, Jacques shares the secrets of his kitchen. He teaches you how to season a salmon fillet perfectly and cook it in a low oven, right on the serving platter. You'll learn how to make a satisfying homemade vegetable soup in seconds, a baked potato in half the usual time, and a succulent roast that takes minutes, not hours, to prepare. He also shows you how to create elegant meals from convenience foods: a bean dip that will keep guests coming back for more, silky soups, and caramelized peaches made from canned peaches. With Jacques Pepin Fast Food My Way at your side, the best food is always the simplest.

Good and Cheap: Eat Well on $4/Day


Leanne Brown - 2011
    government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program informally known as food stamps? The answer is surprisingly well: Broiled Tilapia with Lime, Spicy Pulled Pork, Green Chile and Cheddar Quesadillas, Vegetable Jambalaya, Beet and Chickpea Salad—even desserts like Coconut Chocolate Cookies and Peach Coffee Cake. In addition to creating nutritious recipes that maximize every ingredient and use economical cooking methods, Ms. Brown gives tips on shopping; on creating pantry basics; on mastering certain staples—pizza dough, flour tortillas—and saucy extras that make everything taste better, like spice oil and tzatziki; and how to make fundamentally smart, healthful food choices.Download a free PDF copy at http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks

The Slow Cooker Cookbook: 87 Easy, Healthy, and Delicious Recipes for Slow Cooked Meals


John Chatham - 2012
    Slow cooking offers the best of both worlds -- hearty, healthy meals with minimal effort. The slow cooker, or "Crock Pot" as it is commonly referred to, is well known for its delectable pot roasts and savory stews, but what is less known is that it is capable of so much more. Enter bestselling author John Chatham's latest creation, The Slow Cooker Cookbook, which features 87 recipes that will put your slow cooker to use from breakfast to dessert. The Slow Cooker Cookbook helps eliminate that dreadful feeling of coming home from work tired and wondering what's for dinner. If you own a slow cooker you already know that it's the easiest appliance to operate in the kitchen. But it takes too long you say. Well, that's the point. A slow cooker allows you to throw some ingredients in the pot, safely walk away and get on with your life while it does the work. This cookbook offers recipes for all the traditional comfort food favorites like pot roast, beef stew, pulled pork, BBQ baby back ribs, old fashioned meatloaf, butternut squash soup and even mac 'n cheese. Imagine your home filled with the spicy aromas of Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Ranchero Enchiladas or Braised Asian Beef. Dozens of international recipes feature meals you never dreamed of actually making yourself. And with the slow cooker doing all the work you will feel as though you are dining out. Sounds appealing, but you don't eat meat? The Slow Cooker Cookbook dedicates an entire chapter of recipes to fish and seafood, and is filled with numerous hearty vegetable dishes like White Bean and Rosemary Soup, Eggplant Parmesan and Vegetarian Cassoulet. And if slaving over the stove is your passion then most likely you're not the baking type. Let the slow cooker make dessert. From fruit crumbles and cobblers to hot fudge cake there's virtually no recipe that this cookbook doesn't offer. ASK THE SLOW COOKER COOKBOOK, "WHAT'S FOR DINNER?" 87 delicious slow cooker recipes covering every meal from breakfast to dessert Bonus sections include: "Guide to Entertaining" and "Basics of a Slow Cooker Pantry" Written by bestselling author John Chatham, creator of The Paleo Diet Solution Cookbook, Paleo Slow Cooker and The Mediterranean Diet Simple, healthy, time-saving recipes for the food lover on the go The Slow Cooker Cookbook is an easy step-by-step guide to enjoying hearty, healthy meals without any of the hassle.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl


Ree Drummond - 2008
    Drummond colorfully traces her transition from city life to ranch wife through recipes, photos, and pithy commentary based on her popular, award-winning blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, and whips up delicious, satisfying meals for cowboys and cowgirls alike made from simple, widely available ingredients. The Pioneer Woman Cooks—and with these “Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl,” she pleases the palate and tickles the funny bone at the same time.

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: What You Should and Shouldn't Cook from Scratch -- Over 120 Recipes for the Best Homemade Foods


Jennifer Reese - 2011
    She had never before considered making her own peanut butter and pita bread, let alone curing her own prosciutto or raising turkeys. And though it sounded logical that "doing it yourself" would cost less, she had her doubts. So Reese began a series of kitchen-related experiments, taking into account the competing demands of everyday contemporary American family life as she answers some timely questions: When is homemade better? Cheaper? Are backyard eggs a more ethical choice than store-bought? Will grinding and stuffing your own sausage ruin your week? Is it possible to make an edible maraschino cherry? Some of Reese's discoveries will surprise you: Although you should make your hot dog buns, guacamole, and yogurt, you should probably buy your hamburger buns, potato chips, and rice pudding. Tired? Buy your mayonnaise. Inspired? Make it. With its fresh voice and delightful humor, Make the Bread, Buy the Butter gives 120 recipes with eminently practical yet deliciously fun "Make or buy" recommendations. Reese is relentlessly entertaining as she relates her food and animal husbandry adventures, which amuse and perplex as well as nourish and sustain her family. Her tales include living with a backyard full of cheerful chickens, muttering ducks, and adorable baby goats; countertops laden with lacto-fermenting pickles; and closets full of mellowing cheeses. Here's the full picture of what is involved in a truly homemade life -- with the good news that you shouldn't try to make everything yourself -- and how to get the most out of your time in the kitchen.

Maangchi's Real Korean Cooking: Authentic Dishes for the Home Cook


Maangchi - 2015
    An Internet sensation, Maangchi has won the admiration of home cooks and chefs alike with her trademark combination of good technique and good cheer as she demonstrates the vast and delicious cuisine of Korea. In Maangchi’s Real Korean Cooking, she shows how to cook all the country’s best dishes, from few-ingredient dishes (Spicy Napa Cabbage) to those made familiar by Korean restaurants (L.A. Galbi, Bulgogi, Korean Fried Chicken) to homey one-pots like Bibimbap. For beginners, there are dishes like Spicy Beef and Vegetable Soup and Seafood Scallion Pancake. Maangchi includes a whole chapter of quick, spicy, sour kimchis and quick pickles as well. Banchan, or side dishes (Steamed Eggplant, Pan-Fried Tofu with Spicy Seasoning Sauce, and refreshing Cold Cucumber Soup) are mainstays of the Korean table and can comprise a meal. With her step-by-step photos—800 in all—Maangchi makes every dish a snap. A full glossary, complete with photos, explains ingredients. Throughout, Maangchi suggests substitutions where appropriate and provides tips based on her readers’ questions.

BakeWise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking with Over 200 Magnificent Recipes


Shirley O. Corriher - 2003
    With her years of experience from big-pot cooking at a boarding school and her classic French culinary training to her work as a research biochemist at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Shirley looks at all aspects of baking in a unique and exciting way. She describes useful techniques, such as brushing your puff pastry with ice water—not just brushing off the flour—to make the pastry higher, lighter, and flakier. She can help you make moist cakes; shrink-proof perfect meringues; big, crisp cream puffs; amazing pastries; and crusty, incredibly flavorful, open-textured French breads, such as baguettes. Restaurant chefs and culinary students know Shirley from their grease-splattered copies of CookWise, an encyclopedic work that has saved them from many a cooking disaster. With numerous “At-a-Glance” charts, BakeWise gives busy people information for quick problem solving. BakeWise also includes Shirley's signature “What This Recipe Shows” in every recipe. This scientific and culinary information can apply to hundreds of recipes, not just the one in which it appears. BakeWise does not have just a single source of knowledge; Shirley loves reading the works of chefs and other good cooks and shares their tips with you, too. She applies not only her expertise but that of the many artisans she admires, such as famous French pastry chefs Gaston Lenôtre and Chef Roland Mesnier, the White House pastry chef for twenty-five years; and Bruce Healy, author of Mastering the Art of French Pastry. Shirley also retrieves "lost arts" from experts of the past such as Monroe Boston Strause, the pie master of 1930s America. For one dish, she may give you techniques from three or four different chefs plus her own touch of science—“better baking through chemistry.” She adds facts such as the right temperature, the right mixing speed, and the right mixing time for the absolutely most stable egg foam, so you can create a light-as-air génoise every time. Beginners can cook from BakeWise to learn exactly what they are doing and why. Experienced bakers find out why the techniques they use work and also uncover amazing pastries from the past, such as Pont Neuf (a creation of puff pastry, pâte à choux, and pastry cream) and Religieuses, adorable “little nuns” made of puff pastry filled with a satiny chocolate pastry cream and drizzled with mocha icing. Some will want it simply for the recipes—incredibly moist whipped cream pound cake made with heavy cream; flourless fruit soufflés; chocolate crinkle cookies with gooey, fudgy centers; huge popovers; famed biscuits. But this book belongs on every baker's shelf.

How to Cook Without a Book: Recipes and Techniques Every Cook Should Know by Heart


Pam Anderson - 2000
    Times have changed. Today we have an overwhelming array of ingredients and a fraction of the cooking time, but Anderson believes the secret to getting dinner on the table lies in the past. After a long day, who has the energy to look up a recipe and search for the right ingredients before ever starting to cook? To make dinner night after night, Anderson believes the first two steps--looking for a recipe, then scrambling for the exact ingredients--must be eliminated.  Understanding that most recipes are simply "variations on a theme," she innovatively teaches technique, ultimately eliminating the need for recipes.Once the technique or formula is mastered, Anderson encourages inexperienced as well as veteran cooks to spread their culinary wings.  For example, after learning to sear a steak, it's understood that the same method works for scallops, tuna, hamburger, swordfish, salmon, pork tenderloin, and more. You never need to look at a recipe again. Vary the look and flavor of these dishes with interchangeable pan sauces, salsas, relishes, and butters.Best of all, these recipes rise above the mundane Monday-through-Friday fare.  Imagine homemade ravioli and lasagna for weeknight supper, or from-scratch tomato sauce before the pasta water has even boiled.  Last-minute guests? Dress up simple tomato sauce with capers and olives or shrimp and red pepper flakes. Drizzle sautéed chicken breasts with a balsamic vinegar pan sauce. Anderson teaches you how to do it--without a recipe. Don't buy exotic ingredients and follow tedious instructions for making hors d'oeuvres. Forage through the pantry and refrigerator for quick appetizers. The ingredients are all there; the method is in your head. Master four simple potato dishes--a bake, a cake, a mash, and a roast--compatible with many meals. Learn how to make the five-minute dinner salad, easily changing its look and flavor depending on the season and occasion. Tuck a few dessert techniques in your back pocket and effortlessly turn any meal into a special occasion.There's real rhyme and reason to Pam's method at the beginning of every chapter: To dress greens, "Drizzle salad with oil, salt, and pepper, then toss until just slick. Sprinkle in some vinegar to give it a little kick." To make a frittata, "Cook eggs without stirring until set around the edges. Bake until puffy, then cut it into wedges." Each chapter also contains a helpful at-a-glance chart that highlights the key points of every technique, and a master recipe with enough variations to keep you going until you've learned how to cook without a book.

Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist


Tim Federle - 2013
    You fought through War and Peace, burned through Fahrenheit 451, and sailed through Moby-Dick. All right, you nearly drowned in Moby-Dick, but you made it to shore—and you deserve a drink!A fun gift for barflies and a terrific treat for book clubs, Tequila Mockingbird is the ultimate cocktail book for the literary obsessed. Featuring 65 delicious drink recipes—paired with wry commentary on history's most beloved novels—the book also includes bar bites, drinking games, and whimsical illustrations throughout.Even if you don't have a B.A. in English, tonight you're gonna drink like you do. Drinks include:- The Pitcher of Dorian Grey Goose- The Last of the Mojitos- Love in the Time of Kahlua- Romeo and Julep- A Rum of One’s Own- Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margarita- Vermouth the Bell Tollsand more!

Planet Barbecue!: 309 Recipes, 60 Countries


Steven Raichlen - 2010
    Setting out—again—on the barbecue trail four years ago, Steven Raichlen visited 60 countries—yes, 60 countries—and collected 309 of the tastiest, most tantalizing, easy-to-make, and guaranteed-to-wow recipes from every corner of the globe. Welcome to Planet Barbecue, the book that will take America’s passionate, obsessive, smoke-crazed live-fire cooks to the next level. Planet Barbecue, with full-color photographs throughout, is an unprecedented marriage of food and culture. Here, for example, is how the world does pork: in the Puerto Rican countryside cooks make Lechon Asado—stud a pork shoulder with garlic and oregano, baste it with annatto oil, and spit-roast it. From the Rhine-Palatine region of Germany comes Spiessbraten, thick pork steaks seasoned with nutmeg and grilled over a low, smoky fire. From Seoul, South Korea, Sam Gyeop Sal—grilled sliced pork belly. From Montevideo, Uruguay, Bandiola—butterflied pork loin stuffed with ham, cheese, bacon, and peppers. From Cape Town, South Africa, Sosaties—pork kebabs with dried apricots and curry. And so it goes for beef, fish, vegetables, shellfish—says Steven, "Everything tastes better grilled."In addition to the recipes the book showcases inventive ways to use the grill: Australia's Lamb on a Shovel, Bogota's Lomo al Trapo (Salt-Crusted Beef Tenderloin Grilled in Cloth), and from the Charantes region of France, Eclade de Moules—Mussels Grilled on Pine Needles. Do try this at home. What a planet—what a book.

Slow Cooker Comfort Foods


Bonnie Scott - 2013
    There is also a tasty assortment of stews, pork dishes, beef recipes, casseroles and desserts that everyone will enjoy.You will find many recipes you'll love inside Slow Cooker Comfort Foods cookbook including the tastiest, easiest recipes that are perfect for work nights, family gatherings and leisurely weekends. These recipes use ingredients you’ll find right on your pantry shelves or at a nearby store, and with no-fuss slow cooking, you’re out of the kitchen while your meal virtually cooks itself. Your slow cooker is an easy way to have a great meal ready and waiting at the end of a busy demanding day.With recipes like Beer Cheese Soup, Tex-Mex Turkey and Cranberry-Orange Pork Roast, you will find recipes your family will be asking for again and again.

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day


The Moosewood Collective - 1994
    Busy balancing home, work, and other commitments, they've been cooking for family and friends every day of the week for over twenty years. Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home is the result of that experience -- over 150 carefully honed and tested recipes calling for the best ingredients, accompanied by time-saving tips and planning suggestions, add up to a delicious whole-foods cuisine that is versatile and healthful and can be prepared with a minimum of effort.This book contains dishes full of exciting flavors, sure to please every taste, from savory soups to substantial main-dish salads, from hearty stews to palate-teasing "small dishes." Sauces, salsas and dressings, and a collection of almost-instant desserts turn the simplest meal into an occasion.Chapters on techniques and menu planning, lists of recipes for special needs, including nondairy and vegan fare and kid-pleasing food, as well as an in-depth guide to stocking the meatless pantry (including a list of recommended convenience foods), make Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home the essential companion to everyday cooking.