Nancy Silverton's Pastries from the La Brea Bakery


Nancy Silverton - 2000
    But the locals clamored for more, so owner Nancy Silverton--to ever-widening acclaim--introduced everyone's favorite sweets, including cookies, tarts, crisps, and crumbles. The irresistible sights and smells of a good local sweets shop permeate her second cookbook, Pastries from the La Brea Bakery, a follow-up and companion to Breads from the La Brea Bakery. The recipes are designed with the novice baker in mind (baking tools and ingredients are indexed with brief explanations of importance), but the book courts all levels of baking experience. For the more advanced, Silverton shows how to visually accentuate her creations with richly colored fruits and sugars that create varying caramelized effects in delicious ways. Dough recipes include bobka, brioche, and croissants; in the more decadent sweets department are recipes for cookies, tarts, scones, and an entire chapter on doughnuts. Once you get stuck in La Brea you'll have a deliciously hard time getting out. --Teresa Simanton

No Need to Knead: Handmade Artisan Breads in 90 minutes


Suzanne Dunaway - 1999
    Now imagine if you could make this and other breads completely from scratch with your own hands in less than ninety minutes from start to hot out of the oven.In No Need to Knead, acclaimed professional baker Suzanne Dunaway reveals her truly revolutionary technique for baking unforgettable Italian breads that require no fussy steps, no special equipment, and no anxiety. Here are the Focaccia, Filoncino, Ciabatta, and Pane Rustico of your dreams. Dunaway also provides recipes for breads from around the world: traditional breads (like the best ever Sourdough Bisciuts and Skillet Corn Bread), sweet loaves (Classic Brioche and Sourdough Lemon Cake are just two), and special breads (from African Spice Bread to Russian Kulich). And there are dozens of recipes for Italian and other dishes you can make with bread including classic pizze, simple bruschette, bread soufflés, bread soups, bread salads, and bread desserts (try the knockout Chocolate Bread Pudding). There are even recipes for fun breads to make with children.Inspired by the honest simplicity of rustic Italian loaves, Dunaway spent years testing and experimenting to develop her radical technique for baking bread. While trying to reproduce the incredible Pane Casereccio (housewife's bread) she tasted in Rome, Dunaway discovered that stirring a very wet dough (as opposed to kneading a drier one) allows the dough to retain oxygen and moisture, yielding a loaf with incredible texture and taste. Maximizing surface area and baking the bread at a higher temperature than normal gives the bread its remarkable signature crust.With Dunaway's guidance, you will be making a Kalamata Olive Filoncino glistening with sea salt and infused with a tangy olive taste, and a classic chewy Focaccia. What's more, many of the basic bread doughs are fat-free, sugar-free, and dairy-free. So let Dunaway take the fear and work out of baking bread and show you how to make world-class loaves that are foolproof, fantastically delicious, and incredibly satisfying to the soul.

Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat


Chrissy Teigen - 2016
    Maybe she’s making people laugh on TV. But all Chrissy Teigen really wants to do is talk about dinner. Or breakfast. Lunch gets some love, too.For years, she’s been collecting, cooking, and Instagramming her favorite recipes, and here they are: from breakfast all day to John’s famous fried chicken with spicy honey butter to her mom’s Thai classics. Salty, spicy, saucy, and fun as sin (that’s the food, but that’s Chrissy, too), these dishes are for family, for date night at home, for party time, and for a few life-sucks moments (salads). You’ll learn the importance of chili peppers, the secret to cheesy-cheeseless eggs, and life tips like how to use bacon as a home fragrance, the single best way to wake up in the morning, and how not to overthink men or Brussels sprouts. Because for Chrissy Teigen, cooking, eating, life, and love are one and the same.

How to Make Bread: Step-by-step recipes for yeasted breads, sourdoughs, soda breads and pastries


Emmanuel Hadjiandreou - 2011
    The book starts by explaining the key to good bread: why flour, yeast and temperature are important, and which kitchen equipment makes life easier. In Basic Breads, you’ll learn how to make a Basic White Loaf with clear, step-by-step photos. With this method, you’ll have the base for a number of variations. The rest of the book covers Wheat- or Gluten-free Breads, Sourdoughs, Flavoured Yeasted Breads, and Pastries and Morning Bakes—in more than 60 easy-to-follow recipes.

Instant Pot® Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Quick & Easy Recipes for Everyday Eating


Sara Quessenberry - 2017
    The Instant Pot® Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook--an authorized Instant Pot® cookbook--will help you feel comfortable using all the convenient features of your Instant Pot®, from cooking fluffy rice and pressure cooking root vegetables, to making homemade yogurt and slow cooking meats, and features more than 75 delicious, family-friendly recipes, including: Spinach and Herb Lasagna Balsamic Beef Short Ribs Pulled Pork Sandwiches Vegetable Green Thai Curry Spice-Rubbed Cauliflower Steaks Bone Broth with Fresh Ginger Crème Brûlée Double Chocolate Cheesecake From healthy breakfasts and sides to scrumptious mains and decadent desserts, these low-maintenance recipes will help you get a meal on the table in a fraction of the time of conventional cooking methods. With easy-to-follow instructions and full-color photos throughout, discover all that your Instant Pot® can achieve with this go-to pressure cooking cookbook.

The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book: 500 Easy Recipes for Every Machine, Both Stovetop and Electric


Bruce Weinstein - 2015
    The Great Big Pressure Cooker Book has recipes for every device, stovetop and electric, no matter the manufacturer. Whether you're seeking an adventurous array of spices, found in dishes such as Cherry Chipotle Pulled Chicken or Smashed Sweet Potatoes with Pineapple and Ginger, or pure comfort food, like French Toast Bread Pudding or Classic Pot Roast and Potatoes, you'll find the perfect recipe--each labeled by level of ease--to feed your family. This is the only pressure cooker book you'll ever need.

The Mac + Cheese Cookbook: 50 Simple Recipes from Homeroom, America's Favorite Mac and Cheese Restaurant


Erin Wade - 2013
    But there’s no need to rely on prefab mixes—all you need is a handful of kitchen staples, some tasty cheese, and a little insider advice courtesy of Homeroom restaurant. This perennially popular Oakland, California, eatery—with its entire menu devoted to mac and cheese—now shares its secrets for the best-ever mac recipes.   These inventive dishes offer something for everyone: nostalgic homestyle recipes like Tuna Mac, international varieties like Sriracha Mac, decadent delights like Truffle Mac, and even the logic-defying Vegan Mac. You’ll also find recipes for quick veggie sides like Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and old-school desserts like frozen Peanut Butter Pie. With a basics section on perfecting mac sauce, choosing the best noodles, and customizing add-ins and toppings, plus an emphasis on quality ingredients and simple techniques, this fun, playful cookbook shows cheese-loving readers how to take this comfort-food staple to creative new heights.

Ample Hills Creamery: Secrets and Stories from Brooklyn’s Favorite Ice Cream Shop


Brian Smith - 2014
    Lines wind around the block, spurred on by the chance to try one of their unforget­table flavors, and these and countless others will be dreamed up in kitchens across the country with the help of Ample Hills Creamery. Featuring recipes for the most sought-after flavors—including Salted Crack Caramel, Ooey Gooey, and the Munchies—the book is organized by mood. Are you feeling nostalgic? Try a scoop of Black Cow Float. Or maybe you need a drink? Daddy’s Sundae, made with bourbon, will set you right. For kids and kids-at-heart, stories, activities, and hand-drawn characters appear throughout each chapter, offering games, helpful tips, and inspiration for creating new flavors. With mouthwatering photography and charming illustrations, Ample Hills Creamery is a definitive, cow-filled guide for ice cream lovers and DIY enthusiasts alike.

Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking


Fuchsia Dunlop - 2013
    Following her two seminal volumes on Sichuan and Hunan cooking, Every Grain of Rice is inspired by the vibrant everyday cooking of southern China, in which vegetables play the starring role, with small portions of meat and fish.Try your hand at stir-fried potato slivers with chili pepper, vegetarian "Gong Bao Chicken," sour-and-hot mushroom soup, or, if you’re ever in need of a quick fix, Fuchsia’s emergency late-night noodles. Many of the recipes require few ingredients and are ridiculously easy to make. Fuchsia also includes a comprehensive introduction to the key seasonings and techniques of the Chinese kitchen. With stunning photography and clear instructions, this is an essential cookbook for everyone, beginner and connoisseur alike, eager to introduce Chinese dishes into their daily cooking repertoire.

From Junk Food to Joy Food: All the Foods You Love to Eat...Only Better


Joy Bauer - 2016
    But best-selling author and TODAY show nutrition expert Joy Bauer is fresh from her kitchen with news for you: You can have your cheesecake and eat it, too! In these bright, colorful pages, Joy shares how you can drop the calories in your most fattening favorites—without compromising flavor. With a few simple tricks, she transforms a bacon cheeseburger from a whopping 1,100 calories to a mere 425 . . . and General Tso’s Chicken from an alarming 1,000 to a slimming 260.  From Boston cream pie to spaghetti and meatballs, mint chocolate chip ice cream to Buffalo wings with creamy bleu cheese dip, Joy takes the most decadent treats from fat to fit. Want to give a BLT some TLC? Joy’s take on this classic comfort food could save you 35,000 calories annually—with the potential to drop 10 pounds! Featuring more than 120 recipes and oodles of gorgeous photos, From Junk Food to Joy Food has you covered from sun up to late night: breakfasts, dips, soups, sides, suppers, pizzas, pastas, desserts, mocktails, and more. Don’t deny yourself the flavors you love—learn to make them with joy!

Baking for Two: The Small-Batch Baking Cookbook for Sweet and Savory Treats


Tracy Yabiku - 2016
    But when you’re baking for a smaller household, leftovers either go to waste or straight to your waist. Luckily, Baking for Two has reengineered your favorite baking recipes to achieve the same delicious results in perfectly sized portions. With Baking for Two you’ll create foolproof, scaled-down versions of your favorite sweet and savory baked goods.

Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes


Alison Roman - 2017
    But all of the recipes in Dining In have one thing in common: they make even the most oven-phobic or restaurant-crazed person want to stay home and cook. They prove that casual doesn't have to mean boring, simple doesn't have to be uninspired, and that more steps or ingredients don't always translate to a better plate of food.Vegetable-forward but with an affinity for a mean steak and a deep regard for fresh fish, Dining In is all about building flavor and saving time. Alison's ingenuity seduces seasoned cooks, while her warm, edgy writing makes these recipes practical and approachable enough for the novice. With 125 recipes for effortlessly chic dishes that are full of quick-trick techniques (think slathering roast chicken in anchovy butter, roasting citrus to ramp up the flavor, and keeping boiled potatoes in the fridge for instant crispy smashed potatoes), she proves that dining in brings you just as much joy as eating out.

Michael Symon's 5 in 5: 5 Fresh Ingredients + 5 Minutes = 120 Fantastic Dinners


Michael Symon - 2013
    For ABC's The Chew, he developed a brilliant, simple formula to help home cooks pull together fresh, from-scratch meals on weeknights: a maximum of five fresh ingredients that cook in five minutes. This cookbook ties into the segment, featuring dazzlingly quick, satisfying dinners that the whole family will love.     Michael first teaches readers how to set up their pantries with essentials that make whipping up dinner easy. Then he shares 120 recipes for pastas, skillet dinners, egg dishes, grilled mains, kebabs, foil packets, and sandwiches illustrated in 75 photographs. This is streamlined cooking for busy families and firmly solves the "what's for dinner?" conundrum for home cooks everywhere.

Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables


Abra Berens - 2019
    From confit to caramelized and everything in between—braised, blistered, roasted and raw—the cooking methods covered here make this cookbook a go-to reference. You will never look at vegetables the same way again.Organized alphabetically by vegetable from asparagus to zucchini, each chapter opens with an homage to the ingredients and variations on how to prepare them.With 300 recipes and 140 photographs that show off not only the finished dishes, but also the vegetables and farms behind them.If you are a fan of Plenty More, Six Seasons, Where Cooking Begins, or On Vegetables, you'll love Ruffage . Ruffage will help you become empowered to shop for, store, and cook vegetables every day and in a variety of ways as a side or a main meal. Take any vegetable recipe in this book and add a roasted chicken thigh, seared piece of fish, or hard-boiled egg to turn the dish into a meal not just vegetarians will enjoy.Mouthwatering recipes include Shaved Cabbage with Chili Oil, Cilantro, and Charred Melon, Blistered Cucumbers with Cumin Yogurt and Parsley, Charred Head Lettuce with Hard-Boiled Egg, Anchovy Vinaigrette, and Garlic Bread Crumbs, Massaged Kale with Creamed Mozzarella, Tomatoes, and Wild Rice, Poached Radishes with White Wine, Chicken Stock and Butter, and much more.

Surprise-Inside Cakes: Amazing Cakes for Every Occasion--with a Little Something Extra Inside


Amanda Rettke - 2013
    Whether it's a striking all-white cake with a secret rainbow heart baked inside, a birthday cake complete with a surprise balloon in the middle, or the gorgeous rose cake that took the blogging world by storm, Amanda's creations are downright revolutionary—and tons of fun! In Surprise-Inside Cakes, she gives us fresh new ways to enjoy life's greatest occasions, with themes and cakes including:Celebrating Family—Stripe Birthday Cake, Paw Print Cake, Rainbow Cake Celebrating You—Leopard Cake, Herringbone Cake, Cowboy Boot Cake Celebrating Love—Kiss Cake, Ring Cake, Sunset Cake Celebrating Holidays—Jack-o'-lantern Cake, Rudolph Cake, Holiday Candle Cake Celebrating Life—Football Cake, Cherry Cake, Smiley Face CakeFeaturing a few classic favorite cakes from her blog and more than forty brand-new cakes—along with her easy-to-follow instructions and step-by-step photo tutorials—Surprise-Inside Cakes shows you how to replicate these incredible designs in your own kitchen.To make these dazzling cakes, you can start with one of Amanda's delicious, foolproof recipes for cakes and frostings, or use a boxed cake mix or favorite family recipe. With tips on how to bake a level cake, tricks using household items such as rulers, biscuit cutters, and cookie cutters to carve and shape cakes, and Amanda's simple yet stunning frosting and decorating ideas, you'll not only be re-creating these amazing cakes for occasions large and small, you'll soon be using her techniques to create your own surprises!And your friends and family will be thrilled and delighted when a beautiful cake opens to reveal a special gift inside.