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.

Dirt Candy: A Cookbook: Flavor-Forward Food from the Upstart New York City Vegetarian Restaurant


Amanda Cohen - 2012
    Her vegetable recipes are sophisticated and daring, beloved by omnivore, vegetarian, and vegan diners alike. Dirt Candy: A Cookbook shares the secrets to making her flavorful dishes—from indulgent Stone-Ground Grits with Pickled Shiitakes and Tempura Poached Egg, to hearty Smoked Cauliflower and Waffles with Horseradish Cream Sauce, to playfully addictive Popcorn Pudding with Caramel Popcorn. It also details Amanda’s crazy story of building a restaurant from the ground up to its currently being one of the hardest-to-get reservations in New York City—all illustrated as a brilliant graphic novel. Both a great read and a source of kitchen inspiration, Dirt Candy: A Cookbook is a must-have for any home cook looking to push the boundaries of vegetable cooking.

My Berlin Kitchen: A Love Story (with Recipes)


Luisa Weiss - 2012
    The Julie/Julia Project. In the early days of food blogs, these were the pioneers whose warmth and recipes turned their creators’ kitchens into beloved web destinations. Luisa Weiss was working in New York when she decided to cook her way through her massive recipe collection. The Wednesday Chef, the cooking blog she launched to document her adventures, charmed readers around the world. But Luisa never stopped longing to return to her childhood home in Berlin. A food memoir with recipes, My Berlin Kitchen deliciously chronicles how she finally took the plunge and went across the ocean in search of happiness—only to find love waiting where she least expected it.

The Kitchen Diaries: A Year in the Kitchen with Nigel Slater


Nigel Slater - 2005
    It is my belief?and the point of this book?that this is the best recipe of all. A crab sandwich by the sea on a June afternoon; a slice of roast goose with apple sauce and roast potatoes on Christmas Day; hot sausages and a chunk of roast pumpkin on a frost-sparkling night in November. These are meals whose success relies not on the expertise of the cook but on the more basic premise that this is the food of the moment--something eaten at a time when it is most appropriate, when the ingredients are at their peak of perfection, when the food, the cook and the time of year are at one with each other.? ?Nigel Slater, "The Kitchen Diaries" Nigel Slater writes about food in a way that stimulates the imagination, the heart, and the palate all at once. "The Kitchen Diaries" brings an especially personal ingredient to the mix, letting us glimpse his pantry, tour local farmers? markets with him, and savor even the simplest meals at his table. Recording twelve months in his culinary life, Slater shares seasonal dishes and the intriguing elements behind them. As someone who celebrates each visit to the cheese shop or butcher, he enthusiastically conveys the brilliant array of choices and encourages his view of food shopping as an adventure rather than a chore. A rainy day in February calls for a hearty stew; summertime finds him feasting on a lunch as simple as baked tomatoes with grated Parmesan. If an exotic mood strikes him, slow-roasted duck with star anise and ginger is in order. In "The Kitchen Diaries," Nigel interweaves his meditations on how food should be enjoyed and prepared with his delicious recipes. No matter the season, "The Kitchen Diaries" offers a year-round invitation to cook and dine with the world's most irresistible lover of food. BACKCOVER: Praise for Nigel Slater ?His writing could not be more palate-cleansing? his acidic riffs put you in mind of Nick Hornby, Martin Amis and Philip Larkin all at the same time.? ?"The New York Times" ?Nigel is a genius.? ?Jamie Oliver, author of "Jamie's Kitchen, The Naked Chef," and "Happy Days with the Naked Chef" ?unpretentious, delicious? ?Nigella Lawson, author of "How to Be a Domestic Goddess" ?The recipes sound uniformly delicious, rustic and tasty...but they?re also straight forward: easy to follow, easy to cook.? ?Independent on Sunday ?joyous? ?Guardian Weekend ?Slater wants his food, above all, to be uplifting. As a cookbook, "The Kitchen Diaries" succeeds brilliantly.? ?William Leith, "Observer" (London) ?it's a collection of scrumptious recipes, somehow written in such a way as to make your mouth genuinely water.? ?Rebecca Seal, "Observer" (London)

Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm


Molly Yeh - 2016
    Like her award-winning blog My Name is Yeh, Molly on the Range chronicles her life through photos, more than 100 new recipes, and hilarious stories from life in the city and on the farm.Molly’s story begins in the suburbs of Chicago in the 90s, when things like Lunchables and Dunkaroos were the objects of her affection; continues into her New York years, when Sunday mornings meant hangovers and bagels; and ends in her beloved new home, where she’s currently trying to master the art of the hotdish. Celebrating Molly's Jewish/Chinese background with recipes for Asian Scotch Eggs and Scallion Pancake Challah Bread and her new hometown Scandinavian recipes for Cardamom Vanilla Cake and Marzipan Mandel Bread, Molly on the Range will delight everyone, from longtime readers to those discovering her glorious writing and recipes for the first time.

Fast Easy Cheap Vegan: 101 Recipes You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less, for $10 or Less, and with 10 Ingredients or Less!


Sam Turnbull - 2021
    She is cooking up even simpler vegan comfort food--on a budget, with fewer ingredients, and in 30 minutes or less! Some people think that a vegan diet can be too time-consuming, too much work, and too expensive! In Sam Turnbull's Fast Easy Cheap Vegan, she's busting those myths and showing us just how simple (with 10 ingredients or fewer), inexpensive (for $10 or less), and quick (in 30 minutes or less) it can be to cook delicious plant-based comfort food at home. Wholesome recipes can be made using items you already have in your pantry and fridge. And if they're not stocked in your kitchen, these ingredients are easily found at your local grocery store. Fast Easy Cheap Vegan is filled with 101 recipes, many of them perfect for busy weeknights, like 10-Ingredient Creamy Basil Gnocchi, Gorgeous Greek Bowl, and Quicker Quesadillas. You'll have tons of options for speedy breakfasts and lunches, including Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies, 20-Minute Breakfast Sandwiches, 15-Minute Apple Chickpea Salad, and DIY Instant Ramen Soup, and no shortage of ready-to-go snacks, like Cheesy Cracker Snackers, Loaded Queso Dip, and Cool Ranch Popcorn. And don't skip dessert because there's Lickety-Split Ice Cream, Easy Peasy Peanut Butter Squares, Brownie in a Cup, and 10-Minute Mini Berry� Crisp. Fast Easy Cheap Vegan is all about smart tips and easy techniques that simplify cooking. Many recipes are one-pot, freezer-friendly, and make-ahead meals, creating a stress-free kitchen. So whether it's breakfast, lunch, dinner, or dessert, Sam has thought of everything to help get delicious, fuss-free meals on the table in no time flat.

The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook


Danny Bowien - 2015
    From the beginning, a spirit of resourcefulness and radical inventiveness has infused each and every dish at Mission Chinese Food. Now, hungry diners line up outside both the San Francisco and New York City locations, waiting hours for platters of Sizzling Cumin Lamb, Thrice-Cooked Bacon, Fiery Kung Pao Pastrami, and pungent Salt-Cod Fried Rice.The force behind the phenomenon, chef Danny Bowien is, at only thirty-three, the fastest-rising young chef in the United States. Born in Korea and adopted by parents in Oklahoma, he has a broad spectrum of influences. He’s a veteran of fine-dining kitchens, sushi bars, an international pesto competition, and a grocery-store burger stand. In 2013 Food & Wine named him one of the country’s Best New Chefs and the James Beard Foundation awarded him its illustrious Rising Star Chef Award. In 2011 Bon Appétit named Mission Chinese Food the second-best new restaurant in America, and in 2012 the New York Times hailed the Lower East Side outpost as the Best New Restaurant in New York City. The Mission Chinese Food Cookbook tracks the fascinating, meteoric rise of the restaurant and its chef. Each chapter in the story—from the restaurant’s early days, to an ill-fated trip to China, to the opening of the first Mission Chinese in New York—unfolds as a conversation between Danny and his collaborators, and is accompanied by detailed recipes for the addictive dishes that have earned the restaurant global praise. Mission Chinese’s legions of fans as well as home cooks of all levels will rethink what it means to cook Chinese food, while getting a look into the background and insights of one of the most creative young chefs today.

Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home


Jessica Fechtor - 2015
      At 28, Jessica Fechtor was happily immersed in graduate school and her young marriage, and thinking about starting a family. Then one day, she went for a run and an aneurysm burst in her brain. She nearly died. She lost her sense of smell, the sight in her left eye, and was forced to the sidelines of the life she loved. Jessica’s journey to recovery began in the kitchen as soon as she was able to stand at the stovetop and stir. There, she drew strength from the restorative power of cooking and baking. Written with intelligence, humor, and warmth, Stir is a heartfelt examination of what it means to nourish and be nourished."  Woven throughout the narrative are 27 recipes for dishes that comfort and delight. For readers of M.F.K.Fisher, Molly Wizenberg, and Tamar Adler, as well as Oliver Sacks, Jill Bolte Taylor, and Susannah Cahalan, Stir is sure to inspire, and send you straight to the kitchen

Eating Out Loud: Bold Middle Eastern Flavors for All Day, Every Day


Eden Grinshpan - 2020
    In Eating Out Loud, Eden introduces readers to a whirlwind of exciting flavors, mixing and matching simple, traditional ingredients in new ways: roasted whole heads of broccoli topped with herbaceous yogurt and crunchy, spice-infused dukkah; a toasted pita salad full of juicy summer peaches, tomatoes, and a bevy of fresh herbs; and babka that becomes pull-apart morning buns, layered with chocolate and tahini and sticky with a salted sugar glaze, to name a few.For anyone who loves a big, boisterous spirit both on the plate and around the table, Eating Out Loud is the perfect guide to the kind of meal--full of family and friends eating with their hands, double-dipping, and letting loose--that you never want to end.

BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery


Erin McKenna - 2009
    Simply, BabyCakes is your key to an enlightened, indulgent, sweets-filled future. This is important news not only for parents whose children have allergies, for vegans, and for others who struggle with food sensitivities, but also for all you sugar-loving traditionalists. The recipes in these pages prove that there is a healthy alternative to recklessly made desserts, one that doesn't sacrifice taste or texture.Having experimented endlessly with alternative, health-conscious sweeteners, flours, and thickeners, Erin McKenna, the proprietress of beloved bakery BabyCakes NYC, developed these recipes–most are gluten-free, all are without refined sugar–in hopes of combating her own wheat, dairy, and sugar sensitivities. In BabyCakes, she shares detailed information about the ingredients she uses (coconut flour, xanthan gum, and agave nectar, for example) and how to substitute them properly for common ones–all the while guiding you safely through techniques she’s spent years perfecting. When BabyCakes NYC opened on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2005, it helped propel the gluten-free and vegan baking movement into a new stratosphere. Suddenly there was a destination for those with wheat allergies and other dietary restrictions–and, soon enough, celebrities and dessert lovers of every kind–to indulge freely in delectable muffins and teacakes, brownies and cookies, pies and cobblers.Enclosed within these pages are all the “secrets” you’ll need to bring the greatness of BabyCakes NYC into your own home as well as raves and recommendations from devotees such as Natalie Portman, Jason Schwartzman, Mary-Louise Parker, Zooey Deschanel, and Pamela Anderson.For confectionists of all kinds, delicious alternatives lie within: Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate Shortbread Scones with Caramelized Bananas, Strawberry Shortcake, and BabyCakes NYC’s celebrated frosting (so delicious it has fans tipping back frosting shots!), to name just a few. Finally, Erin’s blissful desserts are yours for the baking!

YumUniverse: Infinite Possibilities for a Gluten-Free, Plant-Powerful, Whole-Food Lifestyle


Heather Crosby - 2014
    But this is more than just a cookbook—it’s a treasure chest that will help you build health-promoting habits and recipes of your own for a lifetime. Once a bacon-loving skeptic, Heather knows first-hand how overwhelming yet rewarding the transition to a plant-based, gluten-free diet can be, so she’s included essential, everyday know-how for folks seeking to adopt and maintain a healing whole foods diet.Fans of YumUniverse.com, Heather’s inspirational food blog, and new readers alike will discover unique recipes that are as delicious as they are beneficial. With hearty dishes such as Skillet Crusted Sweet Potato Gnocchi and Cardamom Cream Chia Pudding with Raspberries, as well as divine desserts such as Mexican Unfried Ice Cream and Chocolate & Salted Caramel Stack Cake, Heather’s recipes will have you saying �yum” and finding joy in clean foods that respect and nourish your body.A plant-based, gluten-free diet is delicious and doable. So say goodbye to temporary dieting and embrace healthy, incredible dishes as part of your long-term wellness adventure!

Soup for Syria: Recipes to Celebrate Our Shared Humanity


Barbara Abdeni Massaad - 2015
    The world has failed Syria’s refugees and some of the world’s wealthiest countries have turned their backs on this humanitarian disaster. Syria’s neighbors—Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq—have together absorbed more that 3.8 million refugees. The need for food relief is great and growing. Acclaimed chefs and cookbook authors the world over have come together to help food relief efforts to alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees. Each has contributed a recipe to this beautifully illustrated cookbook of delicious soups from around the world. Contributors include: Alice Waters, Paula Wolfert, Claudia Roden, Chef Greg Maalouf, Chef Alexis Coquelet, Chef Chris Borunda, Chef Alexandra Stratou, Necibe Dogru, Aglaia Kremenzi, and many others. - Celebrity chefs contribute favorite recipes to help feed Syrian refugees - Fabulous soups from around the world—from hearty winter warmers to chilled summer soups - Easy-to-follow instructions with stunning color photos throughout - Recipes made with no-fuss ingredients found in your local supermarket. All profits from the sales of the cookbook will be donated to help fund food relief efforts through various nonprofit organizations. Most Syrians hope that one day they will be able to return to their country and rebuild their lives. For now, though, what we can do is listen to their pleas. Be part of this vital work of saving lives and help us deliver essential food items to the displaced refugees.

Eat Up: Food, Appetite and Eating What You Want


Ruby Tandoh - 2018
    She will arm you against the fad diets, food crazes and bad science that can make eating guilt-laden and expensive, drawing eating inspiration from influences as diverse as Roald Dahl and Nora Ephron. Filled with straight-talking, sympathetic advice on everything from mental health to recipe ideas and shopping tips, this is a book that clears away the fog, to help you fall back in love with food.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home


Jeni Britton Bauer - 2011
    Unique flavors, prepared from top-quality ingredients combined with minimally processed milk from grass-fed cows, transformed Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, a small artisanal scoopery in Columbus, Ohio, into a nationally acclaimed (and beloved) brand.Now with her debut cookbook, Jeni Britton Bauer is on a mission to help foodies create perfect ice creams, yogurts, and sorbets—ones that are every bit as perfect as hers—in their own kitchens. Frustrated by icy and crumbly homemade ice cream, Bauer invested in a $59 ice cream maker and proceeded to test and retest recipes until she devised a formula to make creamy, sturdy, lickable ice cream at home. Her recipe for a milk-based American-style ice cream contains no eggs, which allows her amazing flavor combinations to shine. Filled with irresistible color photographs, this cone-tastic book contains 100 of Jeni’s signature recipes—from her Goat Cheese with Roasted Cherries to her Salty Caramel to her Bourbon with Toasted Buttered Pecans. Fans of easy-to-prepare desserts with star quality will scoop this book up. How cool is that?

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.