Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany


Bill Buford - 2006
    Heat is the chronicle—sharp, funny, wonderfully exuberant—of his time spent as Batali’s “slave” and of his far-flung apprenticeships with culinary masters in Italy.In a fast-paced, candid narrative, Buford describes the frenetic experience of working in Babbo’s kitchen: the trials and errors (and more errors), humiliations and hopes, disappointments and triumphs as he worked his way up the ladder from slave to cook. He talks about his relationships with his kitchen colleagues and with the larger-than-life, hard-living Batali, whose story he learns as their friendship grows through (and sometimes despite) kitchen encounters and after-work all-nighters. Buford takes us to the restaurant in a remote Appennine village where Batali first apprenticed in Italy and where Buford learns the intricacies of handmade pasta . . . the hill town in Chianti where he is tutored in the art of butchery by Italy’s most famous butcher, a man who insists that his meat is an expression of the Italian soul . . . to London, where he is instructed in the preparation of game by Marco Pierre White, one of England’s most celebrated (or perhaps notorious) chefs. And throughout, we follow the thread of Buford’s fascinating reflections on food as a bearer of culture, on the history and development of a few special dishes (Is the shape of tortellini really based on a woman’s navel? And just what is a short rib?), and on the what and why of the foods we eat today.Heat is a marvelous hybrid: a richly evocative memoir of Buford’s kitchen adventure, the story of Batali’s amazing rise to culinary (and extra-culinary) fame, a dazzling behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a famous restaurant, and an illuminating exploration of why food matters. It is a book to delight in—and to savor.

Stuff on a Stick


Instructables.com - 2011
    Learn how to make entire meals from starters to desserts, all served on sticks! All projects come from Instructables.com, are written by carnival food experts, and contain pictures for each step so you can easily do it yourself.It’s better on a stick!

Life From Scratch: A Memoir of Food, Family, and Forgiveness


Sasha Martin - 2015
    As cooking unlocked the memories of her rough-and-tumble childhood and the loss and heartbreak that came with it, Martin became more determined than ever to find peace and elevate her life through the prism of food and world cultures. From the tiny, makeshift kitchen of her eccentric, creative mother to a string of foster homes to the house from which she launches her own cooking adventure, Martin’s heartfelt, brutally honest memoir reveals the power of cooking to bond, to empower, and to heal—and celebrates the simple truth that happiness is created from within.

The Working Class Foodies Cookbook: 100 Delicious Seasonal and Organic Recipes for Under $8 per Person


Rebecca Lando - 2013
    The sight of boxed mac ‘n’ cheese and ramen noodles curdled her appetite, but her meager paycheck severely limited her options. Creatively cooking led to what’s now a popular weekly web series chronicling her adventures in making delicious cheap meals—with the best local and seasonal ingredients.In The Working Class Foodies’ Cookbook, Rebecca’s mission is to share tasty, affordable recipes and invaluable advice for the home cook, including how to stock a $40, $60, and $100 pantry; which organic items are okay to skip; and why making your own stock, ketchup, and even Pop-Tarts is good for your body and your wallet.Many people think that the real food movement is only for the wealthy, but Rebecca’s delicious recipes—including red-skinned potatoes coated in chives and butter for under $2, sweet potato gnocchi for under $5, and a chicken roast for under $8—show readers the way to eating better and more cheaply. Starving students, working parents, and fixed-income retirees alike will eat up Rebecca’s message, because real people deserve real food, real cheap!

Tartine


Elisabeth Prueitt - 2006
    Acclaimed pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt and master baker Chad Robertson share their secrets, fabulous recipes, and expertise to create a truly priceless collection of culinary delights."One peek into Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson's sensational cookbook whisks you into their popular Tartine Bakery and reveals everything you need to know to create their superb recipes in your own home." –Flo Braker, author of The Simple Art of Perfect Baking and Sweet MiniaturesIt's no wonder there are lines out the door of the acclaimed Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. Tartine has been written up in every magazine worth its sugar and spice. Here, the bakers' art is transformed into easy-to-follow recipes for the home kitchen. The only thing hard about this cookbook is deciding which recipe to try first.Features easy-to-follow recipes meant to be made in your home kitchen. There's a little something here for breakfast, lunch, tea, supper, hors d'oeuvres and, of course, a whole lot for dessert.Includes practical advice in the form of handy Kitchen Notes, that convey the authors' know-how.Gorgeous photographs are spread throughout to create a truly delicious and inspiring party cookbook.Makes a delectable gift for any dessert lover or aspiring pastry chef.Pastry chef Elisabeth Prueitt's work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, and Travel & Leisure, and she has appeared on the television program Martha Stewart Living. France Ruffenach is a San Francisco-based photographer whose work has appeared in magazines and cookbooks including Martha Stewart Living, Real Simple, and Bon Appétit magazines, and in Cupcakes, Everyday Celebrations, and Ros.

Amazing Muffins and Butter Spreads


Sara Winlet - 2012
    

EveryDayCook


Alton Brown - 2016
    It’s my first in a few years because I’ve been a little busy with TV stuff and interwebs stuff and live stage show stuff. Sure, I’ve been cooking, but it’s been mostly to feed myself and people in my immediate vicinity—which is really what a cook is supposed to do, right? Well, one day I was sitting around trying to organize my recipes, and I realized that I should put them into a personal collection. One thing led to another, and here’s EveryDayCook. There’s still plenty of science and hopefully some humor in here (my agent says that’s my “wheelhouse”), but unlike in my other books, a lot of attention went into the photos, which were all taken on my iPhone (take that, Instagram) and are suitable for framing. As for the recipes, which are arranged by time of day, they’re pretty darned tasty. Highlights include:  • Morning: Buttermilk Lassi, Overnight Coconut Oats, Nitrous Pancakes • Coffee Break: Cold Brew Coffee, Lacquered Bacon, Seedy Date Bars• Noon: Smoky the Meat Loaf, Grilled Cheese Grilled Sandwich, “EnchiLasagna” or “Lasagnalada”• Afternoon: Green Grape Cobbler, Crispy Chickpeas, Savory Greek Yogurt Dip• Evening: Bad Day Bitter Martini, Mussels-O-Miso, Garam Masalmon Steaks• Anytime: The General’s Fried Chicken, Roasted Chile Salsa, Peach Punch Pops• Later: Cider House Fondue, Open Sesame Noodles, Chocapocalypse Cookie So let’s review: 101 recipes with mouthwatering photos, a plethora of useful insights on methods, tools, and ingredients all written by an “award-winning and influential educator and tastemaker.” That last part is from the PR office. Real people don’t talk like that.

One Bite at a Time: Nourishing Recipes for Cancer Survivors and Their Friends


Rebecca Katz - 2004
    For those whose appetites have been turned off by illness, Rebecca's ONE BITE AT A TIME is an instant turn-on to good, nourishing food. In this comprehensive cookbook, Rebecca shares delicious, immune-boosting recipes for people living with cancer, their caregivers, and the ever-growing number of cancer survivors. ONE BITE AT A TIME features more than 85 simple-to-prepare, sumptuous recipes. From little nibbles to satisfying entrees Rebecca's flexible approach is designed for both the individual and the entire family to enjoy. Dishes such as Poached Coconut-Ginger Salmon, Spinach Orzo with Pine Nuts and Feta, Taxicab Yellow Tomato soup and Magic Mineral Broth reinvigorate the appetite with ingredients that help bolster the body's immune system. To accompany the recipes, Rebecca offers down-to-earth information and helpful advice for those dealing with the culinary ups and downs often experienced during treatment. Learn what friends and family can do to best pitch in; discover easy substitutes for "forbidden" foods; look up "nutrition-at-a-glance" information for each recipe; and see how to wake up taste buds in any dish by using just a few basic staples from the pantry. Rebecca's caring, humor-filled recipe notes will warm your heart and remind you that, along with a good meal, laughter can truly be the best medicine. Throughout the book's pages, Rebecca's clients attest to this fact, as they share anecdotes of the joyous impact these recipes have had on their lives. At a time when you may feel that nothing is under your control, something as simple as creating a nutritious, healing dish for yourself or a loved one can be a reaffimation of your humanity and a tangible way to nurture someone you care about.

52 Loaves: One Man's Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust


William Alexander - 2010
    He tasted it long ago, in a restaurant, and has been trying to reproduce it ever since. Without success. Now, on the theory that practice makes perfect, he sets out to bake peasant bread every week until he gets it right. He bakes his loaf from scratch. And because Alexander is nothing if not thorough, he really means from scratch: growing, harvesting, winnowing, threshing, and milling his own wheat.   An original take on the six-thousand-year-old staple of life, 52 Loaves explores the nature of obsession, the meditative quality of ritual, the futility of trying to re-create something perfect, our deep connection to the earth, and the mysterious instinct that makes all of us respond to the aroma of baking bread.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School: How a Few Simple Lessons Transformed Nine Culinary Novices into Fearless Home Cooks


Kathleen Flinn - 2011
    Flinn's "chefternal" instinct kicked in: she persuaded the stranger to reload with fresh foods, offering her simple recipes for healthy, easy meals. The Kitchen Counter Cooking School includes practical, healthy tips that boost readers' culinary self-confidence, and strategies to get the most from their grocery dollar, and simple recipes that get readers cooking.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Come On Over!: Southern Delicious for Every Day and Every Occasion


Elizabeth Heiskell - 2021
    Her chapters include Weekdays, Party Days, School Days, Summer Days, Beach Days, Game Days, Diet Days, Cheat Days, and Delta Days. In Weekdays, she shares her recipe for The Good Chicken and her Farro and Salmon Bowls, both of which stand up against the rigorous scrutiny of her three daughters. Diet Days includes humorous, tongue-in-cheek recipes like Fat Lady Soup and the Bone Broth recipe that had her local butchers concerned. Game Days includes tailgate favorites, School Days has lunches that can withstand backpack jumbling, and Party Days shows exactly how to impress a house full of guests and avoid pre-party panic. Every page is imbued with Heiskell's bubbly personality and spirit, and the recipes are designed to be easy and fuss-free--and guaranteed to please. Come On Over! will inspire anyone looking to cook every day of the week!

Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey Home in 75 Recipes


Martin Philip - 2017
    A true Renaissance man, the opera singer, banjo player, and passionate amateur baker worked his way up, eventually becoming head bread baker. But Philip is not just a talented craftsman; he is a bread shaman. Being a baker isn’t just mastering the chemistry of flour, salt, water, and yeast; it is being an alchemist—perfecting the transformation of simple ingredients into an elegant expression of the soul.Breaking Bread is an intimate tour of Philip’s kitchen, mind, and heart. Through seventy-five original recipes and life stories told with incandescent prose, he shares not only the secrets to creating loaves of unparalleled beauty and flavor but the secrets to a good life. From the butter biscuits, pecan pie, and whiskey bread pudding of his childhood in the Ozarks to French baguettes and focaccias, bagels and muffins, cinnamon buns and ginger scones, Breaking Bread is a guide to wholeheartedly embracing the staff of life.Philip gently guides novice bakers and offers recipes and techniques for the most advanced levels. He also includes a substantial technical section covering the bread-making process, tools, and ingredients. As he illuminates an artisan’s odyssey and a life lived passionately, he reveals how the act of baking offers spiritual connection to our pasts, our families, our culture and communities, and, ultimately, ourselves. Exquisite, sensuous, and delectable, Breaking Bread inspires us to take risks, make bolder choices, live more fully, and bake bread and break it with those we love.

Knives at Dawn: America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse D'Or Competition


Andrew Friedman - 2009
    culinary team at The Bocuse d'Or, the world's most prestigious cooking competition.

Nobody Eats Parsley: And other things I learned from my family


David Oakley - 2020
    They're so ridiculous you may think they're fiction. Like the time I went to a drive-in X-rated movie without realizing my parents were in the next car. Or the time I let my kid throw a rock through our living room window. There's the time I bought a camouflage thong in a bait shop and the time I ruined a kid's birthday party. And the other time I ruined a kid's birthday party. I can't guarantee that these stories will make you laugh, but I can guarantee that I didn't make them up.

Roasting-A Simple Art


Barbara Kafka - 1995
     When you're in a rush, roast. When you're in doubt, roast. When you're entertaining, roast. Crank up the oven and throw in a chicken; roasting is simply the easiest and best way to concentrate and deepen flavor, to seal in succulence, and make robust, crusty, and sweet all kinds of meats, birds, fish, fruits, and vegetables. Roasting offers more flavor on its own than any other cooking technique. Everything you need for a lifetime of happy roasting can be found here in the pages of Barbara Kafka's ground-breaking new book. Even baby goat, a suckling pig, and loin of buffalo make it into this bible of roasting.Roasting is absolutely essential, whether you're planning to roast a potato or leg of lamb, a turkey or a tomato, a pepper or a red snapper. Barbara's fussless high-temperature method caramelizes the surface of meat, the skin of birds or fish, or the outside of vegetables, transforming them into such savory sweet dishes as Roast Chicken with Pomegranate Glaze and Fresh Mint, aromatic Garlic Roast Pork Loin, moist and sweet Roasted Striped Bass with Fennel, and Whole Roasted Peaches with Ginger Syrup.Nearly one hundred stellar recipes for roasted vegetables attest to the fact that Barbara Kafka's new book is not for meat eaters alone. The recipes for roasted vegetables begin where other books leave off. Try the Roasted Sliced Fennel Bulb and the Roasted Chinese Eggplant with Balsamic Marinade, the Roasted Portobello Mushrooms with Garlic Marinade, and more.Roasting is packed with indispensable tips, techniques, and innovative cooking ideas. There are great recipes for marinades, salsas, vinaigrettes, and stuffings. You'll also find an inspiring assortment of simple but original recipes for sauces that will lift your everyday roasts into perfect party fare. You'll discover, too, the many joys of "companion roasting," learning when to add the carrots or the onions so they don't over- or undercook, and guaranteeing everything comes out at the same time.Never a believer in unnecessary work, Barbara Kafka is a cook's best friend. Barbara never follows; she blazes new trails, challenging the sacred rules of roasting by never trussing a chicken or basting a turkey. She proves you can actually walk away from your oven and enjoy your food and your guests. It's all so quick and easy, most dishes don't need to go into the oven until your guests walk in the door.Often the best part of the roast is the leftovers, and Roasting is overflowing with possibilities. In Barbara's knowing hands leftover onions become a smoky-flavored Roasted Onion Soup with Cannellini Beans; last night's roasted cod and boiled potatoes are transformed into a scrumptious Best Cod Hash; a deeply flavored Roast Duck Pasta Sauce is a rich reward to the cook for having made last night's duck dinner. Nearly one hundred recipes for leftovers show you how to build them into new meals of soups, salads, pasta sauces, hashes, fritters, fish cakes, and more.Replete with all the tables, timing charts, and the encyclopedic wisdom that are hallmarks of every Barbara Kafka book, Roasting: A Simple Art is a dream of a cookbook, one that will soon bear the soils, stains, and well-worn pages of constant and creative use.