Around My French Table: More than 300 Recipes from My Home to Yours


Dorie Greenspan - 2010
    Julia’s praise was echoed by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, which referred to Dorie’s “wonderfully encouraging voice” and “the sense of a real person who is there to help should you stumble.” Now in a big, personal, and personable book, Dorie captures all the excitement of French home cooking, sharing disarmingly simple dishes she has gathered over years of living in France. Around My French Table includes many superb renditions of the great classics: a glorious cheese-domed onion soup, a spoon-tender beef daube, and the “top-secret” chocolate mousse recipe that every good Parisian cook knows—but won’t reveal. Hundreds of other recipes are remarkably easy: a cheese and olive quick bread, a three-star chef’s Basque potato tortilla made with a surprise ingredient (potato chips), and an utterly satisfying roast chicken for “lazy people.” Packed with lively stories, memories, and insider tips on French culinary customs, Around My French Table will make cooks fall in love with France all over again, or for the first time.

Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors


Andrea Nguyen - 2006
    Thirty years later, Nguyen has written her own intimate collection of recipes, INTO THE VIETNAMESE KITCHEN, an ambitious debut cookbook that chronicles the food traditions of her native country. Robustly flavored yet delicate, sophisticated yet simple, the recipes include steamy pho noodle soups infused with the aromas of fresh herbs and lime; rich clay-pot preparations of catfish, chicken, and pork; classic bánh mì sandwiches; and an array of Vietnamese charcuterie. Nguyen helps readers shop for essential ingredients, master core cooking techniques, and prepare and serve satisfying meals, whether for two on a weeknight or 12 on a weekend.

The Food of Morocco


Paula Wolfert - 2011
    Ms. Wolfert may be America’s most knowledgeable food person and her books are full of insight, passion and brilliance.”—Anthony Dias Blue, CBS Radio, NY“I think she’s one of the finest and most influential food writers in this country…one of the leading lights in contemporary gastronomy.”—Craig ClaibornePaula Wolfert, the undisputed queen of Mediterranean cooking, provides food lovers with the definitive guide to The Food of Morocco. Lavishly photographed and packed with tantalizing recipes to please the modern palate, The Food of Morocco provides helpful preparation techniques for chefs, home cooks, and any serious student of the culinary arts and culture. This is the perfect companion to Wolfert’s classic, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco—a 2008 inductee into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame—and fans of Claudia Roden, Elizabeth David, Martha Rose Schulman, and Poopa Dweck will be delighted by this extraordinary culinary journey across this colorful and exhilarating land.

Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food: Deliciously Doable Ways to Cook Greens, Tofu, and Other Plant-Based Ingredients


Hsiao-Ching Chou - 2021
    Though a popular cuisine across North America, Chinese food can be a little intimidating. But author Hsiao-Ching Chou's friendly and accessible recipes work for everyone, including average home cooks. In this new collection, you'll find vegetarian recipes for stir-fries, rice and noodle dishes, soups, braises, and pickles. Of course, the book wouldn't be complete without vegetarian versions of Chou's famously delicious dumplings, including soup dumplings and shu mai, as well as other dim sum delights. Separate chapters feature egg and tofu recipes. From Cauliflower with Spiced Shallot Oil to Kung Pao Tofu Puffs, and from Hot and Sour Soup to Ma Po Tofu to Steamed Egg Custard, these recipes will satisfy your every craving for classic Chinese comfort food--and all without meat.You will also find helpful information including essential equipment, core pantry ingredients (with acceptable substitutions), ways to season and maintain a wok, and other practical tips that make this an approachable cookbook. Home cooks are gently guided toward becoming comfortable cooking satisfying Chinese meals. Whether you're a vegetarian or simply reducing the amount of meat in your daily diet, these foolproof recipes are made to be cooked any night of the week. As the author likes to say, any kitchen can be a Chinese kitchen!

Small Victories: Recipes, Advice + Hundreds of Ideas for Home Cooking Triumphs


Julia Turshen - 2016
    The process of truly great home cooking is demystified via more than a hundred lessons called out as "small victories" in the funny, encouraging headnotes; these are lessons learned by Julia through a lifetime of cooking thousands of meals. This beautifully curated, deeply personal collection of what Chef April Bloomfield calls "simple, achievable recipes" emphasizes bold-flavored, honest food for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. More than 160 mouth-watering photographs from acclaimed photographers Gentl + Hyers provide beautiful instruction and inspiration elevate this entertaining and essential kitchen resource for both beginners and accomplished home cooks.

The Skinnytaste Cookbook: Light on Calories, Big on Flavor


Gina Homolka - 2014
    Her blog, Skinnytaste is the number one go-to site for slimmed down recipes that you’d swear are anything but. It only takes one look to see why people go crazy for Gina’s food: cheesy, creamy Fettuccini Alfredo with Chicken and Broccoli with only 420 calories per serving, breakfast dishes like Make-Ahead Western Omelet "Muffins" that truly fill you up until lunchtime, and sweets such as Double Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies that are low in sugar and butter-free but still totally indulgent. The Skinnytaste Cookbook features 150 amazing recipes: 125 all-new dishes and 25 must-have favorites. As a busy mother of two, Gina started Skinnytaste when she wanted to lose a few pounds herself. She turned to Weight Watchers for help and liked the program but struggled to find enough tempting recipes to help her stay on track. Instead, she started “skinny-fying” her favorite meals so that she could eat happily while losing weight. With 100 stunning photographs and detailed nutritional information for every recipe, The Skinnytaste Cookbook is an incredible resource of fulfilling, joy-inducing meals that every home cook will love.

The Deen Bros. Take It Easy: Quick and Affordable Meals the Whole Family Will Love


Jamie Deen - 2009
    Imagine getting dinner on the table for your family in forty-five minutes or less. In this inspired and indispensable new cookbook, Paula Deen’s sons show you how to whip up 125 delicious Southern-style recipes quicker than you can say, “Come and get it!”The Deen brothers know a lot about cooking good food fast. They hosted the Food Network hit Road Tasted, appear regularly on Good Morning America, and are co-owners (with their mom) of Savannah’s famous The Lady & Sons Restaurant. Their fast-paced lifestyles require no-fuss meals without a lot of prep. Jamie’s a family man who’s got to work, serve supper, and still chase after his three-year-old son. Bobby, one of People magazine’s most eligible bachelors, appreciates a good meal before heading out to work at his restaurant or for a night on the town. They’re the perfect guys to write a guide to swift dishes that don’t stint on taste or Southern authenticity.This mouthwatering collection offers dishes that really deliver on flavor yet can be prepared within a budget. There are no hard-to-find ingredients or tricky techniques to follow, just the tasty, irresistible cooking that the Deens have come to be known for. For lunch, dinner, or late-night snacks, if you’ve got meat in mind, how about Speedy Mini-Meat Loaves with Baked Sweet Potato Wedges? If chicken’s your choice, Broiled Pesto Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes is a satisfying possibility. And if you’re really on the go, there are whole chapters devoted to simple grilling and crockpot cooking.Lighter fare includes Turkey and Black Bean Burgers with Corny Salsa and Jerk Shrimp Kebabs with Tomatoes, Onions, and Peppers, and main-course salads such as Jamie’s Nutty Orange Chicken Salad. If you have kids, they will love Yummy Orange Beef Fingers. In fact, in honor of Jamie’s son, there’s a whole chapter devoted to kids’ food called “Jack’s Favorites” (which might become your kids’ favorites too!). And what’s a meal without dessert? Jamie and Bobby offer their favorite temptations, ranging from Chocolate Peanut-Butter Malteds to Quick Blackberry Cream Pie.Seasoned with wonderful never-before-seen color photos of the entire Deen family and sprinkled liberally with Jamie’s and Bobby’s down-home charm, and including signature dishes from The Lady & Sons Restaurant, The Deen Bros. Take It Easy is a treat in itself for anyone with a full life and an empty stomach.

Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant: Confessions of Cooking for One and Dining Alone


Jenni Ferrari-Adler - 2007
     If, sooner or later, we all face the prospect of eating alone, then Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant provides the perfect set of instructions. In this unique collection, twenty-six writers and foodies invite readers into their kitchens to reflect on the secret meals they make for themselves when no one else is looking: the indulgent truffled egg sandwich, the comforting bowl of black beans, the bracing anchovy fillet on buttered toast. From Italy to New York to Cape Cod to Thailand, from M. F. K. Fisher to Steve Almond to Nora Ephron, the experiences collected in this book are as diverse, moving, hilarious, and uplifting as the meals they describe. Haruki Murakami finds solace in spaghetti. Ephron mends a broken heart with mashed potatoes in bed. Ann Patchett trades the gourmet food she cooks for others for endless snacks involving saltines. Marcella Hazan, responsible for bringing sophisticated Italian cuisine into American homes, craves a simple grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich. Courtney Eldridge, divorced from a fancy chef, reconnects with the salsa she learned to cook from her cash-strapped mother. Rosa Jurjevics reflects on the influence of her mother, Laurie Colwin, as she stocks her home with salty treats. Almost all of the essays include recipes, making this book the perfect companion for a happy, lonely-or just hungry-evening home alone. Part solace, part celebration, part handbook, Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant offers a wealth of company, inspiration, and humor-and, finally, recipes that require no division or subtraction.

The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook


America's Test Kitchen - 2015
    Everyone knows they should eat more vegetables and grains, but that prospect can be intimidating with recipes that are often too complicated for everyday meals or lacking in fresh appeal or flavor. For the first time ever, the test kitchen has devoted its considerable resources to creating a vegetarian cookbook for the way we want to eat today. The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook is a wide-ranging collection of boldly flavorful vegetarian recipes covering hearty vegetable mains, rice and grains, beans and soy as well as soups, appetizers, snacks, and salads. More than 300 recipes are fast (start to finish in 45 minutes or less), 500 are gluten-free, and 250 are vegan and are all highlighted with icons on the pages. The book contains stunning color photography throughout that shows the appeal of these veggie-packed dishes. In addition, almost 500 color photos illustrate vegetable prep and tricky techniques as well as key steps within recipes.

China Moon Cookbook


Barbara Tropp - 1992
    She was also the inventor of Chinese bistro, a marriage of home-style Chinese tastes and techniques with Western ingredients and inspiration, an innovative cuisine that stuffs a wonton with crab and corn and flavors it with green chili sauce, that stir-fries chicken with black beans and basil, that tosses white rice into a salad with ginger-balsamic dressing. Casual yet impeccable, and as balanced as yin and yang, these 275 recipes burst with unexpected flavors and combinations: Prawn Sandpot Casserole with Red Curry and Baby Corn; Spicy Tangerine Beef with Glass Noodles; Pizzetta with Chinese Eggplant, Wild Mushrooms, and Coriander Pesto; Chili-Orange Cold Noodles; Sweet Carrot Soup with Toasted Almonds; Wok-Seared New Potatoes; Crystallized Lemon Tart; and Fresh Ginger Ice Cream.

Pok Pok: Food and Stories from the Streets, Homes and Roadside Restaurants of Thailand


Andy Ricker - 2013
    In 2005 he opened Pok Pok, so named for the sound a pestle makes when it strikes a clay mortar, in an old shack in a residential neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Ricker's traditional take on Thai food soon drew the notice of the New York Times and Gourmetmagazine, establishing him as a culinary star. Now, with his first cookbook, Ricker tackles head-on the myths that keep people from making Thai food at home, that it's too spicy for the American palate or too difficult to source ingredients. Fifty knockout recipes for simple and delicious Thai dishes range from Grilled Pork Collar with Spicy Dipping Sauce and Iced Greens to Andy's now-famous Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. Including a primer in Thai techniques and flavor profiles, with tips for modifying local produce to mimic Thai flavors, Pok Pok makes authentic Thai food accessible to American home cooks.

The Foods and Wines of Spain


Penelope Casas - 1982
    To search out the finest Spanish recipes, Penelope Casas traveled over 25,000 miles, crisscrossing the country. Region by region, she found local cooks and discovered their secrets, often putting to paper recipes that had never before been set down. In The Foods and Wines of Spain, she brings us savory meat and fish pies from the Celtic lands of Galicia; a legendary bean dish from the coastal mountains of Asturias; the renowned romesco sauce of ground almonds and dried sweet peppers from Cataluña; paellas from the rice paddies of Valencia; simple but exquisite fish dishes from Andalucía; breads from the wheat fields of Castilla; honey-drenched pastries from Extremadura; and much more.

Vegetables


James Peterson - 1998
    A collection of over 300 recipes using vegetables, with an encyclopaedic introduction covering topics such as vegetable varieties, uses, selection, preparation, and storage.

Thug Kitchen: The Official Cookbook: Eat Like You Give a F*ck


Thug Kitchen - 2014
    Beloved by Gwyneth Paltrow ("This might be my favorite thing ever") and named Saveur's Best New Food blog of 2013—with half a million Facebook fans and counting—Thug Kitchen wants to show everyone how to take charge of their plates and cook up some real f*cking food.Yeah, plenty of blogs and cookbooks preach about how to eat more kale, why ginger fights inflammation, and how to cook with microgreens and nettles. But they are dull or pretentious as hell—and most people can't afford the hype.Thug Kitchen lives in the real world. In their first cookbook, they're throwing down more than 100 recipes for their best-loved meals, snacks, and sides for beginning cooks to home chefs. (Roasted Beer and Lime Cauliflower Tacos? Pumpkin Chili? Grilled Peach Salsa? Believe that sh*t.) Plus they're going to arm you with all the info and techniques you need to shop on a budget and go and kick a bunch of ass on your own.This book is an invitation to everyone who wants to do better to elevate their kitchen game. No more ketchup and pizza counting as vegetables. No more drive-thru lines. No more avoiding the produce corner of the supermarket. Sh*t is about to get real.

Feast: Generous Vegetarian Meals for Any Eater and Every Appetite


Sarah Copeland - 2013
    In her latest cookbook, Copeland showcases a global range of flavors, from the peppery cuisine of her Hungarian, vegetarian husband to the bibimbap she fell in love with in New York's Koreatown. More than 140 recipes cater to cooks of all skill levels and meal occasions of every variety, while more than 60 gorgeous photographs from celebrated photographer Yunhee Kim demonstrate the delectable beauty of these vegetablefeasts. Feast is the book that satisfies everyone who wants to expand their repertoire to include more vegetables and grains as well as those transitioning to a vegetarian diet. Recipes include: Whole Wheat Semolina Peach Pancakes Kabocha Squash Soup with Spiced Fennel Butter Raw Kale and Strawberry Salad Tartine for Four Seasons Angel Hair with Lentils and Oyster Mushrooms Artichoke Enchiladas Strawberry Rye Squares