Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food


Nigel Slater - 2013
    From the BBC One presenter and author of ‘The Kitchen Diaries’, this beautiful and easy-to-use book contains over 600 recipe ideas and is your essential go-to for what to cook every day.Returning to the territory of Nigel’s bestselling ‘Real Fast Food’, ‘Eat’ is bursting with beautifully simple and quick-to-cook recipes, in a stylish and practical flexible format that’s easy to read and use anywhere.Enjoy sizzling chorizo with potatoes and shallots; a sharp and fresh green soup; a Vietnamese-inspired prawn baguette; a one-pan Sunday lunch.Covering everything from quick meals to share with friends to comfort food, ‘Eat’ is a new, and highly innovative, classic from Nigel Slater.

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 Flavor Matrix: The Art and Science of Pairing Common Ingredients to Create Extraordinary Dishes


James Briscione - 2018
    Then he met IBM Watson. Working with the supercomputer to turn big data into delicious recipes, Briscione realized that he (like most chefs) knew next to nothing about why different foods taste good together. That epiphany launched him on a quest to understand the molecular basis of flavor—and it led, in time, to The Flavor Matrix. A groundbreaking ingredient-pairing guide, The Flavor Matrix shows how science can unlock unheard-of possibilities for combining foods into astonishingly inventive dishes. Briscione distills chemical analyses of different ingredients into easy-to-use infographics, and presents mind-blowing recipes that he's created with them. The result of intensive research and incredible creativity in the kitchen, The Flavor Matrix is a must-have for home cooks and professional chefs alike: the only flavor-pairing manual anyone will ever need.

The Man Who Ate Everything


Jeffrey Steingarten - 1997
    He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is "fairly sure that God meant the color blue mainly for food that has gone bad." In this impassioned, mouth-watering, and outrageously funny book, Steingarten devotes the same Zen-like discipline and gluttonous curiosity to practically everything that anyone anywhere has ever called "dinner." Follow Steingarten as he jets off to sample choucroute in Alsace, hand-massaged beef in Japan, and the mother of all ice creams in Sicily. Sweat with him as he tries to re-create the perfect sourdough, bottle his own mineral water, and drop excess poundage at a luxury spa. Join him as he mounts a heroic--and hilarious--defense of salt, sugar, and fat (though he has some nice things to say about Olestra). Stuffed with offbeat erudition and recipes so good they ought to be illegal, The Man Who Ate Everything is a gift for anyone who loves food.

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.

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 Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant


Judy Rodgers - 2002
    But Zuni's appeal goes beyond recipes. Harold McGee concludes, "What makes The Zuni Café Cookbook a real treasure is the voice of Zuni's Judy Rodgers," whose book "repeatedly sheds a fresh and revealing light on ingredients and dishes, and even on the nature of cooking itself." Deborah Madison (Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone) says the introduction alone "should be required reading for every person who might cook something someday."

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.

Dessert for Two: Small-Batch Sweets for One, Two, or a Few


Christina Lane - 2015
    Finding the willpower to resist extra slices of cake can be difficult; the battle between leftover cookies and a healthy breakfast is over before it started. Until now. Dessert for Two takes well-loved desserts and scales them down to make only two servings. Cakes are baked in small pans and ramekins. Pies are baked in small pie pans or muffin cups. Cookie recipes are scaled down to make 1 dozen or fewer. Your favorite bars: brownies, blondes, and marshmallow cereal treats are baked in a bread loaf pan - which happily serves two when cut down the middle. Newly married couples (and empty-nesters) will be particularly enthralled with this miniature dessert guide. To everyone who lives alone: have your own personal-sized cake and eat it, too.

Hot for Food Vegan Comfort Classics: 101 Recipes to Feed Your Face: A Cookbook


Lauren Toyota - 2018
    Never one to hold back, Lauren piles plates high with cheese sauce, ranch, bacon, and barbecue sauce, all while sharing personal stories and tips in her engaging and hilarious voice. The result is indulgent, craveworthy food - like Southern Fried Cauliflower, The Best Vegan Ramen, and Raspberry Funfetti Pop Tarts - made for sharing with friends at weeknight dinners, weekend brunches, and beyond.

Keto Comfort Foods


Maria Emmerich - 2017
    But food is more than just nourishment; food is tradition, food is love, and most importantly, food is a celebration. The mere thought of eating a particular meal or the smell of a favorite childhood dish can evoke positive memories, whether it’s a simple Sunday dinner with family or a major life event. When you begin following the ketogenic diet, whether your goal is to promote weight loss, improve blood markers, or just enhance overall health and well-being, it’s easy to forget to enjoy food. Some people fall into a drab routine of consuming the same dishes over and over, which can lead to boredom and frustration—and ultimately to the desire to fall back into old, poor eating habits. With Keto Comfort Foods, Maria Emmerich reassures everyone on the keto diet that it isn’t difficult at all to recreate those favorite foods and meals in healthy ways—you just need to use a little creativity. By using clever low- or no-calorie substitutions for sugar and scrubbing all recipes clean of gluten-containing additives, Maria has created an incredible resource for comforting home-cooked meals that are safe enough for everyone in the family and delicious enough for the most discerning eaters. These recipes are sure to become new family favorites! In Keto Comfort Foods, Maria Emmerich has compiled her most soul-warming, happiness-invoking recipes. The book’s more than 170 tantilizing, hearty comfort food recipes include everything from cinnamon rolls to steak fries, and from chicken cordon bleu to tiramisu cheesecake. Maria has covered all the bases, giving you the recipes and tips you need to make delicious and healthy versions of your favorite dishes.