Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling & Barbecue


Cook's Illustrated - 2005
    The 12-page introduction to grilling, "Outdoor Cooking 101," walks you step-by-step through the essentials of grilling, grill-roasting, and barbecuing using both charcoal and gas grills. And since outdoor cooking requires just the right tools and equipment, the editors of Cook's Illustrated share the results of their product tests in an extensive buyers guide where charcoal grills, gas grills, grill brushes, tongs, instant-read thermometers, and more are rated. At a glance, you will know which brands we recommend (and why) and which to avoid. Armed with the right equipment and instructions, you’ll be ready to tackle just about any recipe from a simple and perfectly cooked burger to succulent pulled pork and restaurant-perfect grilled tuna. You’ll find more than 450 recipes for all your favorites—steak tips, ribs, and barbecued chicken as well as some that will expand your repertoire—from Thai-Grilled Chicken and Skirt Steak Tacos to Grilled Corn with Spicy Chili Butter and Bruschetta with Fresh Herbs. The Cook’s Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbecue also contains more than 300 step-by-step illustrations that walk you through the basics of food preparation, such as how to cut beef for kebabs, trim beef tenderloin, and grill-roast a turkey. Whether you’re a novice outdoor cook or aspiring grill-master, this encyclopedic examination of one of America’s favorite pastimes will be your guide to foolproof grilling and barbecuing.

The Slow Cook Book


Heather Whinney - 2011
    Meat will be gloriously tender, flavors will combine beautifully - and all with minimal attention from the cook. This book celebrates slow cooking in all its forms. Its 200 recipes range from typical slow-cook fare - hearty, warming stews and pot roasts - to more surprising inclusions such as cakes and bakes. Acknowledging the different ways of approaching slow cooking, it contains two methods for each recipe: one using an electric crockpot, the other using a combination of traditional pots, pans, stovetop, and oven. A practical introduction demonstrates techniques step-by-step and provides information on key ingredients and how to use them for the best results. Find everything you need to become a slow-cook expert in this attractive, but great-value, technique resource and recipe book.

The Sparkpeople Cookbook: Love Your Food, Lose the Weight


Meg Galvin - 2011
    This practical yet inspirational guide, which is based on the same easy, real-world principles as the SparkPeople program, takes the guesswork out of making delicious, healthy meals and losing weight—once and for all.     Award-winning chef Meg Galvin and SparkRecipes editor Stepfanie Romine have paired up to create this collection of more than 160 satisfying, sustaining, and stress-free recipes that streamline your healthy-eating efforts. With a focus on real food, generous portions, and great flavor, these recipes are not part of a fad diet. They aren’t about spending money on obscure ingredients, eliminating key components of a balanced diet, or slaving away for hours at the stove. They are about making smart choices and eating food you love to eat.     But this is more than just a collection of recipes—it’s an education. The SparkPeople philosophy has always been about encouraging people to achieve personal goals with the help and support of others. And this cookbook works in the just the same way. Along with the recipes, you’ll find step-by-step how-tos about the healthiest, most taste-enhancing cooking techniques; lists of kitchen essentials; and simple ingredient swaps that maximize flavor, while cutting fat and calories, plus you’ll read motivational SparkPeople success stories from real members who have used these recipes as part of their life-changing transformations.     In addition, you’ll find:·         Quick and tasty “Make It a Meal” suggestions to turn every main dish into a well-balanced meal.·         Results from the SparkPeople “Ditch the Diet” Taste Test, which proves that you don’t have to eat boring and tasteless food to lose weight.·         150 meal ideas and recipes that take 30 minutes or less to prepare—plus dozens of other, more elaborate meals for days when you have more time to cook.·         Two weeks of meal plans—with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and two snacks—all within 1,400–1,600 calories per day.     So whether you’re a novice taking the first steps to improve your health or a seasoned cook just looking for new, healthy recipes to add to your repertoire, this cookbook is for you. Learn to love your food, lose the weight, and ditch the diet forever!

The New Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: 150 Fresh Ideas for America's Favorite Pan


Ellen Brown - 2014
    . . a damn fine work that's at once a treatise, chronicle, and paean to perhaps the most versatile tool in a cook's arsenal. . . . I promise you, with this book your cast iron skillet will never again leave the top of your stove. It’s that good." —David Leite, publisher of the two-time James Beard Award-winning website Leite’s Culinaria (LCcooks.com) Cast iron skillets are booming in popularity: they're versatile, they're relatively inexpensive, and they don't have the toxic chemicals released by artificial nonstick pans. Though cast iron was the only pan in grandma's kitchen, these 150 recipes are fresh and updated. They range from traditional skillet favorites, like Seared Chicken Hash, Spanish Potato and Sausage Tortilla, and pan-seared steaks and chops, to surprising dishes like cornbread with an Italian spin; quesadillas filled with brie, papaya, and pineapple; and a gingerbread cake topped with fresh pears.

Get Cooking: 150 Simple Recipes to Get You Started in the Kitchen


Mollie Katzen - 2009
    Here are 125 foolproof , basic recipes for soups, homemade pasta, roast chicken, burgers, vegan specialities, chocolate chip cookies—and more—that anyone can enjoy making, no matter how inexperienced they are in the kitchen.

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?

The Homemade Pantry: 101 Foods You Can Stop Buying and Start Making


Alana Chernila - 2012
    Come on in, but be prepared—it might not be quite what you expect. There is flour on the counter, oats that overflowed onto the floor, chocolate-encrusted spoons in the sink. There is Joey, the husband, exhausted by the thirty-five preschoolers who were hanging on him all day, and he is stuffing granola into his mouth to ease his five o’clock starvation. There are two little girls trying to show me cartwheels in that miniscule space between the refrigerator and the counter where I really need to be.” In her debut cookbook, Alana Chernila inspires you to step inside your kitchen, take a look around, and change the way you relate to food. The Homemade Pantry was born of a tight budget, Alana’s love for sharing recipes with her farmers’ market customers, and a desire to enjoy a happy cooking and eating life with her young family. On a mission to kick their packaged-food habit, she learned that with a little determination, anything she could buy at the store could be made in her kitchen, and her homemade versions were more satisfying, easier to make than she expected, and tastier.              Here are her very approachable recipes for 101 everyday staples, organized by supermarket aisle—from crackers to cheese, pesto to sauerkraut, and mayonnaise to toaster pastries. The Homemade Pantry is a celebration of food made by hand—warm mozzarella that is stretched, thick lasagna noodles rolled from flour and egg, fresh tomato sauce that bubbles on the stove. Whether you are trying a recipe for butter, potato chips, spice mixes, or ketchup, you will discover the magic and thrill that comes with the homemade pantry.            Alana captures the humor and messiness of everyday family life, too. A true friend to the home cook, she shares her “tense moments” to help you get through your own. With stories offering patient, humble advice, tips for storing the homemade foods, and rich four-color photography throughout, The Homemade Pantry will quickly become the go-to source for how to make delicious staples in your home kitchen.

Gluten-Free Baking Classics for the Bread Machine


Annalise G. Roberts - 2009
    Consumers who love bread but must avoid gluten have long been at the mercy of mediocre products and high prices. With this timely cookbook, they can have their bread and eat it, too. Acclaimed author Analise Roberts developed these simple, foolproof recipes for the Zojirushi bread machine. Roberts' outstanding recipes range from simple and satisfying Basic Sandwich Bread to complex and scrumptious Golden Italian Bread with Raisins and Fennel. She also offers ethnic breads like Challah and Babka and seasonal delights such as the irresistible Holiday Breakfast Bread. Included are loaves, like Sundried Tomato Roasted Garlic Bread, that contain no eggs or dairy products.

Cooking For Two: 2010


America's Test Kitchen - 2010
    It can mean adjusting spices in various ways, using different pans and utensils, and utilizing ingredients in smarter, more cost effective ways. In this new and already popular annual, the test cooks at America's Test Kitchen take our best recipes from the year and scale them down for families of two.Newlyweds, empty nesters, single people, and even young parents (who might want to enjoy a sophisticated meal even if their 3 year old is only eating mac and cheese) will relish Cooking for Two.

Wild Bread: Sourdough Reinvented


MaryJane Butters - 2018
    Wild Bread completely reinvents the concept of healthier-for-you, naturally fermented sourdough. Until now, sourdough was perceived as too much work and sour-tasting, artisan-style-only loaves. In Wild Bread, her  quick and easy 1 minute 2x/day technique demonstrates the use of eight different types of flours for each bread featured—everything from gluten-free brown-rice flour to quinoa to common white to heirloom whole wheat—for a whopping 295 recipes and 475 photographs. Using her step-by-step method, every style of bread imaginable, including gluten-free, will loft with wild abandon without the purchase of a single packet of not-so-healthy, store-bought yeast. In nutritionally superior wild-yeast bread, fermentation triggers the release of vital nutrients and breaks down carbohydrates. In MaryJane’s world, there’s no such thing as too much bread because once you convert to slow-rise wild-bread making, that bagel you’ve been thinking about is more like a vitamin pill than a source of “carb-loaded” guilt. Lessons gleaned from MaryJane Butters’ diverse pioneering background, from carpenter to dairy owner to former wilderness ranger turned organic farmer, led her eventually to stewardship of the 4-story, historic Barron Flour Mill. It was only natural that her years spent living on remote Forest Service fire-watch towers with only a living, breathing sourdough “mother” for companionship would lead her to write a pioneering wild-yeast bread book. She is the author of eight books; editor of MaryJanesFarm magazine, now in its 18th year of publication; and lives on an organic farm in Idaho. Two of her grown children and their spouses are employed full-time at her farm and she is “Nanny” to half a dozen grandchildren.

Cake My Day!: Easy, Eye-Popping Designs for Stunning, Fanciful, and Funny Cakes


Karen Tack - 2015
    The "New York Times" bestselling authors of "Hello, Cupcake!" take geniusity to the next level, with bigger, bolder, better creations for every occasion

30 Perfect Popcorn Recipes : How to Make Sweet & Savory Gourmet Popcorn at Home (The Green Gourmet)


Lori Jane Stewart - 2012
    It has a rich history, dating back to before civilization and taking part in a multitude of events we celebrate every year. It's the most popular snack food around the world, and the second most popular snack in America (falling just behind potato chips). Popcorn can be found all over the country, at movie theaters, carnivals, and most people's kitchens or pantries. It is a common misconception that popcorn is an unhealthy snack. The reason some people avoid popcorn is because they don't understand the real culprit! Behind its supposedly unhealthy status, are the seasonings and additives, often added to commercially packaged products to liven up the bland natural flavor and to lengthen it's shelf life. The popcorn itself is a wholegrain, and these can help prevent cancer and lower the risk of heart disease, while also supplying healthy nutrients that support our vision. There are many different methods to create popcorn, but the basic principle stays the same. All you have to do is make the kernels hot enough to heat the moisture contained naturally inside, and turn that into steam. The steam creates pressure from inside the hard shell casing and before you know it, POP! - the kernel is turned inside out and is ready to be consumed. As long as you can generate heat and have some kernels on hand, you can make popcorn!Enough of the history, what about the recipes? I've gathered 30 of the finest popcorn recipes from around the world for your snacking pleasure, and have tried to keep them free from artificial sweeteners, preservatives or other nasty additives wherever possible. I've specified 9 cups of popped corn for most recipes, as that gives 3 generous cups per serving - you can have as many or as few servings as you fancy, but keep an eye on the calories! For your convenience, I've also included nutritional data from the USDA for each recipe (that's the U.S. Department of Agriculture and not the United Square Dancers of America!)My preference for both flavor and health reasons, is freshly air-popped popcorn - so I have used that kind for all of these recipes. Everything in this book can be made with kernels you have freshly popped, or if you are in a hurry (or feeling lazy!), then you can always use the plain store bought pre-popped variety - just make sure you check the packaging for artificial nasties!Most of the ingredients for these recipes can be found at your local grocery store or deli, but if you get stuck, then the slightly more unusual ones can also be bought online via a link at the end of the book.Enjoy preparing and sharing!Lorix

Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats: A Year of Deliciously Different Dinners


Rachael Ray - 2005
    without a single repeat! Based on the original 30-Minute Meal cooking classes that started it all, these recipes prove that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every night. Rachael offers dozens of recipes that, once mastered, can become entirely new dishes with just a few ingredient swaps. Learn how to make a Southwestern Pasta Bake and you’ll be able to make a Smoky Chipotle Chili Con Queso Mac the next time. Try your hand at Spring Chicken with Leeks and Peas and you’re all set to turn out a rib-sticking Rice and Chicken Stoup that looks and tastes like an entirely different dish. As a best-selling cookbook author and host of three top-rated Food Network shows, Rachael Ray believes that both cooking and eating should be fun. Drawing from her own favorite dishes as well as those of her family, friends, and celebrities, she covers the flavor spectrum from Asian to Italian and dozens of delicious stops in between. Best of all, these flavor-packed dishes will satisfy your every craving and renew your taste for cooking. With so many delicious entrees to choose from you’ll never have an excuse for being in a cooking rut again.How about a brand-new 30-minute dinner every night for an entire year? Tired of making the same old same old, week after week after week? With Rachael’s most varied and comprehensive collection of 30-minute recipes ever, you’ll have everyone at your table saying “Yummo!” all year long. It’s amazing what a half hour can do for your tastebuds … 365 days a year!

The Essence of Chocolate: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate


John Scharffenberger - 2006
    Founded in 1996 by Robert Steinberg, a physician and amateur chef, and John Scharffenberger, an award-winning vintner, the company's confections have won a following among food professionals and home cooks alike. Now, in their first cookbook, the duo shares their passion with the world.The Essence of Chocolate features more than one hundred spectacular -- and often simple -- recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs. It is divided into three sections: "Intensely Chocolate," which includes such decadent treats as That Chocolate Cake, in which the sumptuous flavor of chocolate is the star; "Essentially Chocolate," with lighter chocolate desserts like White Velvet Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache or Brown Butter Blondies; and "A Hint of Chocolate," with recipes that use chocolate's spicier qualities to their best effect, like Vegetarian Chili and John's Cocoa Rub. And all will work magnificently with any high-quality chocolate. Filled with helpful tips, sumptuous photographs, and the story of how chocolate is really made, here is a book that is every bit as seductive as its subject.Robert Steinberg had been practicing medicine for twenty years when he went to France in 1994 to explore chocolate making, then returned to his own kitchen to create the first versions of what would be Scharffen Berger chocolate. He lives in San Francisco and until recently practicedat the San Francisco Free Clinic. John Scharffenberger founded Scharffenberger Cellars, one of the premier sparkling wine manufacturers in the United States. He sold his interest in the winery, and in 1996 he and Steinberg founded Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker. Scharffenberger lives in Berkeley and Mendocino County.

The Baking Bible


Rose Levy Beranbaum - 2014
    With all-new recipes for the best cakes, pies, tarts, cookies, candies, pastries, breads, and more, this magnum opus draws from Rose’s passion and expertise in every category of baking. As is to be expected from the woman who’s been called “the most meticulous cook who ever lived,” each sumptuous recipe is truly foolproof—with detail-oriented instructions that eliminate guesswork, “plan-aheads,” ingenious tips, and highlights for success. From simple everyday crowd-pleasers (Coffee Crumb Cake Muffins, Gingersnaps, Gooseberry Crisp) to show-stopping stunners (Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Tart, Mango Bango Cheesecake, White Christmas Peppermint Cake) to bakery-style pastries developed for the home kitchen (the famous French Kouign Amann), every recipe proves that delicious perfection is within reach for any baker.