On the Noodle Road: From Beijing to Rome, with Love and Pasta


Jen Lin-Liu - 2008
    Feasting her way through an Italian honeymoon, Jen Lin-Liu was struck by culinary echoes of the delicacies she ate and cooked back in China, where she’d lived for more than a decade. Who really invented the noodle? she wondered, like many before her. But also: How had food and culture moved along the Silk Road, the ancient trade route linking Asia to Europe—and what could still be felt of those long-ago migrations? With her new husband’s blessing, she set out to discover the connections, both historical and personal, eating a path through western China and on into Central Asia, Iran, Turkey, and across the Mediterranean. The journey takes Lin-Liu into the private kitchens where the headscarves come off and women not only knead and simmer but also confess and confide. The thin rounds of dough stuffed with meat that are dumplings in Beijing evolve into manti in Turkey—their tiny size the measure of a bride’s worth—and end as tortellini in Italy. And as she stirs and samples, listening to the women talk about their lives and longings, Lin-Liu gains a new appreciation of her own marriage, learning to savor the sweetness of love freely chosen.

Midwest Made: Big, Bold Baking from the Heartland


Shauna Sever - 2019
    German, Scandinavian, Polish, French, and Italian immigrant families baked their way to the American Midwest, instilling in it pies, breads, cookies, and pastries that manage to feel distinctly home-grown. After more than a decade of living in California, author Shauna Sever rediscovered the storied, simple pleasures of home baking in her Midwestern kitchen. This unique collection of more than 125 recipes includes refreshed favorites and new treats:Rhubarb and Raspberry Swedish FlopDanish KringleSecret-Ingredient Cherry Slab PieGerman LebkuchenScotch-a-RoosSmoky Cheddar-Crusted Cornish Pasties. . . and more, which will make any kitchen feel like a Midwestern home.

Flour Water Salt Yeast: The Fundamentals of Artisan Bread and Pizza


Ken Forkish - 2012
    For Portland-based baker Ken Forkish, well-made bread is more than just a pleasure—it is a passion that has led him to create some of the best and most critically lauded breads and pizzas in the country. In Flour Water Salt Yeast, Forkish translates his obsessively honed craft into scores of recipes for rustic boules and Neapolitan-style pizzas, all suited for the home baker. Forkish developed and tested all of the recipes in his home oven, and his impeccable formulas and clear instructions result in top-quality artisan breads and pizzas that stand up against those sold in the best bakeries anywhere. Whether you’re a total beginner or a serious baker, Flour Water Salt Yeast has a recipe that suits your skill level and time constraints: Start with a straight dough and have fresh bread ready by supper time, or explore pre-ferments with a bread that uses biga or poolish. If you’re ready to take your baking to the next level, follow Forkish’s step-by-step guide to making a levain starter with only flour and water, and be amazed by the delicious complexity of your naturally leavened bread. Pizza lovers can experiment with a variety of doughs and sauces to create the perfect pie using either a pizza stone or a cast-iron skillet. Flour Water Salt Yeast is more than just a collection of recipes for amazing bread and pizza—it offers a complete baking education, with a thorough yet accessible explanation of the tools and techniques that set artisan bread apart. Featuring a tutorial on baker’s percentages, advice for manipulating ingredients ratios to create custom doughs, tips for adapting bread baking schedules to fit your day-to-day life, and an entire chapter that demystifies the levain-making process, Flour Water Salt Yeast is an indispensable resource for bakers who want to make their daily bread exceptional bread.

The Model Bakery Cookbook: 75 Favorite Recipes from the Beloved Napa Valley Bakery


Sarah Mitchell Hansen - 2013
    And this book of sensational artisan baked goods makes clear why there are lines out the door! Featuring 75 recipes and 60 photos, it's as luscious to look at as their most-requested breads, classic desserts, and fresh pastries--all arrayed here--are to eat. Pain au Levain, Sticky Buns, Peach Streusel Pie, Ginger Molasses Cookies, and many more glorious recipes make this a mouthwatering read and a reference gem for lovers of bread and pastry, cakes and cookies, and, of course, the Model Bakery!

Taste of Beirut: 175+ Delicious Lebanese Recipes from Classics to Contemporary to Mezzes and More


Joumana Accad - 2014
    In her debut cookbook, The Taste of Beirut, she shares her heritage through exquisite food and anecdotes, teaching anyone from newbies to foodies how to master traditional Lebanese cuisine. With over 150 recipes inspired by her Teta (grandmother) in their family's kitchen, Accad captures the healthful and fabulous flavors of the Middle East and makes them completely accessible to home cooks. Each recipe features step-by-step instructions, Accad's warm teaching style and breathtaking color photographs that will make mouths water. Divided into sections including Breads, Breakfast, and Sandwiches; Soups; Mezze Delights; Main Dishes (Stews, Kibbeh, Stuffed Vegetables, and Rice Dishes); plus Pastries and Drinks, here is just a taste of the recipes featured: Spinach turnovers (Fatayer bel-sabanegh)Meat pies (Sfeeha)Kibbeh tartare (vegan)Red pepper and walnut dip (Muhammara)Lebanese couscous (Moghrabieh)Red lentils and rice purée (Mujaddara Safra)Eggplant casserole with tomato, meat and yogurt sauce topping (Fattet al-makdoos)Meat loaf with potato slices (Kafta bel-saniyeh)Zucchini or cauliflower frittersWings, Lebanese-styleFattoush saladBeet hummus (Mama dallou'a)Zaatar and tapénade breadWheat berry and milk pudding (Amhiyet bel-haleeb)Sesame and pistachio cookies (Barazek)Lebanese semolina cheesecake (Knafeh)Baklava in a speedy ten-minute version!While The Taste of Beirut brings to life the rich, complex, and delicious flavors of the Middle East, each recipe is refreshingly easy to make. The author's passionate, conversational style will make readers feel like they have a friend from Lebanon right in their kitchen, teaching them everything from cooking techniques to how to stock a kitchen with the best ingredients. Even more than a fabulous Lebanese cookbook, The Taste of Beirut is a proud celebration of people, culture, and cuisine.

Everyday Pasta


Giada De Laurentiis - 2007
    Collects Italian cookery recipes that range from classic favorites to innovative new dishes and are accompanied by simple instructions for making fresh pasta and a selection of side dishes.

A Baker's Life: 100 fantastic recipes, from childhood bakes to five-star excellence


Paul Hollywood - 2017
    Each chapter is filled with bakes that represent a different decade – learning the basics at his father's bakery; honing his pastry skills in the finest hotels; discovering the bold flavours of the Middle East while working in Cyprus; and finding fame with the phenomenally popular Great British Bake Off television series.Thanks to this book (and its clear step-by-step instructions), recipes that Paul has spent years perfecting can be recreated at home. Favourites include garlic baguettes; feta and chive bread; chorizo and chilli Scotch eggs; mum's ginger biscuits; double chocolate Danish twists; and hazelnut cappuccino cake.With photographs from personal family albums, plus many professional insights into and anecdotes that reveal what makes a great baker, A Baker's Life will show you how to bring the baking skills Paul has learnt over a lifetime into your own home kitchen.

Taste of Persia: A Cook's Travels Through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan


Naomi Duguid - 2016
    Color and spark come from ripe red pomegranates, golden saffron threads, and the fresh herbs served at every meal. Grilled kebabs, barbari breads, pilafs, and brightly colored condiments are everyday fare, as are rich soup-stews called ash and alluring sweets like rose water pudding and date-nut halvah. Our ambassador to this tasty world is the incomparable Naomi Duguid, who for more than 20 years has been bringing us exceptional recipes and mesmerizing tales from regions seemingly beyond our reach. More than 125 recipes, framed with stories and photographs of people and places, introduce us to a culinary paradise where ancient legends and ruins rub shoulders with new beginnings—where a wealth of history and culinary traditions makes it a compelling place to read about for cooks and travelers and for anyone hankering to experience the food of a wider world.

Ivan Ramen: Love, Obsession, and Recipes from Tokyo's Most Unlikely Noodle Joint


Ivan Orkin - 2013
    In the food-zealous, insular megalopolis of Tokyo, Ivan opened a ramen shop. He was a gaijin (foreigner), trying to make his name in a place that is fiercely opinionated about ramen. At first, customers came because they were curious, but word spread quickly about Ivan’s handmade noodles, clean and complex broth, and thoughtfully prepared toppings. Soon enough, Ivan became a celebrity—a fixture of Japanese TV programs and the face of his own best-selling brand of instant ramen. Ivan opened a second location in Tokyo, and has now returned to New York City to open his first US branch. Ivan Ramen is essentially two books in one: a memoir and a cookbook. In these pages, Ivan tells the story of his ascent from wayward youth to a star of the Tokyo restaurant scene. He also shares more than forty recipes, including the complete, detailed recipe for his signature Shio Ramen; creative ways to use extra ramen components; and some of his most popular ramen variations. Written with equal parts candor, humor, gratitude, and irreverence, Ivan Ramen is the only English-language book that offers a look inside the cultish world of ramen making in Japan. It will inspire you to forge your own path, give you insight into Japanese culture, and leave you with a deep appreciation for what goes into a seemingly simple bowl of noodles.

Great Food Fast


Bob Warden - 2012
    In the twenty years he has been appearing as a guest cooking expert, Bob has helped develop hundreds of cooking products, including cookbooks. Slow Food Fast and Quick and Easy Pressure Cooking, his previous pressure cooker books, have sold over 200,000 copies, and have been said to be the foremost books on pressure cooking. Now, Bob Warden’s entirely new pressure cooking cookbook, Great Food Fast, looks to redefine pressure cooking all over again. With the help of thousands of reader reviews, forum posts, and comments, Bob has now created recipes that are highly tuned to what his customers want. He didn’t have to go back to the drawing board, just back into the kitchen where he developed over 120 of his very best pressure cooker recipes ever, including five of his signature recipes that he perfected to even greater heights. Wait till you taste the Best Ever Macaroni and Cheese, and his richer, tastier, gravy-er Perfected Pot Roast! And all of this is done in one third of the time. Move over, Slow...it’s time for Great Food Fast!

But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan!: 125 Recipes to Win Everyone Over


Kristy Turner - 2016
    Now, But My Family Would Never Eat Vegan! serves up 125 all-new, scrumptious, satisfying recipes—organized around 20 too-familiar objections to eating vegan as a family:Don't have time to cook elaborate family dinners? Whip up an easy weeknight solution: Quick Cauliflower Curry, BBQ Chickpea Salad, or Cheesy Quinoa & Veggies.Worried about satisfying the "meat and potatoes" eaters? Wow them with Lazy Vegan Chile Relleno Casserole, Jackfruit Carnitas Burrito Bowl, or Ultimate Twice-Baked Potatoes.Hosting a special event? Try Pizzadillas for game day, Champagne Cupcakes for bridal showers, Maple-Miso Tempeh Cutlets for Thanksgiving, or Herbed Tofu Burgers for your next potluck.Easy-to-follow, bursting-with-flavor recipes—free of all animal products!--make it easier than ever to please vegans and non-vegans at gatherings. Even your most skeptical relatives will be begging for more!

Fancy AF Cocktails: Drink Recipes from a Couple of Professional Drinkers


Ariana Madix - 2019
    Ariana Madix and Tom Sandoval, two of the show’s stars, fell in love on the show and have stuck together through it all. They've been talking about writing a cocktail book on the show for a few seasons, and now they're finally delivering the goods with this book that has drinks for every situation. It features a mix of classy cocktails for fancy special occasions and trashier recipes for those times when you just have a few random ingredients in your kitchen and want to keep the buzz going. Shots and recovery recipes are also included, so your pregame and morning after will be covered too. Woven throughout are brand-new photos and behind-the-scenes stories crafted with the help of Bravo insider and co-author Danny Pellegrino, making this a true must-have for fans of the show.

Big Fat Cookies


Elinor Klivans - 2004
    No matter what the occasion, nothing beats the big, fat, homemade kind. With this deliciously fun cookbook and a few simple ingredients, anyone can whip up a quick batch of one of 50 different gigantic crispy, chewy, or fancy-pants sandwich cookies. From classic Super Chocolate Chip to colossal Mocha Mud Mountains, Jumbo Coconut Macaroons to Lemon Whoopie Pies, this is total cookie satisfaction. Introductory material includes tips on buying the best ingredients, techniques such as mixing and forming the perfect round, baking ahead and storing, andfor those who actually like to share their cookieshow to pack them up safely so they won't break on the way to the party. So, get that sweet tooth ready and bite into a Big Fat Cookie.

The Vintage Baker: More Than 50 Recipes from Butterscotch Pecan Curls to Sour Cream Jumbles


Jessie Sheehan - 2018
    Blue-ribbon recipes inspired by baking pamphlets from the 1920s to the 1960s are rendered with irresistible charm for modern tastes in this sweet package. Here are more than 50 cookies, pies, cakes, bars, and more, plus informative headnotes detailing the origins of each recipe and how they were tweaked into deliciousness. For home bakers, collectors of vintage cookbooks or kitchenware—really, anyone who loves beautiful, quirky gifts—this is a gem.

Platters and Boards: Beautiful, Casual Spreads for Every Occasion


Shelly Westerhausen - 2018
    This visual cornucopia of a cookbook is the guide to entertaining with effortless style.Platters and Boards is an inspiring resource for throwing unforgettable get-togethers: Organized by time of day, 40 contemporary arrangements are presented with gorgeous photography, easy-to-prepare recipes, suggested meat and drink pairings, and notes on preparation and presentation.Helpful advice includes:Tips on portioningGuides to picking surfaces and vesselsRecommendations for pairing complementary textures and flavorsA handy chart featuring board suggestions for a variety of occasions (from holiday parties to baby showers)Fans of Cook Beautiful, The Art of the Cheese Plate, InStyle Parties, Magnolia Table, and Cravings will love Platters and Boards.