Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook


Cindy Pawlcyn - 2001
    Chef-owner Cindy Pawlcyn, founding chef of San Francisco's original Fog City Diner, put down her roots in Napa over 15 years ago, bringing her midwestern sensibility and flair for reinventing American food to the valley. Ever since then, Mustards has been affectionately known as the fancy rib joint with way, way too many wines. Gorgeous full-color food photography from Saveur photographer Laurie Smith.      Awards2002 James Beard Award WinnerReviews"Take home some hearty American fare." —The San Jose Mercury News "Accurate views of the restaurant, its food, and its sense of fun . . . it's a feast for the eyes and the imagination." —Omaha World Herald "The recipes in MUSTARDS GRILL represent a wonderful marriage between common American foods, California produce and influences from Latin American and Asian immigrants."—New Orleans Times Picayune "The book is a perfect reflection of its author's eclectic style that melds sophistication and global inspirations with an earthy American quality."—San Francisco Chronicle "Like its namesake, the cookbook is bright and bountiful, with a touch of tongue-in-cheek flippancy." —Charleston Post & Courier"A feast for the eyes with no muss and fuss." —The Los Angeles Daily News "The book is as honest as the chef" and the "dreamy desserts . . . are the epitome of comfort."—Santa Rosa Press Democrat"Pawlcyn's casual writing style gives the reader a feel for her restaurant, and her easy-to-follow recipes are accompanied by chatty—and helpful—notes." —Minneapolis Star Tribune"[MUSTARDS GRILL is] a place that's sophisticated without being pretentious. The recipes in this cookbook are no different." —American Way"Mustards is universally loved by local residents and tourists alike for its smoky, tender, spicy baby back ribs; cornmeal-coated fried green tomatoes; tasty Asian-marinated flank steak; Chinese chicken noodle salad; and, of course, Mustards' always-crisp tangle of deep-fried onion threads. The enduring vitality of this place comes from the fact [that Cindy Pawlcyn] put all the dishes she loved on the menu: country dishes transformed by her sprightly offbeat style and sparkle." —FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO SAN FRANCISCO"As the first (some would say the best) in a string of successful, precedent-breaking restaurants originated by chef Cindy Pawlcyn. It changed Napa Valley and took the stuffiness out of dining by showing that Americans could be as serious about food and wine as the French, but have more fun." —Gourmet

Dinner: A Love Story: It All Begins at the Family Table


Jenny Rosenstrach - 2012
    Even when they work long days. Even when their kids' schedules pull them in eighteen different directions. They are not superhuman. They are not from another planet.With simple strategies and common sense, Jenny figured out how to break down dinner—the food, the timing, the anxiety, from prep to cleanup—so that her family could enjoy good food, time to unwind, and simply be together.Using the same straight-up, inspiring voice that readers of her award-winning blog, Dinner: A Love Story, have come to count on, Jenny never judges and never preaches. Every meal she dishes up is a real meal, one that has been cooked and eaten and enjoyed at least a half dozen times by someone in Jenny's house. With inspiration and game plans for any home cook at any level, Dinner: A Love Story is as much for the novice who doesn't know where to start as it is for the gourmand who doesn't know how to start over when she finds herself feeding an intractable toddler or for the person who never thought about home-cooked meals until he or she became a parent. This book is, in fact, for anyone interested in learning how to make a meal to be shared with someone they love, and about how so many good, happy things happen when we do.

Easy Gourmet: Awesome Recipes Anyone Can Cook


Stephanie Le - 2014
    Her gorgeous mouth-watering photography, strong friendly voice, and incredibly delicious recipes come together in this easy-to-follow cookbook that belongs in every kitchen.Beautifully depicting the foods we all want to be cooking and eating, Easy Gourmet is full of updated modern twists on your favorite classics like Chicken and Waffles, Maple-Glazed Duck, Miso Cod and Quinoa, and Sriracha Hot Wings.Her must-have recipes cover every meal and everything in between, all paired with stunning photography and clean, modern design. As a bonus, all the photographs in Easy Gourmet were taken and styled personally by Le - adding that signature I am a Food Blog touch.

Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat


Chrissy Teigen - 2016
    Maybe she’s making people laugh on TV. But all Chrissy Teigen really wants to do is talk about dinner. Or breakfast. Lunch gets some love, too.For years, she’s been collecting, cooking, and Instagramming her favorite recipes, and here they are: from breakfast all day to John’s famous fried chicken with spicy honey butter to her mom’s Thai classics. Salty, spicy, saucy, and fun as sin (that’s the food, but that’s Chrissy, too), these dishes are for family, for date night at home, for party time, and for a few life-sucks moments (salads). You’ll learn the importance of chili peppers, the secret to cheesy-cheeseless eggs, and life tips like how to use bacon as a home fragrance, the single best way to wake up in the morning, and how not to overthink men or Brussels sprouts. Because for Chrissy Teigen, cooking, eating, life, and love are one and the same.

The Sweetapolita Bakebook: 75 Fanciful Cakes, Cookies & More to Make & Decorate


Rosie Alyea - 2015
     The world of Sweetapolita is sparkly and sprinkly and charming as can be, with 75 recipes for everything from pretty homemade cookies to decadent layer cakes. But what really sets these treats apart are interactive designs that let everyone in on the fun of decorating: Painted Mini Cakes are served with edible "paint" for guests to personalize at the table, the fondant-covered tiered Chalk-a-Lot cake is paired with homemade edible "chalk," and Rainbow Doodle cookies are made for kids to go to town on with edible markers.  Rosie Alyea, the creator of the Sweetapolita blog, frolics in flour and frosting, and she loves to get her two young daughters involved, too. The pages of her debut book are full of playful ideas that will inspire creativity in bakers of all levels—including a recipe for making sprinkles at home and numerous ways to showcase them, such as the Sprinkle-Me-Silly Pizza with rainbow jimmies and nonpareils galore.  With 75 full-color photographs of cookies, cakes, and more plus step-by-step technique tutorials, The Sweetapolita Bakebook will change the way bakers decorate, while entertaining every kid—and kid-at-heart.

The Lebanese Kitchen


Salma Hage - 2012
    With more than 500 recipes for meze, soups, fish, meat and vegetables, desserts, cakes, cookies, preserves and drinks, it covers the entire range of Lebanese food, which is widely regarded as the most refined of all the Middle Eastern cuisines.

Sara Foster's Southern Kitchen


Sara Foster - 2011
    There, the combination of down-home comfort, fresh-from-the-farm ingredients, and dedicated preparation hooked her for life. Now the award-winning cookbook author and restaurateur serves up nearly two hundred contemporary interpretations of classic dishes—Shrimp Jambalaya, Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork Butt, Cheesy Grits Casserole; refreshing drinks, including Mint Juleps and Sweet Tea; and such satisfying breakfasts as Country Ham and Hominy Hash. And a table wouldn’t be Southern without the sides—Skillet-Fried Corn, Creamy Potato Salad, and Arugula Pesto Snap Beans. Be sure, too, to save room for Molasses-Bourbon Pecan Pie and Freestyle Lemon Blackberry Tart.From revealing the secret to fluffy buttermilk biscuits to giving us ideas for swapping out ingredients to accommodate any season, from providing tips for frying up chicken like a true Southerner to detailing barbecue fundamentals that put you on par with any pitmaster, Foster’s helpful sidebars ensure that your dishes will turn out perfect every time. You’ll also get expert tips on the essential equipment (cast-iron skillets, griddles, casserole dishes) and the ingredients no Southern pantry should be without (from stone-ground grits to Carolina Gold rice). As a bonus, Foster offers her “Sidetracked” feature, profiles of tried-and-true roadtrip destinations throughout the South where you can find the best fried catfish, barbecued brisket, big breakfast plates, and more. And finally, Foster’s lessons in pickling and canning guarantee that you can enjoy your favorite flavors all year round.With its handy list of resources and Southern pantry essentials, and entertaining stories, Sara Foster’s Southern Kitchen is an all-inclusive collection of Southern cooking in which simple feasts meet artisanal ingredients, traditional tastes meet modern methods, and fantastic flavors make every bite a succulent mouthful of Southern comfort.

The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen


Matt Lee - 2013
     Growing up in the heart of the historic downtown, in a warbler-yellow house on Charleston’s fabled “Rainbow Row,” brothers Matt and Ted knew how to cast for shrimp before they were in middle school, and could catch and pick crabs soon after. They learned to recognize the fruit trees that grew around town and knew to watch for the day in late March when the loquats on the tree on Chalmers Street ripened. Their new cookbook brings the vibrant food culture of this great Southern city to life, giving readers insider access to the best recipes and stories Charleston has to offer.   No cookbook on the region would be complete without the city’s most iconic dishes done right, including She-Crab Soup, Hoppin’ John, and Huguenot Torte, but the Lee brothers also aim to reacquaint home cooks with treasures lost to time, like chewy-crunchy, salty-sweet Groundnut Cakes and Syllabub with Rosemary Glazed Figs. In addition, they masterfully bring the flavors of today’s Charleston to the fore, inviting readers to sip a bright Kumquat Gin Cocktail, nibble chilled Pickled Shrimp with Fennel, and dig into a plate of Smothered Pork Chops, perhaps with a side of Grilled Chainey Briar, foraged from sandy beach paths. The brothers left no stone unturned in their quest for Charleston’s best, interviewing home cooks, chefs, farmers, fishermen, caterers, and funeral directors to create an accurate portrait of the city’s food traditions. Their research led to gems such as Flounder in Parchment with Shaved Vegetables, an homage to the dish that became Edna Lewis’s signature during her tenure at Middleton Place Restaurant, and Cheese Spread à la Henry’s, a peppery dip from the beloved brasserie of the mid-twentieth century. Readers are introduced to the people, past and present, who have left their mark on the food culture of the Holy City and inspired the brothers to become the cookbook authors they are today.   Through 100 recipes, 75 full-color photographs, and numerous personal stories, The Lee Bros. Charleston Kitchen gives readers the most intimate portrayal yet of the cuisine of this exciting Southern city, one that will resonate with food lovers wherever they live. And for visitors to Charleston, indispensible walking and driving tours related to recipes in the book bring this food town to life like never before.

Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm


Molly Yeh - 2016
    Like her award-winning blog My Name is Yeh, Molly on the Range chronicles her life through photos, more than 100 new recipes, and hilarious stories from life in the city and on the farm.Molly’s story begins in the suburbs of Chicago in the 90s, when things like Lunchables and Dunkaroos were the objects of her affection; continues into her New York years, when Sunday mornings meant hangovers and bagels; and ends in her beloved new home, where she’s currently trying to master the art of the hotdish. Celebrating Molly's Jewish/Chinese background with recipes for Asian Scotch Eggs and Scallion Pancake Challah Bread and her new hometown Scandinavian recipes for Cardamom Vanilla Cake and Marzipan Mandel Bread, Molly on the Range will delight everyone, from longtime readers to those discovering her glorious writing and recipes for the first time.

Curtis Stone's What's For Dinner? Simple Recipes for Every Night of the Week


Curtis Stone - 2013
    Curtis Stone, host of Top Chef Masters and Around the World in 80 Plates, provides a culinary road map of time-saving kitchen solutions and delicious dishes for every day of the week.

French Food at Home


Laura Calder - 2003
    Whether it's getting weeknight dinners on the table fairly fast (Basil Beef, Rhubarb Chops, or Carrot Juice Chicken) or leisurely cooking for dining at a slightly slower pace (Lamb Tagine, Holiday Hen, or Fennel Bass), Laura Calder shares recipes she's created at home in her own French kitchen.

Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen


Jon Shook - 2008
    Today their catering business and restaurant are the toast of Los Angeles, but Jon and Vinny still remember what it was like to cook with a minimum of space, time, and equipment. And they know that it is the feel-good, homestyle favorites that win raves from their clients and will make any home cook’s reputation. In Two Dudes, One Pan they show you how to prepare a surprising array of dishes—from finger foods to sweets and everything in between—using a few simple pieces of equipment and never more than one at a time.Just as Jon and Vinny depend on fewer kitchen tools and gadgets than most cooks, they also believe it’s possible to eat well without spending a fortune, and their varied, deeply flavored food won’t send you running to the gourmet shop in search of an obscure ingredient. For them, it’s all about what you can do with food from the local grocery store. Pick up your favorite pan and try your hand at dishes like:Curried Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard and Red Onion Slaw * Sake-Soy Sea Bass with Baby Bok Choy * Spicy Roasted Cauliflower, Capers, and Parm * Sherried Salmon and Cipollini Onions * Five-Spice Cornish Hens * Pistachio Tiramisù with Sweet Cherry Sauce * Pumpkin Pie BarsWith full-color photographs, ingredient alternatives, helpful tips and shortcuts, and dozens of straightforward, down-and-dirty recipes that pack a wallop of flavor, Two Dudes, One Pan will inspire you to use less—and cook more.

Slow Cooker Revolution


America's Test Kitchen - 2011
    A team of ten test cooks at America's Test Kitchen spent a year developing recipes, and what they discovered will change the way you use your slow cooker.Did you know that onions garlic, and spices should be bloomed in the microwave for five minutes before they go into the slow cooker? This simple step intensifies their flavor and requires no extra work. Did you know that a little soy sauce mixed with tomato paste adds meaty flavors to almost any stew and can often replace the tedious step of browning the meat? And do you know the secret to a moist slow-cooker chicken? Start the bird upside down to protect the delicate white meat from drying out.

My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Saved My Life


Ruth Reichl - 2015
    No one was more stunned by this unexpected turn of events than its beloved editor in chief, Ruth Reichl, who suddenly faced an uncertain professional future. As she struggled to process what had seemed unthinkable, Reichl turned to the one place that had always provided sanctuary. “I did what I always do when I’m confused, lonely, or frightened,” she writes. “I disappeared into the kitchen.”My Kitchen Year follows the change of seasons—and Reichl’s emotions—as she slowly heals through the simple pleasures of cooking. While working 24/7, Reichl would “throw quick meals together” for her family and friends. Now she has the time to rediscover what cooking meant to her. Imagine kale, leaves dark and inviting, sautéed with chiles and garlic; summer peaches baked into a simple cobbler; fresh oysters chilling in a box of snow; plump chickens and earthy mushrooms, fricasseed with cream. Over the course of this challenging year, each dish Reichl prepares becomes a kind of stepping stone to finding joy again in ordinary things. The 136 recipes collected here represent a life’s passion for food: a blistering ma po tofu that shakes Reichl out of the blues; a decadent grilled cheese sandwich that accompanies a rare sighting in the woods around her home; a rhubarb sundae that signals the arrival of spring. Here, too, is Reichl’s enlivening dialogue with her Twitter followers, who become her culinary supporters and lively confidants. Part cookbook, part memoir, part paean to the household gods, My Kitchen Year may be Ruth Reichl’s most stirring book yet—one that reveals a refreshingly vulnerable side of the world's most famous food editor as she shares treasured recipes to be returned to again and again and again.

Pure Simple Cooking: Effortless Meals Every Day


Diana Henry - 2007
    Simple. Fresh.  This is the mantra of award-winning cookbook author Diana Henry. With a few core ingredients in your cupboard, you can transform humble staples, such as sausages, potatoes, and summer berries, into something special. Henry shows busy home cooks how to make no-fuss meals with an appealing mix of recipes inspired by her travels in southern France, Scandinavia, Italy, North Africa, Greece, and other regions.  More than 150 foolproof recipes, such as Pacific Lime Chicken, Seared Tuna with Avocado Salsa, Zucchini with Ricotta, Mint, and Basil, and Grilled Apricots with Blackberries and Mascarpone, offer casual but memorable dishes for creating convenient weeknight meals or entertaining friends on weekends. Fruit and vegetable recipes are organized seasonally, making it easy to feature fresh produce in your cooking. With its relaxed approach to making dinner accessible and inspiring, Pure Simple Cooking embraces the truth that good food is often best cooked simply.