Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation


Michael Pollan - 2013
    Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements - fire, water, air, and earth - to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. In the course of his journey, he discovers that the cook occupies a special place in the world, standing squarely between nature and culture. Both realms are transformed by cooking, and so, in the process, is the cook.Each section of Cooked tracks Pollan's effort to master a single classic recipe using one of the four elements. A North Carolina barbecue pit master tutors him in the primal magic of fire; a Chez Panisse-trained cook schools him in the art of braising; a celebrated baker teaches him how air transforms grain and water into a fragrant loaf of bread; and finally, several mad-genius "fermentos" (a tribe that includes brewers, cheese makers, and all kinds of picklers) reveal how fungi and bacteria can perform the most amazing alchemies of all. The listener learns alongside Pollan, but the lessons move beyond the practical to become an investigation of how cooking involves us in a web of social and ecological relationships: with plants and animals, the soil, farmers, our history and culture, and, of course, the people our cooking nourishes and delights. Cooking, above all, connects us.The effects of not cooking are similarly far reaching. Relying upon corporations to process our food means we consume huge quantities of fat, sugar, and salt; disrupt an essential link to the natural world; and weaken our relationships with family and friends. In fact, Cooked argues, taking back control of cooking may be the single most important step anyone can take to help make the American food system healthier and more sustainable. Reclaiming cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance, learning to perform the magic of these everyday transformations, opens the door to a more nourishing life.

The New Laurel's Kitchen


Laurel Robertson - 1976
    The complete cookbook and reference center for the whole-foods kitchen - over a million copies sold!The New Laurel's Kitchen is everything that made the first edition loved and trusted, with hundreds of new recipes and the latest nutritional information.   • Over 500 recipes, ideas, menus, and suggestions, each tested and perfected for satisfying, wholesome home cooking   • Imaginative use of low-cost, easy-to-find foods   • Dozens of ways to cut back on fat without losting flavor   • Revolutionary food guide that makes good nutrition easy   • Sections on cooking for children, elders, pregnant moms, athletes   • Practical applications of the latest in nutrition science

The Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea


Hannah Crum - 2016
    This complete guide, from the proprietors of Kombucha Kamp, shows you how to do it from start to finish, with illustrated step-by-step instructions and troubleshooting tips. The book also includes information on the many health benefits of kombucha, fascinating details of the drink’s history, and recipes for delicious foods and drinks you can make with kombucha (including some irresistible cocktails!). “This is the one go-to resource for all things kombucha.” — Andrew Zimmern, James Beard Award–winning author and host of Travel Channel’s Bizarre Foods

The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen


Sean Sherman - 2017
    Locally sourced, seasonal, “clean” ingredients and nose-to-tail cooking are nothing new to Sean Sherman, the Oglala Lakota chef and founder of The Sioux Chef. In his breakout book, The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen, Sherman shares his approach to creating boldly seasoned foods that are vibrant, healthful, at once elegant and easy. Sherman dispels outdated notions of Native American fare—no fry bread or Indian tacos here—and no European staples such as wheat flour, dairy products, sugar, and domestic pork and beef. The Sioux Chef’s healthful plates embrace venison and rabbit, river and lake trout, duck and quail, wild turkey, blueberries, sage, sumac, timpsula or wild turnip, plums, purslane, and abundant wildflowers. Contemporary and authentic, his dishes feature cedar braised bison, griddled wild rice cakes, amaranth crackers with smoked white bean paste, three sisters salad, deviled duck eggs, smoked turkey soup, dried meats, roasted corn sorbet, and hazelnut–maple bites.The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen is a rich education and a delectable introduction to modern indigenous cuisine of the Dakota and Minnesota territories, with a vision and approach to food that travels well beyond those borders.

BabyCakes: Vegan, (Mostly) Gluten-Free, and (Mostly) Sugar-Free Recipes from New York's Most Talked-About Bakery


Erin McKenna - 2009
    Simply, BabyCakes is your key to an enlightened, indulgent, sweets-filled future. This is important news not only for parents whose children have allergies, for vegans, and for others who struggle with food sensitivities, but also for all you sugar-loving traditionalists. The recipes in these pages prove that there is a healthy alternative to recklessly made desserts, one that doesn't sacrifice taste or texture.Having experimented endlessly with alternative, health-conscious sweeteners, flours, and thickeners, Erin McKenna, the proprietress of beloved bakery BabyCakes NYC, developed these recipes–most are gluten-free, all are without refined sugar–in hopes of combating her own wheat, dairy, and sugar sensitivities. In BabyCakes, she shares detailed information about the ingredients she uses (coconut flour, xanthan gum, and agave nectar, for example) and how to substitute them properly for common ones–all the while guiding you safely through techniques she’s spent years perfecting. When BabyCakes NYC opened on Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 2005, it helped propel the gluten-free and vegan baking movement into a new stratosphere. Suddenly there was a destination for those with wheat allergies and other dietary restrictions–and, soon enough, celebrities and dessert lovers of every kind–to indulge freely in delectable muffins and teacakes, brownies and cookies, pies and cobblers.Enclosed within these pages are all the “secrets” you’ll need to bring the greatness of BabyCakes NYC into your own home as well as raves and recommendations from devotees such as Natalie Portman, Jason Schwartzman, Mary-Louise Parker, Zooey Deschanel, and Pamela Anderson.For confectionists of all kinds, delicious alternatives lie within: Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate Shortbread Scones with Caramelized Bananas, Strawberry Shortcake, and BabyCakes NYC’s celebrated frosting (so delicious it has fans tipping back frosting shots!), to name just a few. Finally, Erin’s blissful desserts are yours for the baking!

100 Days of Real Food: How We Did It, What We Learned, and 100 Easy, Wholesome Recipes Your Family Will Love


Lisa Leake - 2014
    What she thought would be a short-term experiment turned out to have a huge impact on her personally. After wading through their fair share of challenges, experiencing unexpected improvements in health, and gaining a preference for fresh, wholesome meals, the Leakes happily adopted their commitment to real food as their "new normal."Now Lisa shares her family's story, offering insights and cost-conscious recipes everyone can use to enjoy wholesome natural food prepared with easily found ingredients such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables, seafood, locally raised meats, whole-milk dairy products, nuts, natural sweeteners, and more.Filled with step-by-step instructions, this hands-on cookbook and guide includes:Advice for navigating the grocery store and making smart real food purchases Tips for reading ingredient labels 100 quick-and-easy recipes for such favorites as Homemade Chicken Nuggets, Whole Wheat Pasta with Kale Pesto Cream Sauce, Cheesy Broccoli Casserole, The Best Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker, and Cinnamon-Glazed Popcorn Meal plans and suggestions for kid-pleasing school lunches, parties, and snacks A 10-day mini-starter program, and much more.100 Days of Real Food offers all the support, encouragement, and guidance you'll need to make these incredibly important and timely life changes.

Vegetable Kingdom: The Abundant World of Vegan Recipes


Bryant Terry - 2020
    Recipes like Dirty Cauliflower, Barbecued Carrots with Slow-Cooked White Beans, Millet Roux Mushroom Gumbo, and Citrus & Garlic-Herb-Braised Fennel are enticing enough without meat substitutes, instead relying on fresh ingredients, vibrant spices, and clever techniques to build flavor and texture.The book is organized by ingredient, making it easy to create simple dishes or showstopping meals based on what's fresh at the market. Bryant also covers the basics of vegan cooking, explaining the fundamentals of assembling flavorful salads, cooking filling soups and stews, and making tasty grains and legumes. With beautiful imagery and classic design, Vegetable Kingdom is an invaluable tool for plant-based cooking today.

Koreatown: A Cookbook


Deuki Hong - 2016
    Koreatowns around the country are synonymous with mealtime feasts and late-night chef hangouts, and Deuki Hong and Matt Rodbard show us why with stories, interviews, and over 100 delicious, super-approachable recipes.      It's spicy, it's fermenty, it's sweet and savory and loaded with umami: Korean cuisine is poised to break out in the U.S., but until now, Korean cookbooks have been focused on taking readers to an idealized Korean fantasyland. Koreatown, though, is all about what's real and happening right here: the foods of Korean American communities all over our country, from L.A. to New York City, from Atlanta to Chicago. We follow Rodbard and Hong through those communities with stories and recipes for everything from beloved Korean barbecue favorites like bulgogi and kalbi to the lesser-known but deeply satisfying stews, soups, noodles, salads, drinks, and the many kimchis of the Korean American table.

Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course


Gordon Ramsay - 2012
    Gordon will share all sorts of useful tricks and tips from his years as a professional chef, making this the only cookery course you'll ever need.

Nadiya Bakes


Nadiya Hussain - 2020
    . . she was hooked! Baking soon became a part of her daily life.In her newest cookbook, based on her Netflix show and BBC series Nadiya Bakes, Nadiya shares more than 100 simple and achievable recipes for cakes, cookies, breads, tarts, and puddings that will become staples in your home. From Raspberry Amaretti Biscuits and Key Lime Cupcakes to Cheat's Sourdough and Spiced Squash Strudel, Nadiya has created an ultimate baking resource for just about every baked good that will entice beginner bakers and experienced pastry makers alike.

Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours


Kim Boyce - 2010
    But Kim Boyce truly has reinvented the wheel with this collection of 75 recipes that feature 12 different kinds of whole-grain flours, from amaranth to teff, proving that whole-grain baking is more about incredible flavors and textures than anything else.   When Boyce, a former pastry chef at Spago and Campanile, left the kitchen to raise a family, she was determined to create delicious cakes, muffins, breads, tarts, and cookies that her kids (and everybody else) would love. She began experimenting with whole-grain flours, and Good to the Grain is the happy result. The cookbook proves that whole-grain baking can be easily done with a pastry chef’s flair. Plus, there’s a chapter on making jams, compotes, and fruit butters with seasonal fruits that help bring out the wonderfully complex flavors of whole-grain flours.Praise for Good to the Grain: “Boyce started playing with a variety of flours when she took a break from restaurant kitchens and wrote her first cookbook, Good to the Grain, a whole grains baking bible that won a coveted James Beard Foundation Award this year.” —O Magazine

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.

Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes


Joy Wilson - 2012
    Joy's philosophy is that everyone loves dessert; most people are just looking for an excuse to eat cake for breakfast."When I first heard the name 'Joy the Baker, ' I immediately felt happy and warm. I couldn't help it. And in the years I've gotten to know Joy the Person--and her beautiful, warm, comforting style of food--I can say without hesitation that she absolutely lives up to her name." --Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman"Joy bakes with her complete heart and soul, writes from the gut, and makes us feel that we too can make magic in the kitchen." --Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, cookbook author and creator of TheKitchn"The best thing would be to have Joy the Baker actually bake all these things with you in your kitchen. The next best thing is reading her book, written with the exact same charming, hilarious in-person style that makes you feel like she's right there with you, sharing the recipes that come from her heart and soul." --Sarah Gim, TasteSpotting"Joy is who made me want to bake. Stumbling on her blog was one of the luckiest and most inspirational things that has happened to me. She's an insanely talented writer and an even better baker." --Emma Stone, actress

The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook: 100 Simple Low Carb Recipes. 10 Ingredients or Less


Maya Krampf - 2019
    Studies have shown that the keto diet stabilizes mood, raises energy levels, controls blood sugar, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol, and more. Unfortunately, many people are intimidated by keto--they don't have a lot of time to cook, they have a whole family to feed, or they worry that they'll miss their favorite meals. That is why Maya Krampf created her now hugely popular website, Wholesome Yum, to share easy keto recipes all with ten ingredients or less. And now, in her first cookbook, Maya is determined to show people that a keto lifestyle does not have to be complicated, time-consuming, unsustainable, or boring. The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook features 100 super-simple, I-can't-believe-that's-keto recipes including flourless chocolate chip peanut butter waffles, sheet pan sausage breakfast sandwiches, crispy keto chicken fingers, spaghetti squash ramen soup, keto garlic bread sticks, cinnamon roll pizza, and much more. You don't have to give up your favorite foods--virtually anything you like to eat can be made keto, and delectably so. The book also features a primer on the keto diet, essential pantry-stocking tips, and a section dedicated to creating Maya's signature "fathead" keto dough that is used to prepare delicious keto breads, pastries, tortillas, and more.

Indian for Everyone: The Home Cook's Guide to Traditional Favorites


Anupy Singla - 2014
    --Publishers Weekly, starred reviewOnly have room for one go-to book for Indian home cooking on your shelf? This is it. --BooklistIndian for Everyone is the third book by Anupy Singla, by far her most stunning and comprehensive offering yet. Singla is America's favorite authority on Indian home cooking, and her expertise with delicious, healthful recipes has endeared her to fans everywhere. This new book opens up the true simplicity and flavor of Indian food for anyone, regardless of dietary restrictions or familiarity.Singla's recipes feature popular favorites, regional specialties, and--unlike any other Indian cookbook--alternative preparation styles for every recipe. Included are quick-and-easy adaptations for making a meal vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free, or even in the slow cooker. Beginners appreciate the book's step-by-step instructions, while veteran home cooks now have a reference point for family favorites, including little-known instructions and standard cook times.With deeply personal, detailed stories behind these recipes, readers see how healthy cooking connected Singla's family through many generations and disparate cultural heritages. More than the next great Indian cookbook, this is the next great American cookbook -- sure to become a staple of every family's collection.