Best Food Writing 2016


Holly Hughes - 2016
    For seventeen years, Holly Hughes has delved into piles of magazines and newspapers, scanned endless websites and blogs, and foraged through bookstores to provide a robust mix of what's up in the world of food writing. From the year's hottest trends (this year: meal kits and extreme dining) to the realities of everyday meals and home cooks (with kids, without; special occasions and every day) to highlighting those chefs whose magic is best spun in their own kitchens, these essays once again skillfully, deliciously evoke what's on our minds-and our plates. Pull up a chair.Contributors include:Betsy AndrewsJessica BattilanaJohn BirdsallMatt BuchananJennifer Cockrall-KingTove DanovichLaura DonohueDaniel DuaneVictoria Pesce ElliottEdward FramePhyllis Grant Andrew Sean GreerKathy GunstL. Kasimu HarrisSteve HoffmanDianne JacobRowan JacobsenPableaux JohnsonHowie KahnMikki KendallBrian KevinKat KinsmanTodd KlimanJulia KramerCorby KummerFrancis LamRachel LevinBrett MartinTim NevilleChris NewensJames NolanKeith PandolfiCarol Penn-RomineMichael ProcopioKathleen PurvisAlice RandallBesha RodellHelen RosnerMichael RuhlmanOliver SacksAndrea StrongJason TesauroToni Tipton-MartinWells TowerLuke TsaiMax UfbergDebbie WeingartenPete Wells

Canal House Cooks Every Day


Melissa Hamilton - 2012
    This magnificent compilation celebrates the everyday practice of simple cooking and the enjoyment of eating—two of the greatest pleasures in life.From the award-winning authors of the beloved Canal House Cooking series comes Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton’s Canal House Cooks Every Day . This magnificent cookbook, inspired by Christopher and Melissa's popular daily blog Canal House Cooks Lunch, offers a year of seasonal recipes for the home cook.Canal House Cooks Every Day, the 2013 James Beard Foundation Award winner for General Cooking, is a handsome, red cloth-covered, 384-page book with nearly 250 recipes and over 130 lush photographs and illustrations. It’s home cooking at its best—by home cooks, for home cooks—and it’s pure Canal House.Regardless of the experience level of readers, Canal House Cooks Every Day will have them running to the kitchen to start cooking. The delicious, easy-to-prepare recipes celebrate the everyday practice of simple cooking and the enjoyment of eating. Christopher and Melissa use the best seasonal ingredients available to cook every day. Their recipes reflect the seasons, their appetites, their cravings, the occasions, and/or the demands of feeding their own busy families. This instant classic includes recipes for dishes as simple as a lunch of splendid summer tomato sandwiches or crackers spread with preserved lemon butter with smoked salmon and fresh chives to more complex meals like braised chicken with wild mushrooms and fine egg noodles.In addition to the recipes, this wonderful cookbook includes menus for all the great holidays throughout the year, plus twelve intimate essays—on picking a ripe tomato, making your own pasta, or foraging for wild mushrooms—that introduce each month and capture the feeling and vibe of that special time of the year. Cooking through this book, readers will become better cooks and gain an increased appreciation for the wonderful flavors and aromas of a home-cooked meal.Canal House Cooking has previously been featured for its inspiring recipes, friendly and knowledgeable voice, and drop-dead gorgeous photographs in a variety of publications including O, the Oprah Magazine, Bon Appétit, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Christopher and Melissa’s daily blog, Canal House Cooks Lunch, has thousands of daily followers interested in what these two women have cooked up that day. This wide fan base will be pleased to see the release of this dynamic duo's newest cookbook with accessible and easy recipes for home cooks.

The Art of Fermentation: An in-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World


Sandor Ellix Katz - 2012
    Sandor Katz presents the concepts and processes behind fermentation in ways that are simple enough to guide a reader through their first experience making sauerkraut or yogurt, and in-depth enough to provide greater understanding and insight for experienced practitioners.While Katz expertly contextualizes fermentation in terms of biological and cultural evolution, health and nutrition, and even economics, this is primarily a compendium of practical information--how the processes work; parameters for safety; techniques for effective preservation; troubleshooting; and more.With two-color illustrations and extended resources, this book provides essential wisdom for cooks, homesteaders, farmers, gleaners, foragers, and food lovers of any kind who want to develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for arguably the oldest form of food preservation, and part of the roots of culture itself.Readers will find detailed information on fermenting vegetables; sugars into alcohol (meads, wines, and ciders); sour tonic beverages; milk; grains and starchy tubers; beers (and other grain-based alcoholic beverages); beans; seeds; nuts; fish; meat; and eggs, as well as growing mold cultures, using fermentation in agriculture, art, and energy production, and considerations for commercial enterprises. Sandor Katz has introduced what will undoubtedly remain a classic in food literature, and is the first--and only--of its kind.

Giada's Family Dinners


Giada De Laurentiis - 2006
    Now, America’s favorite Italian cook is back with a new batch of simple, delicious recipes geared toward family meals—Italian style. These unpretentious and delicious meals are at the center of some of Giada’s warmest memories of sitting around the table with her family, passing bowls of wonderful food, and laughing over old times. Recipes for soups like Escarole and Bean and hearty sandwiches such as the classic Italian Muffuletta make casual, easy suppers, while one-pot dinners like Giada’s Chicken Vesuvio and Veal Stew with Cipollini Onions are just as simple but elegant enough for company. You’ll also find recipes for holiday favorites you’ll be tempted to make all year round, including Easter Pie, Turkey and Ciabatta Stuffing with Chestnuts and Pancetta, and Panettone Bread Pudding with Amaretto Sauce.Giada’s Family Dinners celebrates the fun of family meals with photographs of Giada’s real-life family and friends as well as the wonderful dishes she shares with them in her kitchen. Suggested menus help you put together a family-style meal for any occasion, from informal to festive. The heart of Italian cooking is the home, and Giada’s Family Dinners—full of fantastic recipes that require a minimum of fuss to prepare—invites you to treat everyone like a member of the family.Nothing is more important than family. Bring yours to the table with Giada’s unpretentious, authentic, down-home Italian cooking!• SOUPS AND SANDWICHES• ITALIAN SALADS AND SIDES• EVERYDAY FAMILY ENTREES• THE ITALIAN GRILL• FAMILY-STYLE PASTA• FAMILY-STYLE GET-TOGETHERS• ITALIAN FAMILY FEASTS• FAMILY-STYLE DESSERTS

Laura Lea's Balanced Cookbook: 125 Simple & Delicious Everyday Recipes for a Healthier You


Laura Lea Goldberg - 2017
    With over 125 affordable, comforting, make-ahead recipes, this first cookbook from the founder/writer/photographer of the popular "LLBalanced" website reaffirms that balance is possible: you can find the joy, relaxation, and healing of cooking for yourself, family, and friends during these frentic times. All of the recipes in "The Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook" are simple, familiar and no-fuss. The majority of the recipes come together in thirty minutes or less with a few that you can #treatyoself to on a leisurely weekend. They are appealing to kids and adults alike, can be modified for picky eaters or served proudly at a dinner party. The food isn t dogmatic: a little of everything is used and flexibility is the key. With a focus on quality and moderation, the healthy aspects don t hit you over the head. They just make you feel good. With helpful shopping lists and easy-to-follow menu plans, "The Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook" will help any home cook create a foundation in the pantry and kitchen that will make the prospect of healthy cooking accessible and exciting, not stressful. It doesn t overthink things and focuses on consistency instead of perfection. In the end, "The Laura Lea Balanced Cookbook" will have you discovering the balance of cooking healthy meals while re-connecting with your loved ones and yourself."

Hungarian Cookbook: Old World Recipes for New World Cooks, Expanded Edition


Yolanda Nagy Fintor - 2000
    The author also explores the seasonal and ceremonial observances still practised by Hungarian Americans: bacon cookouts, fall grape festivals, weddings, Christmas, New Year's, and Easter.

Carla's Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes from Around the World


Carla Hall - 2014
    In her delicious new cookbook, Carla’s Comfort Foods, she finds inspiration by going around the world in search of the universal home-cooked flavors of comfort. Spinning standbys into distinctive new recipes, she combines the beloved flavors of home with the most delectable, enticing spices and tastes of international cuisine. Carla starts with your essential recipe for perfect all-American burgers; from there, you can choose to do them up Persian-style with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce, lime, and fragrant spices; or give them a Vietnamese twist with pickled veggies, scallions, ginger, and cilantro; or take your burgers to Morocco with gutsy spices, chiles, and feta cheese.Full of Carla’s entertaining stories, the book shows how seasoning can transform any simple recipe. A comprehensive spice and flavor guide lets you chart your own course in the kitchen by turning your favorite go-to dish into a culinary trip around the world. In recipes that reflect her own vivacious personality, Carla takes you from Southern Chicken with Milk Gravy to West African Spicy- Sweet Chicken Stew; from German Double-Mustard Potato Salad to Moroccan Spice-Rubbed Beef Roast to Indian Chile, Pea, and Coconut Chutney; and from Southern Peach Cobbler to Greek Baklava. We all need an aromatic bowl of chicken soup from time to time; with Carla’s Comfort Foods, you can perk it up Italian-style with fresh basil and oregano; or have a taste of India with cilantro, curry, cumin, and turmeric; for a Caribbean treat, make it fragrant with lime, thyme, and cayenne pepper.From Nashville to Naples to Nigeria, nothing gathers friends and family around the table like the flavors of home. Now you can hug your friends and family with Carla’s incredibly flavorful takes on creamy soups and noodles, fragrant stews and dumplings, and mouthwatering pastries, pies, and tarts. Join Carla for a delicious journey!

Istanbul and Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey


Robyn Eckhardt - 2017
    Journalist Robyn Eckhardt and her husband, photographer David Hagerman, have spent almost twenty years discovering the country’s very best dishes. Now they take readers on an unforgettable epicurean adventure, beginning in Istanbul, home to one of the world’s great fusion cuisines. From there, they journey to the lesser-known provinces, opening a vivid world of flavors influenced by neighboring Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, and Georgia.   From village home cooks, community bakers, café chefs, farmers, and fishermen, they have assembled a broad, one-of-a-kind collection of authentic, easy-to-follow recipes: “The Imam Fainted” Stuffed Eggplant; Pillowy Fingerprint Flatbread; Pot-Roasted Chicken with Caramelized Onions; Stovetop Lamb Meatballs with Spice Butter; Artichoke Ragout with Peas and Favas; Green Olive Salad with Pomegranate Molasses; Apple and Raisin Hand Pies. Many of these have never before been published in English.

The Book Club Cookbook


Judy Gelman - 2004
    A combination of cookbook and discussion ideas for popular book club selections features an assortment of recipes for culinary creations that tie in with a variety of literary masterpieces.

Three Good Things


Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - 2012
    

Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste


Luke Barr - 2013
    In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, the iconic culinary figures James Beard, M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, Richard Olney, Simone Beck, and Judith Jones found themselves together in the South of France. They cooked and ate, talked and argued, about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery. Without quite realizing it, they were shaping today’s tastes and culture, the way we eat now. The conversations among this group were chronicled by M.F.K. Fisher in journals and letters—some of which were later discovered by Luke Barr, her great-nephew. In Provence, 1970, he captures this seminal season, set against a stunning backdrop in cinematic scope—complete with gossip, drama, and contemporary relevance.

The World Atlas of Coffee: From Beans to Brewing -- Coffees Explored, Explained and Enjoyed


James Hoffmann - 2014
    From overviews of the world's most vibrant coffee-growing regions, to step-by-step brewing tutorials, the content is educational, thought-provoking, and substantial. I've already recommended this book to Barista Magazine readers countless times. -- Sarah Allen, Editor Barista MagazineA beautiful world guide to the brown bean.Taking the reader on a global tour of coffee-growing countries, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the bean in full-color photographs and concise, informative text. It shows the origins of coffee -- where it is grown, the people who grow it; and the cultures in which coffee is a way of life -- and the world of consumption -- processing, grades, the consumer and the modern culture of coffee.Plants of the genus Coffea are cultivated in more than 70 countries but primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia and Africa. For some countries, including Central African Republic, Colombia, Ethiopia, and Honduras, coffee is the number one export and critical to the economy.Organized by continent and then further by country or region, The World Atlas of Coffee presents the brew in color spreads packed with information. They include:The history of coffee generally and regionally The role of colonialism (for example, in Burundi under colonial rule of Belgium, coffee production was best described as coercive. Every peasant farmer had to cultivate at least 50 coffee trees near their home.) Map of growing regions and detail maps Charts explaining differences in growing regions within a country Inset boxes (For example, what is the Potato Defect? Is Cuban coffee legal in the United States?) The politics of coffee and the fair trade, organic and shade grown phenomena Beautiful color photographs taken in the field. Americans consume 400 million cups of coffee per day, equivalent to 146 billion cups of coffee per year, making the United States the leading consumer of coffee in the world. The World Atlas of Coffee is an excellent choice for these coffee lovers.

All Around the World Cookbook


Sheila Lukins - 1994
    The result is pure alchemy -- a new kind of American cookbook that reinterprets the best of the world's food in 450 dazzling, original recipes.Main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's HomeStyle Books and Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service, and selection of the Quality Paperback Book Club.

Pasta, Pretty Please: A Vibrant Approach to Handmade Noodles


Linda Miller Nicholson - 2018
    Her creations became a viral sensation, attracting fans worldwide who are mesmerized by her colorful and flavorful designs. Now, with Pasta, Pretty Please home cooks can create dreamy, dazzling pastas in their own kitchens using only all-natural ingredients—flour, eggs, vegetables, herbs, and superfoods—that are true works of art.Playful and inviting, Pasta, Pretty Please includes recipes, techniques, tips, and inspiration. Linda starts with recipes for basic doughs—standard egg dough, various gnocchi doughs—and works her way up to recipes for dough in many colorful shades. She teaches you just how many colors are pastable and what kinds of pigmented vegetables, fruits, and spices you can use to color your pasta—such as mixing turmeric with parsley for just the right shade of chartreuse, or using activated charcoal powder to create black pasta. She also shows you how to roll out dough, cut and form many pasta shapes, and gives tips for retaining brilliant colors even when cooked.Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll find recipes for more elaborate patterns and colors that are sure to impress your family and friends. Linda reveals how to layer colors to make multi-colored doughs in recipes including:Rainbow CavatelliPolka Dot FarfalleEmoji RavioliAvocado GnocchiHearts and Stripes PappardelleArgyle Lasagna Sheets6-Colored FettucineYou’ll also find recipes for spectacular sauces and fillings, such as:Golden Milk RaguPecorino Pepper Sauce with BroccoliniRoasted Tomatoes with Basil Oil and BurrataSpiced Lamb Yogurt SauceRustic Squash FillingClassic Ricotta FillingPepperoni Pizza FillingFeaturing beautiful pasta in a rainbow of colors and a variety of shapes, patterns, and sizes, Pasta, Pretty Please is an artistic treasure trove that will please the eye and the palate. Buon Appetito!

Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors


Andrea Nguyen - 2006
    Thirty years later, Nguyen has written her own intimate collection of recipes, INTO THE VIETNAMESE KITCHEN, an ambitious debut cookbook that chronicles the food traditions of her native country. Robustly flavored yet delicate, sophisticated yet simple, the recipes include steamy pho noodle soups infused with the aromas of fresh herbs and lime; rich clay-pot preparations of catfish, chicken, and pork; classic bánh mì sandwiches; and an array of Vietnamese charcuterie. Nguyen helps readers shop for essential ingredients, master core cooking techniques, and prepare and serve satisfying meals, whether for two on a weeknight or 12 on a weekend.