The Man Who Ate Everything


Jeffrey Steingarten - 1997
    He succeeded at all but the last: Steingarten is "fairly sure that God meant the color blue mainly for food that has gone bad." In this impassioned, mouth-watering, and outrageously funny book, Steingarten devotes the same Zen-like discipline and gluttonous curiosity to practically everything that anyone anywhere has ever called "dinner." Follow Steingarten as he jets off to sample choucroute in Alsace, hand-massaged beef in Japan, and the mother of all ice creams in Sicily. Sweat with him as he tries to re-create the perfect sourdough, bottle his own mineral water, and drop excess poundage at a luxury spa. Join him as he mounts a heroic--and hilarious--defense of salt, sugar, and fat (though he has some nice things to say about Olestra). Stuffed with offbeat erudition and recipes so good they ought to be illegal, The Man Who Ate Everything is a gift for anyone who loves food.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl


Ree Drummond - 2008
    Drummond colorfully traces her transition from city life to ranch wife through recipes, photos, and pithy commentary based on her popular, award-winning blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman, and whips up delicious, satisfying meals for cowboys and cowgirls alike made from simple, widely available ingredients. The Pioneer Woman Cooks—and with these “Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl,” she pleases the palate and tickles the funny bone at the same time.

The Barbecue! Bible


Steven Raichlen - 1998
    Balinese Prawn SatSs and Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Sesame Dipping Sauce. Mexico's Yucatan-Style Grilled Fish, Italy's famous Bistecca alla Fiorentina, Senegalese Grilled Chicken with Lemon Mustard Sauce, and the best Memphis Ribs, Texas-Style Barbecued Brisket, and North Carolina Pulled Pork ever. Plus grilled sides, grilled starters, grilled desserts, The Ten Secrets of Perfect Grilling, and master recipes for steak, chicken, fish, and vegetables. Written by Steven Raichlen, the multi-award-winning cookbook author whose boundless enthusiasm took him 150,000 miles across 5 continents to discover the world's best grilled food, The Barbeque Bible! (over 310,000 copies in print) is a 512-page celebration of sizzle, smoke, secret sauces, and everything we love about cooking over fire. Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's Good Cook Club. Winner of a 1998 IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award.

Elizabeth David Classics: Mediterranean Food, French Country Cooking, Summer Cooking


Elizabeth David - 1980
    She was famous before Julia Child.

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.

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone


Deborah Madison - 1997
    After her many years as a teacher and writer, she realized that there was no comprehensive primer for vegetarian cooking, no single book that taught vegetarians basic cooking techniques, how to combine ingredients, and how to present vegetarian dishes with style. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone teaches readers how to build flavor into vegetable dishes, how to develop vegetable stocks, and how to choose, care for, and cook the many vegetables available to cooks today. Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is in every way Deborah Madison’s magnum opus, featuring 1,400 recipes suitable for committed vegetarians, vegans (in most cases), and everyone else who loves good food. For nonvegetarians, the recipes can be served alongside meat, fish, or fowl and incorporated into a truly contemporary style of eating that emphasizes vegetables and fruits for health and well-being.Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is the most comprehensive vegetarian cookbook ever published. The recipes, which range from appetizers to desserts, are colorful and imaginative as well as familiar and comforting. Madison introduces readers to innovative main course salads; warm and cold soups; vegetable braises and cobblers; golden-crusted gratins; Italian favorites like pasta, polenta, pizza, and risotto; savory tarts and galettes; grilled sandwiches and quesadillas; and creative dishes using grains and heirloom beans. At the heart of the book is the A-to-Z vegetable chapter, which describes the unique personalities of readily available vegetables, the sauces and seasonings that best complement them, and the simplest ways to prepare them. “Becoming a Cook” teaches cooking basics, from holding a knife to planning a menu, and “Foundations of Flavor” discusses how to use sauces, herbs, spices, oils, and vinegars to add flavor and character to meatless dishes. In each chapter, the recipes range from those suitable for everyday dining to dishes for special occasions. And through it all, Madison presents a philosophy of cooking that is both practical and inspiring.Despite its focus on meatless cooking, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is not just for vegetarians—it's for everyone interested in learning how to cook vegetables creatively, healthfully, and passionately. The recipes are remarkably straightforward, using easy-to-find ingredients in inspiring combinations. Some are simple, others more complex, but all are written with an eye toward the seasonality of produce. Madison's joyful and free-spirited approach to cooking will send you into the kitchen with confidence and enthusiasm. Whether you are a kitchen novice or an experienced cook, this wonderful cookbook has something for everyone.

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book


Better Homes and Gardens - 1953
    Features: Over 900 new recipes -- 1,200 in all-reflect current eating habits and lifestyles; 500 new photographs -- over 700 in all-including 60 percent more of finished food than the last edition; Dozens of new recipes offer ethnic flavours, fresh ingredients, or vegetarian appeal; Many recipes feature make-ahead directions or quick-to-the-table meals; New chapter provides recipes for crockery cookers; Efficient, easy-to-read format, with recipes categorised into 21 chapters, each thoroughly indexed for easy reference; Expanded chapter on cooking basics includes advice on food safety, menu planning, table setting, and make-ahead cooking, plus a thorough glossary on ingredients and techniques; Appliance-friendly recipes help cooks save time and creatively use new kitchen tools; Nutrition information with each recipe, plus diabetic exchanges; Contemporary food photography attracts browsers and helps cooks discover new recipes to make; Icons identify low-fat, no-fat, fast, and best-loved recipes; Every recipe tested and perfected by the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen; Revised and updated cooking charts, ingredient photos, emergency substitutions, and equivalents; Respected, reliable kitchen reference with hundreds of cooking terms, tips, and techniques.

Smoke and Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen


Edward Lee - 2013
    Raised in Brooklyn by a family of Korean immigrants, he eventually settled down in his adopted hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, where he owns the acclaimed restaurant 610 Magnolia. A multiple James Beard Award nominee for his unique patchwork cuisine, Edward creates recipes--filled with pickling, fermenting, frying, curing, and smoking--that reflect the overlapping flavors and techniques that led this Korean-American boy to feel right at home in the South. Dishes like Chicken-Fried Pork Steak with Ramen Crust and Buttermilk Pepper Gravy; Collards and Kimchi; Braised Beef Kalbi with Soft Grits and Scallions; and Miso-Smothered Chicken all share a place on his table. Born with the storytelling gene of a true Southerner, Lee fills his debut cookbook with tales of the restaurant world, New York City, Kentucky, and his time competing on Top Chef, plus more than 130 exceptional recipes for food with Korean roots and Southern soul.

Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round


Marisa McClellan - 2011
     Popular food blogger and doyenne of canning, Marisa McClellan, is using small batches and inventive flavors to make preserving easy enough for any novice to tackle. If you grew up eating home-preserved jams and pickles, or even if you're new to putting up, you'll find recipes to savor. Sample any of the 100 seasonal recipes:In the spring: Apricot Jam and Rhubarb SyrupIn the summer: Blueberry Butter and Peach SalsaIn the fall: Dilly Beans and Spicy Pickled CauliflowerIn the winter: Three-Citrus Marmalade and Cranberry KetchupMarisa's confident, practical voice answers questions and quells any fears of accidental canning mistakes, and the book is written for cooks of any skill level. Stories of wild blackberry jam and California Meyer lemon marmalade from McClellan's childhood make for a read as pleasurable as it is delicious; her home-canned food-learned from generations of the original "foodies"-feeds the soul as well as the body.

The Southern Foodie: 100 Places to Eat in the South Before You Die (and the Recipes That Made Them Famous)


Chris Chamberlain - 2012
    Check out the culinary creativity in the Carolinas where you’ll find traditional smoked pork barbecue alongside Southern favorites made with fresh, local produce. Explore the restaurant kitchens of Atlanta and Nashville where the chefs aren’t shy about fusing comfort food standards with international flair and unexpected techniques. Join food and drink writer Chris Chamberlain for access to the South’s best recipes and the kitchens where they were developed. In The Southern Foodie, Chamberlain explores the South’s culinary culture with favorites such as: Jalapeño-and-Cheese-Stuffed Grit Cakes from Mason’s Grill, Baton Rouge, LARoasted Heirloom Pumpkin with Mulled Sorghum Glaze from Capitol Grille, Nashville, TNCountry Ham Fritters from Proof on Main, Louisville, KYBlue Crab Cheesecake from Old Firehouse Restaurant, Hollywood, SCApricot Fried Pies from Penguin Ed’s Bar-B-Q, Fayetteville, AR  The Southern Foodie you where the South eats and how to create those distinct flavors at home. You’re sure to rediscover old favorites and get a closer look at the delicious new traditions in Southern cuisine.

The Modern Baker: Time-Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes, & Cookies


Nick Malgieri - 2008
    Offering 150 recipes in a beautifully illustrated volume, bestselling author and acclaimed baking teacher Malgieri teaches home cooks the simple art of creating delicious sweet and savory baked goods.

Glorious One-Pot Meals: A Revolutionary New Quick and Healthy Approach to Dutch-Oven Cooking


Elizabeth Yarnell - 2005
    Now anyone with too many tasks and not enough time can use her technique to get dinner on the table in an hour or less, with no more than twenty minutes of hands-on prep work—and just one pot to clean. All it takes is a Dutch oven and a few basic fresh or even frozen ingredients layered--never stirred. Glorious One-Pot Meals provides the most convenient method yet of serving highly nutritious, satisfying suppers every night of the week.

Great Scandinavian Baking Book


Beatrice Ojakangas - 1988
    Each country—Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland—has its specialty and no one goes hungry. In this mouthwatering collection, Beatrice Ojakangas calls on her own Scandinavian heritage and wide-ranging knowledge of baking to produce the definitive cookbook for this rich cultural heritage.Because Ojakangas stresses ease of preparation, even novice bakers will be able to make filled Danish pastries, Christmas buttermilk rye bread, or a few dozen pepparkakor, better known as gingersnaps. This handy reference highlights Scandinavian traditions too. There are recipes for sweet breads to be served with morning, afternoon, and evening coffee; for trays upon trays of cookies to serve as holiday or everyday treats; and for savory meat-and-vegetable pies.The Great Scandinavian Baking Book will warm your heart and fill your stomach.Beatrice Ojakangas is the author of more than a dozen cookbooks, including Great Whole Grain Breads (1993) and The Finnish Cookbook (1989). Her articles have appeared in Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Cooking Light, Cuisine, and Redbook, and she has appeared on television’s Baking with Julia Child. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

The Food of a Younger Land: The WPA's Portrait of Food in Pre-World War II America


Mark Kurlansky - 2009
    Award-winning New York Times-bestselling author Mark Kurlansky takes us back to the food and eating habits of a younger America: Before the national highway system brought the country closer together; before chain restaurants imposed uniformity and low quality; and before the Frigidaire meant frozen food in mass quantities, the nation's food was seasonal, regional, and traditional. It helped form the distinct character, attitudes, and customs of those who ate it. In the 1930s, with the country gripped by the Great Depression and millions of Americans struggling to get by, FDR created the Federal Writers' Project under the New Deal as a make-work program for artists and authors. A number of writers, including Zora Neale Hurston, Eudora Welty, and Nelson Algren, were dispatched all across America to chronicle the eating habits, traditions, and struggles of local people. The project, called "America Eats," was abandoned in the early 1940s because of the World War and never completed. The Food of a Younger Land unearths this forgotten literary and historical treasure and brings it to exuberant life. Mark Kurlansky's brilliant book captures these remarkable stories, and combined with authentic recipes, anecdotes, photos, and his own musings and analysis, evokes a bygone era when Americans had never heard of fast food and the grocery superstore was a thing of the future. Kurlansky serves as a guide to this hearty and poignant look at the country's roots. From New York automats to Georgia Coca-Cola parties, from Arkansas possum-eating clubs to Puget Sound salmon feasts, from Choctaw funerals to South Carolina barbecues, the WPA writers found Americans in their regional niches and eating an enormous diversity of meals. From Mississippi chittlins to Indiana persimmon puddings, Maine lobsters, and Montana beavertails, they recorded the curiosities, commonalities, and communities of American food.

Vij's: Elegant and Inspired Indian Food


Vikram Vij - 2006
    Though far from traditional, the dishes remain true to one glorious hallmark of Indian cooking: fabulous spicing. Among the luscious offerings included here are yogurt and tamarind marinated grilled chicken, seared venison medallions with fig and roasted pomegranate khoa, and marinated lamb popsicles in fenugreek curry. Vegetarian selections abound, with dishes like portobello mushrooms in porcini cream curry, coconut curried vegetables, and jackfruit with cayenne and black cardamom. Recipes for naan, chapattis, raiti, and other sides, staples, vegetables, and desserts allow readers to prepare an Indian feast from beginning to end. As beautiful and sumptuous as the recipes it contains, Vij's is a delicious manifesto for a new style of Indian cooking.