3 Star Chef


Gordon Ramsay - 1988
    And the book itself, rather like its controversial author, represents something new in cookery books. Ramsay has, of course, made a reputation for himself not just for his considerable abilities as a chef, but as a short tempered martinet, tearing into his luckless students with expletive-filled rage. But that spleen is crucial to the man's philosophy (born out of a desire for perfection), and it is conveyed between the delicious-looking recipes presented here (cooking, as Ramsay forcibly reminds us, can't be made up as you go along -- you've got to work, work, work). The recipes themselves look absolutely amazing, such as pan-roasted fillet of John Dory with Cromer Crab, crushed new potatoes and a basil vinaigrette (and it should be noted that Quentin Bacon's beautiful photographs are a massive asset to the book, doing full justice to the visual appeal of the food). In deserts, too, the aspirational appeal here is impressive -- perhaps most of us would not be able to turn out (without trial and error) a raspberry, lemon and basil millefeuille with milk ice cream that looks quite as breathtaking as it does here, but Ramsay's book is calculated to inspire us. Perhaps reading Chef is the perfect way to help us try to cook like Gordon Ramsay; for most of us, a spell in his restaurant kitchen would mean blood on the floor -- here we can learn from his cookery genius without having to put up with the tirades. What more could any aspiring chef want? --Barry Forshaw

Baking: From My Home to Yours


Dorie Greenspan - 1980
    The 300 recipes will seduce a new generation of bakers, whether their favorite kitchen tools are a bowl and a whisk or a stand mixer and a baker’s torch.Even the most homey of the recipes are very special. Dorie’s favorite raisin swirl bread. Big spicy muffins from her stint as a baker in a famous New York City restaurant. French chocolate brownies (a Parisian pastry chef begged for the recipe). A dramatic black and white cake for a "“wow” occasion. Pierre Hermé’s extraordinary lemon tart.The generous helpings of background information, abundant stories, and hundreds of professional hints set Baking apart as a one-of-a-kind cookbook. And as if all of this weren’t more than enough, Dorie has appended a fascinating minibook, A Dessertmaker’s Glossary, with more than 100 entries, from why using one’s fingers is often best, to how to buy the finest butter, to how the bundt pan got its name.

Doughnuts: Simple and Delicious Recipes to Make at Home


Lara Ferroni - 2010
    The best news of all is that they're actually easy to make at home. And really, is there anything more scrumptious than a fresh doughnut? In Doughnuts, prepare to be tempted by more than fifty recipes, including Chai, Huckleberry Cheesecake, and Red Velvet. Of course, the cookbook is also full of traditional recipes for favorites like Old-Fashioned Sour Cream and Chocolate Raised doughnuts, as well as vegan and gluten-free recipes. The mouthwatering photography and tasty recipes will leave readers and home cooks drooling and dreaming about doughnuts.

Rosie's Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book


Judy Rosenberg - 1991
    But the cakes, cookies, pies, and goodies assembled in Rosie's Bakery are hands-down the best you'll ever taste. And aren't you worth the treat? A nationally celebrated baker from Boston, Judy Rosenberg shares 200 of her recipes, including Pieces of Cakes: Rosie's Famous Sour Cream Chocolate Layer Cake, The Queen Raspberry, The Velvet Underground. The Smart Cookies: Orange-Pecan-Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gingersnappers, Sunken Kisses, Very Short Shortbread Cookies. The Harvard Squares: Extra Extra Fudgy Brownies, Chunky Chocolate Bars, Honeypots, Linzer Bars. The Cutie Pies: All-American Apple Pie, Blueberry-Plum Crumb Pie, Nectarine Synergie, Raspberry Chiffon Pie. And The Old Smoothies: Bourbon Bread Pudding, Pumpkin Caramel Custard, Truffle SoufflS. Along the way, the author proves to be a trusted and knowledgeable guide who reveals almost all the hard-won secrets of her baking success. She lists her five basic rules of baking, and gives instructions on how to mix, bake, remove, serve, and store every different kind of baked good-from angel food cakes to filled pastry cookies. Winner of a 1991 IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award. 181,000 copies in print.

Gluten-Free Cupcakes: 50 Irresistible Recipes Made with Almond and Coconut Flour


Elana Amsterdam - 2011
    Enter gluten-free guru Elana Amsterdam, who has re-engineered the favored treat for today’s dietary needs. Her colorful collection showcases classics like Red Velvet Cupcakes and Vanilla Cupcakes and features creative concoctions like Ice Cream Cone Cupcakes and Cream-Filled Chocolate Cupcakes. These simple-to-make—and simply delicious—cupcakes rely on coconut and almond flours rather than the sometimes difficult-to-source gluten alternatives. Some of the recipes are even vegan and dairy-free, and none use refined sugar. With fifty cupcake recipes plus a variety of frostings to mix and match, Gluten-Free Cupcakes offers delightful cupcake alternatives—as tasty as their traditional counterparts—to anyone in need of a little cupcake fix.

EveryDayCook


Alton Brown - 2016
    It’s my first in a few years because I’ve been a little busy with TV stuff and interwebs stuff and live stage show stuff. Sure, I’ve been cooking, but it’s been mostly to feed myself and people in my immediate vicinity—which is really what a cook is supposed to do, right? Well, one day I was sitting around trying to organize my recipes, and I realized that I should put them into a personal collection. One thing led to another, and here’s EveryDayCook. There’s still plenty of science and hopefully some humor in here (my agent says that’s my “wheelhouse”), but unlike in my other books, a lot of attention went into the photos, which were all taken on my iPhone (take that, Instagram) and are suitable for framing. As for the recipes, which are arranged by time of day, they’re pretty darned tasty. Highlights include:  • Morning: Buttermilk Lassi, Overnight Coconut Oats, Nitrous Pancakes • Coffee Break: Cold Brew Coffee, Lacquered Bacon, Seedy Date Bars• Noon: Smoky the Meat Loaf, Grilled Cheese Grilled Sandwich, “EnchiLasagna” or “Lasagnalada”• Afternoon: Green Grape Cobbler, Crispy Chickpeas, Savory Greek Yogurt Dip• Evening: Bad Day Bitter Martini, Mussels-O-Miso, Garam Masalmon Steaks• Anytime: The General’s Fried Chicken, Roasted Chile Salsa, Peach Punch Pops• Later: Cider House Fondue, Open Sesame Noodles, Chocapocalypse Cookie So let’s review: 101 recipes with mouthwatering photos, a plethora of useful insights on methods, tools, and ingredients all written by an “award-winning and influential educator and tastemaker.” That last part is from the PR office. Real people don’t talk like that.

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

BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts


Stella Parks - 2017
    Whether down-home delights like Blueberry Muffins and Glossy Fudge Brownies or supermarket mainstays such as Vanilla Wafers and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream, your favorites are all here. These meticulously tested recipes bring an award-winning pastry chef’s expertise into your kitchen, along with advice on how to “mix it up” with over 200 customizable variations—in short, exactly what you’d expect from a cookbook penned by a senior editor at Serious Eats. Yet BraveTart is much more than a cookbook, as Stella Parks delves into the surprising stories of how our favorite desserts came to be, from chocolate chip cookies that predate the Tollhouse Inn to the prohibition-era origins of ice cream sodas and floats. With a foreword by The Food Lab’s J. Kenji López-Alt, vintage advertisements for these historical desserts, and breathtaking photography from Penny De Los Santos, BraveTart is sure to become an American classic.

The Pastry Queen Christmas: Big-Hearted Holiday Entertaining, Texas Style


Rebecca Rather - 2007
    As party invitations pile up in the mailbox, Rebecca Rather is up to her elbows in sticky meringue, creamy chocolate, and a sleigh full of savory treats to meet the entertaining needs of her neighbors.In The Pastry Queen Christmas, Rebecca shares nearly 100 traditional recipes reflecting her made-with-love-from-scratch philosophy and the tastes of small-town Texas. Show-off desserts such as Chocolate Cookie Crusted Eggnog Cheesecake, Sticky Toffee Pudding with Brandy Butterscotch Sauce, and Warm Pear Ginger Upside-Down Cake with Amaretto Whipped Cream are the perfect toppers to a family-style feast of Texas Spice-Rubbed Roast Pork, Baked Apple Pear Chutney, Brown Sugar Bacon, and No-Peeking Popovers. Still hungry the next morning? No problem-this country girl does an impressive breakfast, too: Bite-Sized Sticky Buns, Sweet Potato Scones, Cast-Iron Skillet Potatoes, and Mexican Ranch Chilaquiles ought to fill you up.And if you're still looking for excuses to entertain this season, you'll find ooey-gooey baked goods wrapped up as gifts, homemade craft and décor ideas to make your home sparkle, and holiday-worthy menus guaranteed to make your gathering a Texas-sized success. Tree-trimming, cookie decorating, and Santas running down Main Street . . . Christmastime is here.

Journey to Health: A Journey Worth Taking: Cooking Keto with Kristie (Kindle edition)


Kristie Sullivan - 2017
    After a lifetime of obesity, following this way of eating began as a desperate plan to lose weight and evolved into a journey to manage my health and not just my weight. While I enjoy eating the best foods of my life and losing weight, I also have come to appreciate that my overall health has improved. I no longer need any of the four medications that I was on before I started keto. I no longer wait in the car or at the hotel while my family hikes. Now I’m the one who suggests that we go for walk or go kayaking or play at the pool. My husband and I have been on a ketogenic diet since June 2013, yet one of our physicians still asks whether this “diet” is sustainable in spite of our having lost a combined 180 lbs! Moreover, my husband's blood pressure has gone from the verge of needing medication to being low normal. Still, the physician asks if we can sustain it long term. In fact, more than one medical professional has told me that this way of eating is “too difficult to follow” or “too restrictive”. One of the goals of this cookbook is to prove that notion wrong. This cookbook has the "everyday" recipes that my family and I have enjoyed on our very own journey to health. There are some low carb “treat”, but the majority of the recipes in this book are the simple recipes that have become part of our day to day lives. There are delicious, filling breakfasts that will keep your tummy happy when it’s tired of scrambled eggs and bacon and hearty sides that will never make you feel deprived. This is “diet” food that you will be proud to share at any potluck and your “carbivore” friends will expect you to share! I snuck in a few very low carb treats for birthdays, holidays, or special occasions because these are the foods with which we have also celebrated on our journey. It is my sincere wish that these recipes can help you sustain a very low carb diet as a delicious life style. You can learn more about my journey from my YouTube channel, Cooking Keto with Kristie at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFGt... . You can also follow my Facebook page, Simply Keto or my website at www.cookingketowithkristie.com

A Taste of Haiti (Hippocrene Cookbook Library)


Mirta Yurnet-Thomas - 2002
    From the days of slavery to present times, traditional Haitian cuisine has relied upon staples like root vegetables, pork, fish, and flavour enhancers like Pikliz (picklese, or hot pepper vinegar) and Zepis (ground spices). This cookbook offers over 100 Haitian recipes, including traditional holiday foods and the author's favourite drinks and desserts. Information on Haiti's history, holidays and celebrations, necessary food staples, and cooking methods will guide the home chef on a culinary adventure to this beautiful island. Recipe titles are given in English, Creole, and French.

Cooking at Home with Bridget and Julia: The TV Hosts of America's Test Kitchen Share Their Favorite Recipes for Feeding Family and Friends


Bridget Lancaster - 2017
    Here, for the first time, they get personal and pull back the curtain on their lives, their families, and the recipes they like to cook when they are off camera.

Every Day Easy Air Fryer: 100 Recipes Bursting with Flavor


Urvashi Pitre - 2018
    Enter the air fryer, the must-have, revolutionary kitchen device. As Urvashi Pitre, the best-selling author of Indian Instant Pot Cookbook, will show you, the air fryer makes home cooking easy. Every one of the recipes in this book can be made in an hour or less, and many are on the table in as little as 30 minutes. You won't find "cream of anything" cans in the ingredient list: instead you'll start with fresh ingredients—healthful meats and vegetables—and let the air fryer do the hard work. In her signature way, Pitre will walk you through the simple process so you can learn to use your air fryer like an expert in no time. And there is no shortage of flavors—with recipes inspired by authentic Indian, Korean, Mexican cuisines and more, including Poblano Cheese Frittata, Thai Chicken Sate, Chicken Fajitas, Shrimp Scampi, and Chinese Spare Ribs, to name just a few. And because you're using an air fryer, you won't need to cook with loads of oil to get incredibly tasty results. Just like the recipes on the author's popular blog, twosleevers.com, these recipes will always work perfectly and taste great.Benefits to Air Fryer Cooking: Minimal oil needed to cook most foods Doesn't heat up entire kitchen Has fan-forced heat so it reduces cooking time by 25 to 35%  Fan-forced heat can produce a crisper outer crust than baking alone More energy efficient: lower temperatures and shorter cooking times Splatters are contained to within the device All of the surfaces (drum and grid/basket) can be put in the dishwasher Smaller footprint than oven so it's great for smaller spaces like dorm rooms, apartments, and RVs. Drastically shorter pre-heating time

The Everyday Low Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook: Over 120 Delicious Low-Carb Recipes that Cook Themselves


Kitty Broihier - 2004
    Nutritionist Kitty Broihier and chef Kimberly Mayone offer over 120 delectable low-carb recipes that cover everything from breakfast to dessert, family meals to potlucks, comfort food favorites to international cuisine. You'll also find:Easy-prep entrees using five ingredients or lessInstructions to convert your favorite low-carb recipes for the slow cookerDelicious side dishes to round out slow-cooked mealsCooking tips, serving suggestions, and tasty substitutions Whether you have diabetes, are trying to lose weight, or are just looking to eat healthier, The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook is guaranteed to put the fun back into cooking and make life a whole lot easier.

100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More


Sarah Kieffer - 2020
    Nominated for a 2020 Goodreads Choice Award for Best CookbooksFrom celebrated blogger Sarah Kieffer of The Vanilla Bean Baking Blog!100 Cookies is a go-to baking book featuring 100 recipes for cookies and bars, organized into seven chapters.Chocolatey, fruity, crispy, chewy, classic, inventive—there's a foolproof recipe for the perfect treat for everyone in this cookie recipe book.• Introduces innovative baking techniques• Includes an entire chapter dedicated to Kieffer's "pan banging" technique that ensures crisp edges and soft centers for the most delicious cookies• Nearly every cookie dough recipe is accompanied by a photograph.Dessert recipes range from the Classic Chocolate Chip made three different ways, to bars, brownies, and blondies that reflect a wide range of flavors and global inspiration.This is the comprehensive-yet-charming cookbook every cookie lover (or those who love to bake cookies) needs.• Highly giftable with a textured case and a ribbon marker• Recipes include Marshmallow Peanut Butter Brownies, Olive Oil Sugar Cookies with Blood Orange Glaze, Red Wine Cherry Cheesecake Swirl Bars, and Pan-Banging Ginger Molasses, S'mores Cookies, Snickerdoodles, and more• A great pick for the home baker in search of a new bake sale recipe or someone who just loves cookies, as well as fans of Sarah Kieffer's blog and Instagram• Add it to the shelf with cookbooks like Sally's Cookie Addiction by Sally McKenney; Dorie's Cookies by Dorie Greenspan; and The Perfect Cookie: Your Ultimate Guide to Foolproof Cookies, Brownies & Bars by America's Test Kitchen