Japanese Farm Food


Nancy Singleton Hachisu - 2012
    It is a book about love, community, and life in rural Japan. Nancy Singleton Hachisu's second book, Preserving the Japanese Way, takes a deeper look into the techniques, recipes, and local producers associated with Japanese preserving.Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2012: USA Winner, Best Japanese Cuisine Book "Our life centers on the farm and the field. We eat what we grow." --Nancy Singleton Hachisu,Japanese Farm Food offers a unique window into life on a Japanese farm through the simple, clear-flavored recipes cooked from family crops and other local, organic products. The multitude of vibrant images by Kenji Miura of green fields, a traditional farmhouse, antique baskets, and ceramic bowls filled with beautiful, simple dishes are interwoven with Japanese indigo fabrics to convey an intimate, authentic portrait of life and food on a Japanese farm. With a focus on fresh and thoughtfully sourced ingredients, the recipes in Japanese Farm Food are perfect for fans of farmers' markets, and for home cooks looking for accessible Japanese dishes. Personal stories about family and farm life complete this incredible volume.American born and raised, Nancy Singleton Hachisu lives with her husband and teenage sons on a rural Japanese farm, where they prepare these 165 bright, seasonal dishes. The recipes are organized logically with the intention of reassuring you how easy it is to cook Japanese food. Not just a book about Japanese food, Japanese Farm Food is a book about love, life on the farm, and community. Covering everything from pickles and soups to noodles, rice, and dipping sauces, with a special emphasis on vegetables, Hachisu demystifies the rural Japanese kitchen, laying bare the essential ingredients, equipment, and techniques needed for Japanese home cooking."Nancy Hachisu is...intrepid. Outrageously creative. Intensely passionate. Committed. True and real. I urge you to cook from this book with abandon, but first read it like a memoir, chapter by chapter, and you will share in the story of a modern-day family, a totally unique and extraordinary one." --Patricia Wells"This book is both an intimate portrait of Nancy's life on the farm, and an important work that shows the universality of an authentic food culture." --Alice Waters"The modest title Japanese Farm Food turns out to be large, embracing and perhaps surprising. Unlike the farm-to-table life as we know it here, where precious farm foods are cooked with recipes, often with some elaboration, real farm food means eating the same thing day after day when it’s plentiful, putting it up for when it's not, and cooking it very, very simply because the farm demands so much more time in the field than in the kitchen. This beautiful, touching, and ultimately common sense book is about a life that's balanced between the idea that a life chooses you and that you in turn choose it and then live it wholeheartedly and largely. Thank you, Nancy, for sharing your rich, intentional and truly inspiring life." --Deborah Madison"Nancy Hachisu’s amazing depth of knowledge of Japanese food and culture shines through in every part of this book. You will feel as if you live next door to her...savoring and learning her down-to-earth approach to cooking and to loving food." --Hiroko Shimbo"Taking a peek into Nancy Hachisu's stunning Japanese Farm Food is like entering a magical world. It's a Japan that used to be, not the modern Japan defined by the busyness of Tokyo, but a more timeless place, a place whose rhythms are set by seasons and traditions and the work of the farm. Japanese Farm Food is so much more than a cookbook. This book has soul. Every vegetable, every tool has a story. Who grew this eggplant? Who made this soy sauce? Nancy doesn't have to ask, "Where does my food come from?" She knows. Here's a woman who grows and harvests her own rice, grain by grain. Not that she asks or expects us to do the same at all. What she does offer is a glimpse into her life in rural Japan, with its shoji screens and filtered light, and recipes from her farm kitchen that you can't wait to try." --Elise Bauer, SimplyRecipes.com"Japanese Farm Food is a lovely book about the culture, landscape, and food of Japan, a true insider's view of the Japanese kitchen, from farm to table, by a passionate and talented writer." --Michael Ruhlman

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.

Cool Beans: The Ultimate Guide to Cooking with the World's Most Versatile Plant-Based Protein, with 125 Recipes


Joe Yonan - 2020
    With heirloom varieties now widely available across the United States, this nutritious and hearty staple is poised to take over your diet.Enter Joe Yonan, food editor of The Washington Post, who provides a master base recipe for cooking any sort of bean in any sort of appliance--Instant Pot(R), slow cooker, or stovetop--as well as 125 recipes for using them in daily life, from Harissa-Roasted Carrot and White Bean Dip to Crunchy Spiced Chickpeas to Smoky Black Bean and Plantain Chili. Drawing on the culinary traditions of the Middle East, the Mediterranean, South America, and the American South, and with beautiful photography throughout, this book has recipes for everyone. With fresh flavors, vibrant spices, and clever techniques, Yonan shows how beans can save you from boring dinners, lunches, breakfasts--and even desserts!

The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook


Deb Perelman - 2012
    It’s as simple as that. She isn’t a chef or a restaurant owner—she’s never even waitressed. Cooking in her tiny Manhattan kitchen was, at least at first, for special occasions—and, too often, an unnecessarily daunting venture. Deb found herself overwhelmed by the number of recipes available to her. Have you ever searched for the perfect birthday cake on Google? You’ll get more than three million results. How do you choose? Where do you start? What if you pick a recipe that’s downright bad?So Deb founded her award-winning blog, smittenkitchen.com, on the premise that cooking should be a pleasure, and that the results of your labor can—and should be—delicious...every time. Deb is a firm believer that there are no bad cooks, just bad recipes. She has dedicated herself to finding the best of the best and adapting them for the everyday cook—the ones with little time to spare, little money to burn on unpronounceable ingredients, and little help in the kitchen. And now, with the same warmth, candor, and can-do spirit her blog is known for, Deb presents her first cookbook—more than 100 new recipes, plus a few favorites from her site, all gorgeously illustrated with hundreds of Deb’s beautiful color photographs.The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook is all about approachable, uncompromised home cooking: stepped-up comfort foods, stewy dishes for windy winter afternoons, an apple cake that will answer all questions: “What should my new signature dessert be?” “What is always welcome at a potluck?” “What did Deb consume almost single-handedly a week after having a baby?” These are the recipes you bookmark and use so often they become your own; recipes you slip to a friend who wants to impress her new in-laws; and recipes with simple ingredients that yield amazing results in a minimum amount of time. Deb tells you how to host a brunch and still sleep in—plus what to make for it!—and the essential items you need for your own kitchen. From salads and slaws that make perfect side dishes (or a full meal) to savory tarts and pizzas; from Mushroom Bourguignon to Pancetta, White Bean and Swiss Chard Pot Pies; from Buttered Popcorn Cookies to Chocolate Hazelnut Layer Cake, Deb knows just the thing for a Tuesday night, or your most special occasion.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home


Jeni Britton Bauer - 2011
    Unique flavors, prepared from top-quality ingredients combined with minimally processed milk from grass-fed cows, transformed Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, a small artisanal scoopery in Columbus, Ohio, into a nationally acclaimed (and beloved) brand.Now with her debut cookbook, Jeni Britton Bauer is on a mission to help foodies create perfect ice creams, yogurts, and sorbets—ones that are every bit as perfect as hers—in their own kitchens. Frustrated by icy and crumbly homemade ice cream, Bauer invested in a $59 ice cream maker and proceeded to test and retest recipes until she devised a formula to make creamy, sturdy, lickable ice cream at home. Her recipe for a milk-based American-style ice cream contains no eggs, which allows her amazing flavor combinations to shine. Filled with irresistible color photographs, this cone-tastic book contains 100 of Jeni’s signature recipes—from her Goat Cheese with Roasted Cherries to her Salty Caramel to her Bourbon with Toasted Buttered Pecans. Fans of easy-to-prepare desserts with star quality will scoop this book up. How cool is that?

In Bibi's Kitchen: The Recipes and Stories of Grandmothers from the Eight African Countries That Touch the Indian Ocean


Hawa Hassan - 2020
    Most notably, these eight countries are at the backbone of the spice trade, many of them exporters of things like pepper and vanilla. We meet women such as Ma Shara, who helps tourists "see the real Zanzibar" by teaching them how to make her famous Ajemi Bread with Carrots and Green Pepper; Ma Vicky, a real-life princess from Tanzania, who now lives in suburban New York and makes a mean Matoke (Stewed Plantains with Beans and Beef); and Somalia's Ashura Babu-Bi Ashura, widow to Abdulrahman Babu, the late Zanzibari Marxist and revolutionary leader, known for her Samaki Wa Kupaka (Coconut Fish Curry).Through Julia and Hawa's writing--and their own personal stories--the women, and the stories behind the recipes, come to life. With evocative photography shot on location by Khadija Farah, and food photography by Jennifer May, In Bibi's Kitchen uses food to teach us all about families, war, loss, migration, refuge, and sanctuary.

K-Food: Korean Home Cooking and Street Food


Da-Hae West - 2016
    There are no better authors than Da-Hae and Gareth West to introduce this flavorsome cuisine - Da-Hae uses her Korean background to explain the details of traditional recipes, and Gareth shows how Korean and Western flavors can be fused together to create really delicious combinations. From a run-down on the basics of Korean cooking, including now readily available sauces, pastes and other ingredients, through chapters on kimchi and the etiquette of the famous Korean BBQ, to recipes for everything from the irresistible Bulgogi Burger and spicy, sticky spare ribs to Panjeon (seafood pancakes) and corn on the cob with kimchi butter, this book is packed with inventive, delicious recipes that will open your eyes to the delights of modern Korean food.

Aromas of Aleppo: The Legendary Cuisine of Syrian Jews


Poopa Dweck - 2007
    Most Syrian recipes and traditions, however, were not written down and existed only in the minds of older generations. Poopa Dweck, a first generation Syrian–Jewish American, has devoted much of her life to preserving and celebrating her community's centuries–old legacy. Dweck relates the history and culture of her community through its extraordinary cuisine, offering more than 180 exciting ethnic recipes with tantalizing photos and describing the unique customs that the Aleppian Jewish community observes during holidays and lifecycle events. Among the irresistible recipes are: •Bazargan–Tangy Tamarind Bulgur Salad •Shurbat Addes–Hearty Red Lentil Soup with Garlic and Coriander •Kibbeh–Stuffed Syrian Meatballs with Ground Rice •Samak b'Batata–Baked Middle Eastern Whole Fish with Potatoes •Sambousak–Buttery Cheese–Filled Sesame Pastries •Eras bi'Ajweh–Date–Filled Crescents •Chai Na'na–Refreshing Mint Tea Like mainstream Middle Eastern cuisines, Aleppian Jewish dishes are alive with flavor and healthful ingredients–featuring whole grains, vegetables, legumes, and olive oil–but with their own distinct cultural influences. In Aromas of Aleppo, cooks will discover the best of Poopa Dweck's recipes, which gracefully combine Mediterranean and Levantine influences, and range from small delights (or maza) to daily meals and regal holiday feasts–such as the twelve–course Passover seder.

Simple Sourdough: Make Your Own Starter Without Store-Bought Yeast and Bake the Best Bread in the World With This Simplest of Recipes for Making Sourdough


Mark Shepard - 2005
    And it's made from only wheat, water, and salt! You'll love this tasty, wholesome, easy-to-make bread from a tradition thousands of years old. In fact, it may spoil you for all other bread! Topics in this book include "The Starter," "The Ingredients," "The Sponge," "The Two Things You Must Always Remember," "The Dough," "The Rising," "The Baking," and "Amazing Facts."

Artisan Sourdough Made Simple: A Beginner's Guide to Delicious Handcrafted Bread with Minimal Kneading


Emilie Raffa - 2017
    Emilie has the answers. As a professionally trained chef and avid home baker, she uses her experience to guide readers through the science and art of sourdough. With step-by-step master recipe guides, readers learn how to create and care for their own starters, plus they get more than 60 unique recipes to bake a variety of breads that suit their every need. Sample specialty recipes include Roasted Garlic and Rosemary Bread, Golden Sesame Semolina Bread, Blistered Asiago Rolls with Sweet Apples and Rosemary, No-Knead Tomato Basil Focaccia, Make-Ahead Stuffed Spinach and Artichoke Dip Braid and Raspberry Gingersnap Twist.With the continuing popularity of the whole foods movement, home cooks are returning to the ancient practice of bread baking, and sourdough is rising to the forefront. Through fermentation, sourdough bread is easier on digestion—often enough for people who are sensitive to gluten—and healthier. Artisan Sourdough Made Simple gives everyone the knowledge and confidence to join the fun, from their first rustic loaf to beyond. This book has 65 recipes and 65 photos.

L.A. Son: My Life, My City, My Food


Roy Choi - 2013
    Son takes us through the neighborhoods and streets most tourists never see, from the hidden casinos where gamblers slurp fragrant bowls of pho to Downtown's Jewelry District, where a ten-year-old Choi wolfed down Jewish deli classics between diamond deliveries; from the kitchen of his parents' Korean restaurant and his mother's pungent kimchi to the boulevards of East L.A. and the best taquerias in the country, to, at last, the curbside view from one of his emblematic Kogi taco trucks, where people from all walks of life line up for a revolutionary meal.Filled with over 85 inspired recipes that meld the overlapping traditions and flavors of L.A.—including Korean fried chicken, tempura potato pancakes, homemade chorizo, and Kimchi and Pork Belly Stuffed Pupusas—L.A. Son embodies the sense of invention, resourcefulness, and hybrid attitude of the city from which it takes its name, as it tells the transporting, unlikely story of how a Korean American kid went from lowriding in the streets of L.A. to becoming an acclaimed chef.

In My Kitchen: A Collection of New and Favorite Vegetarian Recipes


Deborah Madison - 2017
    With dozens of tips for building onto, scaling back, and creating menus around, Deborah's recipes have a modular quality that makes them particularly easy to use.Perfect for both weeknight dinners and special occasions, this book will delight longtime fans and newcomers to Madison--and anyone who loves fresh, flavorful cooking. Filled with Deborah's writerly, evocative prose, this book is not just the go-to kitchen reference for vegetable-focused cooking, but also a book with which to curl up and enjoy reading. Lavishly photographed, with an approachable, intimate package, this is the must-have collection of modern vegetarian recipes from a beloved authority.

Everyone Can Bake


Dominique Ansel - 2020
    Dominique Ansel is the creator of beautiful, innovative, and delicious desserts, from the Frozen S’More to the Cronut®, the croissant-doughnut hybrid that took the world by storm. He has been called the world’s best pastry chef. But this wasn’t always the case. Raised in a large, working-class family in rural France, Ansel could not afford college and instead began work as a baker’s apprentice at age sixteen. There, he learned the basics—how to make tender chocolate cakes, silky custards, buttery shortbread, and more. Ansel shares these essential, go-to recipes for the first time. With easy-to-follow instructions and kitchen tips, home cooks can master the building-blocks of desserts. These crucial components can be mixed in a variety of ways, and Ansel will show you how: his vanilla tart shell can be rolled out and stamped into cookies; shaped and filled with lemon curd; or even crumbled into a topping for ice cream. This cookbook will inspire beginners and experienced home cooks alike to bake as imaginatively as Ansel himself.

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom: Essential Techniques and Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking


Julia Child - 2000
    But which book do you go to for which solution? Now, in this little volume, you can find the answers immediately.Information is arranged according to subject matter, with ample cross-referencing. How are you going to cook that small rib steak you brought home? You'll be guided to the quick saute as the best and fastest way. And once you've mastered this recipe, you can apply the technique to chop, chicken, or fish, following Julia's careful guidelines.And here is equally essential information about soups, vegetables, and eggs, and for baking breads and tarts. It's all waiting for you in this delicious, priceless, comforting compendium of Julia's kitchen wisdom.

Dakshin: Vegetarian Cuisine from South India


Chandra Padmanabhan - 1992
    Filled with tempting recipes and beautiful photographs, Dakshin: Vegetarian Cooking from South India presents the finest cooking from the region. Drawn from the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh, and the union territory of Pondicherry, the recipes in this vegetarian cookbook bring traditional South Indian cooking within reach of any cook in any kitchen. From sambars and rasams, to cooling desserts and sweet treats, Dakshin takes you through the elements of South Indian meals, including chutneys and pickles, rice dishes, pakoras, payasams, poriyals, kootus, bondas, and vadais. With its use of fresh produce and a healthy and balanced approach to eating, Dakshin is an ideal Indian cookbook for today's lifestyle — for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike — and the perfect introduction to South Indian Cuisine.