Party Planning Books: December 2008

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Bordeaux or Foraging New England

Bordeaux: A Consumer's Guide to the World's Finest Wines

Author: Robert M Parker

Wine drinkers around the world refer to Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s Bordeaux simply as "The Bible."

First published in 1985, this landmark consumer guide launched one of the most illustrious careers in wine criticism. Robert Parker's mission, in his newsletter The Wine Advocate and his many bestselling books, has always been to give wine drinkers honest, informed advice about which wines are worth their money, and which wines aren't.

The fourth edition of Bordeaux presents a complete guide to vintages between 1961 and 2001. This latest volume brings readers up-to-date on the abundance of new producers in France's most important wine region and for the first time includes more than 700 wine labels. Parker has retasted and reevaluated many of Bordeaux's finest wines -- and adjusted their ratings accordingly -- so readers of his previous editions will discover herein a wealth of new material.

Parker begins with an overview of each year, which includes insight into growing conditions and yields, notes on anticipated maturity, general price ranges, and lists of best wines. The heart of the book is the chapter "Evaluating the Wines of Bordeaux," in which he meticulously reviews wine producers of every appellation. Organized geographically, the chateaux are listed in alphabetical order, and entries include contact information, vineyard size, details about the wine-making style, and a general evaluation of the chateau's wines. Best of all, each entry includes extensive tasting notes on important vintages, all of them featuring Parker's celebrated rating system -- in which every wine is assessed on a scale ranging from 50 to 100. In later chapters,he also offers essential information about the elements of a great Bordeaux wine, practical travel information about the region, a glossary of wine terms, and more.

An invaluable guide for consumers, Robert M. Parker, Jr.'s Bordeaux provides all the information amateurs and connoisseurs alike could possibly need in their search for that perfect bottle.

Library Journal

Bordeaux enthusiasts call the 1980s the decade of the century because of the abundance of great vintages. This completely revised edition of Parker's Bordeaux ( LJ 1/86) includes Parker's personal tasting notes for hundreds of additional wines and revised notes for many of the wines described in the first edition. Because wine, especially Bordeaux, changes as it matures, the new notes are a welcome aid to connoisseurs. Capsule summaries of vintages from 1945 to 1990 are provided but most of the book is filled with tasting notes and rankings of each producer's best vintages. Information on buying wine futures and visiting Bordeaux is also included. This is an important book for serious wine collections.--Peter C. Leonard, Mt. Lebanon P.L., Pa.

Foraging New England: Finding, Identifying, and Preparing Edible Wild Foods and Medicinal Plants from Maine to Connecticut

Author: Tom Seymour

New England's diverse geography overflows with edible plant and animal species. Through the seasons, this forager's paradise offers a continually changing list of wild, harvestable treasures. From Beach Peas to Serviceberries, Lamb's-Quarters to Lady's Thumb, Hen of the Woods to Mugworts, Foraging New England guides you to the edible wild foods and healthful herbs of the Northeast.Organized by environmental zone, this valuable reference guide will help you identify and appreciate the wild bounty of New England. Inside you'll find: detailed descriptions of edible plants and animals; tips on finding, preparing, and using foraged foods; a glossary of botanical terms; eighty-seven color photos.Use Foraging New England as a field guide or as a delightful armchair read. No matter what you're looking for, be it the curative Heal-All or tasty Purslane, this guide will enhance your next backpacking trip or easy stroll around the garden, and may just provide some new favorites for your dinner table. (6 x 9, 208 pages, color photos)

Bakers of Paris and the Bread Question 1700 1775 or Best of Gourmet 2006

Bakers of Paris and the Bread Question, 1700-1775

Author: Steven Laurence Kaplan

In preindustrial Europe, dependence on grain shaped every phase of life from economic development to spiritual expression, and the problem of subsistence dominated the everyday order of things in a merciless and unremitting way. Steven Laurence Kaplan's The Bakers of Paris and the Bread Question, 1700-1775 focuses on the production and distribution of France's most important commodity in the sprawling urban center of eighteenth-century Paris where provisioning needs were most acutely felt and most difficult to satisfy. Kaplan shows how the relentless demand for bread constructed the pattern of daily life in Paris as decisively and subtly as elaborate protocol governed the social life at Versailles. In his exploration of bread's materiality and cultural meaning, Kaplan looks at bread's fashioning of identity and examines the conditions of supply and demand in the marketplace. He also sets forth a complete history of the bakers and their guild, and unmasks the methods used by the authorities in their efforts to regulate trade. Because the bakers and their bread were central to Parisian daily life, Kaplan's study is also a comprehensive meditation on an entire society, its government, and its capacity to endure.

Go to: Calculator Puzzles Tricks and Games or Planet Google

Best of Gourmet 2006

Author: Gourmet Magazin

Nowadays, everyone who entertains is looking for outstanding casual fare that will allow them to spend more time with their guests. Dishes must be quick and easy to prepare (or able to be made ahead) and filled with the purest ingredients for optimum flavor. The Best of Gourmet, Featuring the Flavors of Thailand is filled with twenty-eight such menus-most are very relaxed, all are absolutely delicious.

For example, after a chilly day on the slopes, you may want to treat your houseguests to A Ski House Dinner. Begin the evening around the fire with champagne and a large platter of ever-so-tender smoked salmon with cilantro cream. Later, roasted veal chops with shallots, tomatoes, and olive jus nestled on pillows of soft polenta make a rich, indulgent entrée. And before everyone retires, a heavenly warm chocolate raspberry pudding cake, made the day before and reheated, is served with a glass of cognac.

When the summer heats up, why not spend A Weekend at the Shore with friends? You'll have three clever menus in hand that take advantage of the season's abundant fresh produce, include plenty of make-ahead dishes, and satisfy hearty seaside appetites. On Saturday morning you can serve Breakfast on the Beach with buttery-rich baked blueberry-pecan French toast. Lunch Indoors includes a serve-yourself composed salad of classic favorites and a lovely rhubarb rice pudding. Then, after a long day in the sun, Dinner on the Deck promises a seafood meal to remember with curry-marinated mussels, followed by grilled lobster with Southeast Asian dipping sauce.

Or perhaps a last-minute Beyond Backyard Basics dinner is closer to what you had in mind? This little gemof a menu features ratatouille with penne-a heavenly jumble of roasted eggplants, onions, yellow squash, and red bell peppers, with plum tomatoes, garlic, thyme, parsley, and basil. For dessert, multicolored grapes perched atop pastry cream in puff pastry shells make a scrumptious and ever-so-pretty choice.

So which menu will you try first? You'll find more than eighty pages of exquisite full-color photographs to help you decide. Altogether, this volume holds more than 350 recipes-including the very best recipes that appeared in Gourmet's food columns during 1999. There are hundreds of dishes that can be made in forty-five minutes or less (look for the clock symbol ð); plenty of leaner and lighter selections (look for the feather symbol F); seasonal ideas for everything from apples to zucchini; and an impressive array of tempting sweets and snacks.

This year's Cuisines of the World section turns to the intriguing flavors of Thailand with a traditional dinner for eight and a collection of Thai snacks. Dishes such as steamed red snapper with ginger, grilled beef salad, fish cakes, and coconut ice cream demonstrate the sweet, sour, hot, and salty tastes of this fascinating country. Informative primers and exquisite full-color photos add further insight.

Twenty-four more brand-new recipes appear in a special section featuring Unusual Pastas and Grains. From fresh rice noodles to Israeli couscous to wheat berries, and much more, these unique pantry items will undoubtedly expand your palette of flavors.

Just when you thought you had tasted it all, along comes a cookbook that opens up a world of new possibilities-The Best of Gourmet

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Shag Party or Great Lakes Great Breakfasts

Shag Party: Cocktails and Appetizers to Seduce and Entertain

Author: Adam Rock

In Shag Party, Adam Rocke and Shag, tiki culture's most acclaimed artist, have devised eight soirees, accompanying each with drink recipes and simple 1950s-era appetizers guaranteed to transform any lounge or bachelor pad into retro heaven. Each Shag-illustrated party revives the sophistication of postwar pop culture. Themes include Tiki Luau, Halloween Party, Bongo Beat, New Year's Bash, South of the Border Samba, Las Vegas Night, Seduction for Two, and Night Club Night. Fans of the Mai Tai, Side Car, or Manhattan will find it hard to resist this pop art collector's item.

Book review: Prentice Hall Dictionary of Culinary Arts or College Cookbook

Great Lakes, Great Breakfasts: A Cookbook and Travel Guide

Author: Innkeepers of the Michigan Lake to Lak

Let us treat you to Great Lakes, Great Breakfasts in our third Cookbook and Travel Guide from the Innkeepers of Michigan Lake to Lake Bed and Breakfast Association. You'll find tried and tested recipes from inns all across our beautiful state featuring both locally grown produce and readily available ingredients from wherever you call home. And, while you are enjoying the recipes, don't forget to peruse the travel guide portion of the cookbook where you'll find a sketch and an innkeeper description of their individual Bed & Breakfast as well as all the information you'll need to make more than just an armchair visit. Whether your preference of tastes run more to the extravagant gourmet options or the down-home comfort food type, these recipes are sure to hit the spot. And, whether your destination is a popular lakeshore resort town, a quaint village or an exciting city, our Michigan Lake to Lake Bed & Breakfast Association innkeepers are ready to welcome you with gracious hospitality.

Prentice Hall Dictionary of Culinary Arts or College Cookbook

Prentice Hall Dictionary of Culinary Arts

Author: Gaye Ingram

This unique exceptionally comprehensive dictionary contains over 25,000 entries covering food identification, preparation and cooking methods, nutrition, sanitation, tools and equipment, wine, beer and spirits, cigars, international foods, food chemistry, historical and cultural terms, hospitality terms and prepared dishes.

Authoritative yet concise entries

Accurate use of capitalization and accent marks

Simple, alphabetical listing for all entries, including abbreviations

Extensive cross-references

285 line drawings

Easy to read typeface and format

Phonetic pronunciation guides

Additionally, there are 14 appendices covering areas such as: metric conversions, measurement equivalents, commonly used international terms, sugar cooking temperatures, oversized wine bottles and more!

College Cookbook: An Alternative to the Meal Plan

Author: Geri Harrington

Publishers Weekly

This well-intentioned book will embolden the novice in the kitchen, college student or not. With directions on everything from how to boil water to saving money at the supermarket, Harrington ( The Salad Book , etc.) cheerfully exhorts readers to learn basic principles of cooking and to ``improvise to suit your budget or what happens to be on hand,'' providing a specific glossary of cooking terms and a guide to the use of spices and herbs. Recipes collected from college students around the country make only modest demands on busy schedules and small budgets while yielding substantial dishes, such as beef stew or fried rice. Whole chapters are devoted to inexpensive foods like ground beef and eggs. Generally avoiding processed foods, Harrington promotes the use of leftovers with such items as ``The Whatever-You-Have-in-the-Fridge Quiche.'' Unfortunately, the pedestrian or inauthentic quality of many recipes (tuna-and-spaghetti casserole, ``chicken cacciatore'' made with commercial spaghetti sauce and stuffed olives, a dessert called ``Apples with Creme Fraiche'' that does not contain the latter ingredient) and some dubious kitchen lore (``almost any proportion of main ingredients tastes good as long as you have enough sauce for pasta'') will disappoint readers with any serious interest in food. (August)

McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss or River Road Recipes IV

McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss

Author: John A McDougall

Lose weight, eat as much as you want, feel healthy, and look great. This may sound like an impossible dream, but with McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss it is a dream come true for thousands of people. In this groundbreaking book Dr. John A. McDouggall draws on the latest scientific and medical evidence about nutrition, metabolism, and hunger to provide a simple weight-loss plan. Featuring more than 100 healthy and delicious recipes by Mary McDougall, it is packed with all the information and encouragement you need.

Library Journal

This Pulitzer Prize-winning professor of psychiatry at the Cambridge Hospital, Harvard Medical School, risks his reputation by arguing that individuals who claim to have been abducted by aliens are describing something real.

Book about: Ending Aging or Gastric Bypass Surgery

River Road Recipes IV: Warm Welcomes, Entertaining Menus from Our Homes to Yours

Author: Junior League of Baton Rouge Staff

The creators of the nation's number one best-selling community cookbook series welcome you to celebrate all of life's ordinary and extraordinary occasions. Enjoy 48 inspiring menus and over 300 new and innovative recipes from Baton Rouge, LA, where we celebrate life through our cooking, and our culinary history is legendary.

Monday, December 29, 2008

Jean Carpers Complete Healthy Cookbook or Baked Alaska

Jean Carper's Complete Healthy Cookbook: Featuring More than 250 Favorite Recipes from USA Weekend's ''''EatSmart'''' Column

Author: Jean Carper

New York Times best-selling author and USA Weekend's longtime "EATSMART" columnist, one of America's most trusted source of cutting edge nutrition information and healthy recipes, offers up here, for the first time all in one place, 200 delicious, easy-to-make, good for you recipes — plus all the nutrition information you can live without.

Publishers Weekly

This bountiful collection of nutritional facts and wellness-promoting recipes gives readers both the motivation and the know-how for getting their nine servings of fruits and vegetables in every day. Carper, USA Weekend's EatSmart columnist (Food: Your Miracle Medicine; Stop Aging Now!), boils down the basic nutritional concepts on which her diet advice is based. Among her 10 Rules for Smart Eating are to include plenty of fish, tea, whole grains, nuts, fruits and vegetables and avoid meat, trans fats and overeating. Though most of these ideas will not be new to health-conscious consumers, the following chapters contain scientific evidence backing them. Carper has also compiled her favorite low-calorie, high-in-good-fat, low-sodium and low-sugar creations for everyday cooking. Recipes like Moroccan Chicken with Prunes, and Yogurt Vegetable Salad are simple to make, with enough variety of flavor to liven up the ordinary dinner table. On the other hand, no one will mistake dishes like Low-Fat Creamed Spinach or Coconut Pecan Chicken Fingers for their richer counterparts. While Carper at times overloads her book with factoids, she makes a good case for the philosophy on which she's built her career-that what we eat can either heal or harm us. (June)

Judith Sutton - Library Journal

Carper writes the "EatSmart" column for USA Weekend, and an earlier edition of this book was published as EatSmart: The Nutrition Information You Can't Live Without. This revised and updated version, which includes 50 new recipes, is packed with information on nutrition, health, and eating well, and each recipe includes a sidebar on "Why It's Good for You" and another called "Science Says," citing relevant nutritional studies and the like. The recipes are easy and appealing, and the text is readable and clear. Highly recommended.

Go to: Introducing Human Resource Management or Management

Baked Alaska: Recipes For Sweet Comforts From The North Country

Author: Sarah Eppenbach

Recipes for yummy, home-baked goodies are served with delightful anecdotes, giving readers a tasty peek into Alaska's kitchens.

How to Cook Meat or Minnesota Eats out

How to Cook Meat

Author: Chris Schlesinger

Anyone who's ever visited a supermarket or butcher knows how intimidating choosing the right cut can be. Which cut to buy, and then how to cook it? Now experts Chris Schlesinger and John Willoughby offer expert advice on picking the right cut—and matching it with the best cooking method. Suitable substitutions and hands-on advice appear throughout the book, side-by-side with detailed recipes for ribs, meat loaf, leg of lamb, stews, and the perfect steak for two.

For meat lovers this is sure to become the ultimate reference on the subject.

Mark Bittman

At last—a book that combines everything you need to know about the best ways to buy and cook meat today with the brilliantly innovative recipes for which Schlesinger and Willoughby are justifiably famed. A true tour de force.

Emeril Lagasse

The most comprehensive book on meat with great tips, techniques, and plenty of delicious recipes. Wow!

New York Times Book Review

Now the two men have brought their relaxed confidence to a discursive, friendly book that gives plenty of good and thorough information without being a technical manual.

New York Times Book Review

Schlesinger and Willoughby are cooks with seemingly inexhaustible imaginations, and they put the experience of their wide travels into dishes that seem Caribbean, Latin, or Asian as often as they do American.

Publishers Weekly

Here is a well-rounded and wonderfully thought out bible of beefsteak. Schlesinger and Willoughby (The Thrill of the Grill, License to Grill, etc.) begin with a single premise: that it is imperative to match the method of cooking to the cut of meat you have at hand. Dry heat, like grilling, is choice for the more tender cuts while moist heat, like stewing, is best for the tougher stuff. This holds true for beef, veal, lamb and pork, all of which are represented in their own in-depth sections. With this dictum, the authors go off on a fascinating tour of all things carnivorous. The lengthy and highly instructional introduction delves into such minutiae as how fat stimulates our salivary glands to produce the sensation of juiciness. Then come the more than 200 recipes. The beef chapters run the gamut from a joy-of-gnawing dish called Flintstone-Style BBQ Beef Ribs with Hot, Sweet, and Sour Bone Sauce to a Kuala Lumpur-inspired Gingered Beef Stew with Red Onion-Lime Sambal. And the lamb section includes not only the domesticated Double-Thick Lamb Rib Chops with Slicked-Up Store-Bought Mint Jelly Sauce but also North African-Style Braised Lamb Shanks. Nothing goes to waste since the authors employ a surprisingly large number of offal recipes. There are, of course, a basic sweetbread and calf brains, but these shy in comparison to Lamb Tongues on Toast and the virtually unmentionable Head Cheese Reuben. Most every recipe is accompanied by useful sidebars that detail the cut of meat to use, offer alternative cuts and even tell you how the dish holds up as a leftover. With humor, clarity and expertise, these two renowned food writers have created a requisite text for any serious meat lover. (Oct.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Internet Book Watch

How to Cook Meat is written for the home cook who isn't sure how to buy and prepare cuts of meat: it provides over 250 recipes for meats and includes guidelines on how to use a variety of cuts from everyday meats to more unusual features. An excellent introductory section discusses the cuts, meat grading, and storage and preparation while the bulk of the book is packed with recipes. If only one meat cookbook were to be in a home collection, this should make the grade.

Christian Science Monitor - Jennifer Wolcott

In How to Cook Meat, the grilling gurus have put together some tantalizing, savory delights.

New interesting book: Smores or Wine Enthusiast Essential Buying Guide 2008

Minnesota Eats Out: An Illustrated History

Author: Kathryn Koutsky

Minnesota Eats Out is a virtual romp through the state's dining spots, from early health resorts to Prohibition-era speakeasies to A&W drive-ins, illustrated with over one thousand photographs, postcards, menus, matchbooks, and collectible dishes.

In eleven chapters divided by type of eatery, Kathryn Strand Koutsky and Linda Koutsky narrate the history of dining in the North Star State, highlighting innovative foods, cutting-edge graphic design, and inspired restaurant architecture, along with anecdotes about beloved restaurants remembered through the decades.

Accompanying this history is a collection of recipes for dishes made famous through the years, like the pioneers' Indian Pudding and old favorites from Eibner's Bakery in New Ulm or Ruttger's Resort in Brainerd. Eleanor Ostman revised these recipes for preparation in modern kitchens. Embellished with historic photographs, collectible tableware, and restaurant ephemera, the recipes invite today's readers to re-create cherished flavor memories.

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Creative Chinese Oven Cooking or Cooking in America 1590 1840

Creative Chinese Oven Cooking: The New Trend

Author: Hsueh Hsia Chen

Creative Chinese Oven Cooking: The New Trend provides the reader with an exciting new method for cooking Chinese cuisine
without the usual "clean-up" headaches. Here's the ONLY guide to cooking for the family, or for a banquet, that will produce the
same delicious flavors and aromas associated with traditional Chinese cooking methods, without the oily messes. As always, Wei-Chuan's bilingual texts expand the market base, enhancing sales potential. This cookbook will be a "must have" for the kitchen gourmet and an exciting addition to the Wei-Chuan collection of authentic, exotic and popular cookbooks.

Wei-Chuan Cookbooks uniquely offer:

1. A beautiful, large, full color photo of each finished recipe.Readers always know what the dish should look like. Many additional
small step-by-step instructional photos are included.

2. Simple, clear and precise step-by-step instructions that help readers create any dish in their own kitchen.

3. All ingredient measurements are kitchen tested and re-tested.

4. Where appropriate, alternative suggestions for substituting ingredients and cooking techniques are provided. Permits purchase
of ingredients in almost any market!

Book review: Licensed to Kill or Fire Breathing Liberal

Cooking in America, 1590-1840

Author: Trudy Eden

There are no recipes for what the Indians ate in Colonial times, but this cookbook uses period quotations to detail what and how the foodstuffs were prepared. The bulk of the cookbook is devoted to what the European immigrants cooked and what evolved into American cooking. The first colonists from England brought their foodways to America. The basic foods that Americans of European descent ate changed very little from 1600 to 1840. While the major basic foods remained the same, their part in the total diet changed. Americans at the end of the period ate far more beef and chicken than did the first colonists. They used more milk, butter and cream. They also ate more wheat in the form of breads, cakes, cookies, crackers and cereals. The same was true with fruits. Over time the more exotic vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, artichokes, and numerous root vegetables including both sweet and white potatoes became common vegetables. By the end of this period, many Americans were even eating foods like tomatoes, okra, and sesame, which were unknown to their ancestors. In addition, Americans, like their relatives in Europe, incorporated coffee, tea, and chocolate into their diets as well as more sugar. Along with them came new customs, such as tea time, and, for men, socializing at coffeehouses. Also, distilled beverages, particularly rum, which was often made into a punch with citrus juices, were increasingly used.

Cook Now Eat Later or Movable Feast

Cook Now, Eat Later: Be One Step Ahead with Over 130 Delicious Recipes to Prepare in Advance

Author: Mary Berry

Cooking for family and friends should be a pleasure, but trying to find the time in our busy lives can make it seem like a chore. Mary Berry takes the heat out of the kitchen, by showing you how to prepare everything in advance. With each delicious dish, Mary proves that convenience doesn't have to mean compromising on flavor, quality, or style. Whether you are cooking for family, a few friends, or a Christmas crowd, Cook Now, Eat Later gets you one step ahead, giving you a hassle-free mealtime. Using clear instructions, the best ingredients, and practical shortcuts, Mary's easy-to-follow recipes and tips will give you the cooking confidence you need to make entertaining a breeze.

Movable Feast

Author: Kenneth F Kipl

In the last twenty-five years alone, the range of fruits and vegetables, even grains, that is available at most local markets has changed dramatically. Over the last 10,000 years, that change is almost unimaginable. This groundbreaking new work, from the editor of the highly regarded Cambridge World History of Food, examines the exploding global palate. It begins with the transition from foraging to farming that got underway some 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, then examines subsequent transitions in Egypt, Africa south of the Sahara, China, southeast Asia, the Indus Valley Oceanic, Europe, and the Americas. It ends with chapters on genetically modified foods, the fast food industry, the nutritional ailments people have suffered from, famine, the obesity epidemic, and a look at the future on the food front. Food, at its most basic, fuels the human body. At its most refined, food has been elevated to a position of fine art. The path food has taken through history is a fairly straightforward one; the space which it occupies today could not be more fraught. This sweeping narrative covers both ends of the spectrum, reminding us to be grateful for and delighted in a grain of wheat, as well as making us aware of the many questions that remain unanswered about what lies ahead. Did you know. . .
- That beans were likely an agricultural mistake?
- That cheese making was originated in Iran over 6000 years ago?
- That pepper was once worth its weight in gold?
- That sugar is the world's best-selling food, surpassing even wheat?
- That Winston Churchill asserted, in 1942, that tea was more important to his troops than ammunition?
- That chili concarne is one of the earliest examples of food globalization?
- That, by 1880, virtually every major city in America had a Chinese restaurant?
- That white bread was once considered too nutritious?
Kenneth Kiple reveals these facts and more within A Movable Feast.

Publishers Weekly

Recycling much historical material from the magisterial Cambridge World History of Food(which the author co-edited), this slender volume distills 10,000 years of food history into just 300 pages. While the first work was notable for its rich multiplicity of voices and deeply informed scholarship, this one is a bit of a hash, owing to its author's insistence on squeezing a far-ranging narrative into the narrow framework of globalism. Far from being a new economic concept, the globalization of food, asserts Kiple, is as old as agriculture itself (globalization being murkily defined as "a process of homogenization whereby the cuisines of the world have been increasingly untied from regional food production, and one that promises to make the foods of the world available to everyone in the world"). The strongest material examines the spread of agriculture and its ramifications: it's a paradox of civilization that increased food production encourages population growth, which invariably creates food shortages and disease. That said, gastronomes will find scraps to nibble on here and there—who knew, for example, that the Egyptians trained their monkeys to harvest grapes? (June)

1. Last hunters, first farmers;
2. Building the barnyard;
3. Promiscuous plants of the northern fertile crescent;
4. Peripatetic plants of Eastern Asia;
5. Fecund fringes of the northern fertile crescent;
6. Consequences of the Neolithic;
7. Enterprise and empires;
8. Faith and foodstuffs;
9. Empires in the rubble of Rome;
10. Medieval progress and poverty;
11. Spain's New World, the Northern Hemisphere;
12. New world, new foods;
13. New foods in the Southern New World;
14. The Columbian exchange and the Old Worlds;
15. The Columbian exchange and the New Worlds;
16. Sugar and new beverages;
17. Kitchen Hispanization;
18. Producing plenty in paradise;
19. The frontiers of foreign foods;
20. Capitalism, colonialism, and cuisine;
21. Homemade food homogeneity;
22. Notions of nutrients and nutriments;
23. The perils of plenty;
24. The globalization of plenty;
25. Fast food, a hymn to cellulite;
26. Parlous plenty into the twenty-first century;
27. People and plenty in the twenty-first century.

Saturday, December 27, 2008

1000 Low Fat Recipes or Lavender Cookbook

1,000 Low-Fat Recipes

Author: Terry Blonder Golson

1,000 Recipes series is off to a roaring start. Carol Gelles's 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes won two of the most prestigious awards, the Julia Child/IACP and the James Beard Awards, and has enjoyed brisk sales (15,000 copies sold in 12 months). The second book in the series, 1,000 Low-Fat Recipes, is poised for even greater success.

Low-fat eating remains the most popular and medically sound way to lose weight and maintain good health. 1,000 Low-Fat Recipes is the bible of low-fat cookbooks. Here are recipes for every taste and occasion. There are appetizers, soups, salads, and sandwiches. There are main courses (both with meat and without), accompaniments, breads, and desserts. Golson even includes breakfast fare and a condiments and staples section for simple, flavorful cooking. Each recipe is accompanied by nutritional information.

In addition to the tempting body recipes, Golson packs her book with crucial information. She offers nutrition guidelines for healthy eating, a glossary of ingredients, the best techniques for low-fat cooking, and helpful hints for efficiency, menu planning, and improvising. 1,000 Low-Fat Recipes combines practical tips with delicious, foolproof recipes in one inspiring, indispensable book.

Lavender Cookbook

Author: Sharon Shipley

The appeal of lavender extends beyond its fragrance to the rich yet delicate flavor it adds to a variety of foods. Here's the first cookbook to focus on ways the aromatic herb can be used to enhance ordinary ingredients. More than 90 recipes, such as Grilled Lavender-Honey Chicken, Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms with Lavender Goat Cheese, and Double Chocolate and Lavender Gelato, highlight appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, baked goods, and desserts, with tips on growing and preserving lavender.

Lunchbox Book or Best Tea Places in England

Lunchbox Book

Author: Sandy Harper

All good parents are concerned about sending their children to school with nutritious meals that kids will actually eat—not trade, give, or throw away. But they’re also concerned about eating well themselves during often-rushed mornings, lunch hours, and busy days. And that’s what these on the go ideas provide: non-fussy, healthy suggestions with visual appeal that really whet the appetite and taste great. Over 30 delicious lunchbox possibilities—like mini-meatballs and mango and yogurt are featured, including solutions for those who have particular dietary requirements, such as vegans and the allergy-prone. Those with high cholesterol, the wheat or lactose intolerant, the sportsperson, the overweight are also all catered for: special symbols identify foods, denoting their suitability for all these and other special needs

Books about: Body Signs or The Emotional Eaters Book of Inspiration

Best Tea Places in England

Author: Tea Council

Wherever you go in England, be sure to have this delightful little guidebook at hand every afternoon. It contains listings of more than 100 establishments that have been identified by incognito tea tasters as worthy of membership in the prestigious Tea Guild. Each offers a range of high-quality teas, accompanied by a wide variety of homemade savories and pastries that reflect regional traditions and use local ingredients. The beautiful settings range from a crooked little house built in 1687, a restored mill on the edge of Sherwood Forest, a Tudor beamed cottage, and a terrace garden overlooking the sea, to quintessential Victorian tea shops and deluxe London tea lounges. Organized by region, each chapter includes a map, descriptions of local teatime traditions, specialties that will be found on the menus, as well as things to do and see in each region. With directions, hours, lists of food and teas served, and listings for areas of Scotland and Wales, this tea-lover's dream is the only guidebook that comprehensively describes the creme de la creme of tearooms throughout the UK.

Saved By Soup or The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook

Saved By Soup: More Than 100 Delicious Low-Fat Soups To Eat And Enjoy Every Day

Author: Judith Barrett

As food writer Judith Barrett says in her new book, Saved by Soup, "soup is one of the easiest of all foods to create in a low-fat form without compromising either the taste or the texture." The more than 100 appealing recipes she has included in the book bear out her claim -- from elegant clear broths to satisfying bean soups, cooling summer medleys to spicy Asian noodle soups, each of Barrett's creations are high in flavor, full of healthy nutrients, and low in fat. Barrett has arranged her soups in chapters covering the seasons -- "Hearty Fall and Winter Soups," for example, contains such dishes as Creamy Carrot Soup and Parsnip and Potato Soup; "Summer's Bounty" includes Chilled Corn Vichyssoise and Cool Cucumber and Yogurt Soup -- or particular flavors or ingredients. A chapter on bean soups features Miami Black Bean Soup and Garlicky White Bean and Spinach Soup; "Far Eastern Flavors" includes Miso and Vegetable Soup as well as Shiitake Mushroom Bouillon with Thai Rice Noodles; other sections cover spicy soups, chicken soups, seafood soups, soups with Italian flavors, and even soups made with fruit. Barrett writes that when she decided to change her eating habits to lose weight, a serving of low-fat soup at lunch and dinner was an essential part of her plan, since it left her feeling satisfied without taking in too many calories. But even if you're not watching your weight, these soups will be a welcome addition to your table -- they're healthy as well as delicious.

New interesting textbook: Kids Party Games and Activities or Pillsbury Best of the Bake Off Desserts

The Kansas City Barbeque Society Cookbook: Barbeque... It's Not Just for Breakfast Anymore

Author: Kansas City Barbeque Society

Barbeque is a passion to the 2,000-plus Kansas City Barbeque Society members. From the backyard outing to the heat of competition cooking, they practice until they achieve that perfect brisket, chicken, rib, or pork butt. Now they share their secrets for perfect Barbeque and accompaniments. Recipes for both barbequing and grilling enable the reader to cook better than the guy next door. In 'Que speak, it's who's who and what's hot in Barbeque.

Friday, December 26, 2008

Ghost Wineries of the Napa Valley or Anatomy of Dessert

Ghost Wineries of the Napa Valley: A Photographic Tour of the Last Century

Author: Irene Whitford Haynes

A fascinating photographic tour of historic Napa wineries, more than a dozen of which have come back to life. Extensively researched by a resident grape grower. The historical details and photographs of more than 65 wineries bring visions of the vibrant California wine industry of more than 100 years ago. The roots of many of today's great vintners are exposed in these photos and historical tidbits.

Go to: 7 Weeks to Safe Social Drinking or The Top 100 Zone Foods

Anatomy of Dessert: With a Few Notes on Wine

Author: Edward A Bunyard

"Filled with quirky surprises and things you would have never thought to ask, Bunyard's celebration of fruit is endlessly entertaining."
- Mark Kurlansky, author of Salt, Cod, and The Big Oyster

When we think of dessert, our mind's eye sees cakes, pies, and pastries. Yet the truly creative palate imagines things even more tempting, decadent, and, yes, sinful. So claims Edward Bunyard in this delectable paean to the wonderful fruits of the vine, from apples and apricots to gooseberries and strawberries, from pears to the grapes that give us wine.

Bunyard, a nurseryman at the turn of the last century, lovingly devotes a chapter to each fruit, sharing a heartfelt disquisition on the many types of strawberries, in which bigger is not always better; revealing how denizens of cooler and warmer climes differ in their perceptions about grapes; and asserting that "immoderate indulgence" in melon has toppled great dynasties and changed the course of history. Bunyard even offers advice on the most delightful wine and fruit pairings, and settles once and for all the debate that has raged for nearly three millennia: Which are tastier, hothouse figs or the outdoor variety.

Introduced by Michael Pollan, The Anatomy of Dessert is a cornucopia of wisdom that's never out of season. It is time again to savor this classic work, first published in 1929, that gives above-the-title billing to the myriad foodstuffs we often refer to as "afters." So come and partake in the fruits of Edward Bunyard's labor of love.

Library Journal

American audiences may be fooled by the title; "dessert" is here used in the British sense, referring exclusively to a course of fruit served after dinner and not to the pastry, pie, or cake that most of us have in mind. First published in 1929, this book is part of a series of reissued food classics. Bunyard, an English nurseryman and fruit connoisseur, devotes each chapter to a different variety of fruit-such as apples, cherries, peaches, pears, and grapes-and that fruit's significant cultivars. He praises varieties primarily of European origin and waxes lyrical about crunch, crispness, and seasonality. Written in an era when gardeners grew fruit for the wealthy on their estates, this work intersperses technical comments with opinionated remarks and witty social commentary. Even in the 1920s, Bunyard lamented the decline in growing one's own fruit and the practice of growing fruit first for looks and only second for taste. Those interested in the recent resurgence of heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables will especially appreciate these comments. Libraries with strong horticultural and culinary history collections should consider adding this book; for most others it is an optional purchase.-Pauline Baughman, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Chez Panisse Fruit or Frog Commissary Cookbook

Chez Panisse Fruit

Author: Alice Waters

In 2001 Chez Panisse was named the number one restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine -- quite a journey from 1971 when Alice Waters opened Chez Panisse as a place where she and her friends could cook country French food with local ingredients and talk politics.

As the restaurant's popularity grew, so did Alice's commitment to organic, locally grown foods and to a community of farmers and producers who provide the freshest ingredients, grown and harvested naturally with techniques that preserve and enrich the land for future generations. After thirty years, the innovative spirit and pure, intense flavors of Chez Panisse continue to delight and surprise all who visit, and even those who cant get there know that Alice started a quiet revolution, changing the culinary landscape forever. Inspired by Chez Panisse, more and more people across the country are discovering the sublime pleasures of local, organic vegetables and fruits.

Now join Alice Waters and the cooks at Chez Panisse in celebration of fruit. Chez Panisse Fruit draws on the exuberant flavors of fresh, ripe fruit to create memorable dishes. In this companion volume to Chez Panisse Vegetables, discover more than 200 recipes for both sweet and savory dishes featuring fruit. Glorify the late-summer peach harvest with Peach and Raspberry Gratin, and extend the season with Grilled Cured Duck Breast with Pickled Peaches. Enjoy the first plums in Pork Loin Stuffed with Wild Plums and Rosemary. Preserve the fresh flavors of winter citrus with Kumquat Marmalade or Candied Grapefruit Peel. Organized alphabetically by fruit -- from apples to strawberries -- and including helpful essayson selecting, storing, and preparing fruit, this book will help you make the very most of fresh fruits from season to season. Illustrated with beautiful color relief prints by Patricia Curtan, Chez Panisse Fruit is a book to savor and to treasure.

Gourmet

Chez Panisse is th single best restaurant in the United States.

The New Yorker - Nicholas Lemann

Chez Panisse...[is] the most influential American restaurant of the past generation...In the...Waters way of cooking, flavor comes to the fore and technique recedes.

Publishers Weekly

The eighth Chez Panisse cookbook, which features sweet and savory dishes that use fruit, follows what has become acclaimed chef Alice Waters's patented style: a mix of rustic dishes, many exhibiting Italian and French influence, that highlight the best possible produce. Recipes are organized by fruit, and each chapter begins with a mini-essay on varieties and growing conditions, and often sounds the biodiversity alarm, as when Waters opines, "How sad, then, that well over 90 percent of the apples sold in this country belong to one of only fifteen of those seven thousand varieties." Desserts showcase flavors that may be slightly unfamiliar, either because they use unusual varieties (Caramelized Red Banana Tartlets) or different versions of a common fruit, as with Fig Cookies that are a haute substitute for Fig Newtons and use fresh figs rather than dried. Savory dishes such as Middle Eastern-Style Lamb Stew with Dried Apricots and a tasty assembly of spices skew more traditional. Some of the most intriguing recipes are the simplest, such as Pickled Cherries and Tea-Poached Prunes. At times, Waters's specificity can be exasperating. Will Cr pes Suzette with Pixie Tangerine Sherbet be just as good if the sherbet is made with some other variety of tangerine? Still, it's hard to find fault with a book wide-ranging and inventive enough to comfortably encompass Judy's Deep-Fried Lemon and Artichokes, Spring Fruit Compote with Kiwifruit Sherbet and Coconut Meringue, and a tart Vin de Pamplemousse ap ritif. (May) Forecast: As always, Waters's combination of serious writing and creative recipes will have cooks heading to the kitchen, and cookbook buyers heading to the stores. This book sticks to the tried-and-true Chez Panisse formula, which shows no signs of wearing out. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

The companion toChez Panisse Vegetables, this is another wonderful book from Waters and crew (Alan Tangren, now the pastry chef, was the restaurant's "forager" for many years, responsible for buying produce and other ingredients from local purveyors and growers). It is invaluable both as a reference and a cookbook and features unsually lyrical writing. The fruits are organized alphabetically, and each entry provides information on seasons, buying, storing, preparing, and different varieties. There are savory recipes as well as desserts, from Spit-Roasted Pork with Apple Marmalade and Green Apple Sherbet to Grilled Duck Breast with Seville Orange Sauce and Blood Orange Tartlets to Grilled Quail with Pomegranates and Pomegranate Granita. The attractive, understated design and lovely full-color linocuts add to the book's appeal. Essential. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Book about:

Frog/Commissary Cookbook

Author: Steven Poses

Over 100,000 copies in print! "Frog Commissary's inventive, playful food is multiethnic but often shows a distinctive Thai influence. Bright ideas spill out everywhere." — Library Journal

Illustrated

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Open Hearth Cookbook or Simply Shellfish

Open-Hearth Cookbook: Recapturing the Flavor of Early America

Author: Suzanne Goldenson

"Food cooked in the fireplace tastes better than food cooked in most conventional methods today," say the authors and this book shows how twenty-first century folks can enjoy hearth-cooked meals today. Surprisingly few pieces of special equipment are needed, especially for camping families. The authors emphasize the appliances and techniques that make open-hearth cooking realistic in today's homes where the fireplace is not in the kitchen.
The authors explain the art of building a good cooking fire and maintaining the three basic temperatures - low, medium and high - needed to prepare almost all foods, and suggest ways to keep the hearth clean and the cook safe. Each chapter on technique tells how things were done in the old days, and then goes on to demonstrate techniques for today. The authors have added substantial new material since original publication in 1982, and completely updated the resources section of the book.
Suzanne Goldenson and her husband are serious cooks and collectors of early American cooking implements. Doris Simpson is co-owner of a restaurant and once helped cook a Thanksgiving dinner over an open hearth for Craig Claiborne.

Simply Shellfish: Quick and Easy Recipes for Shrimp, Crab, Scallops, Clams, Mussels, Oysters, Lobster, Squid, and Sides

Author: Leslie Glover Pendleton

In Simply Shellfish seafood expert and acclaimed cookbook author Leslie Pendleton offers up 125 recipes for shrimp, crab, scallops, clams, mussels, oysters, lobster, and squid. All the dishes are fresh, healthful, and a (sea)breeze to prepare.

Shellfish is a near perfect food: packed with good–for–you protein, low in fat and calories, and exceeding quick and easy to prepare. Not to mention flavor – it's doesn't get much better than creamy clam chowder, tender crab cakes, or succulent lobster rolls. In Simply Shellfish Leslie Pendleton shares her best recipes for these favorites. There's Roasted Shrimp on Asparagus Skewers with Brie, Curried Coconut Scallops, Mussels Steamed in Carrot Ginger Broth, and BLLTs (bacon, lobster, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches). Unlike fish fillets or whole fish, shellfish requires minimal prep time and can be on the table in minutes.

Leslie's recipes are at once sophisticated and approachable, with supermarket–friendly ingredients, easy instructions, and outstanding results.

Publishers Weekly

Considered to be a delicacy and historically given distinctive regional and ethnic treatments, shellfish, according to Pendleton (Simply Shrimp, Salmon and (Fish) Steaks), can be quickly and easily prepared for a variety of satisfying, healthy meals. The former Gourmet editor offers recipes for main and side dishes, selection and preparation tips, and meal planning ideas. The more than 100 recipes feature the most common shellfish and can be made in less than an hour, with some preparation done ahead of time. For most of the recipes, shellfish type can vary, depending on taste and market availability. Soups, stews, appetizers, main courses and sides-Pendleton covers all of the bases for every taste: traditional (Clam Chowder, Gumbo, Crab Cakes); adventurous (Blackened Scallops with Grapefruit Sour Cream Sauce); international (Curried Coconut Scallops); and shellfish avoiders (Shrimp, Feta and Golden Onion Pizza). Readers familiar with Pendleton's many cookbooks will recognize her eclectic approach; drawing from her large repertoire, she offers less experienced chefs "simple" dishes that will garner enthusiastic reviews from satisfied diners. The much publicized health benefits of seafood are icing on the cake, but photographs of the dishes would've made the book even sweeter. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The subtitle basically says it all. In the follow-up to her Simply Shrimp, Salmon, and (Fish) Steaks, Pendleton offers uncomplicated recipes using our favorite shellfish (no cuttlefish here). A few are not so quick, and some of these dishes are found in many other fish cookbooks, but shellfish lovers will find some new recipes to tempt them. For larger collections. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Eat Smart Eat Raw or Italian American Cookbook

Eat Smart, Eat Raw: Creative Vegetarian Recipes for a Healthier Life

Author: Kate Wood

As the popularity of raw vegetarian cuisine continues to soar, so does the mounting scientific evidence that uncooked food is amazingly good for you. From healing diseases to detoxifying your body, from lowering cholesterol to eliminating excess weight, the many important health benefits derived from such a diet are too important to ignore. However, now there is another compelling reason to go raw--taste! In her new book Eat Smart, Eat Raw, cook and health writer Kate Wood not only explains how to get started, but also provides delicious kitchen-tested recipes guaranteed to surprise and delight even the fussiest of eaters. Eat Smart, Eat Raw begins by explaining the basics of cooking without heat, from choosing the best equipment to stocking your pantry. This is followed by twelve chapters of recipes for truly exceptional dishes, including hearty breakfasts, savory soups, satisfying entrees, and luscious desserts. There's even a recipe chapter on the "almost raw" for those who are a bit harder to please. Included is a list of groups, stores, and related websites that provide the information you need to begin enjoying raw vegetarian cuisine.

Whether you are an ardent vegetarian, a health-conscious consumer, or just someone in search of a wonderful meal, Eat Smart, Eat Raw offers over 150 delightful recipes that may forever change the way you look at an oven.

Publishers Weekly

Wood, who says she eats raw food 90% of the time, presents raw recipes in a less demanding, more welcoming manner than purist devotees of the diet might. Many of the recipes require special ingredients and equipment such as a juicer or dehydrator, but Wood often tries to provide alternative options, even if they're not raw. The recipes are categorized by chapter in a way that would be familiar to anyone, running from breakfasts through desserts with a predictable emphasis on salads and dips, but the recipes themselves are a different story. Even when they are supposed to evoke a classic nonraw recipe like Pizza or Pad Thai, the result will taste foreign to anyone used to cooked dishes. Vegans and raw dieters, however, will be thrilled by Wood's ingenious approximations of cooked favorites such as Apple Crumble and "Cheesy" Stuffed Peppers, as well as unique concoctions like Carrot Cake Salad and Avocado Pudding. An opening section on raw food basics discusses nutrition and how to buy and prepare ingredients. Buoyed by Wood's enthusiastic tone and instructions that are easy to follow given the right tools, this book will cheer the hearts and expand the culinary repertoire of vegans and raw dieters. (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

With more than ten years of experience cooking and writing about raw foods, Wood helps people live healthy lives by teaching them how to integrate raw foods into their diets. Readers will feel healthier by simply reading these 150-plus recipes, which appear delicious and are surprisingly simple to make. Vegetarians will recognize many of the ingredients and preparation techniques, but Wood makes sure her text addresses a universal audience. She provides nutritional information for each dish and defines common raw foods terms, such as sprouting. She also gives tips for food selection and storage, which is essential information for raw foods novices. Most recipes use readily available ingredients. The most difficult aspect of the recipes is the necessary equipment; though Wood supplies variations on cooking methods, many recipes are impossible to complete without a dehydrator. Otherwise, Wood's instructions are clear and concise; her tone is friendly and encouraging. Recommended for public libraries with large and diverse cookery collections.-Meagan Storey, Virginia Beach, VA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Books about:

Italian-American Cookbook: A Feast of Food from a Great American Cooking Tradition

Author: John F Mariani

All the classics in lighter versions made with the freshest of ingredients.

Publishers Weekly

If, as the authors emphasize, one uses only the freshest ingredients (they include a guide to the best sources for Italian foods by state), the result--whether a simple salad or an adventurous dessert--will be a culinary triumph to enjoy. In their overstuffed tribute to one of our country's favorite cuisines, the Marianis (Galina is a food columnist, John is the author of The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink) tackle both the familiar and the rare. Many of their spaghetti dishes are paired with vegetables, such as a Spaghetti with Cauliflower recipe, which also calls for currants, saffron and anchovies. Conversely, fruit is often used to brighten their meat dishes. Roasted Sausages and Grapes are hot and sweet at once, and there's an irresistible Mountain Lamb Scallopine with Figs and Honey made with ginger, fennel and orange juice. Additionally, the authors include a small collection of comforting, childhood favorites, like Johnny Marzetti, an Italian-style Sloppy Joe; Chicken Tetrazzini, with Parmigiano-Reggiano, heavy cream and butter; and even Baked Macaroni and Cheese, perked up with a touch of cayenne. Quite addictive and good for the soul, if not always for the waistline, these 250 recipes will prove handy on nights when there are no reservations to be found at the local ristorante. Agent, Heide Lange. (Dec.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Now that such essential ingredients as good olive oil and real Parmesan cheese have become readily available here, and Italian restaurants in this country are far more sophisticated than those old-fashioned neighborhood places that offered little more than spaghetti and meatballs, restaurant critic Mariani (The Dictionary of Italian Food and Drink) and his wife decided to explore "the new Italian-American cuisine." They include more than 250 recipes for both well-prepared versions of familiar dishes that all too often had become little more than clich s, such as Clams Casino, as well as more contemporary dishes using Italian ingredients and cooking techniques, such as Tuna Carpaccio with Chives. Wine suggestions are included throughout, and headnotes and sidebars provide culinary history and lore, along with family anecdotes and reminiscences. For most collections. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Internet Book Watch

The Italian American Cookbook showcases 250 recipes celebrating an Italian-American culinary heritage. From Clams Casino, Polenta with Mushroom Sauce, and Shrimp Scampi, to Spaghetti with Potatoes and Garlic, Chicken Parmigiana, and Panini with Roast Beef, Peppers, and Onions, The Italian American Cookbook covers every aspect of fine dining and even includes a special section on sampling Italian wines.

	Preface	ix
	Acknowledgments	xii
	Introduction: Toward an Understanding of the New Italian-American Cuisine	1
	Ingredients	23
	A Sampling of Italian Wines	47
	Antipasti	57
	Soups	83
	Salads	105
	Pasta	121
	Risotto and Polenta	201
	Seafood	225
	Meats	253
	Poultry	299
	Vegetables	327
	Breads, Pizzas, Snacks, & Sandwiches	353
	Desserts and Confections	383
	Drinks	417
	Sources for Italian Foods	433
	Image Acknowledgements	437
	Index	439

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Mixer Bible or A Cafecito Story El cuento del cafecito

Mixer Bible: Over 300 Recipes for Your Stand Mixer

Author: Meredith Deeds

The essential companion guide for any stand mixer.

A stand mixer is an indispensable tool in the kitchen. Its attachments and accessories make a stand mixer the quintessential food preparation machine-for everything from grinding meat to making pasta to kneading dough.

The Mixer Bible has 300 recipes designed for the stand mixer and its attachments. These outstanding recipes range from appetizers to homemade sausages to divine baked desserts and treats. Here's a sampling:

• Appetizers: Mediterranean Tart with Goat Cheese and Roasted Vegetables, Cheese Straws, Hot Spinach Dip
• Soups: Sweet Potato Soup, Coconut and Ginger Soup, Old Fashioned Chicken and Noodle Soup
• Main Dishes: Turkey Pot Pie with an Herbed Crust, Herbed Cheese Ravioli, Scallops with Asian Noodle Salad
• Sides: Scalloped Potatoes with Caramelized Onions, Zucchini Pancakes, Butternut Squash Casserole
• Sausage: Country Pork Sausage, Chicken and Apple Sausage, Chinese Pork Sausage with Five-Spice Powder
• Pasta: Lemon and Black Pepper Pasta, Pumpkin Pasta, Gluten-Free Pasta
• Breads: Cinnamon Rolls, Walnut Potica, Chocolate Chip Macadamia Bread
• Cookies: Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies, Deluxe Lemon Bars, Pumpkin Spice Cookies
• Desserts: Decadent Chocolate Mousse, Pear Frangipane Tart, Lemon Blueberry Trifle
• Ice Creams: Peach Sorbet, French Vanilla Ice Cream, Coconut Ice Cream
• Sauces, Condiments and Extras: Cinnamon Applesauce, Tomatillo Salsa, WhippedHorseradish Cream

The Mixer Bible will become a standard cookbook reference for home cooks.

Introduction
• Understanding the Equipment
• Tips on Ingredients Appetizers
• 31 recipes Soups
• 24 recipes Main Dishes
• 40 recipes Side Dishes
• 24 recipes Sausages
• Sausage Basics
• 29 recipes Pasta
• Pasta Basics
• 13 recipes Breads
• Bread and Baking Basics
• 37 recipes Cookies, Bars and Squares
• 40 recipes Desserts
• 61 recipes Condiments, Sauces and Extras
• 20 recipes

Acknowledgements
Index

Go to: Econometric Methods with Applications in Business and Economics or Contemporary South Africa

A Cafecito Story/ El cuento del cafecito

Author: Julia Alvarez

"Throughout the Dominican Republic and Central America it is a household ritual to offer a "cafecito" (a small cup of dark, rich, potent coffee) to any visitor, especially a stranger. Now, in a story spanning Latin America and Nebraska, Julia Alvarez offers us A Cafecito Story." "In North America, coffee is the morning lifeline between waking and working. In Central and South America, coffee is an economic lifeline, after oil the most important export commodity. Especially when coffee is grown sustainably, it links the First and Third Worlds in ways that are surprising and often delightful. For instance, North American songbirds winter in southern habitats where their survival is directly dependent on coffee farming practices. With lyric simplicity, A Cafecito Story tells the complex tale of a social beverage that bridges nations and unites people in trade, in words, in birds, and in love." The story unfolds through the eyes of Joe, a man with farming in his blood but an increasing sense of displacement from the natural world. While on holiday in the Dominican Republic, Joe learns about how coffee is grown and traded from Miguel, a Dominican coffee farmer. It is from Miguel and the other campesinos that Joe comes to understand the role of coffee in global trade, environmental degradation, and endangered songbird habitat.

El nuevo libro de cocina diet tica del Dr Atkins or Field Dressing and Butchering Deer

El nuevo libro de cocina dietйtica del Dr. Atkins: complementario a la nueva revoluciуn dietйtica del Dr. Atkins

Author: Robert C Atkins

Usted puede tenerlo todo: ¡Sabrosísimas recetas bajas en carbohidratos, rápidas y fáciles de hacer!

Baje de peso -- y no vuelva a aumentar -- mientras disfruta de deliciosas comidas bajas en carbohidratos que puede servir en su mesa en diez minutos. He aquí sólo una muestra de los suculentos y super rápidos platos que puede saborear cuando hace la dieta Atkins:

Comience el día con desayunos que le satisfacen y le dan energía -- Frittata de queso ricota y puerro; Tostadas francesas con almendra; Waffles de naranja.
Disfrute de sopas reconfortantes como aperitivo o junto a nuestras refrescantes ensaladas -- Pimiento asado; Crema de berro; Espárragos y puerro; Aguacate; Verduras mediterráneas.
Ofrézcales a sus invitados -- y a usted mismo -- elegantes aperitivos -- Rollitos de salmón ahumado; Corazones de alcachofa envueltos en tocino; Natillas de queso de cabra horneado y queso ricota; Huevos rellenos al curry.
Pruebe un océano de platos de pescado y mariscos de rápida preparación -- Atún con jengibre y salsa de soya; Aguja con corteza de avellanas y pimienta; Tortas de salmón; Ensalada de camarones al estragón; Bacalao horneado con ajo y tomate.
Déle un nuevo aspecto a la carne de ave tradicional -- Pollo Satay con coco y cilantro; Pollo con especias de la India; Ensalada de pollo con hinojo y pesto; Pollo a la crema con champiñones; Pechuga de pato en salsa de vino tinto.
Sirva platos principales para toda la familia -- Chuletas de cerdo con naranja yromero; Albóndigas de ajo y eneldo; Cordero al curry; Saltimbocca de ternera; Chevapchichi; Bistec de costillar en salsa de vino tinto.
Prepare una variedad de platos principales y acompañantes hechos de vegetales -- Chícharos (guisantes) con avellanas; Pimientos asados en aceite de ajo; Espárragos a la vinagreta; Chiles rellenos; Calabacitas salteadas con nuez moscada.
Hornee panes al estilo casero -- Pan de queso cheddar; Muffins de mantequilla y ron; Pan de maíz Atkins.
Dése gusto con decadentes dulces y deliciosos postres -- Zabaglione; Crema de mantequilla de chocolate; Bizcocho de limón y ajonjolí; Pasteles Verónica con un beso de ron; Bayas con ganache de chocolate.
¡ADEMÁS, muchos, muchos otros platos principales y acompañantes, meriendas y delicias culinarias que darán un buen gusto!

Interesting book:

Field Dressing and Butchering Deer: Step-by-Step Instructions, from Field to Table

Author: Monte Burch

To a deer hunter, nothing surpasses the savory taste of properly dressed, butchered, and prepared venison. With the help of step-by-step instructions and illustrations, Monte Burch passes down the wisdom of his practical experience and explains how to field dress and butcher deer in order to prepare and preserve it for cooking or storage. (6 x 9, 164 pages, b&w photos, illustrations)

25 Years of Favorite Brand Name Recipes or Bernard Claytons New Complete Book of Breads

25 Years of Favorite Brand Name Recipes

Author: Lou Weber

Do a lot of your favorite recipes come from the back of a box or the label on a jar? If so, this cookbook is for you. You'll find a huge selection of the very best recipes developed over the last 25 years in test kitchens across the country. From cookies to casseroles, 25 Years of Favorite Brand Name Recipes is a celebration of America's unique way with food.

Go to: Southern Elegance or Great American Hot Dog Book

Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

Author: Bernard Clayton

First published in 1973, Bernard Clayton's The Complete Book of Breads immediately became a modern classic; under his guidance, a generation of home bakers was introduced to the seductive pleasures of baking and produced their first loaves. But new products and equipment revolutionized the kitchen, and these changes inspired Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads, which first appeared in 1987. With an electric mixer, a food processor, or a bread machine, and with faster-acting yeasts, anyone could produce home-baked loaves in a fraction of the time bread-baking once took. The availability of a wide variety of flours and specialty products, once found only in health-food and gourmet stores, opened up a world of possibilities. Clayton revised 200 of the original recipes and added 100 more with these new ingredients and equipment in mind.

Now America's best-loved bread-baking authority returns with the 30th anniversary edition of the New Complete Book of Breads, the definitive version of this baking classic. Clayton has written a new introduction, added a glossary, updated the sections on ingredients and equipment, and gone through every recipe, correcting and refining each one. The inviting new design keeps Clayton's explicit, easy-to-follow instructional format and makes the book easy to use.

In these pages, home bakers will find an extraordinary range of variety, nearly enough to supply a new bread a day for a year. There are wheat breads -- Honey-Lemon, Walnut, Buttermilk; sourdough breads; corn breads; breads flavored with herbs or spices or enriched with cheese or fruits and nuts; and little breads -- Kaiser Rolls, Grandmother's SouthernBiscuits, English Muffins, and Popovers, to name a few. For the baker who observes the holidays with a fresh loaf there are Challah and Italian Panettone.

Offering classic recipes while making use of modern kitchen technology, this comprehensive volume is an indispensable reference for the novice or experienced home baker looking to make the best bread with ease.

Library Journal

Clayton's now classic The Complete Book of Breads was originally published in 1973. For the first edition of his New Complete Book of Breads, which appeared in 1987, he updated 200 of the recipes to reflect changes in both bread-making equipment and the availability of ingredients; he also added 100 new recipes. This 30th-anniversary edition is a more modest revision of the 1987 title. The recipes and the ingredients/equipment sections have been revised or reworked as necessary, but this version is perhaps most notable for its clean new design, which retains the handy "step-by-step" subheads and layout of the earlier books while giving the text a more streamlined, approachable look. For most baking collections. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

New Food Fast or Bacchus and Me

New Food Fast

Author: Donna Hay

This book delivers what it promises -- New Food Fast. Whether you've got 10, 20 or 30 minutes to make a meal, Donna Hay gives you the ideas, recipes and inspiration to create great dishes using fresh and interesting ingredients in next to no time. With busy people like herself in mind, Donna has solved the daily what's-for-dinner dilemma with a book full of fast, simple, tempting and satisfying answers. Keep this copy of New Food Fast on the kitchen bench and, even in your busiest moments, you'll never be left wondering what's for dinner.

New York Times Book Review - Appl

The other night, when I had only a scant hour and a half to make dinner for myself; my wife, Betsey; and four guests, my eye fell upon New Food Fast by Donna Hay, an overachieving 30-year-old food writer with two best-sellers already to her credit. Something light, Betsey said. Mussels poached in a quick broth flavored with ginger and lemon grass, to which I added a chopped hot pepper and a bit of garlic, got us under way. Then came scallops of swordfish sautйed with sage leaves and a shower of grated lemon rind, with a side of very slowly roasted tomatoes with basil, served lukewarm, and kadota figs in vanilla and white port sauce.
My jury approved, and it gave the blue ribbon to the swordfish.

Bacchus and Me: Adventures in the Wine Cellar

Author: Jay McInerney

Jay McInerney's wine column for Conde Nast House and Garden has become widely read for his acerbic wit, irreverent tone, and bountiful, hilarious anecdotes. But a half million readers also hark closely to each month's "Uncorked" for the breadth of knowledge every column shares. For the uninitiated or aspiring oenophile (wine lover) McInerney shares, in this collection, critical details and comprehensible descriptions not often found, or discernable, in the standard wine writers' tomes. It is actually possible for a reader to take what is learned to a wine shop or restaurant to indulge in the wine of his or her fantasy with the confidence of a sommelier.

In forty-five columns, McInerney holds forth (with agile humor, an astonishing amount of hard fact, and an ample dose of personal taste) on such topics as how to make your way around a German wine label; what to drink with Thanksgiving turkey; the truth about Zinfandels; why burgundy is so hard to predict; how California Chardonnay is improving; the pleasures of flinty Chablis, the deep satisfaction of port; the glorious potential of Oregon's pinot noir, the respectability of rosй, and profiles of the great winemakers.

Bacchus and Me is for everyone interested in learning more about the wines of the world. For those who are modest of purse there is intense vicarious pleasure to be found in McInerney's vinous adventures.

The Little Gumbo Book or How to Store Your Garden Produce

The Little Gumbo Book

Author: Gwen McKe

Here are twenty-seven carefully created recipes plus explanations, definitions, and directions that will enable everyone to enjoy the special experience of gumbo. This dandy of a book is entirely dedicated to the process of preparing great gumbo. In addition to the wonderful collection of recipes, the book provides guidance in preparing all the characteristic elements that make up this unique Cajun dish. For instance, there are six recipes for preparing roux-the browning of flour, so important to the richness of gumbo. The book contains a step-by-step gumbo recipe which provides detailed instructions that will enable anyone to create a great pot of gumbo! There are also suggestions for how to prepare rice, and a special Cajun seasoning recipe for adding just the right Creole touch. The Little Gumbo Book utilizes convenient microwaves, time-freeing crock pots, and dependable iron pots for preparing such delectable recipes as "Catfish Gumbo," low-calorie "Lean and Mean Chicken Gumbo," as well as "Crowd Pleasing Gumbo" for impressing a party of fifty people! It's all here. The mystery of gumbo preparation is revealed and explained in this one little book. Voila!

	Preface	7
	All About Roux	11
	Iron Skillet Roux	13
	Baked Roux	13
	Skillet Dry Roux	13
	Microwave Roux (with Vegetables)	14
	Oven-Baked Dry Roux	14
	Creole Roux	15
	A Word About Rice	17
	K's Cajun Seasoning	19
	Step-By-Step to Great Gumbo	21
	Mamaw's Shrimp Gumbo	30
	The Mariner's Gumbo	31
	Catfish Gumbo	32
	Snitcher's Seafood Gumbo	33
	Aunt Tiel's Fresh Crab and Shrimp Gumbo	34
	24-Karat Gumbo	36
	Creole Roux Seafood Gumbo	37
	Cup O' Crab Gumbo	38
	Spicy Hot Crock Pot Gumbo	39
	Hot Crawfish Gumbo	40
	Seafood Oven Okra Gumbo	42
	Turkey Oven Okra Gumbo	43
	Chicken 'N' Sausage File Gumbo	44
	Chicken Crock Pot Gumbo	45
	Gombo File Aux Poulet	46
	Henny-Penny File Gumbo	48
	Lean and Mean Chicken Gumbo	49
	Microwave Chicken 'N' Sausage Gumbo	50
	The Tail of the Turkey Gumbo	51
	Duck 'N' Andouille Gumbo	52
	Burgundy Beef Gumbo	55
	Pork Roast Gumbo	56
	Moulin-Rouge Gumbo	57
	Crowd Pleasing Gumbo	58
	Okra and Tomato Gumbo	59
	Z' Herbes Gumbo	60
	About the Author	63

How to Store Your Garden Produce: The Key to Self-Sufficiency

Author: Piers Warren

How to Store Your Garden Produce: the key to self-sufficiency is the modern guide to storing and preserving your garden produce, enabling you to eat home-grown goodness all year round. The easy-to-use reference section provides storage and preservation techniques for the majority of plant produce commonly grown in gardens and allotments.

Why is storing your garden produce the key to self-sufficiency? Because with less than an acre of garden you can grow enough produce to feed a family of four for a year, but as much of the produce will ripen simultaneously in the summer, without proper storage most of it will go to waste and you'll be off to the supermarket again. Learn simple and enjoyable techniques for storing your produce and embrace the wonderful world of self-sufficiency.

In the A-Z list of produce, each entry includes recommended varieties, suggested methods of storage and a number of recipes: everything from how to make your own cider and pickled gherkins to how to string onions and dry your own apple rings. You'll know where your food has come from, you'll save money, there won't be any packaging, and you'll be eating tasty local food whilst feeling very, very good about it!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Home Cooking or Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles

Home Cooking

Author: Laurie Colwin

Authored by a famed novelist -- an elegantly written treasury of culinary memories, recipes, tips and stories that is as pleasurable to read as it is to cook from.

Interesting textbook: Mathematical Economics or Pennsylvania Real Estate Fundamentals and Practices

Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles

Author: Editors of Cooks Illustrated Magazin

How do you boil pasta? How much water and salt do you need? Should you add oil to the water? How well should you drain it? (Turn to page viii for the answers.)

One part cooking course, one part kitchen reference, and one part foolproof recipes, The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles tells the story of flour and water like no other book on the market. Extensively covering the basics of pasta and noodles, this thoroughly researched and taste-tested guide is dedicated to the home cook who needs practical advice on everything from penne to pad thai. The experts at Cook's Illustrated present their knowledge and techniques in a hands-on way so that each and every step of the cooking process can be understood and easily executed. The authors leave room for interpretation and taste, of course, but you will not walk away from this book without knowing which olive oil to buy, why egg pastas tend to complement cream sauces, or how to mince garlic.

The book is arranged in four sections, exploring first dried semolina pasta, then fresh Italian-style pasta, Mediterranean pasta and European dumplings, and finally, Asian noodles. There are thirteen chapters devoted to sauces alone, and recipes are included with the type of pasta with which they work best -- from the simplest to the complex, but all within reach of the home cook. As a bonus, the book includes excellent photographs of the various pasta and noodle shapes, and impeccable illustrations clearly depict each step of key techniques. Special sections are devoted to such specific topics as "Are Electric Pasta Machines Worth the Money?" and "A Guide to Popular Cheeses."

"Cook's has always been the definitive word onany subject it tackles," says The Post and Courier, and The Complete Book of Pasta and Noodles will serve as the definitive reference volume for pasta lovers.

Food Combining and Digestion or Marijuana Chef Cookbook

Food Combining and Digestion: Easy to Follow Techniques to Increase Stomach Power and Maximiz Digestion

Author: Steve Meyerowitz

Our modern diet, with all its processing, cooking, canning, microwaving, and artificial ingredients, requires more dietary gusto than our sedentary lifestyles can muster. Flatulence is not the only fallout. We pay for our indigestion by sacrificing some of our mental acuity, immunity, energy, and longevity. Every stress on the digestion/elimination system is a drain on our daily energy level and a threat to our long range health. By adding some simple concepts and eliminating bad habits, we can optimize our digestive efficiency and reap the dividends of increased energy and robust health.

Marijuana Chef Cookbook

Author: S T Oner

High rollers looking for something more adventurous than The Joy of Cooking will find it in The Marijuana Chef Cookbook. This guide to cannabis cuisine takes satisfying the munchies to a new level. In addition to such scrumptious and imaginative recipes as Primo Poultry, Nutter Butter, Midnight Pizza, Primeval Pasta, and Chocca Mocha, the book covers potency issues, health information, legal tips, and a culinary history of the weed.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Wines of Spain or Firehouse Food

Wines of Spain

Author: Julian Jeffs

The most in-depth guide available to the exceptional wines of Spain.

Spain produces some of the finest wines in the world, yet twenty years ago it was known internationally only for sherry and rioja. Today, however, world-class wines are produced in Costers del Segre, Navarra, Peneds, Priorato, Ribera del Duero, and Somontano, to name just a few areas that are covered in this comprehensive book.

Julian Jeffs, one of Europe's foremost writers on wine, traveled all over Spain looking for fine vineyards in remote places. He sought out and evaluated the many varieties as he also researched modern Spain's impressive methods of vinification, which have helped Spanish wines progress in just a generation from being little known and poorly regarded to becoming recognized as among the world's best.

Ranging from the wines of Catalonia (such as Ampurdn- Costa Brava) to the varieties of southeastern Spain (such as Valencia and Jumilla) to the wines of the Canary Islands, this is the one book on Spanish wine for both the novice and the expert.

Firehouse Food: Cooking with San Francisco's Firefighters

Author: George Doles

Firefighters are famous for their food and it s no wonder since they cook their own meals seven days a week. All that practice, not to mention the peer pressure, makes for some of the best recipes in town, especially when that town is a culinary mecca like San Francisco. Firehouse Food introduces firehouse life, its brave denizens, and more than 100 of their best recipes. We meet greenhorns and veterans, retirees and local characters, all the while enjoying terrific meals designed to cook up easy and satisfy the whole crew. The recipes reflect the diversity of the San Francisco Fire Department personnel themselves-Latin-American, Asian, African, Italian, Irish, Eastern European-with a melting pot of delectable flavors. From barbecue by the experts to a Pineapple Upside Down Cake just like mom s, these dishes are forgiving enough for anyone to try, and generous enough for everyone to enjoy. With color photographs of meals, downtime, cookery in action, and of course the food itself, Firehouse Food illustrates the daily routine that turns a firehouse into a family.

Publishers Weekly

San Francisco firefighter and chef Chase Wilson wittily sums up her feelings about cooking for her fellow firefighters: "It's putting dinner on the table for 14 that gets my adrenaline going." And with that, authors Dolese (food writer and cookbook photos stylist) and Siegelman (cookbook writer) present meals that can be prepared for either army or family. These recipes, which often reflect the flavor of San Francisco, are as simple as Coleslaw with Pineapple and Dried Cherries (from Marty Verhaeg, Engine 13) or as time-consuming as Pork Mole, which can be prepared two days ahead of time (from Theresa Wolowic, Engine 32). The flavor-intense Villa Gumbo requires a roux and is served by Rich Gibson, whose Station 37, founded in 1915, ranks as one of the oldest. Desserts such as Warm Swiss Almond Apple Cake (from Lt. Richard Busalacchi, Truck 19) round out the recipes. From beginning to end, this accessible cookbook presents an enthusiastic, adrenaline-infused tone perfect for homecooks of any level. (July) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Napkins with A Twist or Alcoholica Esoterica

Napkins with A Twist

Author: David Stark

As sweet as a love note, as welcome as a holiday, as easy as pie.

Take simple squares of cloth, succinctly written directions, and clearly photographed steps and create fantastic napkin folds that transform your table into a showpiece.

Mixing whimsy and elegance, celebrity event designer David Stark fashions stylish setups for every occasion. In Napkins with a Twist, Stark turns his unerring eye to the art of the perfect table setting, focusing on the quick, inexpensive, and creative.

From everyday to evening, children's parties to black-tie affairs, a clever napkin fold turns any gathering into a memorable event. Classic folds such as the Tuexedo Fold, together with Stark's own innovative designs—including the wildly fun Fortune Cookie and Sushi Roll folds—make setting the table a no-brainer.

Folds from Buckingham Palace and the Kennedy White House, New York's Pierre and Napa Valley's French Laundry, reveal how royalty, the rich and famous, the world's legendary restaurants, all put just the right touches on their signature starched linens.

Along with its array of napkin folds, Napkins with a Twist spills over with useful tips, how-to lists, etiquette reminders, table settings, and surprising suggestions for how a napkin fold can become the starting point for designing an entire occasion.

Go to: Bringing Tuscany Home or Crescent City Collection

Alcoholica Esoterica: A Collection of Useful and Useless Information As It Relates to the History and Consumption of All Manner of Booze

Author: Ian Lendler

Finally, there's a book that's almost as much fun as having a couple of drinks. Alcoholica Esoterica presents the history and culture of booze as told by a writer with a knack for distilling all the boring bits into the most interesting facts and hilarious tales. It's almost like pulling up a stool next to the smartest and funniest guy in the bar. Divided into chapters covering the basic booze groups-including beer, wine, Champagne, whiskey, rum, gin, vodka, and tequila-Alcoholica Esoterica charts the origin and rise of each alcohol's particular charms and influence. Other sections chronicle "Great Moments in Hic-story," "Great Country Drinking Songs," "10 Odd Laws," and "Mt. Lushmore, Parts I-V." Additionally, famous quotes on the joys and sorrows of liquor offer useful shots of advice and intoxicating whimsy.

Did you know...
• that the word bar is short for barrier? Yes, that's right-to keep the customers from getting at all the booze.
• that Winston Churchill's mother supposedly invented the Manhattan?
• that the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock because the sailors on the Mayflower were running low on beer and were tired of sharing?
• that you have a higher chance of being killed by a flying Champagne cork than by a poisonous spider?
• that the Code of Hammurabi mandated that brewers of low-quality beer be drowned in it?
• that beer was so popular with medieval priests and monks that in the thirteenth century they stopped baptizing babies with holy water and started using beer?

Library Journal

Lendler (An Undone Fairy Tale) has distilled his favorite facts about alcoholic libations into a breezy and entertaining book that covers the basic alcoholic groups as well as assorted historical drinking events and personages. Liberally salted with pertinent quotations, it offers fascinating details about everything from the art of toasting to the origins of different kinds of cocktails. As Lendler himself is the first to admit, however, he is in no way a "professional" historian, and this shows in the lack of a bibliography and an index, which diminishes the book's usefulness as a reference source. Ben Schott's Schott's Food and Drink Miscellany, which doesn't delve into alcoholic beverages in quite as much depth as Lendler's book but also covers food, might be a better choice for reference collections. Recommended for medium to large public libraries as an amusing selection for circulating collections.-John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZ Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Best Italian Classics or Desserts By the Yard

Best Italian Classics

Author: Cooks Illustrated

How do you keep pesto from turning brown? What kind of tomatoes make the best sauce? Should you add oil to pasta cooking water? In an exhaustive effort to answer these questions and hundreds more, the staff at America's Test Kitchen conducted thousands of kitchen tests. The result is a cookbook that gives you more than 300 recipes for reliable Italian classics that we've adapted for the American home cook without losing sight of their fundamental nature. All the essentials are here, from breaded chicken cutlets and Parmesan risotto to veal scaloppini and sausage calzones. Family favorites such as eggplant Parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, lemon roast chicken, and tiramisu have been updated and streamlined.

In The Best Italian Classics you'll also find more than 225 illustrations that show you how to peel garlic cloves quickly, roll out pasta dough, and skin hazelnuts. Dozens of no-nonsense equipment ratings and taste tests of supermarket ingredients are also included. Find out why American pastas are every bit as good as Italian brands and which grater makes quick work of Parmesan cheese. Step into our kitchen and learn how to make real Italian food, quickly and easily.

Desserts By the Yard: From Brooklyn to Beverly Hills: Recipes from the Sweetest Life Ever

Author: Sherry Yard

Spago's pastry chef to the stars and author of the James Beard Award-winning Secrets of Baking shares the recipes that propelled her to the top of her profession

Night after night at Spago in Beverly Hills, Sherry Yard dazzles the powerful, rich, and famous with incredible desserts. Her marvelous confections have won over patrons from Madonna to Frank Sinatra. Now the country's premier pastry chef reveals the recipes that have made her a star in her own right and won her two coveted James Beard Awards.

Desserts by the Yard begins with inspirations from Yard's childhood, such as My Favorite White Birthday Cake with Chocolate and Butter Fudge Frosting, and culminates in the spectacular creations she makes every year for the Academy Awards. Included here are some of Yard's most famous recipes: the slinky crème brûlée she perfected when she worked at New York's Rainbow Room, the coffeecake that made Campton Place Hotel San Francisco's most popular breakfast spot, and the souffléed crème fraîche pancakes with strawberry sauce she learned in Vienna. Don't miss the chocolate caramel tart that Hugh Grant loves, former President Clinton's favorite oatmeal raisin cookies, or the treat that made actress Suzanne Pleshette exclaim, "Bitch! You're gonna make me fat!"

Desserts don't get easier than Yard's No-Bake Cheesecake, more decadent than Chocolate Bread Pudding with Butterscotch Gelato, or more holiday-perfect than Triple Silken Pumpkin Pie. In sidebars to each recipe, Yard shares tricks and techniques along with hilarious anecdotes that show her pluck, determination, andgenerosity.

Publishers Weekly

Brooklyn-born Yard worked her way up to reign as Hollywood and Beverly Hills queen of sweet. Executive pastry chef of Puck's Spago empire, she annually creates 1,700 or so perfect desserts for the Governors Ball following the Oscars, such as mousse-filled chocolate boxes on power-painted red carpets the year Julia Roberts won for Erin Brockovich. But Yard hasn't forgotten the rapturous tastes of her childhood; along with celeb-studded, look-at-me tales of her lofty successes, she offers tender memories and recipes for such favorites as Italian bakery Rainbow Cookies. Yard actually delivers what every cookbook promises: news for the professional and foolproof secrets for the avid amateur. From her finger-stirred sugar-water-corn syrup caramel to her assembly-line masterpieces, every ingredient is necessary and every direction makes sense. Fruit desserts, her special passion, transport the reader to Eden. Comprehensive, well-organized and meaningfully illustrated, Yard's book may be the new dessert bible. Color photos not seen by PW. (Nov.)

Pauline Baughman - Library Journal

Award-winning executive pastry chef Yard (The Secrets of Baking) chronicles her success and the recipes she developed as she worked her way from New York to Wolfgang Puck's celebrated restaurants in California, stopping in London and Vienna in between. Influenced by the sweets of her childhood (e.g., Girl Scout cookies), the desserts of Vienna (e.g., Sacher torte), and local farmers' market produce, Yard's 120 original and classic (with a twist) recipes cover an array of delectable cakes, pies, cookies, and frozen desserts. Among the standouts are Chocolate Macaroons with Black Currant Tea Ice Cream and Raspberries and Banana Crème Brûlée Pie. Instructions are easy to follow, and sidebars offer secrets for success. A decadent dessert book sure to inspire home cooks and professionals alike; highly recommended. (Color photos and index not seen.)

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Gluten Free and Easy or Semi Homemade Cooking Volume 2

Gluten Free and Easy: Enjoy Your Favorite Foods with These 90+ Recipes

Author: Robyn Russell

More than three million people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with celiac disease. This quick and easy cookbook will allow those with gluten intolerance to enjoy the benefits of gluten-free cooking without sacrificing taste or variety.

With more than 90 recipes - each beautifully photographed - Gluten Free and Easy allows those with gluten sensitivity to partake in everything from baked goods to soups and salads to main dishes. The book includes a range of exciting and easy-to-prepare recipes for every occasion.

The book features:

Includes a kitchen-tested, measure-for-measure, gluten-free flour substitute. Guaranteed to work every time.
Features an essential pantry list of items to have on hand in a gluten-free kitchen.
Written by an author with celiac disease who has devoted years to the development and testing of gluten-free recipes.

New interesting book: Pillsbury Baking or Rotation Diet

Semi-Homemade Cooking, Volume 2

Author: Sandra Le

Fabulous family-friendly recipes for every palate and mood, created from an inspired pairing of fresh and convenience products. Recipes feature the best of Italian, Asian, and Latin American cuisine, barbecue favorites, comfort food classics, slow cooker creations, everyday dinners, and special occasion inspirations.

Sandra lends her Semi-Homemade, worry-free, time-saving approach to a host of delectable appetizers, snacks, main dishes, side dishes, salads, and desserts.

The on-call pantry—a foolproof list of at-the-ready convenience foods for recipe success at a moment's notice.

Tasteful tablescapes make every dining experience special.

Beautiful color photo of every recipe.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

California Pizza Kitchen Pasta Salads Soups And Sides or Salsas That Cook

California Pizza Kitchen Pasta, Salads, Soups, And Sides

Author: Larry Flax

At California Pizza Kitchen restaurants across the country, many of the favorite dishes (and most-requested recipes) are not the pizzas! Customers keep coming back for the boldly flavored pastas, soups, salads, and side dishes. The follow-up to the bestselling California Pizza Kitchen Cookbook, this new cookbook serves CPK customers just what they ordered -- secret restaurant recipes, never available before. With gorgeous color photographs of the finished dishes throughout the book, CPK fans will be tempted by recipes for Oriental Chicken Salad, Spinach Artichoke Dip, and Kung Pao Spaghetti, to name just a few.

The new cookbook will include stories and anecdotes from CPK employees from around the country about favorite recipes, customers, and more. In the generous spirit they're best known for, CPK owners Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield will donate all royalties and proceeds from sales of the book in the restaurants to children's charities.

Just like the first CPK cookbook, expect Pasta, Salads, Soups, and Sides to be one of the hottest cookbooks of the year. The CPK chain of restaurants is bigger than ever, and thi5 new hook will be published in the cool California style that has made the first book and the restaurants themselves so popular.

New interesting book: Exploring Business or Financial Accounting Fundamentals 2007

Salsas That Cook: Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes

Author: Rick Bayless

FROM AMERICA'S LEADING AUTHORITY ON DEFINITIVE MEXICAN COOKING COMES A BRAND-NEW COLLECTION OF RECIPES BASED ON SIX CLASSIC, VERSATILE SALSAS, EACH FEATURING THE FLAVOR OF A DIFFERENT CHILE.

Salsas That Cook is a breakthrough in contemporary American cooking. Here, Mexico's classic salsas get put to work in our kitchens in the same way we use a variety of international condiments, from teriyaki sauce to balsamic vinegar, to enliven and redefine the flavor of many American favorites. While most of us have enjoyed salsas as chip dips, salsas show great versatility when weaving complex flavor into simple dishes, from pasta to potatoes to meats, fish and vegetables.

Salsas embody the essence of Mexican flavor: the lusciousness of slow-roasted tomatoes, the full-flavored spice of chiles, the fragrance of cilantro and the mellow sweetness of garlic. Rick Bayless, the country's leading progenitor of real Mexican cooking, writes the six salsa recipes with such detail and personality that even beginning cooks will turn out masterful creations.

The uniqueness of this book, though, is in the way these six salsas are used. Here they give their pizzazz to chile-glazed roast chicken, grilled pork tenderloin and seared sea scallops with jalapeño cream. Familiar Mexican favorites have always used salsas for vitality, and many are here, from tangy guacamole to tortilla soup and grilled chicken tacos. In Salsas That Cook, the magic of Mexico transcends all borders.

Publishers Weekly

Bayless (Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen, winner of the 1997 Julia Child Cookbook of the Year Award) courts the many cooks short on time with recipes that incorporate six salsas (such as the Roasted Jalapeno-Tomato Salsa or Chipotle-Cascabel Salsa with Roasted Tomatoes and Tomatillos), which can be prepared either in advance and refrigerated or purchased (Bayless recommends his own brand). Mexican-inspired dishes like Open-Face Quesadillas with Mushrooms, Olives, Salsa and Greens and Chilaquiles (tortilla casserole) with Spinach, Zucchini and Aged Cheese naturally work well. Also particularly successful are more familiar dishes to which salsa adds zip: Chipotle Mashed Potatoes, Slow-Grilled Turkey Breast with Mediterranean Salsa, Smoky Glazed Ham for a Crowd. The inclusion of salsa in every dish is usually a harmless gimmick; although in the introduction Bayless claims these dishes are quickly assembled by those who have salsa on hand, some entrees like Robust Beef Brisket with Red Chile and Winter Vegetables require long periods in the oven. Bayless offers sweet desserts that complement the spicy entrees like Frontera's Chocolate Pecan Bars and Texas Sheet Cake. Good Cook alternate. (Nov.)

SALSAS
ROASTED JALAPEÑO-TOMATO SALSA WITH FRESH CILANTRO
ROASTED POBLANO-TOMATO SALSA WITH FRESH THYME
ROASTED TOMATILLO SALSA WITH SERRANOS, ROASTED ONIONS AND CILANTRO
MELLOW RED CHILE SALSA WITH SWEET GARLIC AND ROASTED TOMATOES
ROASTY RED GUAJILLO SALSA WITH TANGY TOMATILLOS AND SWEET GARLIC
CHIPOTLE-CASCABEL SALSA WITH ROASTED TOMATOES AND TOMATILLOS
STARTERS
TANGY GREEN GUACAMOLE
SALSA-BAKED GOAT CHEESE
OPEN-FACE QUESADILLAS WITH MUSHROOMS, OLIVES, SALSA AND GREENS
TINY TOSTADAS OF SMOKY CHICKEN TINGA WITH AVOCADO AND AGED CHEESE
SWEET-AND-SPICY CHILIED PORK EMPANADAS
CRISPY MASA BOAT SMACKS WITH BLACK BEANS, SALSA, AVOCADO AND MEXICAN CHEESE
SHRIMP IN RED ESCABECHE
MICROWAVED "BAKED" CHIPS
SOUPS, SALADS AND SIDE DISHES
GREAT TORTILLA SOUP
EMERALD CORN CHOWDER WITH ROASTED TOMATTILOS AND POBLANO
SHRIMP SALPICÓN SALAD WITH POTATOES, AVOCADOS AND CHIPOTLE
RED CHILE-JÍCAMA SALAD WITH ORANGE AND RED ONION
POBLANO-ROASTED VEGETABLE SALAD WITH PEPPERY WATERCRESS
TANGY LENTIL SALAD WITH SPINACH, CILANTRO AND CHAYOTE
GUAJILLO GRILLED VEGETABLES
CLASSIC RED TOMATO RICE
CHIPOTLE MASHED POTATOES
SCALLOPED POTATOES WITH ROASTED TOMATILLOS, SERRANOS AND CILANTRO
EGG, VEGETABLE, PASTA AND TORTILLA MAIN COURSES
RACY EGGPLANT OMELETS WITH SAVORY RED CHILE
OPEN-FACE CHORIZO-POTATO OMELET WITH TOMATILLO SALSA
BREAKFAST ENCHILADAS OF SCRAMBLED EGGS, WOODLAND MUSHROOMS AND SPICY ROASTED TOMATOES
SAVORYBRUNCH BREAD PUDDING
RED CHILE PASTA
TODAY'S MACARONI AND CHEESE -- IT'S NOT JUST FOR KIDS
SPICY VEGETABLE "STEW"
TOASTY FIDEOS (VERMICELLI) WITH ROASTED TOMATO, BLACK BEANS AND CHARD
CHILAQUILES (TORTILLA CASSEROLE) WITH SPINACH, ZUCCHINI AND AGED CHEESE
SEARED RED-CHILE ENCHILADAS WITH CHICKEN AND AGED CHEESE
LAYERED TORTILLA "LASAGNA" WITH GREENS AND CHEESE
POULTRY, MEAT AND FISH MAIN COURSES
CHILE-GLAZED ROAST CHICKEN
TOMATILLO-BAKED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH ROASTED ASPARAGUS
SOFT TACOS OF GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST WITH TANGY GREEN CHILE AND GRILLED ONIONS
BURNISHED CORNISH HENS WITH ROASTED ONIONS AND SWEET POTATOES
SLOW-GRILLED TURKEY BREAST (OR LAMB LEG) WITH MEDITERRANEAN SALSA
ROBUST BEEF BRISKET WITH RED CHILE AND WINTER VEGETABLES
PEPPERY PAN-SEARED STEAKS WITH SMOKY CREMA AND BLUE CHEESE
CHORIZO AND BLACK BEAN CHILI
SPICY JALAPEÑO BEEF TIPS
TOMATILLO-BRAISED PORK LOIN WITH HERBY WHITE BEANS AND BACON
GRILLED-AND-GLAZED PORK TENDERLOIN WITH MUSTARDY SWEET ONIONS
SMOKY GLAZED HAM FOR A CROWD

GUAJILLO-SPIKED SHELLFISH SOUP
RED CHILE RICE WITH SHRIMP AND BACON
SEARED SEA SCALLOPS WITH JALAPEÑO CREAM
GREEN CHILE CRAB CAKES
RED-GLAZED WHOLE FISH
POBLANO-BAKED FISH FILLETS
DESSERTS AND DRINKS
FRONTERA'S CHOCOLATE PECAN PIE BARS
TEXAS SHEET CAKE
MEXICAN CHOCOLATE ICE-CREAM CONES
PALETAS MEXICANAS (MEXICAN FRUIT POPS)
SANGRITA -- TRADITIONAL SPICY TEQUILA CHASER
HONEST-TO-GOODNESS MARGARITAS FOR A CROWD
MAIL-ORDER SOURCES
INDEX

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread Cookbook or Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants

Dairy Hollow House Soup and Bread Cookbook

Author: Dragonwagon Crescent

In every traveler's mind exists the perfect little out-of-the-way inn where the bread is always fresh-baked and the beds are downright heavenly. And where the soup is gratifying, gutsy, and downright gratifying.

Since 1981, Crescent Dragonwagon-noted children's book author, cookbook writer, and innkeeper-has owned that perfect little inn: Dairy Hollow House in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Distilling all her soup-making, bread-baking and salad-mixing wisdom into one book, Crescent Dragonwagon presents 200 of the recipes that have made her inn a many-time winner of the Uncle Ben's Best Inn of the Year Award. Here are the pedigreed soups: Winter Borscht . la Vielle Russe, Cuban Black Bean Soup. Soups with a twist: Fishysoisse, Gazpacho Rosa, New World Corn Chowder. Soups to warm you up: Deep December Cream of Root Soup. And soups to cool you down: Chilled Avocado Soup, Mexique Bay, Orange Blossom Special. Plus dozens of fabulous breads, from Slightly Fanatic Whole-Grain Dream Bread to Rosemary Foccacia Dairy Hollow, and salads, including Beet and Apple Salad on Mixed Greens. Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's HomeStyle Books and Better Homes & Gardens Family Book Service. Over 267,000 copies in print.

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants

Author: Steve Brill

Identifying and Harvesting Edible and Medicinal Plants in Wild (and Not So Wild) Places shows readers how to find and prepare more than five hundred different plants for nutrition and better health, including such common plants as mullein (a tea made from the leaves and flowers suppresses a cough), stinging nettle (steam the leaves and you have a tasty dish rich in iron), cattail (cooked stalks taste similar to corn and are rich in protein), and wild apricots (an infusion made with the leaves is good for stomach aches and disgestive disorders).

More than 260 detailed line drawings help readers identify a wide range of plants -- many of which are suited for cooking by following the more than thirty recipes included in this book. There are literally hundreds of plants readily available underfoot waiting to be harvested and used either as food or as a potential therapeutic. This book is both a field guide to nature's bounty and a source of intriguing information about the plants that surround us.

Moonshine or Diet for a New America

Moonshine!: Recipes * Tall Tales * Drinking Songs * Historical Stuff * Knee-Slappers How to Make It How to Drink It * Pleasin' the Law * Recoverin' the Next Day

Author: Matt Rowley

Now here’s a volume you can really drink to! Something’s brewing in these pages, and it’s moonshine—a word that evokes fascination, curiosity, and a warm sense of nostalgia. Never before has there been such a richly illustrated, thorough, and entertaining celebration of the history of making fine distilled spirits. Take a trip through moonshining’s past: travel from its beginnings as a pioneer staple to the dark days of prohibition, from quickly produced urban rotgut to today’s carefully handcrafted artisanal libations. Get in on the fun with how-to instructions that take into account all legal regulations and requirements before covering ingredients, building a still, basic distilling techniques, and dozens of recipes, all adapted for the beginner. Whiskies, brandies, grappa, schnapps: they’re all here, along with dozens of page-turning quotes, song lyrics, and vintage photographs and illustrations.
“Making whisky or brandy is not the least bit difficult. Making something you’d want to drink…well, that may take some practice.” —Matthew B. Rowley

Publishers Weekly

Food historian Rowley wants readers of this home-distillation guide to know something about alcohol and the law: "Without inspection and proper approvals, you are not permitted to make any amount for personal use. Not one drop." That said, Rowley provides clear and well-illustrated instructions for building a still, preparing a mash and distilling alcohol right in your own backyard. It's a complicated process, requiring a fire extinguisher, the skills of a good metalsmith and plenty of patience. For those without the time or skill, however, Rowley includes plenty of appealing recipes for cordials and cocktails that don't require homemade spirits. Fish House Punch, rumored to have left George Washington with a "crippling hangover," is a powerful mix of bourbon, peach brandy, Benedictine and dark rum. Simpler, and similarly all-American, is Cherry Bounce, made with bourbon, honey and a gallon of sweet and sour cherries. But Rowley's mother provides perhaps the best recipe, an easy maceration of fruit and sugar that tastes great over ice cream or on its own. Rounded out with trivia, tall tales, a brief history of bootlegging, a list of home brewing resources and a few warnings for drinkers ("Even for accomplished boozers, moonshine can make off with your dignity before you understand what's happening"), this may be the last book one will ever need on the art of in-house hooch. (May)

New interesting book: Local Breads or Crepes

Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness, and the Future of Life on Earth

Author: John B Robbins

Since the publication in 1987 of Diet for a New America, beef consumption in the United States has fallen a remarkable 19 kpercent. Diet for a New America is considered by many to be one of the most important contributors to this dramatic shift in eating habits.

In the first section, John Robbins takes an extraordinary look at America's dependence on animals for food and the often inhumane conditions under which these animals are raised. It becomes clear that the price paid for such eating habits can be measured in the suffering of animals.

The second section challenges the belief that consuming meat is necessary for optimum health by pointing out the vastly increased rate of disease caused by pesticides, hormones, additives, and other chemicals that are now a routine part of food production. The author shows how the production, preparation, and consumption of food can once again be a healthy process by omitting meat entirely from the food chain.

In the third section, Robbins looks at the global implications of a meat-based diet and concludes that the enormous amount of resources consumed in the production of meat is a major factor in ecological crises.

Publishers Weekly

This well-documented expose of America's ``factory farms'' should prompt even die-hard meat-and-potatoes lovers to reevaluate their diets. Asserting that ``we are ingesting nightmares for breakfast, lunch and dinner,'' Robbins, who is medical director of the California Institute for Health and Healing, details how livestock is raised under increasingly industrialized conditions by ``agribusiness oligopolies.'' Grazing and foraging have given way to debeaking, tail-docking, dehorning and castration, and treatment with pesticides, hormones, growth and appetite stimulants, tranquilizers and antibioticswhich, in turn, are assimilated by humans. The author correlates our ``protein obsessed'' society with a higher incidence of arteriosclerosis, osteoporosis, cancer and other degenerative diseases, as well as freakish occurrences like premature puberty from estrogen contamination. As Robbins debunks nutritional myths perpetuated by the powerful meat and dairy industries (indicting as well his family's Baskin-Robbins ice-cream empire), this is sure to prove controversial. Photos not seen by PW. (September 10)

What People Are Saying

Andrew Weil
Diet for a New America is a powerful indictment of our dietary practices that should be read by everyone interested in healthy living. It is well-researched, well-documented, and eye-opening. I recommend this book to patients, friends, and relatives.

Eat What You Want and Die Like A Man or Food Snobs Dictionary

Eat What You Want and Die Like A Man

Author: Steve H Graham

Eat healthy and live to be 100?

Screw that.

Why choke down bland, mushy, steamed veggies and brown rice when there's so much fat-laden, calorie-rich, heart-bursting cuisine out there to be savored? Because you want to live? So you can spend your golden years wandering aimlessly around a Florida shopping mall and eating dinner at 2 in the afternoon? So your rotten kids can plop you into some hellhole of a nursing home the minute you forget what day it is?

Go ahead, triple your cholesterol and triglyceride counts, and clog those arteries. You'll never get out of this world alive, so enjoy life while you can. Here are the most unhealthy triple-bypass recipes sure to satisfy the most insatiable cholesterol craving. Instead of steamed tofu, try Lard-Oozing Caja-China-Roasted Hog or Pizzeria-style Baked Ziti with Sausage and Mozzarella! Follow up with a decadent dessert of Deep-Fried Twinkies or Ice Cream Lasagne. You'll die quicker but with a smile on your face.

Eat What You Want and Die Like a Man will put you back in touch with your Inner Hog.

Raves for Steve Graham's THE GOOD, THE SPAM, AND THE UGLY

"Gleefully offensive."—Publishers Weekly

"Thanks for using a pseudonym."—Steve's father

Publishers Weekly

Nostalgic for a time when kitchen counters had a container marked "grease" right next to "flour" and "sugar," author and blogger Graham (Keep Chewing Till It Stops Kicking) offers up a rambling, tongue-in-cheek, plaque-in-artery collection of recipes and essays for those dedicated to the "Art of Lard." Graham delights in slaughtering sacred cows with his acerbic, at times wildly inappropriate humor, but also gets a terrific amount of glee from simple bacon grease, a key ingredient in ribs, chicken fried steak, hash browns and even popcorn. Predictably dense takes on macaroni and cheese, burgers and fries dominate, though more exotic fare like Turducken and Rotis with Goat Curry are also detailed. Graham's glib instructions can frustrate; for fatty (but incredibly flavorful) twice-baked fries, "you get your fat, and you put it in a big pot, and you put it in the oven at 250 for like a day. Then you throw out the lumps that remain," before you add potatoes for frying. Most of his dishes, however, fall within the capabilities of kitchen novices, and he peppers sound advice throughout on everything from the proper use of ham hocks to the care of cast iron skillets. Unfortunately, his wildly uneven tone and pointless digressions kill any sense of momentum, making this a comedic smorgasbord best consumed in moderation.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments     xi
Introduction     1
Ribs     7
How to Smoke Your Butt     22
BBQ Beans, Texas Toast, and the Inevitable Mel Brooks Reference     27
Breakfast as a Mind-Altering Drug     38
Chicken-Fried Rib Eye on A Huge Biscuit     48
Grease Burgers     54
Corn Bread and Navy Beans     60
Turducken: Flight of the Hindenbird     68
Aged Prime Steak Cooked on a Propane Griddle     79
Champagne Chicken with Fettuccine in Cream Sauce     90
Smoked Pork and Andouille Jambalaya     98
Pizzeria-Style Baked Ziti with Sausage and Mozzarella     103
Stuffed Hog with Apricot and Marsala Glaze     115
Unauthentic White Anglo-Saxon Protestant Chili     125
Super-Giant Fried Patacon Tacos     134
Deep-Fried Chinese-Style Honey-Garlic Chicken     143
Rotis with Goat Curry     148
Doro Wat-Ethiopian-Style Chicken Stew     154
Hash Brown Casserole with Cheddar and Sour Cream     162
Dreadfully Fattening Macaroni and Cheese     169
Twice-Fried Fries Cooked in Beef Fat     181
Perfect 10-Minute Street Pizza     191
Peach Cobbler     208
Ice Cream Lasagna     213
Yeast-Raised Fried Doughnuts in Coconut/Banana Sauce     221
Coconut Flan     233
540-Calorie Brownies     238
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hot Fudge Dessert/Pms Remedy     245
Blueberry Butter Cheesecake     252
Cheese Baklava     264
Red Lager and Room-Temperature-Brewed Ale     269
Five Greasy Pieces     275
Conclusion     284
Index     285

Go to: Urban Economics and Real Estate Markets or Process Plant Layout and Piping Design

Food Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Gastronomical Knowledge

Author: David Kamp

Food Snob n: reference term for the sort of food obsessive for whom the actual joy of eating and cooking is but a side dish to the accumulation of arcane knowledge about these subjects

From the author of The United States of Arugula—and coauthor of The Film Snob’s Dictionary and The Rock Snob’s Dictionary—a delectable compendium of food facts, terminology, and famous names that gives ordinary folk the wherewithal to take down the Food Snobs—or join their zealous ranks.

Open a menu and there they are, those confusing references to “grass-fed” beef, “farmstead” blue cheese, and “dry-farmed” fruits. It doesn’t help that your dinner companions have moved on to such heady topics as the future of the organic movement, or the seminal culinary contributions of Elizabeth Drew and Fernand Point. David Kamp, who demystified the worlds of rock and film for grateful readers, explains it all and more, in The Food Snobs Dictionary.

Both entertaining and authentically informative, The Food Snob’s Dictionary travels through the alphabet explaining the buzz-terms that fuel the food-obsessed, from “Affinage” to “Zest,” with stops along the way for “Cardoons,” “Fennel Pollen,” and “Sous-Vide,” all served up with a huge and welcome dollop of wit.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Campbells Recipe Card Collection or Man a Can a Plan a Second Helping

Campbell's Recipe Card Collection

Author: Campbells

75 Recipes

5 Section Dividers

24 Blank cards for you to fill in with your own favorites

Go to: Oldmans Guide to Outsmarting Wine or Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook

Man, a Can, a Plan, a Second Helping: 50 Fast Meals to Satisfy Your Healthy Appetite

Author: David Joachim

The latest entry in the A Man, a Can series returns with more easy recipes for great, guy-friendly food.

When award-winning cookbook author/editor David Joachim introduced the A Man, a Can series in 2002 with A Man, a Can, a Plan, readers and reviewers alike were quick to embrace the winning premise: quick, tasty, healthful meals based on canned and other convenience foods. "This cookbook makes meals guys would love," raved the Philadelphia Daily News. "A foolproof, not to mention spill-proof, guide to manly success in the kitchen," exclaimed the Sunday Star-Ledger.

Now David Joachim is back with 50 new tempting recipes for hungry guys everywhere—hearty, healthy fare such as Chili Empanadas, Noodlicious Ramen Salad, Cheez-It Crusted Chicken, Pesto Salmon Pitas, and more. With step-by-step instructions and full-color photographs, even the most culinarily challenged dudes can whip up dishes that will have diners eager for more.

200 Low Carb Slow Cooker Recipes or Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers

200 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes: Healthy Dinners That Are Ready When You Are!

Author: Dana Carpender

Ah, the wonders of a slow cooker. After a long, hard day you can walk in the door and the aroma of a hot, home-cooked meal fills the air. You don't have to do that fast tango from fridge to pantry to stove and back again. It's nearly as good as having a personal chef!

But for the low-carb dieter, traditional slow cooker recipes can be a problem. Many of them depend on potatoes, noodles, rice, and starchy canned soups. And if you've tried to make up your own slow cooker recipes, you may have found the results less than compelling -- too often the food can be mushy, water-logged, and bland.

Fortunately, with 200 Low-Carb Slow Cooker Recipes, you can use your slow cooker and follow your low-carb diet, too!

Come home to:
Tuscan Chicken * Kashmiri Lamb Shanks * Teriyaki-Tangerine Ribs * Chicken Minestrone * Orange Rosemary Pork * Chipotle Brisket * Firehouse Chili * Thai Chicken Bowls * Braised Pork with Fennel * Pizza Stew * Morty's Mixed Meat Loaf * Low-Carb Slow Cooker Paella But that's not all! The gentle, even heat of a slow cooker makes it the perfect way to cook many different kinds of foods. You'll make low-carb party treats like Hot Crab Dip and Glazed Chicken Wings, and snacks like Smokin' Chili Peanuts and Curried Pecans. It's the superior way to cook incredible sugar-free desserts like Mochaccino Cheesecake and Maple-Pumpkin Custard. And you've never had moister, more tender seafood than my Lime-Basted Scallops or Lemon-Mustard Salmon Steaks. Plus, every recipe lists the calories, protein, fiber, and usable carbs per serving, so you'll not only be in control of your life and your time, you'll be in control of your diet as well.

So go ahead, plugin your slow cooker, and look forward to coming home to a fabulous low-carb supper tonight!

Interesting textbook: Cooking at Home with The Culinary Institute of America or Everything Wild Game Cookbook

Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers: The Secrets of Ancient Fermentation

Author: Stephen Harrod Buhner

This is the first comprehensive book ever written on the sacred aspects of indigenous, historical psychotropic and herbal healing beers of the world.

Booknews

Surveying the healing and sacred roles of beer from many cultures and past centuries, herbalist Buhner proposes that fermentation and plant use are part of the exploration of what it means to be human. He provides 120 recipes using ingredients from 80 plants, and includes nutritive and curative use for specific conditions. Lightly illustrated. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Sunday Suppers at Lucques or Pomegranate Soup

Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table

Author: Suzanne Goin

Since 1998, patrons of renowned L.A. restaurant Lucques have been begging head chef Suzanne Goin for a cookbook containing the recipes she dreams up in Lucques's kitchen. And the culinary world has been begging for rejuvination at the hands of one of its rising stars. Sunday Suppers at Lucques is the long-awaited collection of dishes that have found their way onto the ever-changing Sunday supper menu at Lucques restaurant. Before opening Lucques in 1998, Goin knew that she would serve dinner on Sundays family-style, and that she wanted to offer a rotating menu. A firm believer in using the freshest ingredients, Suzanne let the season and the weather point her toward menu ideas for those Sunday meals. That concept, combined with Goin's killer instincts, led, and continue to lead, to novel yet impeccably appropriate combinations of fresh, locally grown ingredients. Sunday suppers at Lucques were born. Accolades (including a James Beard award nomination in 2003) came flooding in, and so did a host of regulars (famous and non-) who have called Lucques home each Sunday evening for nearly six years.

Suzanne's goal in cooking is to bring out the best of every available seasonal ingredient, and combine those ingredients in novel ways. Her training in top restaurants from Berkeley to Boston to Paris taught her to use all her senses -- taste, touch, smell, and hearing--when she cooks, and now she teaches her readers the same. What has resulted at the restaurant is now available in Sunday Suppers at Lucques, a collection of 132 dishes, arranged into menus and organized by season, that will be entirely new and surprising to the average reader's palette, but that are sure to become classics.

Main courses include: pancetta-wrapped trout with fennel gratin, verjus, sorrel, and crushed grapes; braised beef shortribs with potato puree and horseradish cream. Desserts include: cranberry walnut clafoutis; warm crepes with lemon zest and hazelnut brown butter.

Publishers Weekly

At Lucques, one of Goin's two Los Angeles restaurants, the Chez Panisse alumna cooks special Sunday fixed-price menus. Whiling away a wintery Sunday evening over Beets and Tangerines with Mint and Orange-Flower Water; Australian Barramundi with Winter Vegetables Bagna Cauda and Toasted Breadcrumbs; or Herb-Roasted Rack of Lamb with Flageolet Gratin, Roasted Radicchio, and Tapenade; and a G teau Basque with Armagnac Prunes sounds lovely. Preparing it, though, sounds like a hard day's work, and the organization of recipes in seasonal menus rather than grouped by appetizer, entr e, etc., leaves readers with little flexibility. Goin's recipes for hearty, vegetable-heavy, Mediterranean-style dishes such as an appetizer of Rago t of Morels with Cr me Fra che, Soft Herbs, and Toasted Brioche; and First-of-the-Season Succotash Salad with fresh lima beans and watercress are clearly written. But most dishes are all-day affairs: Roman Cherry Tart with Almond Crust and Almond Ice Cream incorporates several components and follows on the heels of either Veal Osso Buco with Saffron Risotto, English Peas, and Pea Shoots, or Halibut with Fingerlings, Fava Beans, Meyer Lemon, and Savory Cr me Fra che. Goin does say, "Feel free to mix and match," but she seems to have missed Sunday's "day of rest" concept. 75 full-color photos. (Dec. 1) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

After cooking at Chez Panisse, Campanile, and other well-known restaurants, Goin opened Lucques in Los Angeles in 1998 and almost immediately received raves for her creative but not at all contrived food. On Sunday evenings, the restaurant strikes a more relaxed ambiance with a smaller prix fixe menu, offering one appetizer, a choice of two entrees, and a dessert. Goin presents 32 of those seasonal menus here, featuring mouth-watering dishes like Grilled Skirt Steak with Artichoke-Potato Hash, Grilled Bluefish in Pancetta with Yellow Tomato Sauce, and Tangelo "Creamsicles" with Sugar Cookies. She writes with passion and humor, and while her recipes are sophisticated and sometimes complicated, they are written with the home cook in mind (make-ahead instructions are included for most). Striking color photographs throughout show off both the recipes and the bounty of fresh ingredients that Goin draws on for inspiration. Highly recommended. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Interesting textbook: Sacred Bee in Ancient Times and Folklore or LaBelle Cuisine

Pomegranate Soup

Author: Marsha Mehran

Beneath the holy mountain Croagh Patrick, in damp and lovely County Mayo, sits the small, sheltered village of Ballinacroagh. To the exotic Aminpour sisters, Ireland looks like a much-needed safe haven. It has been seven years since Marjan Aminpour fled Iran with her younger sisters, Bahar and Layla, and she hopes that in Ballinacroagh, a land of “crazed sheep and dizzying roads,” they might finally find a home.

From the kitchen of an old pastry shop on Main Mall, the sisters set about creating a Persian oasis. Soon sensuous wafts of cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron float through the streets–an exotic aroma that announces the opening of the Babylon Café, and a shock to a town that generally subsists on boiled cabbage and Guinness served at the local tavern. And it is an affront to the senses of Ballinacroagh’s uncrowned king, Thomas McGuire. After trying to buy the old pastry shop for years and failing, Thomas is enraged to find it occupied–and by foreigners, no less.

But the mysterious, spicy fragrances work their magic on the townsfolk, and soon, business is booming. Marjan is thrilled with the demand for her red lentil soup, abgusht stew, and rosewater baklava–and with the transformation in her sisters. Young Layla finds first love, and even tense, haunted Bahar seems to be less nervous.

And in the stand-up-comedian-turned-priest Father Fergal Mahoney, the gentle, lonely widow Estelle Delmonico, and the headstrong hairdresser Fiona Athey, the sisters find a merry band of supporters against the close-minded opposition of less welcoming villagers stuck in their ways. But the idyll is soon broken when the past rushes backto threaten the Amnipours once more, and the lives they left behind in revolution-era Iran bleed into the present.

Infused with the textures and scents, trials and triumph,s of two distinct cultures, Pomegranate Soup is an infectious novel of magical realism. This richly detailed story, highlighted with delicious recipes, is a delectable journey into the heart of Persian cooking and Irish living.

Chicago Tribune

Books Best Read With a Helping of Fairy Dust: Three sisters who have fled their native Iran set up a Persian cafe in their new home, the tiny town of Ballinacroagh, Ireland. After initial suspicion, the townsfolk learn to love the shop with its spicy fragrances and exotic foods. Marsha Mehran describes the food in mouthwatering detail--with a dash of magic realism.

Library Journal

Recalling James Joyce's Dubliners, this first novel by Mehran (who was born in Iran but now lives in Ireland) centers on the inhabitants of a small Irish town. When three Iranian sisters move into the former bake shop and open a Middle Eastern caf , turmoil erupts. The quirky and wonderfully fleshed-out characters who make up the populace of Ballinacroagh align with either the sisters and their exotic delicacies or the town bully, Thomas McGuire, who attempts to put them out of business. From the young and lovely Layla to resident gossip Dervla Quigley, these characters come to life; they're as uniquely simple or as deeply complex as the dishes that eldest sister Marjan concocts-recipes included! Personal demons and questioned loyalties play out like a movie on the page (think Joanne Harris's Chocolat), making the reader feel like an eyewitness to all the events. A satisfying summer read or book club pick; highly recommended.

Booklist - Mark Knoblauch

To give the reader a better appreciation for the pivotal role of food in the novel, Mehran includes recipes for some Iranian specialties: stuffed grape leaves, elephant ear pastries, and the title's pomegranate soup. Stark contrasts between the sisters' lives in Iran and Ireland and between the Irish and Persian cultures energize Mehran's tale.

Publishers Weekly

Beautiful strangers bring exotic recipes to town in Mehran's foodie-lit debut. The Irish hamlet of Ballinacroagh is the unlikely new home for three Iranian sisters and their new Babylon Cafe. Twenty-seven-year-old Marjan, the most skilled in the kitchen; Bahar, the tentative middle sister; and Layla, the charming teenager, fled the Iranian revolution and, after some years in London, have arrived determined to succeed. Initially wary natives soon fall under the spell of the cafe's cardamom- and rosewater-scented wonders, with kindly Estelle Delmonico (the stereotyped Italian widow who formerly owned the storefront) and friendly Father Mahoney leading the pack. But town bully Thomas McGuire, who loathes "feckin' foreigners," and gossip Dervla Quigley, who thinks "they're all sluts," will do anything to drive the sisters away. As Marjan cements alliances through her recipes and Layla falls in love with McGuire's son, Bahar continues to be troubled by the violence in her past. Can the provincial Irish welcome the "foreigners"? Will the sisters triumph? But of course! Mehran's mauve prose gets especially purple sometimes (Layla feels love "like the ecstatic cries of a pomegranate as it realized the knife's thrust"), but fans of Chocolat and other cooking-overcomes-cultural-differences stories will savor the tale, not to mention the 13 recipes, including one for pomegranate soup. Agent, Adam Chromy. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Kirkus Reviews

Three Iranian sisters open a restaurant in rural Ireland-in a debut that uses recipes in the heart- and stomach-warming (or -churning, depending on one's taste for the genre) tradition of Like Water for Chocolate. Marjan, Bahar and Layla Aminpour escaped from Iran to arrive in England the day the Shah was deposed, seven years before the story begins. Now 27, Marjan brings 24-year-old Bahar, who has trained and worked in London as a nurse, and 15-year-old Layla to Ballinacroagh, in County Mayo, to open the Babylon Cafe. Each chapter opens with one of Marjan's recipes, then intertwines the recipe into the events that follow. The villagers are your typical Irish stereotypes: bullying pub owner, narrow-minded gossip, goodhearted priest, lonely widow, disgraced actress turned hairdresser and unwed mother. While the locals resist at first, the magic of Marjan's cooking soon wins them over. But the pub owner, Thomas McGuire, has eyes on the space the Aminpours have leased for their restaurant and vows to sink them. Meanwhile, his dreamy and handsome son (or at least his wife's son) falls in love with Layla. As the leisurely soap opera of village life plays out-the priest puts on a play, the lonely widow mothers the sisters, the villain's plot is foiled-readers also learn the heartbreaking story of the Aminpours' flight from Iran. Raising her sisters after their parents' deaths, Marjan was drawn into revolutionary activities by her childhood sweetheart and briefly imprisoned, while Bahar fell under the thumb of a fundamentalist neighbor and married the woman's sadistic son. After a particularly vicious encounter with Bahar's husband, the sisters fled. Now they've come to Ballinacroagh to hidefrom Bahar's husband, who had tracked them to London. That stark story sits uneasily alongside the predictable comedy-drama of Ballinacroagh. The mix of cutesy and harsh can be awkward, but first-timer Mehran's lighthearted voice will win readers over.

What People Are Saying

Publisher
Pomegranate Soup—(Philip Gulley, author of the Harmony series and If Grace Is True)

Frank Delaney
Few novels have such charm, such fusion. Marsha Mehran takes one of the great staples of literature, food and its creation, and makes it the vehicle of a delightful, subtle fairytale. With a deep understanding of opposites such as whimsy and poignancy, she delivers a moving and very amusing enquiry into whether differences between peoples exist at all.
—(Frank Delaney, author of Ireland)

Nahid Rachlin
Pomegranate Soup, a delightful debut novel, goes from Iran to Ireland and catches the flavors of both cultures through unforgettable scenes and characters. The three Aminpour sisters leaving Iran on the eve of the Revolution, opening a Persian restaurant in an Irish town, enchant us with their optimism and aroma of pomegranate soup, lingering beyond the pages.
—(Nahid Rachlin, author of Foreigner and Veils)

Adriana Trigiani
Pomegranate Soup is glorious, daring and delightful. I adored the Iranian sisters, Marjan, Bahar and Layla, who are looking to build a life, start a business and find love in a place so far from home. Ireland has never been more beautiful -- the perfect setting for this story filled with humor, hope and possibility.
—(Adriana Trigiani, author of Rococo)

Rocco DiSpirito
In one bite, exotic pomegranates offer a bittersweet reminder of where you are and where you could be. Marsha Mehran is masterful in her exploration of the worlds of the familiar vs. the unfamiliar, chuckling all the way.
—(Rocco DiSpirito, celebrity chef and author of Flavor and Rocco's Italian American)

Amulya Malladi
Vibrantly alive and populated with rich characters, this is a delicious first novel flavored generously with Persian spices and Irish temperaments. Marsha Mehran writes with a deft hand and a sparkling imagination.
—(Amulya Malladi, author of Serving Crazy with Curry)

Firoozeh Dumas
An enchanting tale of love, family and renewal that illuminates the magical qualities of Persian cuisine.
—(Firoozeh Dumas, author of Funny in Farsi)

Posted by Food Books at 6:08 PM 0 comments

Spice Bible or Breath of a Wok

Spice Bible: Essential Information and More than 250 Recipes Using Spice, Spice Mixes, and Spice Pastes

Author: Jane Lawson
The only book on spices that any chef or aspiring cook will ever need, The Spice Bible is a fully comprehensive guide to the fascinating history and enticing culinary uses of 45 fiery foods from around the world. Each entry—from ajowan through wolfberry—includes a description of the spice’s origin and uses, guidelines on how to integrate it into your own cooking, and a trove of other helpful information. (Which are the best spices to pair with saffron? When is the right time to throw away that leftover ginger?)

Like its companion volume, The Produce Bible, this must-have book also features more than 250 recipes—for appetizers, soups, entrees, side dishes, breads, desserts, and more—that highlight each ingredient’s distinctive taste and character. Carrot soup with caraway butter, seared salmon with sesame and cucumber, and beef filet poached in Asian-spiced broth are among the delectable dishes presented here, all created with flavorful spices and easily mastered by any cook.

The book also includes tips on purchasing and storing spices, along with sections on spice mixes and pastes such as curry, zaatar, and chermoula. Filled with evocative photographs throughout, The Spice Bible is an invaluable resource for anyone looking for a pinch of personality in their cooking—or a dash of inspiration.

Book review: Flatbreads and Flavors or Big Book of Casseroles
Breath of a Wok: Unlocking the Spirit of Chinese Wok Cooking Through Recipes and Lore

Author: Grace Young
When Grace Young was a child, her father instilled in her a lasting appreciation of wok hay, the highly prized but elusive taste that food achieves when properly stir-fried in a wok. As an adult, Young aspired to create that taste in her own kitchen. Her quest to master wok cooking led her throughout the United States, Hong Kong, and mainland China. Along with award-winning photographer Alan Richardson, Young sought the advice of home cooks, professional chefs, and esteemed culinary teachers like Cecilia Chiang, Florence Lin, and Ken Hom. Their instructions, stories, and recipes, gathered in this richly designed and illustrated volume, offer not only expert lessons in the art of wok cooking, but also capture a beautiful and timeless way of life.
With its emphasis on cooking with all the senses, The Breath of a Wok brings the techniques and flavors of old-world wok cooking into today's kitchen, enabling anyone to stir-fry with wok hay. IACP award-winner Young details the fundamentals of selecting, seasoning, and caring for a wok, as well as the range of the wok's uses; this surprisingly inexpensive utensil serves as the ultimate multipurpose kitchen tool. The 125 recipes are a testament to the versatility of the wok, with stir-fried, smoked, pan-fried, braised, boiled, poached, steamed, and deep-fried dishes that include not only the classics of wok cooking, like Kung Pao Chicken and Moo Shoo Pork, but also unusual dishes like Sizzling Pepper and Salt Shrimp, Three Teacup Chicken, and Scallion and Ginger Lo Mein. Young's elegant prose and Richardson's extraordinary photographs create a unique and unforgettable picture of artisan wok makers in mainland China,street markets in Hong Kong, and a "wok-a-thon" in which Young's family of aunties, uncles, and cousins cooks together in a lively exchange of recipes and stories. A visit with author Amy Tan also becomes a family event when Tan and her sisters prepare New Year's dumplings. Additionally, there are menus for family-style meals and for Chinese New Year festivities, an illustrated glossary, and a source guide to purchasing ingredients, woks, and accessories.
Written with the intimacy of a memoir and the immediacy of a travelogue, this recipe-rich volume is a celebration of cultural and culinary delights.

Publishers Weekly
Among Chinese cookbooks, this one is unusual. It doesn't strive for comprehensiveness or focus on a regional cuisine. Instead, it analyzes that sacred object of the Chinese kitchen: the wok. The wok's "breath" is the heat rising from the sizzling instrument as a dish is finished, but also much more, according to Young (The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen). She offers a profound meditation on the wok's spiritual place, as well as its history and uses. As such, the book may be appreciated as a work of food scholarship as well as a cookbook. Nearly half of it concerns wok arcana, from an assessment of the best wok for a home kitchen to half a dozen "recipes" for seasoning a new wok (like Mr. Wen's Chinese Chive Rub). Naturally, the majority of the recipes are for stir-fries, such as the familiar Kung Pao Chicken. Usually, Young takes great care to attribute her recipes to her sources (e.g., Mary Chau's Shanghai-Style Snow Cabbage and Edamame). Those sources are refreshingly varied, including home cooks, like the author's many female relations, and well-known names like Martin Yan and writer Amy Tan. Although this is by no means a definitive Chinese cookbook, its elegance and meditative outlook make it a welcome gift. Photos. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
Young (The Wisdom of the Chinese Kitchen) grew up in San Francisco's Chinatown and vividly remembers the restaurant dinners that were part of the culinary education instilled in her by her father, particularly the search for wok hay, "the prized, elusive, seared taste" that comes from stir-frying in a wok. Years later, unsatisfied with her own efforts at achieving wok hay, she endeavored to discover the techniques required for perfection, which results in this fascinating "written and visual document of wok cooking and old world wok culture." Every aspect of cooking with a wok is covered, with the largest recipe section devoted to stir-frying, followed by other methods of wok cookery, from smoking to deep-frying. Young describes learning to make New Year's dumplings with Amy Tan and her sisters and "a family wok-a-thon," which brought together generations of her own family. Richardson's striking photographs record their travels and show off many of the recipes. This chronicle of a disappearing tradition is highly recommended. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
One wok runs to the sky's edge 3
Notes to the Reader 8
In Search of a Wok 11
Selection, Seasoning, and Care
Reverence for a Wok 32
Acquiring a Virtuous Wok 34
Wok Buying Guide 38
Opening a Wok 42
Recipes for Seasoning a Wok 48
The Face of a Wok 52
The Art of Stir-Frying
Wok Hay: The Breath of a Wok 60
Stir-Frying Poultry 67
Stir-Frying Meat 80
The Wok Warriors 96
Stir-Frying Fish and Shellfish 103
Stir-Frying Rice and Noodles 117
The Wok as a Musical Instrument 128
Stir-Frying Vegetables 131
Eight Treasured Tastes
The Master Lesson 152
Smoking 156
Pan-Frying 160
The Family Wok-a-thon 166
Braising 172
Amy Tan and the New Year's Dumplings 190
Boiling and Poaching 194
Steaming 198
Deep-Frying 210
Essentials
Menus 218
New Year's Menus 218
Seasonal Family-Style Menus 219
Glossary 220
Metric Equivalencies 229
Sources 230
Selected Bibliography 232
Index 233

Posted by Food Books at 8:26 AM 0 comments

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Everyday Cooking with Dr Dean Ornish or Pressure Perfect

Everyday Cooking with Dr. Dean Ornish: 150 Easy, Low-Fat, High-Flavor Recipes

Author: Dean Ornish
Renowned cardiac researcher and bestselling author Dean Ornish, M.D., has inspired millions of people to choose a healthier lifestyle and a low-fat diet. But low-fat cooking can be time-consuming and hard to fit into a busy schedule, so Dr. Ornish has found 150 wonderful ways to make it fast, delicious and fun.
Everyday Cooking with Dean Ornish includes 150 easy and extraordinary recipes that are extremely low in fat and cholesterol -- and high in flavor. You'll find slimmed-down versions of comfort foods that are delicious and nutritious, from French Toast and Hashed Browns to enchiladas and lasagna, from Creamy Corn Soup and Spicy Arkansas Chili to Southwest Pizza and Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. The recipes are quick to prepare, the ingredients are familiar and inexpensive and there are hundreds of smart time-saving tips on cooking, shopping and serving. Now you no longer have to choose between good food and good health.

Books about economics: Short Term Financial Management or Work Motivation
Pressure Perfect: Two Hour Taste in Twenty Minutes Using Your Pressure Cooker

Author: Lorna J Sass
Under pressure to get a tasty, nutritious dinner on the table in a flash? Like the idea of preparing fork-tender beef stew in thirty minutes and pot roast in under an hour? All this and more is made possible by the pressure cooker, a magical appliance that produces soul-satisfying, homemade food in one-third (or less) the standard cooking time.

In Pressure Perfect, Lorna Sass, the country's leading authority on pressure cooking, distills her two decades of experience into one comprehensive volume. First learn everything you need to know about buying and using today's 100% safe cookers. Then enjoy more than 200 recipes for preparing soups, meats, poultry, grains, beans, vegetables, and desserts in record time. How about whipping up a savory risotto in 4 minutes, chicken cacciatore in 12 minutes, or a delectable chocolate cheesecake in 25 minutes?

Because the pressure cooker tenderizes tough cuts of meat quickly, you can prepare fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs or lamb shanks on weekday nights instead of waiting for a special occasion. The pressure cooker also allows you to make delectable one-pot meals in minutes. Among the many innovative recipes and techniques, you'll learn to cook meatloaf and potatoes simultaneously in 10 minutes, and meatballs, pasta, and sauce at the same time in only 5 minutes. Many recipes also suggest Cook-Along ideas for preparing vegetables and grains along with the entrée.

To further help those cooking under pressure (and who isn't nowadays?), each chapter contains timing charts for quick reference. Tips and Pressure Points in every recipe ensure optimum results.

This ultimate guide topressure cooking is a must for all busy cooks, boaters, brides, college students, and anyone looking for a great way to make irresistible, healthy, home-made food fast.

Library Journal
Cooking Under Pressure (1985), Sass's first pressure cooker cookbook, was published when the new-style (i.e., nonexploding) cookers had just appeared on the market and went on to sell more than 180,000 copies. Since then, a second generation of sleek cookers, now virtually foolproof, has appeared in upscale kitchenware shops everywhere. Sass has published other cookbooks for the "PC," as she calls it, but this is the real successor to her first. It includes 200 new recipes, along with a thorough guide to using the cooker and a section on troubleshooting; timing charts for different ingredients appear both in the relevant chapters and in a handy grouping at the back. Recipes range from Sage-Scented Butternut Squash Soup and Whole Stuffed Chicken in Balsamic Fig Sauce to Lemon Cheesecake. Each recipe is accompanied by "Pressure Points," handy tips on technique; "Variations," which suggest easy substitutions or optional ingredients; and "Transformations," which essentially change the basic recipe into a different dish. Transformations for Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup, for example, include Mexican Chicken Soup with Avocado and Corn-not a noodle soup at all. Chapter introductions are filled with useful information, and recipe headnotes offer serving suggestions and more. Highly recommended. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Posted by Food Books at 12:17 AM 0 comments

Friday, December 12, 2008

Biscotti or Cookies in a Jar

Biscotti

Author: Lou Seibert Pappas
Biscotti, the delicate, flavorful Italian cookie that is sweeping the American cafe scene, is presented in all its understated glory in this collection of 30 delectable recipes, each illustrated with a charming watercolor. Perfect for dipping into a steaming cappuccino or as an accompaniment to ice cream or a glass of wine, biscotti are endlessly versatile. They can be covered with chocolate, embellished with spices or nuts or kept in their simple, sophisticated original form. Light and healthy, they adapt easily to both casual and formal occasions. Filled with tips on baking and serving biscotti, as well as with delicious historical anecdotes, this small-format cookbook is the perfect introduction to a classic Italian experience.
Booknews
A lovely and tantalizing presentation of recipes for the versatile and glorious Italian cookie. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Books about marketing: Cake Decorating For Dummies or Williams Sonoma Collection
Cookies in a Jar: Recipes for Layered Cookie Mixes

Author: Jackie Gannaway
26 recipes for layering cookie mixes in a quart canning jar.
Give as an unusual gift! Include a card telling the recipient to add butter and egg, mix and bake. Easy for both of you.

Posted by Food Books at 1:35 PM 0 comments

Cooking for 1 or 2 or Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook

Cooking for 1 or 2

Author: Barbara Kanerva Kyt
More than 275 recipes and ideas with just the right portions for singles and couples!
This major revision of a best-seller has new and updated recipes and a brand new easy-to-read format.
every recipe designed for both 1 and 2 servings
variations of recipes allow endless variety
appetizers, sandwiches and salads
soups, sauces, eggs and cheese
pasta, rice, breads and vegetables
meat, poultry and fish
fruits and desserts
tips for 1 or 2 about equipping the kitchen, food purchase and storage

Book review: The South Beach Diet Cookbook or The Golden Book of Chocolate
Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook: 200 Gourmet & Homestyle Recipes for the Food Allergic Family

Author: Cybele Pascal
The Whole Foods Allergy Cookbook is an important health resource for you and your family. Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive recipe book that eliminates the top eight food allergens as identified by the Food and Drug Administration.
There is no need to miss out on nutrition, variety, or flavor - even if you can't tolerate certain foods. These recipes include all of the foods you can eat, and they will reward you with the added benefits of improved health and great taste.
Library Journal
A lifelong enthusiastic cook, Pascal had to change how she thought about food completely when her four-month-old son was diagnosed with severe food allergies. This book is the result, containing more than 200 recipes that are free of the eight most common allergenic ingredients: dairy, egg, wheat, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish, and shellfish. Anyone following a vegan diet will also find this a valuable resource for baked goods since all of the breads, cookies, and cakes are dairy- and egg-free. It is not a specifically vegetarian cookbook, though, as it contains recipes for comfort foods like Chicken Potpie and Lamb Stew. There are recipes for every occasion, whether it's for Chocolate Layer Cake or Homemade Granola Bars. Most important, the author understands how real families shop, cook, and eat and offers suggestions on how to adapt to the food-allergic lifestyle. Of particular value are the lists of foods to keep on hand, what to buy at the grocery store, and a list of great mail and Internet resources. Highly recommended for public libraries.-Wendy Bethel, Southwest Public Libs., Grove City, OH Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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Thursday, December 11, 2008

Three Dog Bakery Cookbook or From Emerils Kitchens

Three Dog Bakery Cookbook: Over 50 Recipes for All-Natural Paw-Lickin Treats for Your Dog

Author: Dan Dy
Over 50 wholesome, healthy, simple-to-cook recipes for your pooch, from Hearty Hound Loaf and Banana Mutt Cookies to Hungry Mongrel Turkey Burgers and Fiesta Bones.
Tasty tidbits for all occasions, from a midnight morsel when your pup has the minchies, to hearty dinner dishes when he comes home after a hard day Squirrel-chasing, and sumptuous treats for holidays and special occasions.
All recipes are easy-to-bake for quick canine cuisine and made with tasty, all-natural and low-fat ingredients you'll have on hand in your kitchen.

Interesting book: Mastering Self Leadership or Essentials of Economics
From Emeril's Kitchens: Favorite Recipes from Emeril's Restaurants

Author: Emeril Lagass
What's the next best thing to eating at one of Emeril's restaurants? Making your favorite Emeril dishes at home! And now you can with Emeril's new book, From Emeril's Kitchens.

Emeril Lagasse, America's favorite chef, has gathered 150 of the most popular, most requested recipes from six of his restaurants, and has included two dozen new personal favorites as well. If you are one of the many fans who have enjoyed a memorable meal at one of Emeril's restaurants or tuned into his television cooking shows, and want to share that extraordinary experience with friends and family,From Emeril's Kitchens is the book for you.

From Emeril's New Orleans, try your hand at the Home-Smoked Salmon Cheesecake or the Barbecued Shrimp with Rosemary Biscuits. NOLA in the French Quarter is known for the Cedar-Planked Fish with Citrus Horseradish Crust and Citrus Butter Sauce and the over-the-top dessert Chicory Coffee Crème Brûlées with Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies. Entertain at weekend brunch as they do at Emeril's Delmonico and make the elegant Poached Eggs Erato or Souffléd Spinachand Brie Crêpes. Explore the tropics with dishes from Emeril's Orlando such as the Poached Grouper with Mango Salsa, Smashed Avocado, Coconut-CilantroRice Pilaf, Black Bean Sauce, and Tortilla Chips.

Looking for a true steak house experience? The Seared Beef Tournedos with Herb-Roasted Potatoes and Sauce au Poivre from Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas are just the ticket. Seafood lovers can dig into Poached Oysters in Herbsaint Cream or the Spiny Lobster-Tomato Saffron Stew with Shaved Artichoke and Olive Salad from Emeril's New Orleans Fish House.
So, spread the food of love and kick up your kitchen another notch with From Emeril's Kitchens!

Emeril Lagasse is donating a portion of his proceeds from the book to The Emeril Lagasse Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to support and encourage programs that create developmental and educational opportunities for children.

Publishers Weekly
Emeril is probably the best-known food personality in America today, and in this latest offering, he draws on the signature dishes of his eight (soon to be nine) restaurants and their chefs to provide a cookbook sure to please his legions of fans. Spreading his philosophy and history in the introduction, he entreats the user not to be put off by the complexity of many of the recipes, but to use the components and mix and match the dishes. The first chapter, "Basics," contains the building blocks of many of the dishes, ranging from the customary stocks to Hard Boiled Eggs and Roast Duck. Subsequent chapters are structured in the usual manner ranging from appetizers and first courses through desserts. Each dish is attributed to its restaurant or chef and results in a range of styles and inspirations. Some knowledge and skill is required (more, perhaps than in his previous books): there's the Warm Watercress Salad with Stir Fried Beef and Kimchee, where the Kimchee is made 24 hours in advance, as well as the Roasted Atlantic Salmon with Herbed Potato Cakes, Granny Smith Apple Butter, Citrus Fennel Salad, and Salmon Roe. It is within these components that the real strength of the book lies, where dressings, sides and garnishes add polish and sophistication that inspire the home cook to greater heights and confidence. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Posted by Food Books at 6:12 PM 0 comments

Vegetarian or 3 Books in 1

Vegetarian: Tasty Recipes for Every Day (Complete Cookbook Series)

Author: Helen Aitken
With more than 200 vegetarian recipes covering every cooking style and occasion, The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook is an indispensable reference for every cook. Designed for easy use, every recipe is accompanied by a beautiful photograph of the finished dish as well as clear step-by-step photographs showing the techniques involved. Every recipe is written in a clear and concise style that inspires confidence and has been double-tested in our test kitchens by a team of dedicated home economists to ensure success in the home kitchen every time.

Interesting book: Graphic Design Basics or Diversity Consciousness
3 Books in 1: Campbell's Cookbook

Author: Publications International
Get three great Campbell's® books in one convenient volume that will become a favorite in your cooking library. Each recipe offers quick prep, minimal fuss, fast cleanup, and complete satisfaction. You'll find more than 200 tasty dishes that will make it easy to prepare delicious food night after night. Home cooking with Campbell's® doesn't get any better than this! Includes more than 100 luscious full-color recipe photographs.

Posted by Food Books at 9:30 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Wheres Mom Now That I Need Her or Party Cakes for Kids

Where's Mom Now That I Need Her?: Surviving Away from Home

Author: Kent P Frandsen
Here's a cookbook with a difference. The Frandsen family offers a useful collection of hints on grocery shopping, laundry and stain removal, first aid, nutrition, and more, plus great recipes for quick, easy-to-prepare, low-cost meals. 3-ring binder format.

See also: Merchandise Buying and Management or Business Law
Party Cakes for Kids

Author: Kathy Knudsen
Kids of all ages will be delighted by this collection of fun and colorful birthday cakes. Step-by-step photos, easy-to-use templates and clear instructions will ensure that everyone is happy on the big day.

Children's parties can be small informal events or big productions and as organizer it's up to you to decide how much you can handle. The cake is the centerpiece of the celebration and as such you want to guarantee that it is unforgettable, but simple enough to leave time for planning other details of the party. Using simple recipe ideas and decorations that are easy to obtain and affordable, you are sure to make your child's celebration memorable and fun.

From colorful cupcakes to popular cartoon characters, Party Cakes for Kids has many fun decorating ideas that will appeal to boys and girls of all ages.

Posted by Food Books at 10:48 PM 0 comments

No Salt Lowest Sodium Cookbook or A16

No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook: Hundreds of Favorite Recipes Created to Combat Congestive Heart Failure and Dangerous Hypertension

Author: Donald A Gazzaniga
Donald Gazzaniga, diagnosed with congestive heart failure, was headed for a heart transplant - the only effective medical treatment. Urged by his doctor to keep his sodium intake "under 1,500-2000 mg. a day," Don headed for the kitchen and went to work. Aware that cutting out table salt is the barest beginning of a true low-sodium diet, Don devised recipes for delicious low-sodium dishes that added up to less than 500 mg. daily, 70% lower than those in other low-sodium cookbooks. The result? Don's name has been removed from the transplant list and his doctors believe that his diet played a significant role.

The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook contains:

* Hundreds of good tasting, easy-to-make recipes
* An introduction by Dr. Sandra Barbour of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation
* Advice on finding low-sodium prepared foods, eating in restaurants, etc.
* Accurate sodium content of every ingredient and of the total servings
* A twenty-eight-day low-sodium menu planner by Dr. Jeannie Gazzaniga, Ph.D., R.D.

This book is for informational purposes only. Readers are advised to consult a physician before making any major change in diet.

Look this: Clinical Delegation Skills or Law and Ethics in the Business Environment
A16: Food + Wine

Author: Nate Appleman
This cookbook & wine guide celebrates the traditions of southern Italy, and includes extensive coverage of southern Italian wines. Diners at San Francisco's acclaimed A16 restaurant pack the house for chef Nate Appleman's "soulful renditions of dishes from Compania" & superb wines.
Publishers Weekly
One of San Franciscoa's most popular new restaurants, A16 is devoted to southern Italya's rustic cuisine and robust wines. This book, by its executive chef and wine director, begins by exploring eight grape-growing areas in the south, from the regiona's heart in Campania to mountainous Abruzzo and the isolated island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean. With a dizzying number of wines produced in each area, the focus is wisely kept on the grapes themselves, with eloquent essays on the history and qualities of both classic and less familiar red and white varietals, and food pairing tips as well as recommendations of wine producers. The second half presents some of those foods-"peasant cooking" like pasta with chunky, chili-spiked sauce, a rabbit mixed grill and, of course, Neapolitan pizza, with A16a's Bay Area location showing in occasional ingredient twists like the tangerines in an arugula salad and the zesty punch of preserved Meyer lemon in a grilled shrimp dish. Executive chef Applemana's expertise is reflected in a chapter on "the pig," including recipes for making pancetta and sausages, which are rather advanced for casual home cooks but, like the rest of the book, make fascinating reading for lovers of Italian food and wine. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Kimberly Bartosz - Library Journal
A16 is a San Francisco-based restaurant focusing on the regional Italian cuisine of Campania, and executive chef Appleman and wine director Lindgren feature many of the recipes served at the restaurant. The first section covers the wine varietals of southern Italy and includes descriptions of Italian wine designations; histories of the wines, food pairings, and producer recommendations are also here. The rest of the book is dedicated to food, beginning with an outline of the Campania cooking style. The pantry chapter has descriptions of foods common to southern Italian cuisine that are used at A16, and recipes for simple broths, flavored oils, and ricotta salata. It's important to read this section before starting any of the recipes as it explains seasoning rationale and has recipes for condiments/ingredients found later in the book. A resource list for ingredients and equipment is provided at the end of the book. A16 is a challenging specialty cookbook, coaxing readers to try unfamiliar ingredients and cooking techniques. An optional purchase for libraries with large cookbook collections.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction....................1
PART ONE: A16 WINE....................4
CAMPANIA-A16....................15
ABRUZZO-A24....................29
MOLISE-A14....................33
PUGLIA-A14....................35
BASILICATA-SS658....................43
CALABRIA-A3....................49
SICILY-A20....................53
SARDINIA-SS131....................61
PART TWO: A16 FOOD....................66
THE PANTRY....................72
ANTIPASTI....................88
PIZZA....................112
ZUPPA....................126
PASTA....................138
SEAFOOD....................164
POULTRY AND MEAT....................178
THE PIG....................198
VEGETABLES....................224
DESSERT....................242
RESOURCES....................268
INDEX....................273

Posted by Food Books at 1:07 PM 0 comments

Kitchen Confidential or Cake Bible

Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

Author: Anthony Bourdain
New York Chef Tony Bourdain gives away secrets of the trade in his wickedly funny, inspiring memoir/expose. Kitchen Confidential reveals what Bourdain calls "twenty-five years of sex, drugs, bad behavior and haute cuisine." Last summer, The New Yorker published Chef Bourdain's shocking, "Don't Eat Before Reading This." Bourdain spared no one's appetite when he told all about what happens behind the kitchen door. Bourdain uses the same "take-no-prisoners" attitude in his deliciously funny and shockingly delectable book, sure to delight gourmands and philistines alike. From Bourdain's first oyster in the Gironde, to his lowly position as dishwasher in a honky tonk fish restaurant in Provincetown (where he witnesses for the first time the real delights of being a chef); from the kitchen of the Rainbow Room atop Rockefeller Center, to drug dealers in the east village, from Tokyo to Paris and back to New York again, Bourdain's tales of the kitchen are as passionate as they are unpredictable. Kitchen Confidential will make your mouth water while your belly aches with laughter. You'll beg the chef for more, please.
Onion A.V. Club - Joseph Klein
Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential has already turned a few stomachs with its frank discussions of what goes on in the kitchens of America's favorite restaurants. He revels in anecdotes that would make an Ozzy Osbourne roadie question the catered stuff on his plate. Sex, drugs, sex near food while on drugs: Bourdain gleefully dishes the dirt on some of his former haunts, from the fish houses of New England to the elegant-on-the-outside eateries of New York. Yet the tone he takes with his joyously muckraking expose/memoir follows a distinctive rhythm, a blunt, boastful swagger that recalls some accounts of organized crime. Bourdain is just as likely to tantalize with his descriptions of food as disgust with his descriptions of the people and actions swirling around it, the activities disgusting yet somehow funny at the same time. It's an exhilarating combination often invoked in mobster tell-alls, but while there's more than a little goodfella in Bourdain -- he dices, dresses, and dishes with trash-talking braggadocio -- he clearly loves what he does. While he admits early on that the call of the kitchen often comes only after every other option has failed, he clearly enjoys working in such terrible conditions. It's like he has the key to the ultimate backroom club, a place of privilege where everyone operates with a different set of rules and gets off on a different set of thrills. Eat to live, don't live to eat, the saying goes, and for Bourdain, life is never better than when he's the one doing the cooking.
Restaurant Business
With equal parts wit and wickedness, Bourdain [does] the unthinkable by revealing trade secrest that chefs and restauranteers cringe to read.
USA Today
...the kind of book you read in one sitting, then rush about annoying your coworkers by declaiming whole passages.
Denver Post
You'll laugh, you'll cry...you're gonna love it.
New York Magazine
Utterly riveting, swaggering with stylish machismo and precise ear for kitchen patois.
Publishers Weekly
Chef at New York's Les Halles and author of Bone in the Throat, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the restaurant business. His fast-lane personality and glee in recounting sophomoric kitchen pranks might be unbearable were it not for two things: Bourdain is as unsparingly acerbic with himself as he is with others, and he exhibits a sincere and profound love of good food. The latter was born on a family trip to France when young Bourdain tasted his first oyster, and his love has only grown since. He has attended culinary school, fallen prey to a drug habit and even established a restaurant in Tokyo, discovering along the way that the crazy, dirty, sometimes frightening world of the restaurant kitchen sustains him. Bourdain is no presentable TV version of a chef; he talks tough and dirty. His advice to aspiring chefs: "Show up at work on time six months in a row and we'll talk about red curry paste and lemon grass. Until then, I have four words for you: `Shut the fuck up.' " He disdains vegetarians, warns against ordering food well done and cautions that restaurant brunches are a crapshoot. Gossipy chapters discuss the many restaurants where Bourdain has worked, while a single chapter on how to cook like a professional at home exhorts readers to buy a few simple gadgets, such as a metal ring for tall food. Most of the book, however, deals with Bourdain's own maturation as a chef, and the culmination, a litany describing the many scars and oddities that he has developed on his hands, is surprisingly beautiful. He'd probably hate to hear it, but Bourdain has a tender side, and when it peeks through his rough exterior and the wall of four-letter words he constructs, it elevates this book to something more than blustery memoir.
Morse Partners
From that magical boyhood visit, when he became a "foodie" in France, to today, when he is executive chef of the chic New York bistro, Les Halles, Tony Bourdain has experienced it all. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, he learned his trade, as he puts it, "knocking around" Europe and toiling in some famous multi-starred restaurants in New York and cities north, west, east, and south. He has served as dishwasher, prep-drone, fry-cook, grillardin, saucier, and sous-chef along the way, and the strange and exotic and horrendous subculture of the professional kitchen is as familiar to him as the meals he and his fellow "lifers" turn out, noon and night, in the great -- and sometimes not so great -- restaurants of our world.
Now, in this astonishingly frank, often outrageous, more-often hilarious romp of a book, Bourdain opens up the swinging, clattering kitchen doors to show vividly, pungently, "what it feels like, looks like, and smells like in the clutter and hiss of a big-city restaurant kitchen."
Woven in are the stories of some of the great and less than great characters he has known--Howard, the "revered elder statesman of Cape Cod cookery," with wild, unruly white hair and a gin-blossomed face, who had a lifelong love affair with seafood and wrote two books about it; Tyrone, the broilerman, "big, black, hugely muscled, with a prominent silver-capped front tooth, a fist-sized gold-hooped earring, and a size 56 chef's coat stretched across his back like a drumhead;" "Bigfoot," the giant Jewish restaurateur of Greenwich Village who remains beloved and/or despised by generations of waiters, bartenders, cooks and chefs but who taught Bourdain how to wring the last penny from this hugely difficult business; Nando, the famous pastry chef of the Rainbow Room, who found time to hurl profiteroles at the skaters in the Rockefeller Center rink, sixty-four floors down; Pino Luongo, the "Prince of Restaurant Darkness," who ran a string of Tuscan restaurants in high-priced New York venues; and all the zany, beleaguered, unpredictable talents, many of them immigrants and the self-styled marginals, who have worked for and with Bourdain in his 25 years in the business.
Woven in too are the secrets of the trade and their consequences, sometimes nefarious, for diners: Why Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are the only truly good nights to eat in a restaurant, why chefs rub their hands over customers who want their beef well-done; why seafood frittata is a definite no-no at a weekend brunch.
And with no nonsense clarity, Bourdain spells out in a few pages what it takes to bring your kitchen up to par with the pros. It is not as difficult as you might think. It may take as little as a new Global chef's knife and the right kind of bottle to spritz your serving plates like a pro…
Tony Bourdain may be a master chef by profession, but he is also a born raconteur. A portion of his book, in a somewhat different form, ran in The New Yorker and his portrayal of the "underbelly" of the contemporary big-city restaurant can only be compared to George Orwell's in DOWN AND OUT IN PARIS AND LONDON. The great difference between Orwell's hellish vision and Bourdain's is that Bourdain is enormously proud of his profession, and trumpets its "grandeurs" as well as he bemoans its "miseries." As he puts it, "For me, the cooking life has been a long love affair, with moments both sublime and ridiculous. But like a love affair, looking back you remember the happy times best, the things that drew you in in the first place, the things that kept you coming back for more."
KITCHEN CONFIDENTIAL is that kind of meal.
The Weekly Standard - Joseph Epstein
...the best book I have ever read about the nuts and bolts mechanics of running serious restaurant kitchens...brilliant on the tumult of running a kitchen that might turn out anywhere from two hundred to four hundred serious meals a night...Bourdain is a wild old boy and a bit of a lost soul, and, being strongly anti-malarkey, utterly believable.
USA Today
Bourdain clearly operates with all six burners on scorch, and the result keeps the reader excited.
The New York Times
[A] literary chef, as appreciated for quips as for steak frites.
Newsweek
Unique…mesmerizing.
New York Magazine
Utterly riveting, swaggering with stylish machismo and a precise ear for kitchen patois.
The Denver Post
You'll laugh, you'll cry…you're gonna love it.
The New York Times Book Review
The guy is hysterical…in a style partaking of Hunter S. Thompson, Iggy Pop and a little Jonathan Swift, Bourdain gleefully rips through the scenery to reveal private backstage horrors.
New York Daily News
Funny, irreverent, scandalous.

Table of Contents:
Appetizer
A Note from the Chef 3
First Course
Food Is Good 9
Food Is Sex 19
Food Is Pain 25
Inside the CIA 36
The Return of Mal Carne 45
Second Course
Who Cooks? 55
From Our Kitchen to Your Table 64
How to Cook Like the Pros 75
Owner's Syndrome and Other Medical Anomalies 84
Bigfoot 91
Third Course
I Make My Bones 105
The Happy Time 120
Chef of the Future! 128
Apocalypse Now 134
The Wilderness Years 144
What I Know About Meat 153
Pino Noir: Tuscan Interlude 163
Dessert
A Day in the Life 183
Sous-Chef 206
The Level of Discourse 221
Other Bodies 229
Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown 235
Department of Human Resources 246
Coffee and a Cigarette
The Life of Bryan 255
Mission to Tokyo 272
So You Want to Be a Chef? A Commencement Address 293
Kitchen's Closed 300

Cake Bible

Author: Rose Levy Beranbaum
"If you ever bake a cake, this book will become your partner in the kitchen."
-- from the foreword by Maida Heatter
This is the classic cake cookbook that enables anyone to make delicious, exquisite cakes. As a writer for food magazines, women's magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times, Rose Levy Beranbaum's trademark is her ability to reduce the most complex techniques to easy-to-follow recipes. Rose makes baking a joy. This is the definitive work on cakes by the country's top cake baker.
The Cake Bible shows how to:
Mix a buttery, tender layer cake in under five minutes with perfect results every time
Make the most fabulous chocolate cake you ever imagined with just three ingredients
Find recipes for every major type of cake, from pancakes to four-tiered wedding cakes
Make cakes with less sugar but maximum flavor and texture
Make many low- to no- cholesterol, low-saturated-fat recipes

Library Journal
Beranbaum, a talented baker and former owner of a New York cooking school, has produced a definitive work that will excite accomplished cooks and beginners alike. She covers basic, ``foolproof'' cakes as well as showcase cakes, accompanying these with pages and pages of adornments of all types; her instructions are impressively precise but unintimidating. She also includes lengthy discussions on ingredients and equipment and concludes with a special section on the chemistry of cake baking and on making a professional wedding cakes. An essential purchase. JS

Posted by Food Books at 4:25 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Made in Spain or Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2

Made in Spain: Spanish Dishes for the American Kitchen

Author: Jose Andres
Americans have fallen in love with Spanish food in recent years, and no one has done more to play matchmaker than the award-winning chef José Andrés.

In this irresistible companion volume to his public television show Made in Spain, José reminds us—in the most alluring and delicious way—that the food of his native Spain is as varied and inventive as any of the world’s great cuisines. To prove it, José takes us on a flavorful tour of his beloved homeland, from Andalucía to Aragón. Along the way, he shares recipes that reflect not just local traditions but also the heart and soul of Spain’s distinctive cooking.

In the Basque Country, we discover great fish dishes and the haute cuisine of some of the finest restaurants in the world. In Cantabria, famous for its dairy products, we find wonderful artisanal cheeses. In Valencia, we learn why the secret to unforgettable paella is all in the rice. And in Castilla La Mancha, José shows us the land of the great Don Quixote, where a magical flower produces precious saffron.

The dishes of Made in Spain show the diversity of Spanish cooking today as it is prepared in homes and restaurants from north to south—from casual soups and sandwiches to soul-warming dishes of long-simmered beans and artfully composed salads. Many dishes showcase the fine Spanish products that are now widely available across America. Many more are prepared with the regular ingredients available in any good supermarket.

With more than one hundred simple, straightforward recipes that beautifully capture the flavors and essence of Spanish cooking, Made in Spain is anindispensable addition to any cookbook collection.
Publishers Weekly
Andrés (Tapas), chef-owner of seven D.C.-area restaurants and host of PBS's Made in Spain, brings everyday Spanish cooking to the American table. A native of Spain and protégé of elBulli's Ferran Adrià, Andrés offers an insider's perspective of his home country's cuisine and the varied approaches the different regions take to food. Dividing the book by food type and region, Andrés provides a culinary guide to regional specialties: Andalucia and salads, Madrid and soups, and Cataluña and pork, among others. Recipes require no special cooking techniques or equipment and stress the importance of quality ingredients, most of which are easy to find. Mouthwatering highlights include lobster and mushroom paella, Catalan pork with sausage and mushrooms, and chicken with peppers, tomatoes, onions and Spanish ham. One hundred lavish full-color photos make even the simplest of dishes (such as roasted vegetables, Mallorca style, and Manchego with tomato, thyme and walnuts) tantalizing. This collection will appeal both to cooks new to Spanish cooking and those familiar with it, and all will learn something from Andrés, who shows us why Spain is taking its rightful place at the top of the culinary ladder. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Judith Sutton - Library Journal
AndrA©s is the chef/owner of seven restaurants in and around Washington, DC, including Jaleo and minibar. His first cookbook was Tapas; his new one is the accompaniment to his PBS series, Made in Spain, now in its second season. Here the focus is on Spanish regional cuisine, both classic dishes and AndrA©s's more contemporary interpretations. Recipes are organized by course or main ingredient, but each chapter opens with a brief description of a different region and its culinary treasures; headnotes provide further context. Some of the dishes are rustic, others more sophisticated; all are shown in striking color photos. Spanish food is hot now, and AndrA©s is one of its stars; for all subject collections.

Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2: More Amazing Clones of Famous Dishes from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains

Author: Todd Wilbur
The kitchen clone recipe king is back with a new Top Secret Restaurant Recipes collection—the first since his 1997 bestselling Top Secret Restaurant Recipes, which has sold over one million copies. Wilbur takes readers behind the scenes of big-name restaurants like Olive Garden, Applebee's, and Outback Steakhouse, revealing the key ingredients and tricks of the trade they use to keep diners coming back for more. The book will feature 150 recipes, including:
• Red Lobster® Cheddar Bay Biscuits
• Cheesecake Factory® White Chocolate RaspberryTruffle® Cheesecake
• Romano's Macaroni Grill® Penne Rustica®
• California Pizza Kitchen® Thai Crunch Salad
• Original Pancake House® Apple Pancake
• Chili's® Southwestern Eggrolls
• Houston's® Chicago-Style Spinach Dip
• Tony Roma's® Baked Potato Soup

Forget takeout—with these fun recipes and blueprints, all using ingredients you can buy at your local supermarket, you can re-create your favorite restaurant signature dishes right in your own kitchen.
Library Journal
Why would anyone want to re-create fast-food recipes at home? Fast food is, after all, convenient, not healthy. Wilbur, a top-selling QVC cookbook author, returns with this compilation of 150 new recipes from chains like Bennigan's, Applebee's, Denny's, and Olive Garden. Through "reverse-engineering," home cooks will be able to make their favorite dishes, inexpensively, from scratch and at a fraction of the cost. Arranged by restaurant dish (Roadhouse Grill Baby Back Ribs, T.G.I. Friday's Broccoli Cheese Soup), the recipes can quickly be located with ease. These "top secret" dishes are rendered in blueprint style and commence with the restaurant's menu description. Wilbur's book is made up primarily of dishes known to clog the arteries, but he delivers the latest in what will surely please a nation wrapped up in fast food. Recommended for medium and large collections.-Steven G. Fullwood, Schomburg Ctr. Lib., New York Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Posted by Food Books at 4:44 PM 0 comments

	Introduction	6
	In the kitchen	8
	10 minutes (or so)	18
	20 minutes	50
	30 minutes	82
	Short top + sides	114
	Basics	140
	Tomato sauce	142
	Stock	150
	Batter	158
	Pastry	166
	Dough	174
	Glossary	182
	Index	188

	Introduction
	One wok runs to the sky's edge	3
	Notes to the Reader	8
	In Search of a Wok	11
	Selection, Seasoning, and Care
	Reverence for a Wok	32
	Acquiring a Virtuous Wok	34
	Wok Buying Guide	38
	Opening a Wok	42
	Recipes for Seasoning a Wok	48
	The Face of a Wok	52
	The Art of Stir-Frying
	Wok Hay: The Breath of a Wok	60
	Stir-Frying Poultry	67
	Stir-Frying Meat	80
	The Wok Warriors	96
	Stir-Frying Fish and Shellfish	103
	Stir-Frying Rice and Noodles	117
	The Wok as a Musical Instrument	128
	Stir-Frying Vegetables	131
	Eight Treasured Tastes
	The Master Lesson	152
	Smoking	156
	Pan-Frying	160
	The Family Wok-a-thon	166
	Braising	172
	Amy Tan and the New Year's Dumplings	190
	Boiling and Poaching	194
	Steaming	198
	Deep-Frying	210
	Essentials
	Menus	218
	New Year's Menus	218
	Seasonal Family-Style Menus	219
	Glossary	220
	Metric Equivalencies	229
	Sources	230
	Selected Bibliography	232
	Index	233

	Appetizer
	A Note from the Chef	3
	First Course
	Food Is Good	9
	Food Is Sex	19
	Food Is Pain	25
	Inside the CIA	36
	The Return of Mal Carne	45
	Second Course
	Who Cooks?	55
	From Our Kitchen to Your Table	64
	How to Cook Like the Pros	75
	Owner's Syndrome and Other Medical Anomalies	84
	Bigfoot	91
	Third Course
	I Make My Bones	105
	The Happy Time	120
	Chef of the Future!	128
	Apocalypse Now	134
	The Wilderness Years	144
	What I Know About Meat	153
	Pino Noir: Tuscan Interlude	163
	Dessert
	A Day in the Life	183
	Sous-Chef	206
	The Level of Discourse	221
	Other Bodies	229
	Adam Real-Last-Name-Unknown	235
	Department of Human Resources	246
	Coffee and a Cigarette
	The Life of Bryan	255
	Mission to Tokyo	272
	So You Want to Be a Chef? A Commencement Address	293
	Kitchen's Closed	300