Cooking & Food Writing from the 2011 Winter Newsletter

“The best recipes come from home cooks.” That’s the founding principle of the terrific website Food52.com, which celebrates the best home cooks in the country with weekly recipe contests. A year’s worth of winning recipes (plus some wildcard favorites) are gathered in this wonderful new book. From Roasted Cauliflower Soup to Secret Ingredient Beef Stew to Lazy Mary’s Lemon Tart, you’ll find nothing but fantastic things to cook in this book.

I have owned and cooked from all of Lidia Bastianich’s books, and have never, ever been disappointed. Her warmth and quality of instruction are unparalleled—and her recipes are, of course, delicious. Many of her previous titles featured food from different regions of Italy, but her new book showcases Italian American cooking. Traveling around the U.S., Lidia visits Italian American communities—from New York to New Orleans to California—that have created something new out of the recipes passed down from their ancestors. Sure to be dog-eared and spattered in no time.

This is a gorgeous love letter of a cookbook, celebrating the famous market in San Francisco’s Mission District. As much an instruction manual on how to shop as anything else, the book shares detailed directions on how to pick out, store, and prep quality ingredients, and it presents a diverse selection of delicious recipes—many of which long-time Bi-Rite fans will recognize from the deli counter. Focusing on sustainable, organic, and local selections, it leaves you with the feeling of like-minded friends sharing quality tips and tricks.

I’m a big fan of Michael Pollan and of artist Maira Kalman, so their collaboration is a match made in heaven as far as I’m concerned. This special edition of Pollan’s best seller, Food Rules, includes his terrific, straightforward advice for eating wisely (like always eat at a table), coupled with Kalman’s delightful and colorful paintings. The result is a book that perfectly celebrates the joys of eating well. It would make a fantastic gift.

You might think that even “home cooking” recipes by the world’s greatest chef, Ferran Adriá, would be out of the league of most nonprofessional cooks, but this collection, inspired by the dishes eaten every day by the staff at Adriá’s legendary restaurant, El Bulli, is actually quite practical. Each delicious recipe—including Roast Chicken with Potato Straws, Sea Bass Baked in Salt, and Mexican-style Slow-Cooked Pork—is easy to make and is accompanied by step-by-step color photographs. Home cooks and foodies alike will love it.

Any bartender worth their salt knows that bitters are magic. In his engaging new book, author and bitters enthusiast Brad Thomas Parsons traces the history of the world’s most storied elixir, from its earliest “snake oil” days, to its near evaporation after Prohibition, to its ascension as a beloved (and at times obsessed-over) ingredient on the contemporary bar scene. “I love bitters! Brad’s book is a must-have for all booze nerds. The history is fascinating and the recipes are awesome.” —David Chang, chef/owner of Momofuku

Wolfert’s classic cookbook, Couscous and Other Good Food from Morocco, remains in print after an astounding 40 years. Now, in The Food of Morocco, she presents a definitive guide to Moroccan food, drawing on today’s more accessible ingredients. A labor of love four decades in the making, this is a book of uncommon scope and authenticity that would be cherished by serious cooks, anyone interested in Moroccan cuisine, and discerning armchair travelers, alike.

I found The Splendid Table’s previous book, How to Eat Dinner, an unexpected delight, and can’t wait to get my hands on their latest, How to Eat Weekends. The popular NPR team of Kasper and Swift celebrate the weekend with a completely different mind-set and philosophy than weeknight cooking: the pressure is off, time becomes your ally, and you can enjoy the journey, not just the destination. To that end, this book (which includes over 100 international recipes) enthusiastically encourages readers to cook from scratch, explore new markets and restaurants, and become more adventurous in the kitchen. Curious home cooks will love it.

The highly anticipated complement to David Chang’s bestselling Momofuku cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar reveals the recipes for the innovative, addictive cookies, pies, cakes, ice creams, and more from the wildly popular New York bakery. Chef and Milk Bar owner Tosi reveals the secrets behind the desserts that have folks lining up around the block: Compost Cookie, Crack Pie, Cereal Milk Ice Cream, and more.

Melissa Clark, New York Times dining section columnist, offers a calendar year’s worth of brand-new recipes for cooking with fresh, local ingredients—replete with lively and entertaining stories of feeding her own family and friends. I love Clark’s warm, easy style and always look forward to her recipes. Cook This Now! is the perfect book for busy cooks who don’t like boring food, folks who cook for their sometimes-finicky families, and those who prefer every seat filled around their kitchen table.