On The Menu Bookshelf

Beginning with a secret and highly illegal after-hours gathering of powerful chefs that he compares to a mafia summit, Bourdain pulls back the curtain—but never pulls his punches—on the modern gastronomical revolution, as only he can. Cutting right to the bone, Bourdain sets his sights on some of the biggest names in the foodie world, including David Chang, the young superstar chef who has radicalized the fine-dining landscape; the revered Alice Waters, whom he treats with unapologetic frankness; the Top Chef winners and losers; and many more.

Whether you’ve had a hard day at work, have been on the go all day, or are planning an impromptu get together for friends, nothing will end your day better than something sweet and satisfying. Thanks to baking expert Abigail Johnson Dodge, you can whip up a delicious dessert with just 4 ingredients in about half-hour. The recipes in Desserts 4 Today rely on simplicity--no outrageous ingredients, no difficult-to-master techniques, and no hours of prep work. Each of the 125 flavorful desserts uses pantry ingredients, is ready from start to finish in about 30 minutes, and provides flavor variations sure to please any palette and any craving. Desserts 4 Today enables cooks of all skill levels to effortlessly create delicious desserts.

Let’s pop a cork and drink a toast to America’s very best, most popular wine course! Windows on the World Complete Wine Course is celebrating its silver anniversary, and this classic volume now has new, updated material that wine lovers will savor.

For this new edition, Kevin traveled to eighty wine regions in twenty countries, tasting more than 4,000 wines and meeting 500 winemaking professionals. To assure that he had all the latest wine-producing news, he recently visited vineyards in Austria, Hungary, Greece, New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina.

First published in 1940, Specialites de la Maison presents a diverse collection of recipes by Hollywood and Broadway celebrities, renowned socialites, noteworthy writers, members of the royalty, famous couturiers, and restaurateurs. With original illustrations by Clement Hurd, Alajalov, and Jean Pages, and a new foreword by Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair, this charming facsimile edition is an enlightening and entertaining illustration of what the wealthy and famous cooked when eating en famille. The busy host or hostess will appreciate that the recipes are easy, short, no-fuss, and truly fun to make—not to mention tasty conversation starters.

New York Times bestselling author Michael Gelb (How to Think Like Leonardo Da Vinci) opens our eyes to the remarkable power of wine to tap into our creative potential, awaken our genius, and forge bonds with friends and co-workers. Although there are many excellent guides to wine appreciation, Wine Drinking for Inspired Thinking offers a “whole brain” approach that is unequivocally unique.

Acclaimed for the distinct and diverse cuisine he has created at Aquavit and Riingo, Samuelsson shares more than 300 recipes that embody the uniquely inclusive spirit of American cuisine, from high-end fare to street food; down-home Southern cooking to Southwestern flavors to Asian cuisines, and beyond.In this new book, he explores the full spectrum of this regional American cooking that he has grown to love, meeting people along the way who have brought wonderful foods to their new home and to the receptive American people who have opened their minds and hearts to new foods and new cultures.

Discover what everyone is talking about: the easiest, most enjoyable way to lasting weight loss. Following the smash hit original comes this brand-new collection of over 75 even easier recipes, plus smart cooking tips and real-life success stories. Finally, a diet to savor . . .

Paula Wolfert is legendary for her expertise on and explorations of Mediterranean cooking. Now, Wolfert shares her inimitable passion for detail and insatiable curiosity about cultural traditions and innovations, with Mediterranean Clay Pot Cooking.  Here, the self-confessed clay pot "junkie"-having collected in her travels ceramic pots of all sorts: cazuelas, tagines, baking dishes, bean pots, Romertopf baking dishes, French diablos, ordinary casseroles, even Crockpots, which have a ceramic liner-shares recipes as vibrant as the Mediterranean itself along with the delightful stories behind the earthy pots, irresistible dishes, and outstanding cooks she has met along the way.

As more people get serious about cooking at home, they look to dress up old recipes. The easiest and most effective way of doing this is by using a sauce, salad dressing or marinade. The addition of one of these elements can turn a simple meal into a spectacular meal.  Grilled steak with a rich mushroom sauce. Pomegranate vinaigrette dressing on fresh greens. These are just two examples of the incredibly delicious yet easy-to-prepare recipes featured in this book, and many are accompanied by tips and techniques.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks is a homespun collection of photography, rural stories, and scrumptious recipes that have defined my experience in the country. I share many of the delicious cowboy-tested recipes I've learned to make during my years as an accidental ranch wife—including Rib-Eye Steak with Whiskey Cream Sauce, Lasagna, Fried Chicken, Patsy's Blackberry Cobbler, and Cinnamon Rolls—not to mention several "cowgirl-friendly" dishes, such as Sherried Tomato Soup, Olive Cheese Bread, and Creme Brule. I show my recipes in full color, step-by-step detail, so it's as easy as pie to follow along.

Ever since the original Magnolia Bakery opened its doors in 1996, people have been lining up day and night at the old-fashioned yet funky bakery to satisfy their sugar cravings. Now, in honor of the tenth anniversary of the bakery's fi rst cookbook, comes The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook, a comprehensive collection of recipes from New York's sweetest bakery.

Soup is an affordable, popular dish the world over. In The Best Soups in the World, renowned food scholar and cookbook author Clifford Wright compiles the globe's most delicious soups into a single collection, exploring the history and cultural significance of each recipe along the way.  Perfect for cooks at any level of experience, the book includes traditional American and thrilling international flavors alike-from Old-Fashioned Chicken Noodle to Thai Mushroom and Chile to Mexican Roasted Poblano and Three Cheese to Tuscan White Bean.

In recent years, Charleston, which hosts more than four million visitors annually, has matured into a world-class culinary destination. Now, The Charleston Chef’s Table allows locals and visitors alike to take a bit of the city’s incomparable flavor home, with profiles of more than sixty of the city’s best restaurants and a signature recipe from each.  From roadside dives to upscale eateries, Southern to Chinese, Holly Herrick leaves no stone unturned as she winnows Charleston’s 1,500 restaurants down to her top picks. From fried chicken to sautéed duck livers, The Charleston Chef’s Table delivers all the goods that make Charleston such an exciting place to visit, live, and dine. Complementing the text are full-color photographs, as well as sidebars that highlight this Southern gem’s 300-year history.

Today show nutritionist Joy Bauer has helped millions of people improve their health, and now she wants to improve their home-cooked meals as well. Tired of the misconception that you have to dine out to eat delicious food, Joy proves in Slim and Scrumptious that not only can you eat fresh, rich, and filling food, but that it is quick, affordable, and easy, too! Slim and Scrumptious features more than seventy-five recipes for every meal and every taste. Whether you want Double Chocolate Pancakes or Eggs Benedict for breakfast, Sesame Chicken Tenders or Spicy Pork Tacos with Sassy Slaw for lunch, or Spice-Rubbed Flank Steak with Chimichurri and Creamy Spinach for dinner, Joy shows you that classic, rich food can still be made to taste great with just a fraction of the fat and calories.

Renowned cookbook author Susan Herrmann Loomis has traveled extensively to collect recipes that incorporate every kind of nut—from almonds to Brazil nuts, and everything in between. In these delectable recipes, you'll see nuts as much more than a tempting snack. Loomis shows how they complement, and can be the centerpiece of, every single meal of the day.

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is the first cookbook from Stephanie O'Dea, the extremely popular slow cooking blogger: affordable, delicious, nutritious, and gluten-free recipes to delight the entire family.  In December 2007, Stephanie O'Dea made a New Year's resolution: she'd use her slow cooker every single day for an entire year, and write about it on her very popular blog. The result: more than three million visitors, and more than 300 fabulous, easy-to-make, family-pleasing recipes.

How do you update a classic? For his bestselling, award-winning How to Cook Everything—the modern bible of home cooking—Mark Bittman started from scratch, going page by page, recipe by recipe, carefully blending the best of the beloved original with appealing new recipes and fresh, current information. The result is an even more useful and authoritative cookbook, ready to inform, inspire, and guide new and accomplished cooks alike—the single book to turn to for every kitchen endeavor.

Michel Roux Jr. is one of London’s most respected restaurateurs—and some of the world’s greatest chefs (including Gordon Ramsay of the hit television show Hell’s Kitchen) have trained in his family’s various restaurants: Le Gavroche, Waterside Inn, and Brasserie Roux. Here, Michel shares the story of how the Roux family brought French high cuisine to Britain and became the city’s most influential family in food. In addition, he imparts his knowledge of everyday ingredients and how to get the best from your cooking. With 120 recipes offering a light, modern twist on classic French fare, this is a gastronomic tour no home cook will want to miss.

Discover how pleasurable the simple, creative act of cooking can be, as Raymond Blanc reveals the basic techniques needed to create 40 classic French dishes. From quick and easy Roquefort, Walnut, and Endive Salad to a more elaborate Duck Leg Confit with Flageolet Beans, every delectable recipe is illustrated with step-by-step color photos as well as foolproof instructions. Acknowledged as one of the world’s finest chefs, Raymond Blanc is the owner of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.

The ultimate guide to the food scene in Brooklyn; Food Lovers' Guide to Brooklyn provides the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, and celebrate local culinary offerings.  Engagingly written by local author Sherri Eisenberg; this new title is written for residents and visitors alike to find producers and purveyors of tasty local specialties, as well as a rich array of other, indispensable food-related information.

In her debut cookbook, Jennifer Schaertl tackles the myths about gourmet cooking (you don't need expensive cutlery and a gazillion ingredients!) and shows you how to make delectable meals despite the lack of counter space. Everything from appetizers and salads to soups and one-pot wonders to side dishes and entrees, and of course, dessert is included along with Jennifer's tried-and-true advice for working with limited space, appliances, cookware, and ingredients all on a limited budget.

Robert M. Parker, Jr., earned his international reputation and unprecedented influence as a dedicated consumer advocate -- if a wine isn't worth the money, he says so, regardless of the wine's pedigree. In Parker's Wine Bargains, for the first time he and his Wine Advocate team offer budget-minded wine buyers a handy guide to low-priced wines for both everyday drinking and special occasions.  Organized by country, the book lists more than 1,500 quality wine producers, as well as abbreviated tasting notes for more than 3,000 of the best value wines. Chapters include an overview of each country's wine-producing regions, highlight up-and-coming or underappreciated regions, and detail when wines can be consumed.

No one has done more than Patricia to bring the art and techniques of French cooking into American kitchens. Now, in her tenth cookbook, she covers every kind of produce favored by French cooks from north to south. In addition, there are charming profiles of French farmers, home gardeners, and cooks, with sixty-five stunning color photographs.  From arugula to zucchini, Patricia offers up a wealth of dishes that incorporate vegetables, herbs, nuts, legumes, and fruits fresh from the garden. And her recipes aren't limited to summer's bounty—there are plenty for fall squash and winter potatoes, too.

In The Soul of a New Cuisine, Marcus returns to the land of his birth to explore the continent's rich diversity of cultures and cuisines through recipes and stories from his travels in Africa. Stunning color images by award-winning photographer Gediyon Kifle bring the breadth of the African experience to life, from fishermen at sunset off the coast of Zanzibar to French baguettes loaded onto a bicycle in Senegal.

If you’ve ever wondered how a microwave heats food, or why aluminum foil is shiny on one side and dull on the other, or whether it is better to use cold or hot water in a garbage disposal, you should read The Way Kitchens Work. Modern kitchens are hi-tech marvels, with more machinery than any other room in the house. Each of the 50+ entries includes its history, interesting trivia, and a discussion of the technology involved.

Kitchen Mysteries begins with a brief overview of molecular gastronomy and the importance of understanding the physiology of taste. A successful meal depends as much on a cook's skilled orchestration of taste, odors, colors, consistencies, and other sensations as on the delicate balance of ingredients. Herve This then dives into the main course, discussing the science behind many meals' basic components: eggs, milk, bread, sugar, fruit, yogurt, alcohol, and cheese, among other items. He also unravels the mystery of tenderizing enzymes and gelatins and the preparation of soups and stews, salads and sauces, sorbet, cakes, and pastries. he explores the effects of boiling, steaming, braising, roasting, deep-frying, saut& eacute;ing, grilling, salting, and microwaving, and devotes a chapter to kitchen utensils, recommending the best way to refurbish silverware and use copper.
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Award-winning chefs and cutting-edge restaurants around the world are famous for using the principles of chemistry and physics to create exciting new taste sensations. From Ferrán Adrià of El Bulli restaurant in Spain to Homaro Cantu of Moto in Chicago, great chefs combine unexpected textures and flavors with secrets of new cooking techniques in great dishes.  This is the first reference to bring the science of food to home cooks and professional chefs alike. Organized from A to Z, this highly readable book has more than 1,800 entries that clearly explain the physical and chemical transformations which govern all food preparation and cooking. Entries vary from agriculture and food safety to animal husbandry and flavor science.

Urban Italian is made up of the recipes that result when a great chef has to use the same resources as the rest of us. In these hundred recipes—covering four distinct courses, side dishes, and base recipes—Carmellini shows how to make stunning, soulful food with nothing more than the ingredients, techniques, and time available to the ordinary home cook. The food is sophisticated but also easy to make: lamb meatballs stuffed with goat cheese; veal, beef, and pork ravioli; roast pork with Italian plums and grappa; fennel with Sambuca and orange; and a honey-flavored pine nut cake.

For sufferers of celiac disease, the necessary diet limitations can seem like a culinary curse. With the right information and a great cookbook, you can still eat most of the foods you love while maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet. In The Gloriously Gluten-Free Cookbook, Vanessa Maltin compiles Italian, Asian, and Mexican recipes that are safe for a gluten-free diet but taste so good you can't tell the difference. With the help of chefs Edgar Steele of Cafe Atlantico, Katie Chin of Thai Kitchen, and Keith Brunell of Maggiano's Little Italy, Maltin proves that celiac sufferers will never have to eat another boring rice cake.

The updated and revised 15th edition of America's favorite cookbook.  The Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book has been an American favorite since 1930, selling 40 million copies through fourteen editions. This new 15th Edition is the best yet, with hundreds of all-new recipes and a fresh, contemporary style.  Plenty of new chapters have been added to meet the needs of today's everyday cooks, including new chapters on breakfast and brunch, casseroles, and convenience cooking. 1,000 photos accompany this wide selection of recipes, which cover everything from Pad Thai to a Thanksgiving turkey.

This is the story of how an American lawyer raised on Coca-Cola caused a revolution in the way wines around the globe are made, sold, and talked about.  The world's most influential wine critic, Robert M. Parker, Jr., has dominated the international wine community for the last quarter century, embodying the triumph of American taste. Using Parker's story as a springboard, author Elin McCoy offers an authoritative and unparalleled insider's view of the eccentric personalities, bitter feuds, controversies, and secrets of the wine world. She explains how reputations are made and how and why critics agree and disagree, and she tracks the startling ways wines are judged, promoted, made, and sold -- while painting a fascinating portrait of a modern-day cultural colossus who revolutionized the way the world thinks about wine.

The Chef's Repertoire is a superb collection of classic dishes served on American menus with their pronunciations, origins, ingredients, and techniques. This book, inspired by Le Repertoire de La Cuisine, contains over 1100 entries that are listed alphabetically within 12 clearly identified sections. Most entries provide a pronunciation guide and country of origin in addition to the recipe description. An entry index of all the dishes is located at the back of the book.

Hip. Cool. Fashion-forward. These aren’t adjectives you’d ordinarily think of applying to baked goods. Think again. Not every baker wants to re-create Grandma’s pound cake or cherry pie. Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito certainly didn’t, when they left their advertising careers behind, pooled their life savings, and opened their dream bakery, Baked, in Brooklyn, New York, a few years back. The visions that danced in their heads were of other, brand-new kinds of confections

In this landmark book, Danny shares the lessons he's learned while developing the winning recipe for doing the business he calls "enlightened hospitality." This innovative philosophy emphasizes putting the power of hospitality to work in a new and counterintuitive way: The first and most important application of hospitality is to the people who work for you, and then, in descending order of priority, to the guests, the community, the suppliers, and the investors. This way of prioritizing stands the more traditional business models on their heads, but Danny considers it the foundation of every success that he and his restaurants have achieved.

Drawn from special meals with family members, friends, vintners, and fellow restaurant owners, Tom's Big Dinners brings together thirteen of his favorite feasts, with no-nonsense recipes that make it easy to cook like a restaurant chef without ever leaving home.  The menus range in style from the refined Wine Cellar Dinner, with recipes for Goat Cheese Fondue, Vine-Roasted Squab with Syrah Jam, and Chocolate Crêpes, to the relaxing Screen Door Barbecue, featuring Pit-Roasted Pork Spareribs, Down-Home Collard Greens, and Hard Watermelon Lemonade, and the festive Pop Pop's Winter Solstice, starting with Pop Pop's Perfect Martini and Caramelized Fennel Tart, followed by Creamy Seafood Chowder and Parsley Scones.

Where do you get the best crab cakes? Ask one hundred different people and you'll likely get one hundred different answers. Some swear by classic Chesapeake Bay crab cakes, and some by spicy Creole crab cakes, while others maintain that Pacific Northwest crab cakes can't be beat. In I Love Crab Cakes!, award-winning chef and cookbook author Tom Douglas brings the best of East, West, and Gulf coasts to the table and proves that the most delicious crab cakes of all come straight from your home kitchen.

Claire Clark is the pastry chef at The French Laundry (Napa Valley in California), one of America's most renowned restaurants. Its innovative and creative menus always deliver the highest standards of quality and great taste. Its celebrated desserts, made by Clark, are nothing short of remarkable.  Indulge is a collection of Claire Clark's favorites dishes that any home chef can re-create. Perfectly decadent, the recipes in this new cookbook range from the deceptively simple to the more exotic.

Amy's Bread is a New York institution—a beloved bakery that serves more than 55,000 loyal customers every month at its three Manhattan cafés and also supplies bread to many of the city's finest restaurants and food stores. While Amy's Bread is famous for its breads, it's also renowned for its sweeter side—cakes, cookies, bars, pastries, and other tasty bakery treats. Now Amy and her executive pastry chef show you how to re-create more than 70 of the bakery's trademark goodies in your own kitchen, from delectable breakfast and brunch fare to scrumptious snacks and luscious desserts.

Presented here are 404 dishes -- 101 for each season -- that will get you in and out of the kitchen in 20 minutes or less. Mark Bittman's recipe sketches provide exactly the directions a home cook needs to prepare a repertoire of eggs, seafood, poultry, meats, vegetables, sandwiches, and even desserts. Add a salad here, a loaf of bread there, and these dishes become full meals that are better than takeout and far less expensive.

Tucked behind a gas station off California's legendary Highway 1, the Big Sur Bakery is easy to miss. But don't be fooled by its unassuming location—stumbling across the Bakery, as countless visitors have done on their way up and down the Pacific Coast, will make you feel as if you've discovered a secret: a gem of a restaurant where the food, people, and atmosphere meld together in a perfect embodiment of the spirit of Big Sur.  The three restaurant owners, chef Philip Wojtowicz, baker Michelle Wojtowicz, and host Michael Gilson, escaped the Los Angeles food scene to create their version of the ideal restaurant, nestled in the heart of some of the most beautiful country in the world.

"Nobody goes to restaurants for nutritional reasons. They go for the experience. And what price a really top experience?”  What price indeed? Fearlessly, and with great wit and verve, award-winning restaurant critic Jay Rayner goes in search of the perfect meal. From the Tokyo sushi chef who offers a toast of snake-infused liquor to close a spectacular meal, to Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas where Robuchon himself eagerly watches his guest’s every mouthful, to seven three-star Michelin restaurants in seven days in Paris, Rayner conducts a whirlwind tour of high-end gastronomy that will thrill the heart—and stomach—of any armchair gourmand. Along the way, he uses his entrée into the restaurant world to probe the larger issues behind the globalization of dinner.

Picking up where the bestselling Raw Food/Real World left off, Sarma Melngailis invites us inside her glamorous restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, with dozens more recipes for fresh and vibrant juices, shakes, soups, simple dishes, main courses, desserts, and cocktails.

What could be better than a fresh summer pie brimming with sweet ripe fruit, or a steaming chicken pot pie? Baking a homemade pie from scratch is surprisingly easy with Julie Hasson's guidance, and the results are rewarding. The Complete Book of Pies is like having your grandmother in the kitchen with you. The entire pie-making process is covered in easy-to-follow detail from start to finish. The book is filled with hundreds of recipes for fruit, cream and savory pies along with dozens of special tips and time-saving shortcuts to help make pie-baking a breeze. There are tips for making dough and rolling it; ideas for decorative pie tops; and quick and easy alternatives to pastry dough.