Quick breads and muffins
Mexico the Beautiful
THis is really a coffee table book. It's got lush, beautiful pictures and detailed explanations of regions and types of Mexican food. It's almost as interesting to leaf through as it is to cook with. I've tried probably 15-20 recipes from it. None of them were bummers and almost all of them were good to excellent. Favorites include the Tres Leches cake, This book, however, is a pain in the butt to work with. It takes up half the counter, and it's almost impossible to xerox recipes because you have to do a couple of pages and then they are spread all over. Frustrating. But love the recipes.
Baking, From My home to yours, Dorie Greenspan
Award winning. I'm just starting to play around with it.
Cookbook of the Month: The French Laundry
Okay, this is not the cookbook for a quick busy weeknight meal, but if you've got the time, patience and access to ingredients, this cookbook is a joy to use. Keller's recipes are detailed in technique so that even a relatively new cook can navigate them (I hesitate to recommend the book to beginners, however). And the recipes I've tried (about 15 different ones) have all been spectacular. Some of them are out of this world: the chocolate peanut butter truffles, the yabba dabba du (rib steak and potatoes anna), the cinnamon ice cream and cookies, to name but a few.
What makes the cookbook most imposing though is the ingredients that are difficult to get and the time committment required. This has stopped me from attempting many of the recipes. In order to use this cookbook, I really have to plan ahead, make extensive grocery lists and usually rope in some help. But, the times that I do make the effort, it pays off.
Cookbooks I'm currently cooking with
1000 Indian Recipes by Neelam Batra, won the IACP Cookbook awards. Great reference for Indian cooking that's not afraid to use cream and butters (sometimes missing from Indian home cooking)
Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking, Yamuna Devi (IACP Cookbook of the Year) more of a healthy bent but also has some wonderfully unusual recipes that move beyond the usual Northern Indian dishes.
World Vegetarian, Madhur Jaffrey. I have several of Jaffrey's cookbooks, and I think the do well for good, reliable food but I am always just a bit disappointed with them.
Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics
My cousin gave this cookbook to me as a gift and what a gift it is. I have made over 10 recipes from it and it is all that most people would like a cookbook to be-easy and tasty recipes using commonly found ingredients. The Juice of a Few Flowers is a Vodka Martini with freshly squeezed orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime juices. The Bruschetta with Peppers and Gorgonzola is a quick and delicious appetizer (made even easier if you use prepackaged toasted baguette slices (like "Pannetini" brand or in the deli section of the market). My relatives went nuts over the Herb Marinated Loin of Pork and the Chicken Bouillabaisse flavored with saffron is out of this world. Ever think of making your own granola bars? OK, I hadn't either, but Ina did, and it's a great recipe and there's no high fructose corn syrup! There is an amazing easy sticky buns recipe that uses packaged puff pastry. So easy!
Essence of Chocolate
Our pick of the month is "The Essence of Chocolate" by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. Not only are there fabulous recipes with gorgeous glossy pictures, but the book tells the story of Scharffen Berger's amazing success in becoming one of the world's premier chocolate companies. Click here to read our detailed review in the recipes tab.
Mary's Wish List
August, 2008's Gourmet, recommended "A Platter of Figs" by David Tanis, a chef at Chez Panisse. It looks like a wonderful cookbook. Santa, it's only August, but I've been a very, very good cook this year!
Mary's Wish List
A16, a wonderful Southern Italian restaurant in San Fran, has just come out with their cookbook. I am eagerly awaiting it.
