Blood, Bones & Butter
Gabrielle Hamilton’s memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, is just what a chef’s story should be–delectable, dripping with flavor, tinged with adrenaline and years of too-little sleep.
Life, on the Line
In 2007, chef Grant Achatz seemingly had it made. He had been named one of the best new chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2002, received the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award in 2003, and in 2005 he and Nick Kokonas opened the conceptually radical restaurant Alinea, which was named Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine. Then, positioned firmly in the world’s culinary spotlight, Achatz was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma-tongue cancer.
Modernist Cuisine
A revolution is underway in the art of cooking. Just as French Impressionists upended centuries of tradition, Modernist cuisine has in recent years blown through the boundaries of the culinary arts. Borrowing techniques from the laboratory, pioneering chefs at world-renowned restaurants such as elBulli, The Fat Duck, Alinea, and wd~50 have incorporated a deeper understanding of science and advances in cooking technology into their culinary art.
Seven Fires
Gloriously inspired recipes push the boundaries of live-fired cuisine in this primal yet sophisticated cookbook introducing the incendiary dishes of South America’s biggest culinary star. Chef Francis Mallmann—born in Patagonia and trained in France’s top restaurants—abandoned the fussy fine dining scene for the more elemental experience of cooking with fire. But his fans followed, including the world’s top food journalists and celebrities, such as Francis Ford Coppola, Madonna, and Ralph Lauren, traveling to Argentina and Uruguay to experience the dashing chef’s astonishing—and delicious—wood-fired feats.
Pintxos
Hirigoyen, chef/owner of San Francisco’s Piperade and Bascadillos and author of The Basque Kitchen, makes a worthy contribution to the rapidly growing number of cookbooks from the Iberian peninsula. Hirigoyen focuses on pintxos, Basque for tapas or finger foods, a specialty taken very seriously in his homeland. Many of the selections can be made ahead of time, and many are served at room temperature. Recipes are paired with wine suggestions, including such hard-to-match plates as fried chicken sandwiches, lamb’s tongue, and artichoke chips. Dishes are grouped by food type—little sandwiches, stews and braises, fried bites, skewers, etc.
Japanese Hot Pots
Wholesome, delicious Japanese comfort food, hot pot cooking satisfies the universal desire for steaming, gratifying and hearty meals the whole family can enjoy. In Japanese Hot Pots, chef Tadashi Ono and food journalist Harris Salat demystify this communal eating tradition for American home cooks with belly-warming dishes from all corners of Japan. Using savory broths and healthy, easy-to-find ingredients such as seafood, poultry, greens, roots, mushrooms, and noodles, these classic one-pot dishes require minimal fuss and preparation, and no special equipment—they’re simple, fast recipes to whip up either on the stove or on a table side portable burner, like they do in Japan.
Ham
A ham is (let us not mince words) a pig’s rear end. It’s a hefty hunk of flesh and bone, weighing in somewhere between 12 and 30 pounds. Fresh or cured, ham can be prepared in innumerable ways. And (here’s the clincher) ham is incredibly delicious—the kind of meat whose sheer scrumptiousness can entice even the most diehard vegan into having second thoughts.
The Art Of Eating In
The pattern has already revealed itself: A would-be food writer starts a blog with a hook and transcends an unappealing office job and an unsatisfying love life in a whirlwind culinary communion with the powers that be (butter, sugar, flour and farmers’ markets).
To be sure, Cathy Erway’s memoir, The Art of Eating In, fits this mold. The Brooklynite swore off eating out–in one of the most restaurant-obsessed cities in the world–for roughly two years, chronicling her exploits in her blog, Not Eating Out in New York, which she mined for the book.
Nigella Express
One of Britain’s most admired celebrity chefs, Nigella Lawson is a well known name all across the globe now. Nigella Lawson and her style of cookery has earned a special place in our lives – Nigella has not only been tempting us with some of the mouth-watering delicacies but also demonstrating all that is best, most pleasurable and easy to cook right at our homes. Nigella Express, the latest cookery book from this beautiful and charming lady is one of the most sough-after releases of the year. The layout is simple and effective, with recipes and excellent photography on every spread. For connoisseurs the book works like a refresher while for newbie’s it’s the perfect guide to prepare some sumptuous dishes.
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