General Cooking Basics

Forever Summer by Nigella Lawson — The cookbook to coincide with the launch of the Style Network's series Forever Summer. Nigella Lawson is one of Britain's most influential food writers, and a brilliant home cook. How to Be a Domestic Goddess, her award-winning cookbook, sold more than 100,000 copies. Nigella Bites, another great success, featured enticing recipes made with minimum effort. In Forever Summer, Nigella Lawson shares her favorite warm-weather recipes that will give readers that "lazy summer feeling" all year long. Fresh, innovative, versatile, and delicious, this irresistible cookbook combines Nigella's breezy style with mouth-watering recipes, ranging from Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables and Barbecued Sea Bass, to Chicken Salad with Spinach and Happiness Soup, to a gorgeous Strawberry Meringue Layer Cake.

Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen by Tyler Florence — Bold. Unfussy. Irresistible. Real. That’s the kind of food that comes out of Tyler Florence’s kitchen. With a culinary sensibility refined in some of New York’s most high-profile restaurants, and a down-home practicality gained as the cooking guru of Food 911, Tyler cooks food that’s fresh, flavorful, and totally doable. In Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen, he’ll show you how to cook simple meals that taste amazing, from comfort-food to classics to vibrantly new dishes. With helpful notes on essential pantry staples and a list of the kitchen equipment you really need, Tyler Florence’s Real Kitchen is a fresh, creative exploration of just how fun (and delicious) your cooking can be.

How to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking by Nigella Lawson — In the busy, stressful life of the modern woman, there could be more feel-good mileage from running up a tray of muffins or baking a cake than in almost any other cooking. But we're so busy making efficient, 'modern' food, that we too easily forget, what Nigella demonstrates in this mouthwatering and deliciously reassuring cookbook, that actually it 's not hard to make a cake, that the appreciation and satisfaction it brings are out of all proportion to the little effort involved. A domestic goddess has to maintain her cool when faced with pastry — but with Nigella's guidance even shortcrust pastry can be pretty pain-free. Here at last is the book which understands our anxieties, feeds our fantasies and puts cakes, pies, pastries, preserves, puddings, bread and biscuits back into today's kitchen and our lives. Everything from cup cakes to certosino, from brownies to bagels, from peach cream pie to pizza, chewy amaretti to Blueberry boy-bait, from baklava to a Barbie cake, as well as children's cooking, Christmas baking and other family treats.

The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook by Paula H. Deen — From one of Savannah's most popular restaurants comes this cookbook of classic southern family favorites, with an introduction by Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil author John Berendt.

The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons, and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution by Alice Waters —

Perhaps more responsible than anyone for the revolution in the way we eat, cook, and think about food, Alice Waters has “single-handedly chang[ed] the American palate” according to the New York Times. Her simple but inventive dishes focus on a passion for flavor and a reverence for locally produced, seasonal foods.

With an essential repertoire of timeless, approachable recipes chosen to enhance and showcase great ingredients, The Art of Simple Food is an indispensable resource for home cooks. Here you will find Alice’s philosophy on everything from stocking your kitchen, to mastering fundamentals and preparing delicious, seasonal inspired meals all year long. Always true to her philosophy that a perfect meal is one that’s balanced in texture, color, and flavor, Waters helps us embrace the seasons’ bounty and make the best choices when selecting ingredients. Fill your market basket with pristine produce, healthful grains, and responsibly raised meat, poultry, and seafood, then embark on a voyage of culinary rediscovery that reminds us that the most gratifying dish is often the least complex.

How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman — Great Food Made Simple Here's the breakthrough one-stop cooking reference for today's generation of cooks! Nationally known cooking authority Mark Bittman shows you how to prepare great food for all occasions using simple techniques, fresh ingredients, and basic kitchen equipment. Just as important, How to Cook Everything™ takes a relaxed, straightforward approach to cooking, so you can enjoy yourself in the kitchen and still achieve outstanding results. Praise for How to Cook Everything™ by Mark Bittman "In his introduction to How to Cook Everything™, Mark Bittman says, ‘Anyone can cook, and most everyone should.’ Now, hopefully everyone will — this work is a rare achievement. Mark is in that pantheon of a few gifted cook/writers who make very, very good food simple and accessible. I read his recipes and my mouth waters. I read his directions and head for the kitchen. Bravo, Mark, for taking us away from take-out and back to the fun of food." — Lynne Rossetto Kasper, host of the international public radio show "The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper" "Mark Bittman is the best home cook I know, and How to Cook Everything™ is the best basic cookbook I've seen." —Jean-Georges Vongerichten, award-winning chef/owner of Jean-Georges "Useful to the novice cook or the professional chef, How to Cook Everything™ is a tour de force cookbook by Mark Bittman. Mark lends his considerable knowledge and clear, concise writing style to explanations of techniques and quick, classic recipes. This is a complete, reliable cookbook." —Jacques Pépin, chef, cookbook author, and host of his own PBS television series "Sometimes all the things that a particular person does best come together in a burst of synergy, and the result is truly marvelous. This book is just such an instance. Mark Bittman is not only the best home cook we know, he is also a born teacher, a gifted writer, and a canny kitchen tactician who combines great taste with eminent practicality. Put it all together and you have How to Cook Everything™, a cookbook that will inspire American home cooks not only today but for years to come.

The Way to Cook by Julia Child — "Julia Child's . . . seventh book, The Way to Cook, is her magnus opus . . . the biggest and most comprehensive collection of Child recipes and comments . . . (with) the same warm, generous, informal approach that has made her the most celebrated cook in America".--Phyllis Hanes, Christian Science Monitor. 600 full-color photos.

The New Joy of Cooking by Erma S. Rombauer, et. al — Since its original publication, Joy of Cooking has been the most authoritative cookbook in America - the one upon which millions of cooks have confidently relied for more than sixty-five years. This, the first revision in more than twenty years, is better than ever. Here's why: Every chapter has been rethought with an emphasis on freshness, convenience, and health. All the recipes have been reconceived and tested with an eye to modern taste, and the cooking knowledge imparted with each subject enriched to the point where everyone from a beginning to an experienced cook will feel completely supported. The new Joy provides more thorough descriptions of ingredients, from the familiar to the most exotic. An all-new "RULES" section in many chapters gives essential cooking basics at a glance. Separate new chapters on grains, beans, and pasta include recipes for grits, polenta, pilafs, risottos, vegetarian chili, bean casseroles, and make-ahead lasagnas. New baking and dessert chapters promise to enhance Joy of Cooking's reputation as a bible for bakers. Little Dishes showcases foods from around the world: hummus, baba ghanoush, bruschetta, tacos, empanadas, and fried wontons. All new drawings of techniques, ingredients, and equipment, integrated throughout an elegant new design, and over 300 more pages round out the new Joy. Among this book's other unique features: microwave instructions for preparing beans, grains, and vegetables; dozens of new recipes for people who are lactose intolerant.

It is a very good cookbook and I have yet to find a recipe that didn't turn out as it was supposed to.—Norm Peterson, Arizona
My hubby keeps looking in the cookbook, and asks "when will you cook this recipe?"—Lori Hamby, Florida