Forget the perfectly pressed linen. Forget the name cards at every guest's place. Forget the full bar, the four-course meal, and all the fussy little details that supposedly make parties divine. Who has the house, the money, or the time to throw that kind of party, anyway?In Real Life Entertaining, Jennifer Rubell offers break-the-rules entertaining ideas and quick, easy, stylish recipes for last-minute drop-in dinners, sit-down meals, brunches, buffets, and one-pot meals. Conventional wisdom says it's rude to invite someone to dinner on the same day. Jennifer's real life wisdom says it's never rude to invite guests to your home. The worst that will happen is that they'll be busy and say no. Conventional wisdom says never serve the same meal that you offered guests the last time. Jennifer says if you've got a signature dish, flaunt it!Jennifer incorporates her relaxed, lively style into a variety of festive themes, from an evening of red wine and bruschetta, to a New York-style brunch, to a one-pot meal of the easiest -- and tastiest! -- meatballs you'll ever make. The recipes are simple and the ingredients lists are short, so you can whip up party-friendly fare such as Thai Chicken Wings, Sesame-Mint Pita Chips, and Grilled Shrimp with Garlic and Citrus in mere minutes.With Jennifer's expert party tricks, plus full-color photographs throughout, Real Life Entertaining is the ultimate go-to party guide. Jennifer will show you how to get your guests to pitch in and how to make sure that you have as much fun as the people you've invited. Never again will you panic at the prospect of a party.

Chef Paul Prudhomme, America's most innovative chef, invites you to take a Fork in the Road, a journey toward a different way of cooking. If your goal is to produce great-tasting, flavorful dishes that everyone will enjoy, yet are still good for you, then this is the cookbook for you!Chef Paul's new book offers not only recipes but a model for anyone who wants to modify his or her cooking to minimize the use of less healthful ingredients, yet retain the rich taste and texture that make them so delicious.For instance, he uses puréed dried beans and reduced fruit juices to create viscosity and enhance flavors. Both add an enormous amount of richness with virtually no fat. Chef Paul provides you with specific recipes to show you how these ingredients work, and encourages you to try them with all your favorite dishes.To make rich, flavorful sauces and gravies for great-tasting meat, poultry, or fish—without a drop of oil, butter, shortening, or other fat—he has developed recipes in which dry flour is browned before adding it to the dish. And he always tells you to start with a hot pan, so you can "bronze," or "caramelize," an ingredient without any added fat. These techniques will make all your food taste better—new recipes as well as your favorite standbys.Perhaps the most exciting portion of this book is the chapter on Magic Brightening Broths. These delicious broths are based upon defatted stocks, and get extra goodness from carefully balanced seasonings that enhance but don't overwhelm the flavors of foods cooked in them. Chef Paul envisions that once you've discovered howeasy and enjoyable Magic Brightening is, you and your friends and family will want to cook this way several times a month.From breads and breakfasts, through main and side dishes, to desserts and snacks, Chef Paul has streamlined his favorite recipes. He's taken out as much fat as possible, leaving the texture, the richness, and the taste for which he's famous. This is not a diet book, but one dedicated to healthful ways to cook.Some text and images that appeared in the print edition of this book are unavailable in the electronic edition due to rights reasons.

Over one hundred recipes show you how to bring a symphony of flavors to everyday meals. If you're looking for satisfying deep-down tastes, look no further. Here you'll find:Sticky Chicken Lotsa Crab Crab Cakes Southern Smothered Spuds Sweet Potato Omelet Bronzed Fish Fresh Garlic Pasta Corn Chowder Black Bean Soup Really Rich Beef and MushroomsAlso included are all your Louisiana favorites, such as gumbos, jambalayas, and etouffées.This collection of nearly 100 savory recipes brings out a symphony of flavors and smiles in the everyday dishes loved by all--meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salads, bronzed chicken--as well as Louisiana favorites such as gumbos, jamabalayas, and etouffees. Some text and images that appeared in the print edition of this book are unavailable in the electronic edition due to rights reasons.

When someone says "slow cooker," do you think of pot roast or chiliNow you can think Slow Cooked Salmon, Caramelized Onion Soup, falling-off-the-bone Lamb You Can Eat with a Spoon, and Flourless Pear Anise Soufflé. If these dishes whet your appetite, it's time to take that slow cooker out of the closet, plug it in, and get ready for Slow Cooker Cooking.Lora Brody knows her appliances. She inspired a whole new generation of bread bakers with her best-selling bread machine books. Here she pushes the slow cooker to places no one ever expected it to go, inventing fruit bases for soufflés and ice creams, reducing milk and sugar to make Dulce de Leche, and infusing oils with herbs. In addition to creating innovative takes on one-pot meals such as classic New England Boiled Dinner, Venison Stew with Mushrooms, and Osso Buco with Gremolata, here you will find recipes for ingredients that are the basis for other dishes, such as Duxelles, Braised Chestnuts, and vegetable and chicken stocks. Vegetarians will enjoy recipes such as Rago?t of Leeks, Fennel, and Celery and Virtuous Lentil Soup, and dessert lovers will rejoice when they see recipes for Hazelnut Chocolate Fondue and Coconut Rice Pudding.Creative cooking in the slow cooker doesn't mean giving up any of the convenience associated with this popular appliance. You still add the ingredients to the pot and go about your day (or evening), letting the slow cooker do all the work.Thanks to the pot's sealed insert and consistently even heat, food cooks under ideal conditions to make it tender and bring out maximum flavor. Come home to a kitchen perfumed with an aroma that promises good things to eat and find a perfectly cooked dish to enjoy.

For twenty-five years, Alice Waters and her friends at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California have dedicated themselves to the ideal of serving the finest, freshest foods with simplicity and style. From tender baby asparagus in early spring, to the colorful spectrum of peppers at the height of summer; crisp, leafy chicories in autumn, to sweet butternut squash in the dark of winter, much of the inspiration about what to put on the menu comes from the high quality produce Waters and her chefs seek out year-round.Using the treasures from the earth, Chez Panisse Vegetables offers endless possibilities for any occasion. Try Grilled Radicchio Risotto with Balsamic Vinegar at your next dinner party, or Pizza with Red and Yellow Peppers for a summer evening at home. Why not forgo green-leaf lettuce, and opt for Artichoke and Grapefruit Salad drizzled with extra-virgin olive oilOr serve Corn Cakes with fresh berries for breakfast instead of cereal?Throughout Vegetables, Waters shares her energy and enthusiasm for what she describes as "living foods." When she first began in the restaurant business, the selection of good-quality vegetables was so limited that she found herself searching out farmers with whom she might do business. Luckily, today's explosion of markets and organic farms across the country ensures that any home cook can find freshly harvested produce to put on the table. And with the increased popularity of home gardening, more and more people are taking their vegetables straight from the earth and into the kitchen.Cooks, gardeners, vegetarians and everyone who appreciates good food will find Chez Panisse Vegetables to be not only a cookbook, but a valuable resource for selecting and serving fine produce. From popular vegetables like corn, tomatoes and carrots, to more unusual selections like chard, amaranth greens and sorrel, Vegetables offers detailed information about the seasonal availability, proper look, flavor and preparation of each selection. Arranged alphabetically by vegetable, and filled with colorful linocut images, Chez Panisse Vegetables makes it easy for a cook to find a tempting recipe for whatever he or she has brought home from the market.

Colleagues. Friends. Food obsessives. Work wives. New York Times writers Julia Moskin and Kim Severson were all of the former, until legendary Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni challenged them to go head-to-head in a culinary duel—a battle for dinner dominance that turned them into kitchen combatants. Armed with only $50 each, Bruni dared them to prepare a full meal for six, a showdown which he would judge for the newspaper.The thrill of battle proved too exhilarating to resist, and that initial clash turned into a yearlong kitchen war as Julia and Kim faced off to tackle the most vexing kitchen predicaments, from how best to console friends in need through old-fashioned home cooking to conjuring kids' food that keeps both parents and children happy at a party. CookFight is the delicious result of their brinksmanship, a chronicle of their skirmishes over the course of twelve months and a look at how two very different people—best friends from wildly divergent backgrounds—approach the kitchen. In each heartfelt and hilarious chapter, Kim and Julia confront a new "challenge"—those quandaries all home cooks deliberate, from how to strategize a dinner party (the Fancy Food Challenge) to how to eat more seasonally and locally (the Farmer's Market Challenge). Every recipe, from Julia's Caramelized Corn with Mint to Kim's Carnitas, is a delectable testament to their creativity and savvy—only the reader will be able to call the winner.

Super-bestselling Chef Paul Prudhomme and his 11 brothers and sisters remember—and cook—the greatest native cooking in the history of America, garnered from their early years in the deep south of Louisiana. The Prudhomme Family Cookbook brings the old days of Cajun cooking right into your home.

Join New York Times bestselling culinary-mystery author Diane Mott Davidson in this long-awaited cookbook featuring more than 160 mouthwatering recipes and charming anecdotes about her writing and cooking life. Written in the style of a memoir, Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook will give readers an inside look at the events that shaped the making of this beloved series.Award-winning author Diane Mott Davidson has written seventeen bestselling mysteries featuring caterer/sleuth Goldy Schulz, a dauntless woman who "took the lemon that life had given her and made not just lemonade but Lemon Chicken, Lemon Bars, Lemon Cookies, and Lemon Meringue Pie." In each Goldy novel, Davidson includes recipes for scrumptious dishes from her adored character's kitchen. Now, these treasured recipes and some brand-new dishes are collected together in one volume for the first time.Inside Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook you'll find recipes for Appetizers and Soups; Eggs and Cheese; Spuds, Salads, Etc.; Meat, Poultry, and Fish; Breads; and Desserts. Davidson also includes Low-Carb Recipes (for those on low-carbohydrate diets). Most of these luscious treats came from "playing around with dishes [she'd] tasted in restaurants." Others are family favorites. Some came from friends, and a few are "happy accidents."Feed your guests the way Goldy does, with such delicious appetizers, such as Bacon-Wrapped Artichokes with Dijon Cream Sauce, Diamond Lovers' Hot Crab Dip, and Models' Mushroom Soup. Get ready for the big game with Nachos Schulz and Tom's Layered Mexican Dip. Dijon Pasta Salad, Anniversary Burgers, and Goalies' Grilled Tuna are sure to liven up every picnic and barbecue. In winter, enjoy the indoors with Snowboarders' Pork Tenderloin and Quiche Me Quick, and entertain your nearest and dearest with delights like Sweethearts' Swedish Meatballs in Burgundy Sauce, André's Coq au Vin, and Dad's Bread. And don't forget to leave room for Ice-Capped Gingersnaps, Damson-in-Distress Plum Tart, Fudge Soufflé, and other delectable desserts.Part memoir, part writing manual, part cookbook, Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook combines Davidson's gift for storytelling with her skills in the kitchen. She introduces the recipes with stories about how she came to create them, anecdotes from her experiences as a writer, and how she learned to become a competent home cook. She also talks about her joy at receiving a fan letter from the legendary French Chef herself, Julia Child.Full of irresistible food and wonderful insights, Goldy's Kitchen Cookbook is a delight for Davidson fans, food lovers, and cooks everywhere.

Hot or cold, savory or sweet—there's nothing better than fresh, flavorful ingredients on a slice of perfectly toasted bread!Toasts are the ideal meal, whether you need a handheld lunch, a creative buffet for hungry guests, or a craveable midnight snack. Better on Toast features more than seventy elegantly simple recipes for toasts to appeal to every taste—from Hot Miso Crab to Shaved Asparagus with Serrano-Basil Butter to Lavender Ricotta. Jill Donenfeld layers flavors and uses quality, wholesome ingredients to make each recipe stand out, while her magical toasting techniques bring out the best in every bread, from thick-cut brioche to hearty grain to her signature gluten-free Quinoa Millet Bread. Let's have a toast!

America's favorite chef Emeril Lagasse is ready to party. Parties and celebrations mean food. Lots of food: tureens of soup, platters of chicken, bowls of salad, casseroles of baked pasta. From family reunions to holiday buffets, summer barbecues to tailgate parties, and weekend brunches to bridal showers, Emeril's Potluck offers crowd-pleasing dishes perfect for gatherings with friends and family.Emeril's Potluck brings together everything Emeril loves most about cooking and eating. The food is simple, flavorful, and perfect for sharing at any get-together. Each recipe serves a whopping 8 to 10 people, but don't assume you're making too much -- everyone will be heading back for seconds and thirds of these Emerilized starters, entrees, drinks, sides, and desserts.Start by toasting the occasion with a glass of Champagne Punch, a Watermelon Daiquiri, or an Orange Emeril. Then let the feast begin! Classic Blue Cheese Dip, Alain's Sweet and Spicy Asian Wings, or Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms will get your party started right! Main courses range from Olive-Stuffed Leg of Lamb and Creole Mustard and Herb-Wrapped Beef Tenderloin to homey favorites such as Charlotte's Lasagna Bolognese, Penne à la Vodka Casserole, and Tuna Tetrazzini. Of course, it wouldn't be a party without dessert, so save room for Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Strawberry Shortcake, and Emeril's Tiramisu.The recipes are quick, easy, and portable. Enjoy these dishes at home or take them on the road. Emeril's Potluck -- so foolproof, so easy, so crowd pleasing that luck has nothing to do with it.

An utterly charming collection of regional heirloom American pies, from long-lost recipes to classic favorites, sweetly illustrated and chock-full of time-tested baking tips and secrets for perfect piesBefore cooking shows and celebrity chefs there were church dinners, community bake sales, and county fairs—events for which regular women made and served their prized family recipes, especially for that homiest and most American of desserts, pie. In the United States of Pie, Adrienne Kane invites readers on a journey back in time as she scours the country for—and shares—those recipes: the pies that have come to define culinary traditions from the West Coast to the East Coast, from the Midwest to the South. Sourced from old newspaper clippings, out-of-print cookbooks, housekeeping guides, and the spiral-bound, mimeographed booklets of church groups and community associations, the recipes in the United States of Pie showcase the innovative spirit of American home cooks in the era before processed foods and flavorless, imported produce took over grocery shelves. Here, tested and updated for contemporary palates and with an emphasis on local, seasonal fruit and dairy products, are both re-imagined classics and newly invented creations that celebrate sharing lovingly homemade desserts with friends and family. And whether you're serving up slices of Meyer Lemon Cream Pie, Concord Grape Pie, or Burnt Sugar Meringue Pie, your lucky guests will definitely ask for seconds.With helpful sidebars on baking tips and techniques ranging from the best thickeners for fruit pies to why home bakers should embrace corn syrup, a chapter dedicated to how to make the perfect pie crust, and charming, insightful essays on pie-making traditions around the country, the United States of Pie is more than just a cookbook; it's a must-have baking resource for novice and expert pie makers alike.

When it comes to cooking with Marcy, fun is the first ingredient!Call them snacks, appetizers, or tapas—little bites are the best way to go, and easy-to-carry treats and small-plate servings are all the rage. Marcy Smothers entices you with tidbits of information you won't see anywhere else and with delectable recipes that will make you a better cook, a savvier shopper, and a well-informed foodie.In Snacks, you are given: recipes Marcy has created for dishes and snacks that will delight your family and friends the culinary secrets she's learned from years of researching and talking about food her little-known tips on wine, kitchen gadgets, and cooking methodsSnacks takes you through the grocery store aisle by aisle. Unexpected recipes pop up, guiding you about what's best to put in your cart. From why you should take a bath with your strawberries to what the colored plastic tabs on your bread tell you, Marcy's insider insights will take your culinary passion from a simmer to a boil.

When Lora Brody, cookbook author, chocolate maven, and mother, sent her sons off into the world, she (and they) realized that they didn't have a clue as to how to feed themselves or their guests, if, heaven forbid, they should have any. The Kitchen Survival Guide is for anyone -- newly graduated, newly married, newly single -- who is venturing into the kitchen for the first time. With her on-target brand of humor, Lora Brody builds kitchen confidence with more than 130 basic recipes necessary to get through life, as well as hundreds of helpful hints Mom forgot to share:On cleaning an oven -- "Manual cleaning oven, unfortunately, does not mean that a guy named Manuel will come and clean your oven."What's the difference between dicing and chopping, zest and pith, or au gratin and au lait?Survival recipes include tuna fish salad, homemade chicken soup, brownies, and many more.Setting up a kitchen and keeping it clean and safe, how to buy and store food, a glossary of basic cooking terms, and what to do in the event of a culinary disaster are all covered in this handy, easy-to-use cookbook and kitchen compendium.

Witty and charming, Try This is an adventurous and accessible guide to eating out in the twenty-first century, perfect for anyone who loves food but wants to break out of a restaurant rut. From banh mi to bocadillos, spotted dick to soup dumplings, meze to ma po tofu, Try This travels the culinary map as it demystifies unfamiliar foods in sparkling prose that will leave your stomach growling. From newbie foodies to experienced eaters, there's something in Try This for everyone to discover. In the Restaurant Girl's own words, "I'm writing this book for anyone who's ever looked at a menu and had a question. Anyone who's had a plate put in front of him and wondered what the hell was in it?" Convivial and encouraging, Try This reminds us that eating out is a delicious adventure: "Life is one long feast. Devour it."

Improve your confidence and add joy to your home cooking with this beautiful, practical, full-color cookbook filled with information, techniques, and more than 100 recipes from the Food Network favorite and critically acclaimed chef of New York’s Empire Diner restaurant.Amanda Freitag is a master at knocking out fabulous meals in her restaurant kitchen and on the set of Food Network’s Chopped and Iron Chef America. But until recently, she was totally intimidated to cook at home in her tiny apartment kitchen, relating to the fears of many home cooks. She realized she wasn’t alone!She set out to help other home cooks and created a list of restaurant-quality recipes that shine in the home kitchen. The Chef Next Door teaches home cooks a wide range of confidence-instilling skills, tricks, and tips that Amanda has picked up working in professional kitchens and cooking competitively on television. In her bright, lively voice, she helps you master the basic techniques that are the foundation of good, flavorful cooking. She also teaches you how to think like a chef—to consider seasonality, balancing flavors, understanding the steps, and learning how to improvise—to create a menu and execute dishes with pro techniques, as if she were right there in the kitchen with you.You’ll find everything from the basics—sauces, marinades, stocks, and rubs—to first impressions, salads, and easy dinner recipes, and will even become skilled in making “The Scary Stuff”—recipes that may seem out of reach but are not. With The Chef Next Door, you’ll be able to dazzle friends and family with a diverse range of dishes, such as Spinach Feta Pies, Kale and Farro Salad with Aged Goat Cheese, Lusty Lemon Chicken, Pop’s Beer-Braised Bold Beef Stew, Mediterranean Potato Salad, Marinated Artichokes, Cocoa Carrot Cake, and more.Filled with beautiful color photographs that show how achievable good food really is, The Chef Next Door makes confident home cooking a breeze.

From the leading authority on speed cooking comes the groundbreaking cookbook that inspired a generation of cooks—now updated and revised for today's tastes and sleek, ultrasafe machines From the elegant to the ethnic to the traditional, Cooking Under Pressure contains a wealth of flavor-packed recipes for fast, healthy, and delicious meals developed for the modern pressure cooker—a magical appliance that turns out foods in one-third (or less) the standard cooking time without sacrificing flavor or aroma. Lorna Sass introduces us to an eclectic array of dishes that can be prepared on a whim, including classic osso buco (18 minutes), chicken gumbo (9 minutes), and risotto (4 minutes, without stirring!). Even chocolate cheesecake and Grand Marnier bread pudding are done to perfection in short order. Plus, the dramatically shortened cooking times make it possible to prepare cholesterol-free, high-fiber ingredients such as grains and beans at the last minute. The pressure cooker is the cook's best friend!

Now that millions of Americans are exploring the vegan lifestyle, award-winning cookbook author Lorna Sass has updated her classic cookbook to reveal that achieving great flavor and eating healthy meals don't require spending hours in the kitchen. Sass creates culinary magic from a pantry stocked with carefully selected prepared and instant foods, such as homemade curry powder, roasted red peppers, spicy salsas and mustard sauces, and roasted garlic oil. A splash of orange juice, a touch of cinnamon, and a few sliced leeks quickly transform handy frozen spinach and a can of highest-quality lentils into an exotic Orange-Scented Lentil Ragout that will satisfy the most sophisticated palates.

For years, Dana Cowin kept a dark secret: From meat to vegetables, broiling to baking, breakfast to dinner, she ruined literally every kind of dish she attempted to make. Now, in this cookbook confessional, the vaunted first lady of food and exceptional entertainer finally comes clean about her many meal mishaps. With the help of friends—all-star chefs, including Mario Batali, Alex Guarnaschelli, and Tom Colicchio, among many others—Cowin takes on 100 recipes dear to her heart. Ideal dishes for the home cook, each recipe has a high "yum" factor, a few key ingredients, and a simple trick that makes it special. With every dish, she acquires a critical new skill, learning invaluable lessons along the way from the hero chefs who help her discover exactly where she goes wrong.Hilarious and heartwarming, encouraging and instructional, Mastering My Mistakes in the Kitchen will inspire anyone who loves a good meal but fears its preparation. Featuring gorgeous full-color photography, it is an intimate, hands-on cooking guide from a fellow foodie and amateur home chef, designed to help even the biggest kitchen phobics overcome their reluctance, with delicious results.

Inspired by their dad's fiftieth birthday and their family's love of food, Benno and Leo Batali prove that you're never too young to start cooking like a grown-up. With additional recipes from Mario for Batali family favorites, The Batali Brothers Cookbook is a must-have both for young chefs and seasoned pros alike.

Eat More Vegetables.Chef of the award-winning Atlanta restaurant Miller Union, Steven Satterfield—dubbed the “Vegetable Shaman” by theNew York Times’?Sam Sifton—has enchanted diners with his vegetable dishes, capturing the essence of fresh produce through a simple, elegant cooking style. Like his contemporaries April Bloomfield and Fergus Henderson, who use the whole animal from nose to tail in their dishes, Satterfield believes in making the most out of the edible parts of the plant, from root to leaf. Satterfield embodies an authentic approach to farmstead-inspired cooking, incorporating seasonal fresh produce into everyday cuisine. His trademark is simple food and in his creative hands he continually updates the region’s legendary dishes—easy yet sublime fare that can be made in the home kitchen.Root to Leaf?is not a vegetarian cookbook, it’s a cookbook that celebrates the world of fresh produce. Everyone, from the omnivore to the vegan, will find something here. Organized by seasons, and with a decidedly Southern flair, Satterfield's collection mouthwatering recipes make the most of available produce from local markets, foraging, and the home garden. A must-have for the home cook, this beautifully designed cookbook, with its stunning color photographs, elevates the bounty of the fruit and vegetable kingdom as never before.

Far from being a fad, food dyhydrating is one of the most ancient, effective, and nutritous ways of preserving food. Now, at last, there is a book that teaches absolutely everything there is to know about using an electric food dyhydrator to dry foods at home -- and gives more than 100 foolproof recipes for scrumptious snacks and meals made from dried foods.With this extraordinary book, you can learn how to cross junk food and expensive store-bought snacks off your family's shopping list -- and add to your cupboard homemade, preservative-free fruit leathers, candied apricots, beef (and fish) jerkies, "sun" dried tomotoes, corn chips, banana chips, and so much more!Mary Bell gives specific techniques and instructions for preparing every kind of fruit (from apples to watermelon) and vegetable (from asparagus to zucchini). She also provides important shopping tips for buying an electric food dehydrator. The recipes for cooked meals (including mushroom soup, sloppy joes, pesto, and moist banana bread) will make this book a kitchen classic. And recipes for lightweight, filling trail snacks mean that the book will travel, too.Additional chapters explain to how make herb seasonings, granolas, celery powder, cosmetics, dried fruit sugars, potpourri -- and even pet treats!Food drying is an excellent way for gardeners to preserve their produce. It is a great way to make healthful snacks for the kids. It's perfect for the new wave of thrifty consumers who can't bear to spend dollars at health food stores for treats they cold make for pennies themselves. And food drying doesn't use chemicals or preservatives—so it's great for you and for the planet, too!