America
 Neiman Marcus Taste
Kevin Garvin
On the occasion of department store Neiman Marcus's 100th anniversary comes this book of recipes and recollections from its restaurant kitchens. The theme is home-style Sunday suppers, the dishes most requested by customers and are rated out of 3 stars for simplicity. Classic dishes like Creamed Chicken a la King in a Savoury Herb Popover are here, and new ideas too, such as BBQ Scallops with Lemon Aioli. Hardcover, 288 pp. $57.00.
 Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook
Bobby Flay
Since opening his first Mesa Grill in 1991, Bobby Flay has been the “face” of contemporary southwestern cooking with its mélange of hot, smoky, earthy, and sweet flavours. The recipes range from mango-glazed bacon to smoked shrimp cakes with roasted corn and poblano relish and cilantro vinaigrette. Desserts are high on the gooey, sticky scale: e.g., chocolate custard corn pone with freshly whipped cream and a warm chocolate cake with dulce de leche. Colour photos. Hardcover, 278 pp. $40.95.
 American Masala
Suvir Saran
The author of Indian Home Cooking ($48.50) marries Indian spices with American techniques to give a spicy kick to familiar dishes like macaroni and cheese, corn salad, and meat loaf. Even desserts get the treatment. How about mixed-fruit cobbler spiked with peppercorns and cayenne? Donuts with yogurt, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon? Seductive colour photos give the book extra appeal. Hardcover, 264 pp. $48.50.
 Cooking with Shelburne Farms
Melissa Pasanen
Avant-garde this ain’t. The design screams mid-eighties and the recipes, well, we have seen recipes for shepherd’s pie and for slivered Brussels sprouts with bacon and apple before. Do not be put off - that older-style design is very user-friendly. Who wouldn’t want to collapse into a vat of shepherd’s pie with caramelized onions and cheddar mash? An environmental education center and working farm, Vermont’s Shelburne Farms also produces fine cheddar. B& w, colour photos. Hardcover, 288 pp. $41.50.
 Welcome to Michael's
Michael McCarty
With restaurants in Santa Monica and New York city McCarty knows a thing or two about throwing a party. To quote Wolfgang Puck, "There is no boring meal with Michael. It's always a great party." Recipes are not complicated and full of flavour and eye appeal. Hardcover, 229 pp. $46.50.
 A Great American Cook
Jonathan Waxman
Think of the Barefoot Contessa and Foster’s Market taken up a few notches to arrive at Jonathan Waxman’s exalted home cooking. A pioneer of modern American cuisine, Jonathan Waxman did his time in some of the great kitchens of France and with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse before opening the late, great Jams. Now a bi-coastal restaurateur, Waxman’s home cooking includes lobster salad sandwiches, grilled rabbit with roasted tomato salad, and gingerbread with brandied plums. Colour photos. Hardcover, 286 pp. $43.95.
 The Wonder Bread Cookbook
Yes, it is true. The same corporation (Interstate Bakeries Corporation) that gave us Hostess potato chips and Twinkies also gave us Wonder Bread. In celebration of the squooshy wonder’s 85th anniversary, Wonder solicited fan faves that run the gamut from grilled baloney and Wonder to Wonder Napoleons and Wonderstrudel. Throughout there are vintage advertising graphics and slogans to bring out the Wonder lover in all of us. Colour illustrations. Hardcover, 100 pp. $16.50.
 The New York Times Country Weekend Cookbook
Edited by Linda Amster
Featuring favourite recipes from the paper’s food columnists, New York Times compilations are always reliable and often feature the latest trends in doable-at-home versions. What they usually are not is attractive. This one breaks that tradition with the addition of colour photos. Along with current Times writers like Mark Bittman, there are vintage gems from Craig Claiborne, Pierre Franey and Bryan Miller. There is even an essay from the man whose name became synonymous with country weekends: Lee Bailey. Elegant simplicity is the best way to sum up the recipes contributed by a broad range of writers: Mollie Katzen, Diana Kennedy, Nigella Lawson Alfred Portale….Hardcover, 271pp, $40.00.
 The Settlement Cookbook
Mrs. Simon Kander & Mrs. Henry Schoenfeld
Also titled The Way To A Man's Heart, this is a classic American cookbook that was a staple of kitchens for more than half a century before it fell out of use. This is a fascimile copy of the 1903 edition, which was put together by cooking students at the Milwaukee Settlement House. Surprisingly many of the recipes hold up to today's tastes, but this is worth it for the glimpse back in time, with priceless entries like how to build a fire. Hardcover, 190 pp. $17.95.
Blue Ribbon Recipes
Barbara Greenman
There is contemporary American cuisine as envisioned by Alice Waters in which every baby lettuce leaf , heirloom tomato, and heritage- breed pork chop has a pedigree. This book has nothing to do with that vision. Virtually every one of the 693 recipes –winners from state and county fairs—has at least one ingredient that comes from a can, box, or plastic bag. From a breakfast egg and potato bake with mushrooms(cream of mushroom soup, jar of mushrooms, sour cream) to fudgy mint squares(sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese…), this book will have you steering your grocery cart to the inner supermarket aisles. No photos but there is a pocket for clipped recipes. Binder, 400 pp. $29.95.
Heritage of Southern Cooking
Camille Glenn
A cooking school teacher, caterer, and Louisville Courier-Journal food columnist, Camille Glenn knowledge of Southern cooking and its history. Cornmeal spoonbread soufflé, jambalaya, Brunswick stew and perfect vanilla ice cream are just a sample of the seductive flavors of the south. Clear layout , sidebars, and colour photos make this book easy to use. Softcover, 252 pp. $23.95.
 The Glory of Southern Cooking
James Villas
This latest offering from the former food editor of Town and Country was the one he was born to write. Villas presents the ultimate compendium of southern food. While traditional foods, like okra, grits, catfish, sweet potato are found throughout there are many dishes that reflect the more modern approaches of cooking in the south today. Hardcover, 432 pp. $41.99.
 Sara Foster's Casual Cooking
Sara Foster with Carolynn Carreno
For those of us who have ever served up a salad, scrambled egg, or sandwich and called it dinner, Sara Foster offers inspired recipes and variations that prove our point - while also giving contemporary interpretations of more substantial dinner fare. It is a collection you will grab for both daily family dinners and spur-of-the-moment entertaining. Unlike Foster's earlier books (The Foster's Market Cookbook, $53.00; Fresh Every Day, $50.00) there is, alas, very little baking in this new one. However, this will not deter us as she is one of our favourite unheralded authors. Hardcover, 256 pp. $44.00.
 The San Francisco Ferry Plaza Farmers Market Cookbook
Floyd Cardoz
This new book, perhaps the first of its kind, is from the man responsable for Tabla restaurant in New York. There, and here, he creates a new fusion of American and Indian food that mixes the familiar with the foreign. The recipes focus on seasoning American food with Indian flavours and introducing cooks to the unique and complex tastes of the India, particularly those of Cardoz's Bombay and Goan childhood. Hardcover, 304 pp. $44.95.
 Cristina's of Sun Valley
Cristina Ceccatelli Cook
Gorgeous pictures and food from ski town Sun Valley, Idaho. Cristina’sTuscan
childhood is evident in these wonderful recipes, with a heathy dollop
of Americana just to balance things out. Great ideas for year-round
family dinners and meals to share with friends. Hardcover, 160 pp.
$58.95.
 Being
Dead is No Excuse
Gayden Metcalfe and Charlotte Hays
Subtitled The Official Southern Ladies Guide to Hosting the
Perfect Funeral, this book shows that tastefulness need not
cease with one's last breath. Congealed salads (jellied salads to those
of us north of the Mason-Dixon Line), devilled eggs and humour abound.
Hardcover, 243 pp, $26.95.
 Red
Cat Cookbook
Jimmy Bradley & Andrew Friedman
The Red Cat restaurant has been a mainstay in New York city's Chelsea district.
A true neighbourhood place where good, seasonal food meets hearty preparation.
Definitely a restaurant cookbook made for the kitchen, not the coffee table.
Hardcover, 266 pp. $47.00.
Deep South Parties
Robert St. John
The alternative title of this book is "How To Survive the Southern Cocktail
Hour Without a Box of French Onion Soup Mix, a Block of Processed Cheese, or
a Cocktail Weenie." In other words, it's entertaining southern-style without
the cheesy, 70s era food. Hardcover, 250 pp. $25.95.
 The PlumpJack Cookbook
Jeff Morgan
A lovely cookbook from the popular winery and associated restaurants
in San Francisco, this title includes gorgeous photos of Napa and
Squaw Valleys (as well as the food) and a history of the winery and
Napa Valley in general. Hardcover, 210 pp. $48.00.
 The
New York Times Cookbook
Craig Clairborne
The classic gourmet cookbook for the home kitchen now completely revised
and updated with hundreds of new recipes. 799 pp. $50.95.
 Best
of the Best
Editors of Food & Wine Magazine
Favorite recipes from the 25 best cookbooks of the year compiled by the
editors of Food & Wine Magazine including exclusive new recipes from
great cooks like Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, Giada de Laurentiis,
Paula Wolfert, Tyler Florence, Melissa Clark, Suzanne Goin, Rick Bayliss
and
others. 287 pp. $38.95.
 The
Desperate Housewives Cookbook
Christopher Styler with Scott S. Tobis
Juicy dishes and saucy bits! Bake like Bree, be a gourmand like Gaby,
prepare simple yet savory fare like Susan or make child friendly cuisine
like Lynette. Mouthwatering and easy to prepare, 125 delicious dishes
made famous by America's favorite housewives. 273 pp. $36.95.
 The
Waldorf-Astoria Cookbook
John Doherty with John Harrison
120 recipes from the hallowed kitchens of the famous New York icon. Executive
chef for twenty years, John Doherty shares his signature dishes, alongside
historical sidebars chronicling the hotels hundred year history and
wonderful photos which make this book a cooks dream come true. 272
pp. $65.00.
 Dave’s
Dinners
Dave Lieberman
The star of the Food Network’s Good Deal bases his home
cooking on fresh ingredients. There are plenty of pastas, soups, and one dish
meals but the standouts are the finger foods which work either for a casual family
meal or for entertaining.Colour photos. 212 pp. $36.95.
 The
Sustainable Kitchen
Stu Stein with Mary Hinds and Judith H. Dern
Passionate cooking inspired by farms, forests and oceans. Softcover, 231
pp. $29.95.
 New
American Classics
David Burke
A decade has gone by since Burke's last book, Cooking with David Burke,
which was very popular amongst the chefs. Burke is chef and co-owner of davidburke & donatella
in New York city. This innovative book will give you the classic recipe and
then a contemporary version and finally a second day dish recipe. All very
yummy and
easy to do. Hardcover, 300 pp, $50.00.
 Kitchen
Life
Art Smith
He may be Oprah's personal chef but Art Smith writes cookbooks with the average
family in mind. Mini meatloaf, honey-mustard chicken breasts, and chunky beef
chilli may answer the prayers of the time- challenged parents of picky eaters.
Colour photos. Softcover, 325 pp, $26.95.
 American
Sandwich
Becky Mercuri
An accompaniment to a PBS special, American Sandwich features
a sandwich recipe from every state-eg. muffaletta from Louisiana,
lobster roll from
Maine, Cuban sandwich from Florida. However, without mention of
the famous club sandwich, the book seems a little incomplete. Vintage
illustrations. Softcover, 141 pp, $17.95.
 Coyote
Café
Mark Miller
Published in 1989, Mark Miller's first book has become one of the classics on
Southwestern cuisine. Venison chile, confit of duck tamale and Coyote churros
are among the signature dishes. Funky graphics. Paper, 192 pp. $29.95.
 Restaurant
Favorites at Home
Editors of Cook
s Illustrated Magazine
The editors of Cook
s Illustrated Magazine do it all for you from cutting those large quantity
recipes down to size to showing you how to garnish like the pros. Recipes
run the gamut from shepherd s pie to sesame-crusted tuna with Asian vegetables
and sticky jasmine rice. Line drawings and B& W photos. Hardcover, 418
pp, $47.95.
 The
Fearless Chef
Andy Husbands and Joe Yonan
A restaurateur in Boston and Providence, Husbands dug into the international
repertoire for his brand of bold new cuisine—collard greens with smoked
turkey butt, Latin-style coleslaw, apple empanadas. Part of the proceeds from
this book go to hunger relief through Share Our Strength. No colour photos. Paper,
304pp, $24.95.
 The
Gourmet Cookbook
Edited by Ruth Reichl
You will find tomato ketchup and beef Wellington but no cauliflower
soup or fruit cake.Nonetheless Ruth Reichl and her staff sifted
through 50,000 recipes published
over six decades to create a culinary portrait of North America. Too bad only
some of the recipes are dated and attributed. Headings written in yellow are
difficult to read Line drawings. Hardcover, 1040 pp, $55.00.
The Girl & the Fig Cookbook
Sondra Bernstein
Philadelphia-trained Bernstein combined her love of things French
with fresh California produce to open what is now a chain of three
girl & the fig
restaurants. It is her condiments that are particularly interesting—orange
pomegranate glaze, saffron balsamic essence, fig and olive relish. Many of
the recipes also offer wine suggestions and comments on ingredients or garnishes.
Bernstein also provides a list of local artisanal cheesemakers. B& W photos.
Hardcover, 266 pp, $45.00.
 The
New York Restaurant Cookbook
Florence Fabricant
Fabricant presents a collection of fabulous recipes from some of
New York City's renowned eateries. The price of the book is considerably
less expensive than dining at some of these establishments. Hardcover,
287 pp. $45.00.
 Flavor
Rocco DiSpirito
The book from a New York chef made famous (or infamous) by his reality
television series, The Restaurant, which fuelled many water cooler
discussions this summer. The book displays DiSpirito's energy and
knack for creating rustic Italian fare with a twist. Hardcover, 350
pp. $50.00.
 The
Metropolitan Bakery Cookbook
James Barrett & Wendy Smith Born
The Metropolitan Bakery in Philadelphia has baked European-style
pastries, breads, spreads and salads that loyal customers have
devoured for a decade and thankfully, they're sharing their
recipes. Hardcover, 257pp., $44.95.
 The
Cakebread Cellars Napa Valley Cookbook
Jack Cakebread, Brian Streater & Dolores
Cakebread
This beautiful book contains recipes and wine pairings to celebrate
every season's harvest. Truly an ode to the wonderful foods and
wines of this sunny region of California. Hardcover, 228pp., $55.00.
 A
Thousand Years Over A Hot Stove
Laura Schenone
A loving tribute to generations of American women who have lived so much through
and with food. Schenone celebrates women's lives, homes and communities
with recipes and intriguing black-and-white photos. Hardcover, 412pp., $52.50.
 The Best Of Gourmet: Featuring The Flavors of San
Francisco
Edited by Gourmet Magazine ($53.00, Hardcover, 285pp)
A showcase of some of the most exciting, culturally diverse fare
in America, some inventively inspired by glamourous, smoky detective films
of the 1930's and more,
illustrated with full colour photos. Hardcover, 285 pp. $53.00.
Back to top
|
Annie & Margrit
Betty Crocker's Cook
Book For Boys And Girls
Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals 2 
Tante Marie's Cooking School Cookbook 
Big City Cooking 
Beyond Gumbo 
The Zuni
Café Cookbook 
The Whole Foods Market
Cookbook
An African American Cookbook
The Foster's Market Cookbook
Local Flavors
The Cooking Club Cookbook
Seriously Simple: Easy Recipes for
Creative Cooks
Magic in the
Kitchen: The American Chef, Whimsical Portraits & Outstanding Recipes
Herb Farm
Cookbook 
American Bistro 
Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook 