Fall Cookbooks 2014

This year’s crop of fall cookbooks is one of the best I’ve seen in ages. Normally, I cut my list down to the five cookbooks I really want. Not this year - I had to have nine books on the list. I couldn’t bring myself to leave any of them off.

Prune by Gabrielle Hamilton

Gabrielle Hamilton’s Bones, Blood and Butter is one of my favorite cooking memoirs. Here is her follow up cookbook from Prune, her unique. I haven’t seen it yet, but it sounds like the design of the book is amazing. It’s like a professional kitchen notebook; traditional recipes printed in the book plus handwritten notes in the margins from Gabrielle, explaining to her cooks how to make the dishes. (I pre-ordered this one in both Kindle and hardback editions, just because I want to see how they handled the e-book conversion.)

A Kitchen in France: A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse by Mimi Thorisson

I found out about Mimi Thorisson’s gorgeous French food blog, Manger, last year. The low-key photography is unique compared to all the food blogs with slightly overexposed cupcake pictures. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but the difference in style takes me straight to Mimi’s French farmhouse. Her cookbook is out, and I can’t wait to see it.

The 12 Bottle Bar: A Dozen Bottles. Hundreds of Cocktails. A New Way to Drink. by David Solmonson, Lesley Jacobs Solmonson

I had the pleasure of helping out at a food talk given by David and Lesley earlier in the year; they brought us up to speed on the history of the cocktail, while I passed out drinks to our guests. I bought a copy of this book for my wife, the bartender in our family. And, frankly, the gift was more for me than for her; I can’t wait for her to try out the drinks in the 12 bottle bar.

Mallmann on Fire by Francis Mallmann, Peter Kaminsky

A grilling cookbook? In the fall? Hooray! Someone finally realized that grilling is a year-round adventure. Or, in this case, a round-the-world adventure; this is the follow up to Mallmann and Kaminsky’s fantastic Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way.

Mexico: The Cookbook by Margarita Carrillo Arronte

Phaedon takes a country’s equivalent of “The Joy of Cooking”, translates it to English, updates it, and publishes it in these high quality, massive cookbooks. They’ve done this for France, Italy, Greece…and now Mexico, my favorite “foriegn” cuisine.

Ruhlman’s How to Roast: Foolproof Techniques and Recipes for the Home Cook by Michael Ruhlman

Mr. Ruhlman’s back, with a series of single subject books to teach basic technique to home cooks. First up? How to roast. Brilliant!

International Night: A Father and Daughter Cook Their Way Around the World by Mark Kurlansky, Talia Kurlansky

Mr. Kurlansky is famous for his culinary related history books - Salt, Cod, The Food of a Younger Land. Here’s a more personal book. Once a week, his daughter spins a globe and puts her finger down. He makes dinner based on wherever the finger lands, and tells her stories about the country’s food. This book is a collection of those stories and recipes.

Hip Pressure Cooking: Fast, Fresh, and Flavorful by Laura D.A. Pazzaglia

Laura is a Web Buddy of mine over at Hip Pressure Cooking; here is her cookbook, based on her personal style of pressure cooking.

The Cook’s Illustrated Meat Book: The Game-Changing Guide that Teaches You How to Cook Meat and Poultry with 425 Bulletproof Recipes by Editors at Cook’s Illustrated

Cook's Illustrated? All about meat? Oh, I am so there.

What do you think?

Questions? Other cookbooks you're eagerly anticipating? Leave them in the comments section below.

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