Looking for a Christmas present for the cook in your life? If they are like me, they will always appreciate a new cookbook.
Here are my top cookbooks from the last year:
Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking
Michael Ruhlman wrote the perfect book for someone like me, who believes that basic techniques are the most important thing in cooking. Commit his ratios to memory, and you can make almost anything without recipes.
Serious Barbecue: Smoke, Char, Baste, and Brush Your Way to Great Outdoor Cooking
Adam Perry Lang's elaborate grilling recipes are daunting, but the layers of flavors he builds are impressive. His idea of basting with a brush made of a bundle of herbs won the Taste of Akron Steak Cook-off for me. That herb brush was the little bit of "wow, what a great idea" that pushed me over the top.
Good Eats: The Early Years
I'm a long-time Good Eats fan, so this book was like a walk down memory lane. It is full of recipes, details, and behind the scenes information from the first six years of Good Eats. I'm eagerly waiting for the next two installments.
Honorable Mention:
The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
I seem to be the last person in the world to find The Pioneer Woman. Her recipes are loaded with step by step pictures, and they translated that style to the cookbook extremely well. I also love her stories about life with her rancher husband and their five cute kids. It gives me hope that I might bring my kids up half as well.
*Even if we live in the suburbs, not on a ranch.
Michael Symon's Live to Cook: Recipes and Techniques to Rock Your Kitchen
Cleveland's local chef-hero. I haven't dug into the recipes in this one yet, except for his pickled chile peppers, which I loved. There are a number of them I can't wait to try out.
Jane Snow Cooks
Another local hero of mine. I was thrilled meet her in person at one of her book signings.
Ad Hoc at Home
The only book on this list I don't already own. It's on back-order at Amazon, but people I trust have been writing good things about it. Thomas Keller, the best chef in America, explaining his perfectionist techniques for the home cook? I'm waiting (impatiently) for it to arrive.
What do you think? What cookbooks did I miss? Any you feel I should add to my list for next year? Leave them in the comments, below.
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Geoff
If you'd gotten your hiney up to the Fabulous Food Expo, you could have gotten a copy of Ad Hoc At Home, heard Keller talk with Ruhlman for 90 minutes and had both guys sign it.
The book is very good. The only reason it isn't "excellent" is that many of the recipes require a fair amount of effort. To make his ranch dressing, for example, you need aoili-- and to make that, you need the garlic oil that is the byproduct of his garlic puree.
But it is very interesting to see Keller bring his skills to bear on the mashed potato or lemon bar-- and his endorsement of Kraft Mac and Cheese shows he isn't a food snob.
MikeV @ DadCooksDinner
@AYOTG: I just heard similar comments about "The Sharper the Knives, the Less You Cry" - I've added that to my Amazon wishlist.
@Geoff: Arrgh. Twist the knife, why don't you? I found out about Keller's visit too late, and had already made plans for that night. I still regret missing it.
A Year on the Grill
I recently saw a different list, there were two that I put on my wish list...
Secrets of Tuscan Kitchen
Secrets from My Tuscan Kitchen by Judy Witts Francini
This hand-written collection of Tuscan recipes from long-time resident, as Judy says, "Spend more time shopping, less time cooking!" illuminates her philosophy of starting with good ingredients then making them shine in simple presentations. Her Panna Cotta got surrounded with fresh summer berries, a I made it in just a few minutes. I riffed her Sweet and Sour Onions in The Sweet Life in Paris, which were so good, I thought them calling attention to them outside of Italy's borders.
AND
The Sharper the Knives, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn
Coming to Paris to study professional cooking isn't easy—trust me. The rules and language are bound to trip you up. But Kathleen Flinn persevered at the famed Cordon Bleu Cooking School, then rewarded us with her tale. Recipes are included and top off this tale of love...and lobster-killing, in the city of light.