16 Volumes Worth Staining

By Bonnie S. Benwick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Give a cookbook and you can't go wrong. It's literature that promises many happy returns, even if it never makes it off the bedside table. Normally at this time of year, the big volumes of recipe collections command attention, and some are worth their weight and price tags.

But when we looked back at 2007 titles, the smaller and midsize models were the ones we wanted to take for a test drive. Alice Waters delivered a clear and personal message; bakers and vegans got a dose of humor along with new recipes; local authors translated their passion for specific cuisines and ingredients.

In addition to the 16 cookbooks reviewed here in order of preference, check out the list of those featured in the Food section over the past 10 months, at http://www.washingtonpost.com/food.

Best Buys

THE ART OF SIMPLE FOOD

By Alice Waters Clarkson Potter, $35; 250-plus recipes

This is more than a cookbook; it's a commitment, at the opposite end of the spectrum from anything semi-homemade. Buy fresh and local produce in season, make pasta, soak beans, consider the effort involved in an omelet or vegetable soup before you get started. Author, restaurateur and food pioneer Waters provides first-person guidance, with menus, in the conversational, ingredients-interspersed-with-directions recipe style found in "Joy of Cooking."

A novice cook will not get lost in the details, and an experienced cook can experiment with variations at the end of most recipes or simply yield to Waters's methods of roasting vegetables and poaching fruit. The beef recipes are easily recognizable as hers: They call for "grass-fed" chuck or short ribs every time.

The recipes we tested were spot-on, graced with occasional black-and-white illustrations. (See Spicy Cauliflower Soup recipe, Page F8.)

A PASSION FOR BAKING

By Marcy Goldman Oxmoor House, $29.95; 220-plus recipes

One can't ask for much more in a baker's book, which is why this deserves near-top billing. It's almost impossible to flip through without reaching for a way to mark recipes of immediate interest.

Goldman, an author, pastry chef and occasional Food section contributor, has put together a significant yet easy-to-peruse batch of her "best-ever" sweets and savories, well written and presented clearly with a mix of technique and beauty shots.

The Montrealer's tips and expert preferences are grounded in the realm of amateur cooks: Brush scones twice with a syrup of butter and honey to ease their freshness into a third day; when blind baking a pie crust, skip the fuss of pie weights and place a second pie plate on top of the crust; crosshatch just-baked chocolate chip cookies to expose their melting bits.

It's true that life would be perfect if baked goods weren't so waist-expanding, and Goldman does not endorse substituting anything for butter. But she does offer chapters on whole grains and "baking in a hurry." (Several recipes from the book will be featured in our cookie issue next week.)

THE ETHNIC PARIS COOKBOOK

By Charlotte Puckette and Olivia Kiang Snaije DK Publishing, $30; 100-plus recipes

This charming sleeper didn't get the buzz it deserved upon its release in April. It proves that a life devoted to food can be liberating, allowing chef Puckette, born in Charleston, S.C., the opportunity to cook, cater and offer ethnic market tours in the City of Light.

The book will mean more to those who have sampled foods of the featured restaurants, but it also could provide culinary checkpoints for anybody's future trip. Stories about owners and chefs, illustrations, arrondissement maps and listings of Paris's best ethnic grocers round out the book's travel-guide appeal. (See Lamb With Ras el Hanout and Honey recipe, Page F10.)

COOKIE CRAFT:

FROM BAKING TO LUSTER DUST

By Valerie Peterson and Janice Fryer Storey, $18.95; five recipes, 220 designs

A must-have for this particularly driven subset of the baking crowd, by New Yorkers who write about food and have mastered pastry arts. The authors take an A-to-Z approach in planning, creating, storing and shipping decorated cookies. Their designs cover the holidays and several types of celebrations; cookie templates are included in the back of the book. Advice extends to equipment and coloration; the authors' tricks of the trade include how to clean utensils, how to prevent rust on cookie cutters (10 minutes in a 200-degree oven after they are washed) and how to decorate in a household with pets (dry the cookies under the cover of mesh food tents).

DOLCE ITALIANO: DESSERTS

FROM THE BABBO KITCHEN

By Gina DePalma Norton, $35; 104 recipes

The author's name may not be familiar, but her boss's is: Mario Batali. He knows what's good, and that's why author DePalma is the pastry chef at his Babbo restaurant in Manhattan.

If Italians don't get enough credit for their sweets, DePalma's recipe collection could change that. During the few months the uncorrected book proof sat on a Food section desk, it never failed to elicit sighs and a few trips to the copier. DePalma also does a nice job of explaining the origins of regional delicacies.

MADHUR JAFFREY'S

QUICK & EASY INDIAN COOKING

Chronicle, $19.95; 70-plus recipes

Thirty-minute meal options get much more interesting with these recipes from a preeminent Indian cookbook author and cultural icon. Include the following directions with the gift of this tidy paperback: "Take this on your next grocery shopping run. Flip to the 'An Indian Pantry' chapter, visit the international aisle and stock up on all the ingredients Jaffrey suggests." Then the Silken Chicken and Red Lentils Tarka will be within reach on a cold weeknight.

VEGANOMICON: THE ULTIMATE

VEGAN COOKBOOK

By Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero Marlowe, $27.50; 250-plus recipes

The hipster duo who host the Post Punk Kitchen podcasts have injected their hefty collection with chatty attitude and a little self-deprecating vegan schtick ("Broccoli and cauliflower: Since this is what everyone thinks vegans live on, why not prove them right?"). There are some seriously good recipes with broad appeal, such as Jicama-Watercress-Avocado Salad With Spicy Citrus Vinaigrette and Chili Chocolate Mole.

There are also some annoying pale subheads and white text on colored boxes that make reading the recipes more difficult than necessary. The cookbook closes with helpful "Menus for the Masses."

(A vegan cookie recipe from the book will be featured in our cookie issue next week.)

NOT YOUR MOTHER'S SLOW COOKER: RECIPES FOR ENTERTAINING

By Beth Hensperger and Julie Kaufmann Harvard Common Press, $18.95; 300 recipes

As promised, Hensperger (with co-author Kaufman) has delivered the third paperback installment of her slow-cooker series, geared to coaxing more ambitious food and drink from the Rodney Dangerfield of appliances.

Hence, the "Electric Punch Bowl" chapter offers 29 ways to make warm beverages for a crowd, and entrees rise above the usual chilis and stews, with non-slow cooker recipes for complementary side dishes and salads.

Unexpected lagniappes include recipes for slow-cooker spiced nuts, dessert fondues and poached fruit.

Local Talent

ARABIAN DELIGHTS: RECIPES AND

PRINCELY ENTERTAINING IDEAS

FROM THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

By Amy Riolo Capital Books, $20; 130 recipes

Rest assured that someone who owns dozens of cookbooks will not have anything like this paperback on their shelves. Food historian Riolo, who maintains homes in Germantown and north of Cairo, divulges recipes she acquired in the guest palaces of Mecca, Medina and Jeddah.

The food is presented in cultural-culinary menus, with tips and a preparatory timeline for putting on a whole celebratory meal for Eid or Ramadan, or an Arabian dessert party or tea party. That's not to say the recipes can't be appreciated on their own.

People who do not drink alcohol are always looking for worthy substitutions, so Riolo's Sunset, Red Sky and Kiwi fruit juice cocktails might work well. Her helpful "Where to Buy" guide includes Washington area shops.

IN PRAISE OF PECANS

By June Jackson Bright Sky Press, $24.95; 100 recipes

Whether you are a PEE-kan or a pih-KAHN person, there's probably a new way to enjoy the nut in this memoir-filled cookbook. Bethesda resident and native Louisianian Jackson has compiled a lifetime's worth of recipes that use pecans in every course. So the nuts show up in unexpected places: a broccoli shepherd's pie, a lemony mayonnaise, a four-cheese pizza. It's a homey, slim volume that contains pecan history lessons, state-by-state resources and a glossary of insider terminology. What do Grape-Nuts have to do with pecans? The answer lies within.

Big Books/Bells and Whistles

COOKING: 600 RECIPES, 1500 PHOTOGRAPHS, ONE KITCHEN EDUCATION

By James Peterson Ten Speed Press, $40; 600 recipes

It's heavy enough -- and good enough -- to warrant a permanent place within easy reach. Thousands of opportunities for food photography, hundreds of students and three decades of teaching the craft of cooking have led Peterson to publish this, his 13th book.

Think of it as a cook's encyclopedia that uses extended series of photos to help tell the story of creation: how to fillet raw fish and cooked fish; what pie dough looks like when built by hand vs. by food processor vs. by stand mixer; cut-slice shots of steak that clearly delineate degrees of doneness.

The text is clear and easy to read. Peterson's ancillary material at the end of some recipes earns special merit as the most varied and interesting factoids in any books we've seen this year. It's good to know why salt is added to an egg wash (to loosen and thin a whole egg, making it easier to apply).

THE MARTHA STEWART LIVING COOKBOOK: THE NEW CLASSICS and THE MARTHA STEWART LIVING COOKBOOK: THE ORIGINAL CLASSICS

Clarkson Potter, $35 each. 1,200-plus recipes; 1,100-plus recipes

It's a good thing to have Martha's recipes bound in two smart volumes, but longtime fans may miss seeing her domestic-diva smile. Compilations span Martha Stewart Living magazine recipes from 2000 to 2006 and 1990 to 2000.

Small quibbles: The tasteful typeface is light and a bit small for middle-aged eyesight (making fractions especially hard to decipher); the directions are in numbered paragraphs even though many steps are simultaneous. Some recipes have headnotes, some do not. (See Cider-Glazed Baked Apples and Ras el Hanout recipes, Page F10.)

CR¿OLE

By Babette de Rozi¿res Phaidon, $39.95; 160-plus recipes

The author runs a beautiful restaurant in Paris, and this art-book-quality edition is filled with her colorful cooking and many equally beautifully photographs (there are, in fact, more photos than recipes).

It is a collection that could expand any weeknight repertoire, with about half of the recipes doable in less than 45 minutes. There are occasional author's comments, but no headnotes; notes and substitutions are not specifically marked, but the information is usually at the end of a recipe.

We wish the typography -- a small, light typewriter-like font printed on off-white pages -- were easier to read. (See Lime-Marinated Swordfish Strips With Mangoes and Coconut recipe, Page F10.)

COOK WITH JAMIE: MY GUIDE TO MAKING YOU A BETTER COOK

By Jamie Oliver Hyperion, $37.50; 154 recipes

The boyish British chef will donate all of this cookbook's profits to his famous Fifteen effort, which underwrites culinary training for disadvantaged youths. It is written in Oliver's cheeky style, with directions that are not as explicit as they might be ("heat a griddle until white-hot"; "simply put the meat on a barbecue"). Oliver fans will enjoy the slightly ethnic mix of dishes.

We wish the alternate type/subheads were colored something other than bright blue, although the same hue is helpfully used in the index to note vegetarian recipes. (See Sticky Saucepan Carrots recipe, Page F10.)

MY LAST SUPPER: 50 GREAT CHEFS AND THEIR FINAL MEALS

By Melanie Dunea Bloomsbury, $39.95; 50-plus recipes

This is an artsy coffee-table specimen tailor-made for people who call themselves foodies, their focus affixed on the celebrity-chef firmament. The photographer-author shot 50 of the world's best and got them to answer "What would be your last meal on Earth?" and related queries.

One can assume the recipes the chefs came up with are dishes they really enjoy. Washington's Jos¿ Andr¿s and Michel Richard made the cut. Some photos are playful, some are stunning . . . and then there's Anthony Bourdain, who reveals raw talent.

(See Shrimp in Crazy Water recipe, Page F10.)