6 Delicious Books for Cooks

TAPAS: A TASTE OF SPAIN IN AMERICA/ JOSE ANDRES At his seven Washington restaurants, chef Andrés is famed for serving fantastical avant-garde cuisine. But in his first book he focuses on the small plates of his native Spain. The croquetas, crab-filled cherry tomatoes, artichokes sauteed with ham and gazpacho explained here are more accessible to the everyday cook than, say, his foie gras cotton candy, but they’re almost as fantastic.

SCOTT CONANT’S NEW ITALIAN COOKING/ SCOTT CONANT Conant combines old World cooking and modern tastes to create a new kind of haute Italian cuisine at his New York City restaurants, Alto and L’Impero. This book allows the home cook to re-create some of his signature dishes, including a sublimely creamy polenta with a fricassee of mushrooms and roasted baby goat. But he also offers quick-cooking dishes and meals to make from what you find in the cupboard as well as informative asides about techniques and wine pairings for each dish.

PERFECT RECIPES FOR HAVING PEOPLE OVER/ PAM ANDERSON From soups to nutty desserts, former Cook’s Illustrated editor Anderson provides all you need, with the exception of the actual food, to feed a multitude without requiring a miracle. All the book’s 200 party-ready recipes have a minimum of hard-to-find ingredients and are easy to execute. The dishes are crowd pleasers too: luxe macaroni and cheese, coconut shrimp and several variations on a moist but still crispy-skinned roast chicken (her secret is to salt the bird several hours before cooking).

THE BEST RECIPES IN THE WORLD/ MARK BITTMAN To put together this ambitious doorstop of a book, Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything, spent six years in 44 countries searching for the 1,000 international dishes that were perfectly au point. His finds highlight such local flavors as salads from Turkey (bulgur and tomato with nuts) and Scandinavia (beets with horseradish) and lamb dishes from Greece (leg with thyme and orange), India (marinated lamb “Popsicles” with fenugreek cream sauce) and the Middle East (lamb burgers). The recipes are concise and inspiring and manage to make the sometimes exotic seem familiar.

SARA’S SECRETS FOR WEEKNIGHT MEALS/ SARA MOULTON Moulton is best known as a TV chef and executive chef at Gourmet magazine. But she’s also a mom committed to regular family meals. In this book she streamlines the process of getting dinner on the table quickly and without sacrificing flavor. Most can be whipped up in less than 45 minutes. She offers breakfast for dinner (a superior egg, bacon and cheddar biscuit sandwich), innovative hearty soups (cauliflower chorizo) and fancier options like pepper-crusted steak with blue cheese sauce.

MANGOES & CURRY LEAVES/ JEFFREY ALFORD, NAOMI DUGUID Almost as much travelogue as cookbook, this hefty photo-laden tome takes readers on a culinary tour of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The authors are regular travelers to the region, and the text often reads like a letter from a more than usually adventurous friend–a friend who knows a lot about food. The recipes can be ingredient heavy and complicated but reward the effort with authentically spicy Goan pork vindaloo, Bengali fish in broth, salsas and sambols, as well as diverse breads and rice dishes that make eating almost as good as being there.