Starred Review. Turning the offices of National Public Radio into a sugar-dusted gastrolab, NPR producer Gray (of the news program All Things Considered) spent a year testing cake recipes on coworkers to find the most satisfying among them. The result is this eclectic but cohesive cookbook, with a gentle learning curve especially useful for novices. An untrained pastry chef herself, Gray begins with a basic, lemon-glazed sour cream pound cake (which she calls the "Man Catcher") that introduces several key baking techniques: creaming the butter and sugar, incorporating eggs, beating batter, and lining the pan. She increases the skill level gradually as she goes, moving on to bundt, layer, and fruit cakes, followed by trickier temptations like angel food cake and the spicy, molasses-rich Appalachian Stack Cake. Each recipe comes with the story of its origin, reception, and variants. Readers will spot many bold-faced culinary names like Paula Deen and Ina Garten, but also obscure sources like out-of-print cookbo

Today, Chef Eric Ripert carries on that tradition with dishessuch as Poached Halibut on Marinated Vegetables, Pan-RoastedGrouper with Wild Mushrooms and Artichokes, and Grilled Salmon withMushroom Vinaigrette. And, of course, there are the desserts forwhich Le Bernardin is also so well known--from ChocolateMillefeuille to Honeyed Pear and Almond Cream Tarts.

Coffee has never been better, ormore interesting, than it is today. Coffee producers have access tomore varieties and techniques than ever before and we, asconsumers, can share in that expertise to make sure the coffee wedrink is the best we can find. Where coffee comes from, how it washarvested, the roasting process and the water used to make the breware just a few of the factors that influence the taste of what wedrink. Champion barista and coffee roaster James Hoffmann examinesthese key factors, looking at varieties of coffee, the influence ofterroir, how it is harvested and processed, the roasting methodsused, through to the way in which the beans are brewed. Country bycountry - from Bolivia to Zambia - he then identifies keycharacteristics and the methods that determine the quality of thatcountry's output. Along the way we learn about everything from thedevelopment of the espresso machine, to why strength guides onsupermarket coffee are really not good news. This is the first bookto chart the coffe

In her hit Food Network show Everyday Italian , Giada DeLaurentiis shows you how to cook delicious, beautiful food in aflash. And here, in her long-awaited first book, she does thesame—helps you put a fabulous dinner on the table tonight, forfriends or just for the kids, with a minimum of fuss and a maximumof flavor. She makes it all look easy, because it is. Everyday Italian is true to its title: the fresh, simplerecipes are incredibly quick and accessible, and also utterlymouth-watering—perfect for everyday cooking. And the book isfocused on the real-life considerations of what you actually havein your refrigerator and pantry (no mail-order ingredients here)and what you’re in the mood for—whether a simply sauced pasta or ahearty family-friendly roast, these great recipes cover everycontingency. So, for example, you’ll find dishes that you can makesolely from pantry ingredients, or those that transform lowlyleftovers into exquisite entrées (including brilliant ideas forleftover pasta), and th

With 12 pages of color photographs

Here is the first book all the great sauces of practical,workable system. Raymond Sokolov, the widely admired former FoodEditor of The first to point out that the hitherto mysterioussaucier's art, as practiced by the best restaurant chefs, is basedon what amounts to an elegant "fast food" technique. And this iswhat he demonstrates in his unique, useful, and witty book: -- How to prepare, at your leisure, the three fundamental classicsauces (the "mother" sauces from which all others evolve: Brown,White, and Fish Veloute)... -- How to freeze them in one-meal-size containers, ready for useat a moment's notice... -- How to transform any of these basic put-away sauces, quicklyand easily, into the exact ones that French chefs are famous forand serve in the finest restaurants... -- How to prepare the classic dish for which each sauce istraditionally used, with suggestions for enhancing simpler fare(the recipes run the gamut from Duckling a la Bigarade to PoachedEggs Petit-Duc -- that i