Now in paperback–the debut cookbook from the beloved Italiancook, restaurateur, and public television personality. Lidia Bastianich is famous for her Italian-American cooking, butthis cookbook–her first–captures the distinctive cuisine of hernative Istria, located on Italy’s northeastern Adriatic coast nearthe border of the former Yugoslavia. This book is also her mostpersonal; in addition to the recipes, she has included numerouspersonal stories, memories, and photographs from herchildhood. With La Cucina di Lidia, you can savor antipasti such as Polentawith Fontina and Mushrooms or Shrimp and Mixed Bean Salad. Rice andpastas include Plum Gnocchi, Risotto with Squash Blossoms, andZucchini and Tagliatelle with Leek Sauce. Entrées feature fish(Swordfish in Sweet and Sour Sauce), fowl (Roast Chicken withRosemary and Orange), meat (Stuffed Breast of Veal), and game (DuckRoasted with Sauerkraut). Desserts range from Chocolate ZabaglioneCake to Apple-Custard Tart. Here is an Itali

America's favorite baker, Nancy Baggett, has been on a roadtrip around the country. Now she's back, with something for everydessert lover: the best pies, cakes, puddings, crisps, cookies, icecreams, and candies in the land. Many of her discoveries werelocally famous family secretsuntil now. They include a memorablysimple blueberry buckle from a Vermont bed-and-breakfast; a coconutchiffon cake from an island off the coast of Virginia that hasbecome a "destination dessert"; a never-before-revealed recipe forchocolate-dipped caramel candies, the fund-raising specialty of thewomen of an Episcopal church in New Mexico; and a sublime peachcobbler from a cook in the Ozarks. Baggett has tested and retestedevery recipe in her home kitchen to ensure that all cooks get thesame results. She has even included a chapter on easy gifts to makewith children, from "bars in a jar" (a homemade brownie mix) tofancifully decorated graham-cracker holiday cottages. Every recipein this lavishly photographed book comes with an

When restaurateur Keith McNally and co-chefs Riad Nasr and LeeHanson opened Balthazar in 1997, it immediately became one of thehottest restaurants in the country. Famous for its star-studdedclientele, a beautiful room in the chic SoHo neighborhood, andsuperbly executed food, Balthazar has been embraced by New Yorkersand visitors alike for its perfect evocation of a Frenchbrasserie. The Balthazar Cookbook captures that energy, that style, and thatcuisine, with recipes for the most-loved and most-accessible Frenchdishes: seafood ranging from the ultra-simple Moules à la Marinièreto more ambitious Bouillabaisse; chicken and game favorites thatinclude Coq au Vin and Cassoulet; red-meat classics such as BraisedShort Ribs and Blanquette de Veau; sides like the perfect FrenchFries or sublime Macaroni Gratin; and finales that include CrèmeBr?lée and Chocolate Pot de Crème. This is the best of Frenchcooking, from one of the best-loved French restaurants in thecountry.

The extremes of American eating--our equal urges to stuff and tostarve ourselves--are easy to blame on the excesses of modernliving. But Frederick Kaufman followed the winding road of theAmerican intestine back to that cold morning when the firstfamished Pilgrim clambered off the Mayflower, and he discovered thealarming truth: We've been this way all along. With outraged witand an incredible range of sources that includes everything fromCotton Mather's diary to interviews with Amish black-marketraw-milk dealers, Kaufman offers a highly selective,take-no-prisoners tour of American history by way of the Americanstomach. Travel with him as he tracks down our earliest foodies;discovers the secret history of Puritan purges; introduces dietgurus of the nineteenth century such as William Alcott, whobelieved that "Nothing ought to be mashed before it is eaten";traces extreme feeders from Paul Bunyan to eating-contest champDale Boone (descended from Daniel, of course); and investigates ourblithe efforts to re-create