'The Jewish Heritage Cookbook'
Recipes by Marlena Spieler
Photographs by William Lingwood
Lorenz Books -- 2004
Buy It on Amazon

A rebuke to those whose idea of Jewish cooking is limited to such gut-busting fare as kugel and knishes, "The Jewish Heritage Cookbook" is an eye-opening and mouthwatering survey of the traditions and recipes of the global Jewish Diaspora. While the more recognizable stalwarts of Ashkenazi (or Eastern European) Jewish cooking do get their due (there are no less than six recipes for kugel), Spieler also dedicates ample space to the foods of the Sephardim, Jews who settled in Spain, Portugal and North Africa, paying particular attention to the rich culinary heritage of Moroccan Jews.

Spieler also provides plenty of context for her recipes: a lengthy introduction delves into the history of Jewish migration across the globe, dietary traditions and laws, the culinary significance of various holidays, and the definitions and usage of traditional foods and ingredients. Spieler's book is as much reference guide as cookbook -- not only will you learn how to make something like like lamb with globe artichokes, you'll also learn about the significance of artichokes to the Italian Jews who created the dish.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.

'How to Cook Everything (Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition)'
Recipes by Mark Bittman
Wiley -- 2008
Buy It on Amazon

The Minimalist's take on cooking has pretty much become the last decade's go-to wedding present for young couples who haven't yet discovered their culinary chops. In his now Beard-award-winning update, Mark Bittman adds lexicons, reorganizes recipes and focuses on home cooking, "leaving most of that [restaurant food] behind."

In the 10 years since the debut of "How to Cook Everything," Bittman's own fame has grown exponentially as evidenced by his recent PBS roadtrip to Spain with A-lister Gwyneth Paltrow (with Mario Batali along for the ride). Maybe that's why some recipes get a bump up in stature. In 1998, his spicy shrimp recipe was titled "Shrimp, My Way"; in the new edition it's "The Simplest and Best Shrimp Dish."

But when you've essentially created a generation's "Joy of Cooking," you can afford to brag ... even if it's only about your shrimp.

See what we tested and whether it's worth buying after the jump.

'Appetite'
Nigel Slater
Clarkson Potter -- 2000
Buy it at Amazon

Anyone titling a recipe "Classic, Unmucked-About-With Roast Chicken" is going to get our attention. Our Brooklyn kitchen measures 5-feet by 7-feet, so we're enormous fans of simple, hearty fare. So is Nigel Slater, an English toque who only uses a handful of seasonal ingredients in his recipes and would not take kindly to the notion that "back to basics" is some brand-new trend (this book printed in 2000). Slater's juicy roast chicken is our standby, his caramelized onion-taleggio tart has amazed many a dinner guest and his general approach to cooking -- welcoming, hilarious, opinionated -- is right up our alley.

Takeaway tips:

1. Not a book for those who like their measurements precise; Slater's a fan of "a handful" and "a bunch."
   
2. There's a knockout pantry guide: "A bag of pasta, a lump of Parmesan and a bottle of olive oil ... the best friends you will ever have."
   
3. Look for the "what goes with what" primer, which includes "marriages made in heaven" like figs and Roquefort.
   
4. Pour yourself a drink before cooking (his words, not ours).
5. Look for the "and more" at the end of each recipe (i.e.: A Potato Supper "with sausage" or "with cheese").
   

Quality of pictures: These are snapshots for real, hungry cooks, with droolworthy pics of the greasy inside of a skillet, an Impressionistic stained apron and a closeup of freshly plucked sage you can nearly smell.

We tested: Roast Chicken, A Tart for a Party

'Tacos'
Mark Miller
Ten Speed Press -- 2009
Buy it at Amazon

Most Americans equate tacos with a "run for the border," but a really good taco takes far longer than the average fast food.

"Tacos," written by the founder of the Coyote Café in Santa Fe, N.M., is a vision quest of sorts for lovers of all things tortilla. You will learn the basic philosophy of this traditional Mexican street food; it isn't until you get into the recipes, though, that you realize just how laborious it can be to make that yummy treat.

Along with approximately 44 taco fillings, Miller shows how to make homemade tortillas, offers a slew of salsa recipes and even gives a Mexican breakfast section sure to make you salivate.

Miller does a bang-up job pairing each of his taco fillings with a wine or beer choice, a tortilla recommendation and the proper salsa accompaniment. With the latter, it gets tricky: If you see a salsa paired with the filling, plan on an extra hour for the preparation.

Takeaway tips: Tacos take work ... lots of it!

1. The word taco comes from the Nahuatl word "ac," which means flat.
2. Make your own tortillas at home.
3. Sixty percent of a chile's heat is in the ribs or veins.
4. "If you can do as much of the preparation as possible in advance, you can have everything ready and waiting for your guests." Live that warning, love it and you'll be a happy taco eater/chef.
5. Be warned: You will have to buy exotic ingredients that may be hard to find.

Quality of pictures: A varied assortment of luscious taco shots peppered with ingredient closeups

We tested: Smoky Bacon Tacos with Cascabel Chile-Blackened Tomato Salsa and Chicken with Chorizo Tacos with Salsa Fresca
These recipes looked delicious and having made some laborious Rick Bayless gems, we were hoping they wouldn't be quite as much work. We were wrong.

The Smoky Bacon Tacos seemed quick enough -- fry up the bacon, fry up the onion in the bacon grease, mix together with honey, salt and two chile powders. However, the salsa -- Cascabel Chile-Blackened Tomato Salsa -- took a bit more than the 20 minutes listed as the prep time, and we couldn't even find cascabel chiles in Whole Foods (so we substituted with a blend of arbol and chipotle). That said, these were delicious and original, and we'd make 'em again.

The Chicken with Chorizo Tacos were somewhat easier, though we had to pull the leaves off an entire bunch of cilantro (add another 15 minutes to prep time) and let the chicken marinate for more than an hour. The results were subtle and good, though not quite as tasty as the Smoky Bacon Tacos.

Slashfood started dinner at 6 p.m., ate at 9:45 and gave up trying to make corn tortillas from scratch because of fatigue.

Worth the investment: These are labor-intensive recipes -- only for those who love their Mexican food and are willing to put in the hours to get it.

'Salumi: Savory Recipes and Serving Ideas for Salame, Prosciutto and More'
John Piccetti and Francois Vecchio with Joyce Goldstein
Chronicle Books -- 2009
Buy it at Amazon

A couple years ago Slashfood sat before a monstrous plate of strange Italian salumi in Milan, blindly eating items that we only knew by the name "delicious." In hindsight, we wish we had had this book to learn the actual names.

"Salumi," co-written by the owner of San Francisco's cured-meat giant Columbus Foods, is one part history, one part encyclopedia and three parts cookbook with recipes for antipasti, snacks, first and main courses, and salads and vegetables.

Can't tell your cotechino from your sopressata? Consult the book. Not sure if you should eat that moldy casing? Consult the book. Need a way to dress up a lonely cucumber and carrot with salame? You guessed it ... the book.

Takeaway tips: Salumi should be made only with pork!

1. Store salumi in butcher paper in the refrigerator.
2. Toss the first slice you cut off a stored piece.
3. Serve it in small portions.
4. Salame is singular, salami is plural, salumi is the general Italian term for cured meats.

Quality of pictures: Eye popping and mouth watering

We tested: Pane per la Pizza (basic pizza dough) and Pizza Alla Pancetta, Porri e Formaggio (pizza with pancetta, leeks and Gruyre
This is a traditional dough recipe, so allow time for it to rest, double in size and rest again. Slashfood (shame on us) didn't read the recipe as we began to prepare it on a time crunch and had to fall back on a quick dough recipe to get us through the first pie. That said, by the third pizza, the dough was ready and it turned out breadier with more bite than our thin-crust standby.

It was the blend of toppings, though, that were really yum-zow-bam good. The toppings are precooked -- leeks sauteed in butter and seasoned with nutmeg, pancetta strips cooked long enough to render the fat -- and meld deliciously with Gruyére for this "northern Italian pizza topping with a French accent."

Worth the investment: Yes, for lovers of all things cured, this book gives a good history and background on Italian-style salumi.

'Williams-Sonoma New Flavors for Appetizers'
Edited by Chuck Williams
Recipes by Amy Sherman
Photos by Tucker + Hossler
Oxmoor House -- 2009 (hardback)
Buy it at Amazon

Ready to move beyond dips and carrot sticks for your soirees, but not ready to face the Full Martha? This is the guide for you. The book is divvied into sections highlighting each season's freshest ingredients and simple, elegant ways to show 'em off. Bonus -- a goodly bit of space is devoted to party planning tips, basic recipes (mayo, risotto, pizza dough), a glossary, techniques for handling veggies and a guide to what is freshest when.

Takeaway tips: Freshness is your best ingredient. Using seasonal ingredients means you'll need to do little to adorn them -- just make sure to use cooking methods, seasonings and pairings that show them off to their best advantage, and add flavor in layers. Specific methodologies are generously shared throughout the book.

Quality of pictures: Appetizing -- if a little washed out by the matte paper. Not step-by-step instructive, but oriented toward the finished product.

We tested: Pan-Seared Spring Lamb Chops with Mint-Pistachio Pesto and Olives and Feta Marinated with Lemon and Ouzo
Recipes were incredibly easy to follow, accessible, thorough and aided by sidebars offering further explanations of ingredients' flavor profiles and best methods for use. Lovely balance of veggie-friendly dishes and slightly heartier fare.

Worth the investment: Would make a great hostess or shower gift, or smart inspiration for anyone who's ready to bump their parties' sophistication level up a notch or two.

'Pie'
Angela Boggiano
Mitchell Beazley -- 2009 (paperback)
Buy it at Amazon

Fans of savory pies need no longer fear getting hung up at Heathrow security due to the suspicious scent of smuggled Stargazy pie and Cornish pasties emanating from their person. Angela Boggiano's pastry-centric paen to traditional British fare allows the rest of the globe to tuck into cold Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and hand-held Grimbsy Town Soccer Pies in the comfort of their very own homes.

There's a serviceable nod to the dessert end of the spectrum, but the meat and fish based recipes are the sweet spot.

Takeaway tips: Pastry crust isn't difficult to make, so long as you follow the author's three golden rules:

1. Handle it lightly.

2. Keep it cool.

3. Bake it in a hot oven.

Quality of pictures: Seductive and instructive

We tested: Melton Mowbray Pork Pies and Eccles Cakes
Recipes were thorough, easy to follow and quite approachable for home cooks and fledgling pie makers. The U.S. edition translates all measurements into non-metric quantities. Our one quibble was a single digit omitted from the Eccles Cakes baking temperature (50F? Really?) but we took our best guess, and both pies turned out as pictured and previously sampled while we were in their native land.

Worth the investment: Yes, for Anglophiles, ex-pats, lovers of lard and the gluten averse -- she includes recipes for wheat-free pastry.

As I've mentioned before, the fastest way for a cookbook to leap over the stacks of cookery writing in my apartment and take root in my heart, is for the author to tuck lots of personal stories in between the recipes. As soon as I opened Urban Italian by Andrew Carmelini (chef at and Gwen Hyman, I knew that this was going to be one of those beloved cookbooks. The first 30 pages of the book comprise a section entitled True Stories. In that initial chapter, Carmelini (I'm guessing with lots of help from Hyman, as the writing is gorgeous) offers up the stories of how he came to food, starting with his grandparents and moving forward from there.

However, as good as the stories are, if the recipes don't work, a beautiful, storytelling cookbook won't stand a chance. Luckily, this one seems to be solid on all accounts and includes many gorgeous, inspiring and instruction photos (check out pages 94-99 if you have an yen to make homemade gnocchi).

I realize that the holidays are over and with the economy in the shape it's in, $35 cookbooks aren't on many necessity lists these days. However, if you're the type who eats Italian food out in a restaurant a couple of times a month, this might be just the sort of cookery investment you should be making (and it's a mere $23.10 on Amazon).

At first glance, this book doesn't look like much. The front cover is an unadorned green, with just a small box to house the title and author. However, as soon as you open the front cover, it feels like you've stepped into a different world, full of lovely and interesting pictures of salads, citrus, noodles and exotic vegetables.

Written by Benjamin Lewis, New Food is written around the premise that there's a world of foods available to the average grocery shopper these days that would have been unknown to our grandparents. There are sections devoted to microgreens, cauliflower, exotic fruits and squash and each make those potentially unfamiliar ingredients accessible and appealing.

This is the type of book that would make a great gift for a friend or family member who doesn't have a whole lot of experience with some of the newer, fresher foods in the farmers markets and wants to understand exactly what to pea shoots or quince.

Have you ever wondered what hydrolyzed vegetable protein was? How about culatello, epazote or kombu? Granted, you could get up and google your questions, but maybe what you're looking for is a nice reference volume that will allow you to have all that information at your fingertips, along with a host of other helpful details and a bunch of recipes. If you've answered yes to any of those questions, then I think that The Science of Good Food is a book you should take a look at.

Designed to be an A to Z reference book for the home cook as well as the food professional, this book will quickly become an oft-opened volume in your home. The entries are broken into What It Is, What It Does and How It Works, which makes the information accessible and easy to digest. It would also make a terrific gift for the beginning cook on your holiday list.

Yesterday, I featured a new cookbook geared towards the holidays. Today, I'm showing off one of my very favorite childhood holiday cookbooks. A Child's Christmas Cookbook was originally printed in 1964 in conjunction with Once Upon a Christmas, an exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. It features a series of easy-to-prepare seasonal recipes that are all charmingly illustrated by drawings by Thomas Nast.

I loved this book when I was younger, because it allowed me to fantasize about the ways in which people used to celebrate Christmas. I would read the description of an old fashioned taffy pull and beg my mom to let us have one (she always nixed that plan, saying that it was too messy). I loved the instructions for how to have an indoor picnic around the fireplace and longed to cook over an open fire (at Christmas time, we would be allowed to toast marshmallows over the fire).

This book also includes recipes for such things like Baked Apples, Humbug Hash and Santascones. It's not an ambitious book, but is wonderful for kids who like old-fashioned things. Get a used copy if you have know of such a child, they're certain to adore it.

Walking into my office building this morning, I was greeted by a cacophony of holiday decorations. There wreaths on the walls, three life-sized reindeers grouped around a Christmas tree and a giant Menorah perched on the security desk. The holiday season is here!

I realize that Thanksgiving only just wrapped up, but one glance at The Christmas Table by Diane Morgan will have you itching to get started on your Christmas menu-planning and cooking. Full of elegant holiday-appropriate recipes and gorgeous pictures, this book offers you a variety of ways to make your holiday parties, brunches and buffets just that much more lovely and special.

This book opens with a bunch of beautiful appetizers and then heads into soups/salads, main courses, festive sides, desserts and breakfasts. Towards the back, there's a section devoted to cookies, foods appropriate for holiday giving and great tricks for transforming your holiday leftovers into fresh meals that will keep your family feasting for days.

The Christmas Table would make a wonderful present for someone who is hosting a holiday gathering for the first time this year, as it offers pre-made menus and organized lists that will guide you through the tasks necessary to pull off family dinner without a hitch.

More and more people are discovered that they have gluten intolerances these days (and many of them have documented their dietary changes on these here interwebs). A gluten-free lifestyle can be a huge adjustment but there are some good cookbooks out there that can help with the transition. One such cookbook is 1,000 Gluten-Free Recipes, which has become the modern-day Joy of Cooking for gluten-free set.

This book clocks in at nearly 700 pages and has recipes for just about every dish, baked good, sauce and salad that you could possibly want to prepare. It's not a glossy book with pictures of every recipe, instead it strives to provide delicious foods that appeal to everyone (both the gluten-free and the gluten-full).

However, you don't have to be on a gluten-free diet to enjoy this book and so we're giving away two copies of it to two lucky Slashfood readers. To enter, just leave a comment on this post, making sure to include your email (so that we're able to get in touch with you). The deadline for entry is Monday, November 24th at 12 noon.

The first thing that struck me about The Paley's Place Cookbook is how accessible it is. I am so accustomed to restaurant cookbooks that contain esoteric ingredients and many-step recipes, that when I open a book that offers dishes like Spicy Greens with Fresh Cherries, Prosciutto and Goat Cheese (contains 8 ingredients, including salt and pepper), I pause and am forced to reconsider my previous attitudes. Other notable recipes (mostly for their ease and appeal) include Braised Red Cabbage and Soft Polenta with Rosemary.

I think that this is the sort of cookbook that will one day be counted among the classic, must-have American cookbooks. The recipes are organized in the traditional manner (Appetizers through Desserts) but the pages are dotted with essays about food memories, farmers, local growers and cheesemakers. It is also beautifully illustrated with a number of rustic, visually arresting images.

One simple, little recipe towards the back of the book offers an example of what makes this book great. The recipe for aioli offers a method for preparation (mortar and pestle) as well as easy, colloquial instructions that instruct the reader in a manner that is both encouraging and heartening. I wanted to leap out of my chair, run to the kitchen and start mincing garlic, just to have an opportunity to put the words on the page into action.

At one time in my life, I actually lived a short six blocks from Paley's Place and even had a good friend who worked there as a bartender, and yet I never took the time to have a meal there. Now, 3,000 miles away, I seriously regret that choice.

I first discovered Debby Bull's Blue Jelly five years ago, when a friend thrust a copy into my hands, looked me in the eye and said, "You need to read this book. You will love it." Despite receiving it with such a vigorous endorsement, the slim, blue hardback sat on my bookshelf for more than six months before I picked it up. Every time I saw the friend to whom the book belonged, I would feel a pang of guilt and apologize that I hadn't read it yet. She would just smile peacefully, tilt her head and say, "I'm not worried. You'll read it when you're ready."

It was a rainy Saturday afternoon when I finally cracked the cover. My previous resistance dropped away and I spent the rest of that day reading through Bull's tale of love lost and recover through the making of jam. It sparked my interest in jam and fruit butter making (although I did also grow up with a mother who makes at least 30 pints of jam every summer) and made me remember the power of doing something from scratch.

The book is a series of essays about Bull's process as she recovers from being dumped, and at the end of each essay is a recipe for a different jam, jelly, butter or pickle. The recipes are full of soul and character and following her instructions makes you feel like you're being guided through the cooking and canning process by an old, witty friend who you don't get to see very often.

I realize we're heading into the end of the canning season at this point, but it's never too late to be inspired for next year. This book is just the thing to make you leap off your couch and towards the kitchen to make up a nice batch of jam.