I have a challenge…a test… for you. It’s a challenge I took last night , acting on a random thought that dashed across my hyperactive brain. Waiting for my favorite TV show, I glanced around my library at the hundreds of neatly arranged books. The room where my beloved books live is the room where I most like to live. Warm and comforting, the titles, subjects, colors, sizes are all important pieces of the road map of my life. Some of my favorite shelves, in both library and kitchen, are filled with cookbooks collected over a decades- long career in the food world. Suddenly I thought, “What if I had just one minute to decide which five cookbooks I could take from my home?” With the clock ticking, these are the books that ended up in my arms:
1. The Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten
2. The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julie Rosso and Sheila Lukins
3. Entertaining by Martha Stewart
4. The Foster’s Market Cookbook by Sara Foster
5. Come On In! by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi
And although I said I would only pick five, I ran back in the kitchen and grabbed Robert St. John’s Deep South Staples.
These were “gut” picks but in thinking about it, here’s why. It was a tough choice between Barefoot Contessa and Barefoot Contessa Family Style but Barefoot Contessa is simply cookbook perfection -- fabulous recipes, beautifully designed, photographed and easy to read. It’s my kind of food – straightforward, tasty and not “fussy.” The recipe writing is clear and the dishes are timeless. And besides, its home to the recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken (p. 130).
The Silver Palate was a ground beaker back in 1979. It started a revolution of eating seasonally, introducing ingredients that were previously unknown to the home cook AND they explained and educated us page by page. It changed the way professionals catered…and it changed the way we cooked at home. Re-released on its 25th anniversary, The Silver Palate Cookbook has stood the test of time. Make Chicken Marbella (p. 86) for dinner and see what I mean.
Entertaining by a Westport, CT caterer named Martha Stewart created no less than a seismic event in the culinary world. Panned by name chefs and culinary professionals at the time as not being “serious”, it was embraced by home cooks like no other book I’ve known during my 30 years in the food business. It was inspirational and women aspired to “be Martha.” Home cooking and entertaining became events where the cook was encouraged to use both the ordinary and extraordinary to create a memorable occasion. Grandmother’s linens and china came out of the closet, Mason jars became flower vases and entertaining at home became the standard again. Some of the recipes are over-the-top but many are old friends. I love to use the Country Pie Party (p. 242) for bridal parties, baby showers, or gatherings for art openings. At my house, a Pear-Almond Tart (p.246) means fall has arrived.
Come On In! is simply the best community cookbook ever written….and one year, I can’t remember when, it was honored as such. I’m not prejudiced, even though it came from my town and my Junior League. The recipes are winners – all of them -- and the photographs and design tell a compelling story. When tomatoes come in this summer, try Fresh Tomato Tart (p.131). And don’t forget to read the sidebars called “Southern Secrets”.
I first met Sara Foster when she was honing her craft in Martha Stewart’s catering kitchen. The recipes in The Foster's Market Cookbook come from her charming gourmet take-out stores in Durham and Chapel Hill, NC. Sara’s got soul…and she puts food on the table that is honest, simple and deliciously prepared. It’s almost time for Creamy Corn Pudding(p.216). I made Rosemary New Potato Salad (p. 134) last night.
The reason I had to run back in the house for Deep South Staples is that I’m a Southern cook. I always want a reference for the soul foods I’ve been raised on -- Fried Chicken (p.98), Deviled Eggs (p.13), Yeast Biscuits (p. 199), and The World’s Last Meatloaf (p.109). The subtitle of the book is “How to Survive in a Southern Kitchen Without a Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup.” Enough said about how some of my Grandmother and Mother’s favorite recipes have been updated for the new milennium. Robert St. John is a well known writer, restaurateur, raconteur and a masterful cook. The stories are as hilarious and charming as the recipes are good.
So if someone yells “fire”, I’m grabbing the cat and these cookbooks. And I’m waiting to hear your Top 5….or 6.
1. The Barefoot Contessa by Ina Garten
2. The Silver Palate Cookbook by Julie Rosso and Sheila Lukins
3. Entertaining by Martha Stewart
4. The Foster’s Market Cookbook by Sara Foster
5. Come On In! by the Junior League of Jackson, Mississippi
And although I said I would only pick five, I ran back in the kitchen and grabbed Robert St. John’s Deep South Staples.
These were “gut” picks but in thinking about it, here’s why. It was a tough choice between Barefoot Contessa and Barefoot Contessa Family Style but Barefoot Contessa is simply cookbook perfection -- fabulous recipes, beautifully designed, photographed and easy to read. It’s my kind of food – straightforward, tasty and not “fussy.” The recipe writing is clear and the dishes are timeless. And besides, its home to the recipe for Perfect Roast Chicken (p. 130).
The Silver Palate was a ground beaker back in 1979. It started a revolution of eating seasonally, introducing ingredients that were previously unknown to the home cook AND they explained and educated us page by page. It changed the way professionals catered…and it changed the way we cooked at home. Re-released on its 25th anniversary, The Silver Palate Cookbook has stood the test of time. Make Chicken Marbella (p. 86) for dinner and see what I mean.
Entertaining by a Westport, CT caterer named Martha Stewart created no less than a seismic event in the culinary world. Panned by name chefs and culinary professionals at the time as not being “serious”, it was embraced by home cooks like no other book I’ve known during my 30 years in the food business. It was inspirational and women aspired to “be Martha.” Home cooking and entertaining became events where the cook was encouraged to use both the ordinary and extraordinary to create a memorable occasion. Grandmother’s linens and china came out of the closet, Mason jars became flower vases and entertaining at home became the standard again. Some of the recipes are over-the-top but many are old friends. I love to use the Country Pie Party (p. 242) for bridal parties, baby showers, or gatherings for art openings. At my house, a Pear-Almond Tart (p.246) means fall has arrived.
Come On In! is simply the best community cookbook ever written….and one year, I can’t remember when, it was honored as such. I’m not prejudiced, even though it came from my town and my Junior League. The recipes are winners – all of them -- and the photographs and design tell a compelling story. When tomatoes come in this summer, try Fresh Tomato Tart (p.131). And don’t forget to read the sidebars called “Southern Secrets”.
I first met Sara Foster when she was honing her craft in Martha Stewart’s catering kitchen. The recipes in The Foster's Market Cookbook come from her charming gourmet take-out stores in Durham and Chapel Hill, NC. Sara’s got soul…and she puts food on the table that is honest, simple and deliciously prepared. It’s almost time for Creamy Corn Pudding(p.216). I made Rosemary New Potato Salad (p. 134) last night.
The reason I had to run back in the house for Deep South Staples is that I’m a Southern cook. I always want a reference for the soul foods I’ve been raised on -- Fried Chicken (p.98), Deviled Eggs (p.13), Yeast Biscuits (p. 199), and The World’s Last Meatloaf (p.109). The subtitle of the book is “How to Survive in a Southern Kitchen Without a Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup.” Enough said about how some of my Grandmother and Mother’s favorite recipes have been updated for the new milennium. Robert St. John is a well known writer, restaurateur, raconteur and a masterful cook. The stories are as hilarious and charming as the recipes are good.
So if someone yells “fire”, I’m grabbing the cat and these cookbooks. And I’m waiting to hear your Top 5….or 6.
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