3.PARTY POPCORN (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014, 128 pages, ISBN 978-0-544-22223-6, $14.99 US hard covers) is by Ashton Epps Swank, a dessert blogger. She's got 75 preps, divided into savoury, sweet, fun for kids to make, and holiday/seasonal popcorn. She's got prep times, cook times, and cool times indicated for each recipe. Nacho cheese doritos popcorn is always a winner before or during sporting games or action movies.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: family
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: eggnog popcorn; pumpkin pie popcorn; firecracker popcorn.
The downside to this book: it needs more recipes.
The upside to this book: a good collection.
Quality/Price Rating: 85.
4.THE BEST PASTA SAUCES (Ballantine Books, 2014, 239 pages, ISBN 978-0-345-54714-9, $28 US hard covers) is by Micol Negrin, a cooking school owner and food magazine editor and writer. Her book Rustico was nominated for a Beard Award. Here she emphasizes some fave regional Italian recipes from all over: northern Italy (rich creamy/cheesy sauces), central Italy (cured meats, sheep cheeses, olive oil), and southern Italy with its preponderance of tomatoes and fresh ingredients. The islands of Sicily and Sardinia contribute seafood to the mix. Her primer starts with "the ten rules of cooking pasta" and also presents basic recipes and mail-order sources. She also suggests certain styles of pasta for certain sauces, along with some Italian red or white wine pairings. A very readable and efficient book. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: families, intermediate cooks.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: creamy fontina sauce with crushed walnuts and white truffle oil; creamy tomato sauce with speck, nutmeg, and basil; Romagna ragu with Marsala and crispy prosciutto; tomato sauce with tiny meatballs; slow cooked sausage ragu with milk.
The downside to this book: it seems a bit pricey for a pasta sauce book.
The upside to this book: it is a very good tour.
Quality/Price Rating: 84.
5.PIE SCHOOL (Sasquatch Books, 2014, 232 pages, ISBN 978-1-57061-910-6, $24.95 US soft covers) is by Kate Lebo, owner of the Pie School and food writer-baker. Here she has about 50 recipes plus the pie primer (double-crusts, rolling by hand, baking blind, lattices, etc.). She's got eight basic pie crusts, including two that are gluten-free. All of her pies here are sweet, and divided by categories such as rhubarb, blueberry, cherry, peach, plum, blackberry, apple, plus nuts and chiffons. Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there are conversion tables.
Audience and level of use: family cooks, pie makers.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: maple blueberry pie; pecan pie with whiskey; mumbleberry pie; banana cream pie; huckleberry pie; blueberry lemon verbena galette.
The downside to this book: a handful of more recipes would be useful
The upside to this book: great for a pie party
Quality/Price Rating: 85.
6.IDIOT'S GUIDES BAKING (Alpha Books, 2014; distr. DK, 2870 pages, ISBN 978-1-61564-609-8, $21.95 US paper covers) is by Alexandra Zohn, a master pastry chef, nutritionist and food writer. It is a basic beginner's book, ranging from making meringues to cake decorating. It is a step-by-step tutorial on cooking basics, with good looking colour photos in the layout. She's got some substitutions and gluten-free options as well as recipes for cookies, souffles, cakes, bars, brownies, tarts, pies and bread.
Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements with scaling, but there are no tables of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: families.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: vanilla velvet cake; yogurt muffins; walnut-raisin bread; French bread; fresh fruit tart in almond crust; key lime pie.
The downside to this book: gluten-free options are not indexed.
The upside to this book: there's a primer on baking utensils and equipment including a usage section.
Quality/Price Rating: 86.
7.WISDOM FOR HOME PRESERVERS (Taunton Press, 2014, 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-62710-711-2, $21.95 US hard covers) is by Robin Ripley, a Maryland food writer and blogger with a kitchen garden. Here are 500 tips and techniques (no actual recipes beyond the basics) with six chapters or divisions (one for each method). All the info here is detailed and practical, including storing and troubleshooting. Topics include canning, freezing, drying, fermenting, salt curing and smoking, and cold storage root cellaring. There are also many other topics such as hot-water bath and pressure canner high altitude adjustments. There is also an equipment list and a general index.
Audience and level of use: beginner levels. Quality/Price Rating: 85.
8.WISDOM FOR HOME BREWERS (Taunton Press, 2014, 288 pages, ISBN 978-1-62710-710-5, $21.95 US hard covers) is by Ted Bruning and Nigel Sadler. Both are craft brewers and writers in England. Here are 500 tips and techniques plus basic beer-making recipes. It all begins with simple $50 home brew kits, and then escalates upwards depending on what you want to do. Tips are divided by chapter covering home brewing equipment, malts, hops and flavourings, mashing and boiling, fermentation and maturation, bottling and kegging, and then troubleshooting. The beer preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements. The general index ties it all in together rather nicely. Audience and level of use: beginner levels. Quality/Price Rating: 85.
9.GARLIC; an edible biography (Roost Books, 2014; dist. Raincoast, 261 pages, ISBN 978-1-61180-160-6, $16.95 US paper covers) is by travel writer and historian Robin Cherry, who also has written about organic produce and style in the past. It is a good looking history of the politics and mythology of garlic. She's also got 100 recipes, covering about half the book in normal course order (apps, dips, sauces, breads, soups, salads, poultry, meats, seafood, vegetarian, sides, even desserts). Preparations have their ingredients listed in avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of metric equivalents.
Audience and level of use: garlic lovers; professional foodies; food reference libraries.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: moretum (look it up); beer-battered deep-fried garlic cloves; gambas al ajillo; carciofi alla giudia; pizza escarole.
The downside to this book: no metric conversion tables.
The upside to this book: there's a bibliography at the back.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.
10.GREENS + GRAINS (Chronicle Books, 2014, 124 pages, ISBN 978-1-4521-3159-7, $19.95 US paper covers) is by Molly Watson, a San Francisco food editor and writer who once developed recipes for Sunset magazine. It is a small collection of some 45 recipes, but it manages to give good coverage through the three sections: soups, salads (and sides), and mains. Both grains and greens have fibre, vitamins, minerals, and proteins. They are virtually complete. Every meal should have some of them. For greens, there are beet greens, dandelion greens, escarole, collards, fava greens, kale, mustard greens, nettles, purslane, chard, and spinach. Plus some lesser and smaller ones such as sorrel, watercress, and arugula. For grains, she's got amaranth, barley, brown rice, buckwheat, faro, millet, oats, quinoa, rye, spelt, wheat and wild rice. Most are gluten-free except for the spelt, barley, wheat and rye. Preparations have their ingredients listed in mostly avoirdupois measurements with some metric, but there are no conversion tables.
Audience and level of use: vegetarians and gluten-free eaters; those seeking a healthier lifestyle.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: arugula soba noodle soup; green tea soup with brown rice and greens; quinoa-crusted tilapia on chard; braised chicken with farro, kale and winter squash; winter fattoush salad.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
11.THE FRUGAL PALEO COOKBOOK (Page Street publishing, 2014, 207 pages, ISBN 978-1-62414-088-4, $19.99 US paper premium covers) is by Ciarra Hannah, a food blogger-creator of popularpaleo.com which gets almost half a million hits a month. She's also got a log rollers endorsing her. Here she presents a collection of her 100 preps for affordable, easy and delicious paleo foods. All feature grass-fed meat and naturally-raised whole food ingredients, with an eye on the purse. Her secret, of course, is to use cheaper and tougher cuts of meat that need braising time, plus making bigger batches to make future meals. She's got tips for budgeting and pantry storage, as well as creating "five ingredients or less" seasoning blends. Arrangement is by type of proteins: beef, lamb, poultry, pork, seafood, eggs, and then veggies. Preparations have their ingredients listed in both metric and avoirdupois measurements, but there is no table of equivalents.
Audience and level of use: paleo food lovers
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: grilled pork with spicy apricot BBQ sauce; avocado lime salad; summer prawn salad; bacon ranch chicken; Irish nachos; cabbage packages; balsamic rosemary beef; barbacoa.
The downside to this book: nothing much, if anything.
The upside to this book: nice looking index, lots of space.
Quality/Price Rating: 89.
Chimo! www.deantudor.com
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