Cesare Casella's culinary career began at the age of thirteen in the kitchen of his family's restaurant, Il Vipore, just outside of Lucca in the hills of Tuscany. In 1979 he took over the kitchen, and in 1993 Il Vipore was awarded its first Michelin star. "Diary of a Tuscan Chef is not only a book of quintessential--and ambrosial--Tuscan dishes, it is the charming and wittily told story of Casella's journey from that first foray into Il Vipore's kitchen to becoming executive chef at Pino Luongo's famed Coco Pazzo restaurant in New York City. Arranged as a series of seasonal menus, each one inspired by a colorful anecdote taken from Casella's life, "Diary of a Tuscan Chef is dedicated to the two most basic tenets of Tuscan cooking: seasonality and flexibility. Creating the best, tastiest, most satisfying food from a few fresh, seasonally available ingredients is what Tuscan cooking is all about. Cesare Casella is a professional chef, but these are not "restaurant dishes." As he so aptly puts it, "As far as I know, no one has written a cookbook for the American public that presents Tuscan food as it is--good, simple, and natural. The Tuscan table should be as easy to set in New York as it is in Garfagnana, or in Rome, Georgia, for that matter." All of the 150 recipes in "Diary of a Tuscan Chef can be made at home with ingredients found in any local supermarket. In the end, it is Casella himself, a wonderful storyteller and a wonderful chef, who makes this book unique. With his words and the many photographs of him, his food, and his family, the reader will be transported into a world of delicious cooking and delightful company.

An essential resource for your health―if we are what we eat, let’s make every (delicious) bite count! This cookbook will no doubt transform your kitchen, bringing new plant-based, whole food ideas to the table and offering easy yet healthy recipe solutions for everything from celebratory meals to rushed weeknight dinners. Ashley Madden is a pharmacist turned plant-based chef, certified holistic nutritional consultant, and devoted health foodie. A diagnosis of multiple sclerosis changed her whole life and approach to food, eventually shaping a new food philosophy and inspiring this book. The Plant-Based Cookbook is especially helpful for those with dietary requirements or food allergies as all recipes are vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and oil-free without compromising on taste or relying on packaged and processed ingredients. All-natural recipes include: One-pot creamy pasta Vibrant nourish bowls Decadent no-bake cinnamon rolls A show-stopping cheese ball Life-changing carrot cake And so much more! Whether you consider yourself an amateur home cook or a Michelin Star chef, this collection of recipes will inspire you to turn whole foods into magical, mouthwatering meals and give you confidence to prepare plants in creative and health-supportive ways.

“A very funny sendup of Italian-cooking-holiday-romance novels” (Publishers Weekly). Gerald Samper, an effete English snob, has his own private hilltop in Tuscany where he whiles away his time working as a ghostwriter for celebrities and inventing wholly original culinary concoctions––including ice cream made with garlic and the bitter, herb-based liqueur known as Fernet Branca. But Gerald’s idyll is about to be shattered by the arrival of Marta, on the run from a crime-riddled former Soviet republic, as a series of misunderstandings brings this odd couple into ever closer and more disastrous proximity . . . “Provokes the sort of indecorous involuntary laughter that has more in common with sneezing than chuckling. Imagine a British John Waters crossed with David Sedaris.” —The New York Times

Chocolate cake makes sweet dreams come true. In a real-life fairy tale, author Sheryl Ness shares how she fell in love with Vincenzo, a chef in a quaint Tuscan kitchen, over his decadent hot chocolate cake. This enchanting memoir will transport you to the cobblestone streets, lush hillsides dotted with grapevines and olive trees, and unique characters that create the backdrop for Sheryl's Italian love story. Love in a Tuscan Kitchen is sprinkled with traditional recipes she collected along the way and flavored with rich accounts of how her dreams were fulfilled many times over while living in a picturesque village in Chianti. Raise a toast and taste pure joy as Sheryl opens her heart to love, and in turn finds herself on a remarkable journey of discovery through the people, traditions, and customs of Italy as the blond Americana fell in love with the chef with twinkling eyes.

An ocean of fish and seafood preparation techniques at your fingertips!In The Fishmonger’s Apprentice, you get insider access to real life fishermen, wholesale markets, fish buyers, chefs, and other sources—far away from the supermarket, and everywhere the fish go well before they make it to the table. This book is a handbook for enjoying fish and seafood—from fishing line to filleting knife and beyond—and gives you instructional content like no other book has before.Inside, you'll find:- Hundreds of full-color, detailed step-by-step photographs teach you filleting, skinning, boning, harvesting roe, shucking oysters, and more- Extensive interviews with seafood experts as they share their old-world, classic skills- Tips on eating and buying more sustainably, using the whole fish, head to tail, and making the most of your local fishmonger—good for foodies and chefs alike- A bonus DVD featuring 12 video tutorials of preparing fish, plus 32 downloadable recipes from master chefsWhether you're a casual cook or devoted epicure, you'll learn new ways to buy, prepare, serve, and savor all types of seafood with The Fishmonger's Apprentice!

"This collection of brilliantly conceived, seasonally driven recipes has quickly become one of my favorites. Easy to prepare and incredibly satisfying, this is inventive comfort food at its best. A must for any passionate home cook." -Gwyneth Paltrow, author of My Father's Daughter "Fig Snacking Cake Stupendous Hummus Whatever Greens You've Got Salad I want all of it! Melissa's smart, welcoming style and love of food infuse this wonderful cookbook. It's an extremely personal collection of recipes, each with its own subtle twists and original flavors, and on every page you hear Melissa's voice reassuringly guiding you around the kitchen." -Amanda Hesser, author of The Essential New York Times Cookbook and co-founder of food52.com Melissa Clark, New York Times Dining Section columnist, offers a calendar year's worth of brand-new recipes for cooking with fresh, local ingredients-replete with lively and entertaining stories of feeding her own family and friends. Many people want to eat well, organically and locally, but don't know where or even when to begin, since the offerings at their local farmers' market change with the season. In Cook This Now, Melissa Clark shares all her market savvy, including what she decides to cook after a chilly visit to the produce section in the dead of winter; what to bring to a potluck dinner that's guaranteed to be a hit; and how she feeds her marathon-running husband and finicky toddler. In addition, she regales us with personal stories about good times with family and friends, and cooking adventures such as her obsessive cherry pie experimentation and the day she threw out her husband's last preserved Meyer lemon. In her welcoming, friendly voice, Melissa takes you inside her life while providing the dishes that will become your go-to meals for your own busy days. Recipes include Crisp Roasted Chicken with Chickpeas, Lemons, and Carrots with Parsley Gremolata; Baked Apples with Fig and Cardamom Crumble; Honey-Roasted Carrot Salad with Arugula and Almonds; Quick-Braised Pork Chops with Spring Greens and Anchovies; Coconut Fudge Brownies-and much more. Melissa delivers easy, delicious meals featuring organic, fresh ingredients that can be uniquely obtained during each particular month. It can be a real challenge to feed families these days, but Melissa's recipes and inviting writing encourage home cooks to venture outside of the familiar, yet please everyone at the table.

In this follow-up to his award-winning book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice, Peter Reinhart offers groundbreaking methods for baking whole grain breads that taste better than any you’ve ever had. We know whole grain breads are better for us, but will we actually eat them, much less take time to bake them? Yes, says beloved baking instructor Peter Reinhart, but only if they are very, very good. So Reinhart, with his decades of experience crafting amazing artisanal breads, has made it his mission to create whole grain breads that are nothing short of incredible. And because his approach is also simpler and less labor intensive than conventional techniques, you’ll choose to make and eat these breads. His fifty-five recipes for whole grain sandwich, hearth, and specialty breads, plus bagels, crackers, and more, incorporate widely available whole wheat flour as well as other flours and grains such as rye, barley, steel-cut oats, cornmeal, and quinoa. Each is so rich with flavor and satisfying texture that white-flour counterparts pale in comparison. Written in Reinhart’s famously clear style and accompanied by inspiring photographs, these recipes were perfected with the help of nearly 350 testers. Introductory chapters provide a tutorial, with step-by-step photographs, of the delayed fermentation method that is at the heart of these recipes, as well as a crash course in baking science, discussions of grains other than wheat, and more. Advanced bakers will relish Reinhart’s innovative techniques and exacting scientific explanations, and beginning bakers will rejoice in the ease of baking wholesome breads with such extraordinary flavor.

The book begins with an overview of the Italian meal and a full description of the primary ingredients used in Italian cooking. More than two hundred classic recipes follow, beginning with a mouthwatering array of antipasti and culminating in a spectacular variety of desserts. Chapters on cheese-making, stocks and basic sauces, rustic soups, pasta, risotto, pizza and breads, meats, fish and shellfish, and vegetables offer all manner of primo and secondo courses in between. The final section of the book is a compendium of professional techniques, with a detailed discussion of each technique and a description of how it is taught at The International Culinary Center. These “lessons” are illustrated with hundreds of step-by-step photographs, and also include information about restaurant organization and practices. This section may be used in conjunction with the recipes in the book, as an aid when cooking from other cookbooks, or on its own, as inspiration.

Ever have food fantasies in a truly international vein—an appetizer of feta cheese and roasted pepper spread, an entrée of spinach ravioli and steaming coq au vin, with a side of bulghur wheat and parsley salad, topped, finally, with a dish of cool gelato di crema (vanilla ice cream) and chocolate souffle for dessert. Well, fulfilling food fantasies that read like the menu in the UN cafeteria is now entirely possible. With Cooking All Around the World All-in-One For Dummies, you’ll be introduced to the cooking styles and recipes from eight of the world’s most respected cuisines, experiencing, in the comfort of your own kitchen, the fabulous variety of foods, flavors, and cultures that have made the world go round for centuries. With a roster of cooking pros and all-star chefs, including Mary Sue Milliken, Susan Feniger and Martin Yan, Cooking All Around the World All-in-One For Dummies includes some of the most popular recipes from Mexican, Italian, French, Greek and Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai cuisines, revealing the cooking secrets that have made these recipes so winning and, in some cases, such a snap. Inside, you’ll find: The essential ingredients and tools of the trade common to each cuisine The basic cooking techniques specific to each cuisine How to think like an Italian or Chinese chef What the inside of a French, Greek and Middle Eastern, and Japanese kitchen really looks like And once you become familiar with the new world of spices and ingredients, you’ll be whipping up tasty, new exotic dishes in no time! Page after page will bring you quickly up to speed on how to make each part of the menu—from appetizers, entrées, to desserts—a sparkling success: Starters, snacks, and sides—including Gazpacho, Tuscan Bread Salad, Leeks in Vinaigrette, Falafel, Spring Rolls, Miso Soup, Chicken Satays with Peanut Sauce The main event—including Chipotle Glazed Chicken, Lasagna, Cauliflower au Gratin, Lamb Kebabs, Grilled Tandoori Chicken, Braised Fish Hunan Style, Shrimp and Veggie Tempura Sweet endings—including Mexican Bread Pudding, Biscotti, Chocolate Souffle, Yogurt Cake, Mango Ice Cream, Green Tea Ice Cream, Coconut Custard with Glazed Bananas With over 300 delicious recipes, a summary cheat sheet of need-to-know info, black-and-white how-to illustrations, and humorous cartoons, this down-to-earth guide will having you whipping up dishes from every part of the globe. Whether it’s using a wok or tandoori oven, with Cooking All Around the World All-in-One For Dummies every meal promises to be an adventure, spoken in the international language of good food.

Cooking.