Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly

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Mollie Katzen, with photographs by the author

Do you want to eat really well-not just once in a while, but all the time-but you don't know where to begin?Are you tired of pizza-as much as you like it-and broke from buying takeout?Do you love good food-the straightforward, homemade kind-but feel challenged to set up a kitchen, shop for decent equipment and groceries, and tap into a few basic skills that can put a simple roast chicken or vegetarian entree on your dinner table?If you answer "yes" to these questions, then Get Cooking is for you. Get Cooking is the first book from bestselling cookbook author Mollie Katzen designed specifically for beginners, whether you are just starting to cook for yourself or trying to kick the restaurant habit. Unlike most cookbooks, the goal of Get Cooking is to get you in the kitchen, no matter what your experience level might be.Illustrated throughout with color photographs of each dish, Get Cooking gives you clear, step-by-step instructions for making everything from classic mashed potatoes to Broccoli-Cheddar Cheese Calzones to Hot Fudge Sundaes (with homemade hot fudge!). With this book, anyone-you included-can make delicious, fresh food, with a lot less expense (and a lot more satisfaction) than ordering in.You may know Mollie Katzen as the author of such famous cookbooks as Moosewood Cookbook or The Enchanted Broccoli Forest; Get Cooking has all of the accessibility and personal warmth of those beloved books, but it is Mollie's first cookbook for vegetarians and omnivores alike. You will learn how to make North African Red Lentil Soup, Linguine with Spinach and Peas, and Chickpea and Mango Curry-and also Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, Spinach Lasagna, and Steak Fajitas.With Get Cooking in hand, you'll be serving everything from salads (such as Wilted Spinach Salad with Hazelnuts, Goat Cheese, and Golden Raisins) to desserts (try the Cheesecake Bars), with stops along the way for party snacks, a full array of side dishes, and a brilliant assortment of handcrafted burgers (bean, tofu, and mushroom-as well as beef, turkey, and tuna). Here at last is the cookbook that will make a cook out of everyone.

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Nigella Lawson

"A chatty, sometimes cheeky, celebration of home-cooked meals."—USA TodayThrough her wildly popular television shows, her five bestselling cookbooks, her line of kitchenware, and her frequent media appearances, Nigella Lawson has emerged as one of the food world's most seductive personalities. How to Eat is the book that started it all—Nigella's signature, all-purposed cookbook, brimming with easygoing mealtime strategies and 350 mouthwatering recipes, from a truly sublime Tarragon French Roast Chicken to a totally decadent Chocolate Raspberry Pudding Cake. Here is Nigella's total (and totally irresistible) approach to food—the book that lays bare her secrets for finding pleasure in the simple things that we cook and eat every day."[Nigella] brings you into her life and tells you how she thinks about food, how meals come together in her head...and how she cooks for family and friends...A breakthrough...with hundreds of appealing and accessible recipes."—Amanda Hesser, The New York Times"Nigella Lawson serves up irony and sensuality with her comforting recipes."—Los Angeles Times"Nigella Lawson is, whisks down, Britain's funniest and sexiest food writer, a raconteur who is delicious whether detailing every step on the way towards a heavenly roast chicken and root vegetable couscous or explaining why 'cooking is not just about joining the dots.'"—Richard Story, Vogue magazine

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Susan Herrmann Loomis

Renowned cookbook author Susan Herrmann Loomis has traveled extensively to collect recipes that incorporate every kind of nut—from almonds to Brazil nuts, and everything in between. In these delectable recipes, you'll see nuts as much more than a tempting snack. Loomis shows how they complement, and can be the centerpiece of, every single meal of the day.Included in this imaginative collection are more than 100 easy-to-make recipes for small plates, salads, main courses, side dishes, and desserts. Start with breakfast and serve Waffles with Walnut Whipped Cream or Apricot and Pine Nut Compote. Share an evening with friends by serving Anise- and Fennel-Spiced Walnuts or Brazil Pesto with Pasta; next, move on to a main course of Gingered Fish on Spiced Macadamia Butter; and finish with refreshing Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream or Coconut Sticky Rice with Peanuts. Loomis provides an invaluable collection of The Basics—including recipes for Almond Milk, Lemony Hazelnut Butter, Poppy Seed Dressing, and Macadamia and Coconut Sprinkle—for stocking every pantry and adding a new dimension to daily meals.Along with the wonderfully diverse recipes in this book, you'll find nutritional information, menu ideas, and different kinds of food—simple, exciting, flavorful, unusual, easy, and good for you, too.Nuts in the Kitchen is the ultimate culinary guide for using these wonderful, healthful ingredients in inventive, sophisticated, and astonishing ways. Whether you are a vegetarian, a vegan, or a meat eater, you'll find yourself turning to this book over and over as you prepare meals large or small.

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Andrea Chesman

Welcome to a world of chivalry, danger, legends, and love. These four original novellas bring to life all the romance and adventure of the Middle Ages, with the common thread of a rich medieval tapestry woven through each tale.