By Suzanne Van Atten
svanatten@ajc.com
Do you know a home cook who needs some inspiration in the kitchen? Here are five new cookbooks sure to shake things up at the supper table.
“Saveur: The New Comfort Food: Home Cooking from Around the World,” edited by James Oseland (Chronicle Books, $35)
From the editors of Saveur magazine, this world tour of comfort foods is just the thing to keep cooks warm through the cold winter months. Close-up color photographs accompany every recipe, including kimchi pancakes, bucatini with spicy tomato sauce, Thai red curry with roasted duck and German chocolate cake. The recipes are adapted to the average American pantry but manage to retain their authenticity. Also included are step-by-step instructional features on making more challenging dishes, such as homemade pasta, as well as interesting tidbits of culinary history.
“The Meatball Shop Cookbook” by Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow with Lauren Deen (Ballantine Books, $28)
Meatballs are an everything-old-is-new-again trend, thanks in part to Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow’s Meatball Shops, a trio of casual New York City restaurants that have fans lining up around the block. The concept here is that anything can be transformed into an edible sphere. Take for instance Reuben Balls, made from finely diced corned beef, chopped sauerkraut, grated Swiss cheese, rye bread and caraway seeds. Recipes for sides, salads, cookies and ice cream round out the book. Ideal for inexperienced cooks who like to make fast, creative dishes from ingredients typically found in the well-stocked cupboard.
“Sweet Auburn Desserts” by Sonya Jones (Pelican, $24.95)
Can’t get enough of the sweet potato cheesecake at Sweet Auburn Bread Company? Then learn to make it at home with this cookbook by the pastry chef owner of the Atlanta institution. But don’t be surprised if you find yourself distracted by other gems like the cinnamon raisin bread pudding and strawberry jam stack cake. The color photos are inspiring, as well as instructional, as in the step-by-step illustration for making Apple Roly Poly, a boiled, stuffed pastry from the kitchen of the late great Southern chef, Edna Lewis.
“The Whole Hog Cookbook: Chops, Loins, Shoulder, Bacon and All That Good Stuff” by Libbie Summers (Rizzoli International Publications, $30)
Libbie Summers develops recipes and styles food for celebrity chef Paula Deen, but she comes by her knowledge of pigs honestly; her grandfather was a hog farmer who taught her to butcher swine when she was just a tyke. As one would expect from a cookbook devoted to pork, Southern flavors dominate, but international dishes such as tamales and roti are also represented. Conveniently organized by cut, recipes include staples such as South Carolina-style barbecue spare ribs and cola-braised pork shoulder, as well as unique dishes that include mushroom and bacon bread pudding and pumpkin pie pancakes with molasses bacon butter and green mango fool.
“Home Cooking with Jean-Georges: My Favorite Simple Recipes” by Jean-Georges Vongerichten with Genevieve Ko (Clarkson Potter Publishers, $40)
A global restaurateur and master of contemporary French cuisine, Jean-Georges creates simple but elegant dishes guaranteed to make a home cook feel like a chef par excellence. Recipes range from crab cakes with gingered grapefruit and avocado and miso-marinated grilled chicken to stone fruit bruschetta and apricot frangipane tart. Also includes recipes for cocktails, lunch and brunch.
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