Claire’s Current Reads: Cookbook Edition

There is something so divine about curling up with a good book, leaving the stress of the day behind you, and focusing on what’s currently at hand. I adore reading so much that I thought it only fitting in ‘Claire’s Current Reads’ I share with you what I am loving lately, and what I have next on my never-ending list to read.

Enjoy!

Today I am combining two of my loves: food and reading and sharing a few of my go to cookbooks with you. From baking to Italian to amazing vegan dishes, these are all cookbooks I know you will love as much as I do. Crack open a bottle of wine or pour yourself a cup of coffee and scroll though these drool worthy cookbooks and find inspiration for a new dish to make or create your weekly meal plan. Happy Cooking!

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Love & Lemons – By Jeanine Donofrio

“Sometimes all you need is a little spark of inspiration to change up your regular cooking routine. The Love & Lemons Cookbook features more than one hundred simple recipes that help you turn your farmers market finds into delicious meals.

Organized by ingredient, The Love & Lemons Cookbook teaches readers how to make beautiful food with what’s on hand, whether it’s a bunch of rainbow-colored heirloom carrots from the farmers market or a four-pound cauliflower that just shows up in a CSA box. The book also features resources to show readers how to stock their pantry, gluten-free and vegan options for many of the recipes, as well as ideas on mixing and matching ingredients, so that readers always have something new to try.”

Oh She Glows Everyday – By Angela Liddon

“Angela Liddon’s eagerly awaited follow-up to the New York Times bestseller The Oh She Glows Cookbook, featuring more than one hundred quick-and-easy whole-foods, plant-based recipes to keep you glowing every day of the year. Angela Liddon’s irresistible and foolproof recipes have become the gold standard for plant-based cooking. Her phenomenally popular blog and New York Times–bestselling debut, The Oh She Glows Cookbook, have amassed millions of fans eager for her latest collection of creative and accessible recipes. Now, in this highly anticipated follow-up cookbook, Liddon shares wildly delicious recipes that are perfect for busy lifestyles, promising to make plant-based eating convenient every day of the week—including holidays and special occasions!

Filled with more than one hundred family-friendly recipes everyone will love, like Oh Em Gee Veggie Burgers, Fusilli Lentil-Mushroom Bolognese, and Ultimate Flourless Brownies, Oh She Glows Every Day also includes useful information on essential pantry ingredients and tips on making recipes kid-, allergy-, and freezer-friendly. A beautiful go-to cookbook from one of the Internet’s most beloved cooking stars, Oh She Glows Every Day proves that it’s possible to cook simple, nourishing, and tasty meals—even on a busy schedule.”

The Art of French Baking – By Ginette Mathiot

“From éclairs to soufflés and macaroons to madeleines, when it comes to desserts, no one does it better than the French. Beautiful, elegant and delicious, French desserts are easy to create at home as only a few basic recipes are needed to make some of the world’s most renowned cakes and tarts. The Art of French Baking is the definitive collection of authentic French pastry and dessert recipes.

From Tarte Tatin and Hazelnut Petit Fours to Cherry Tartlets and Choux Buns, it contains more than 350 simple recipes that anyone can follow at home. The book also includes details of basic equipment and techniques and information on how to troubleshoot common baking problems. Along with beautiful photographs and illustrations throughout, The Art of French Baking is an inspiring collection to celebrate the sweet tastes of France.”

Everyday Italian – By Giada De Laurentiis

“In her hit Food Network show Everyday Italian, Giada De Laurentiis shows you how to cook delicious, beautiful food in a flash. And here, in her long-awaited first book, she does the same—helps you put a fabulous dinner on the table tonight, for friends or just for the kids, with a minimum of fuss and a maximum of flavor. She makes it all look easy, because it is. 

Everyday Italian is true to its title: the fresh, simple recipes are incredibly quick and accessible, and also utterly mouth-watering—perfect for everyday cooking. And the book is focused on the real-life considerations of what you actually have in your refrigerator and pantry (no mail-order ingredients here) and what you’re in the mood for—whether a simply sauced pasta or a hearty family-friendly roast, these great recipes cover every contingency. So, for example, you’ll find dishes that you can make solely from pantry ingredients, or those that transform lowly leftovers into exquisite entrées (including brilliant ideas for leftover pasta), and those that satisfy your yearning to have something sweet baking in the oven. There are 7 ways to make red sauce more interesting, 6 different preparations of the classic cutlet, 5 perfect pestos, 4 creative uses for prosciutto, 3 variations on basic polenta, 2 great steaks, and 1 sublime chocolate tiramisù—plus 100 other recipes that turn everyday ingredients into speedy but special dinners.

What’s more, Everyday Italian is organized according to what type of food you want tonight—whether a soul-warming stew for Sunday supper, a quick sauté for a weeknight, or a baked pasta for potluck. These categories will help you figure out what to cook in an instant, with such choices as fresh-from-the-pantry appetizers, sauceless pastas, everyday roasts, and stuffed vegetables—whatever you’re in the mood for, you’ll be able to find a simple, delicious recipe for it here. That’s the beauty of Italian home cooking, and that’s what Giada De Laurentiis offers here—the essential recipes to make a great Italian dinner. Tonight.”

Happy Cooking – Giada De Laurentiis

Endless Summer Cookbook – By Katie Lee

“Katie Lee—co-host of Food Network’s The Kitchen—is known for her summer soirees, and in Endless Summer Cookbook, she shares more than 100 recipes that are staples at these parties. As Chef Bobby Flay can attest, “the recipes are as mouthwatering as they look.”
         
For Katie, cooking isn’t just about the food. It’s about the whole experience: the atmosphere, the stories that each ingredient tells, and, of course, the people who share the meal. Katie’s vision of a complete entertaining experience continues with Endless Summer Cookbook—where the cooking reflects the distinctive flavors of her home in the Hamptons.
                                                                    
From photography to design to the recipes themselves, Endless Summer Cookbook evokes the delicious flavors of the best season of the cook’s year. Included are salad Niçoise, peach blueberry cobbler, figs wrapped in prosciutto, a pizza thrown onto the grill, steak tacos served with avocado and fresh cilantro, and much, much more. Katie also offers ideas for wine pairing and easy entertaining. Endless Summer Cookbook—with its stunning photography and fresh, easy recipes—brings to mind the ultimate summer fantasy of lazy, luxurious days at the beach.”

Cravings – By Chrissy Tiegen

“Maybe she’s on a photo shoot in Zanzibar. Maybe she’s making people laugh on TV. But all Chrissy Teigen really wants to do is talk about dinner. Or breakfast. Lunch gets some love, too.

For years, she’s been collecting, cooking, and Instagramming her favorite recipes, and here they are: from breakfast all day to John’s famous fried chicken with spicy honey butter to her mom’s Thai classics. 

Salty, spicy, saucy, and fun as sin (that’s the food, but that’s Chrissy, too), these dishes are for family, for date night at home, for party time, and for a few life-sucks moments (salads). You’ll learn the importance of chili peppers, the secret to cheesy-cheeseless eggs, and life tips like how to use bacon as a home fragrance, the single best way to wake up in the morning, and how not to overthink men or Brussels sprouts. Because for Chrissy Teigen, cooking, eating, life, and love are one and the same.”

Vegan For Everybody – Americas Test Kitchen

“In this cookbook, America’s Test Kitchen decodes and demystifies vegan cooking, so you can reap its many benefits and avoid the pitfalls of bland food, lack of variety, and overprocessed ingredients. You’ll find approachable, fresh, vibrant recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in between.     

Veganism is going mainstream. The benefits of consuming fewer animal products appear frequently in the news, and public figures and celebrities have openly embraced the tenets of a vegan diet, bringing it further into the food consciences of baby boomers, millennials, and postmillennials alike. Whether exploring a vegan diet for health, environmental, or political reasons, more and more people are looking to get hearty, plant-based meals onto their table. But eating vegan can seem overwhelming: Will it be flavorful? Satisfying? Easy to make? And it’s easy to rely on processed foods. America’s Test Kitchen addresses head-on what intimidates people: finding great-tasting and filling vegan protein options, cooking without dairy, preparing different whole grains and vegetables, and even baking. With more than 200 vibrant, foolproof recipes including proper day-starters, “cheesy” pizza you’ll actually want to eat, filling vegetable-and-grain bowls, new dinner favorites, appetizers, DIY staples, and the ultimate birthday cake, this cookbook has something satisfying for everyone–the committed vegan or simply those looking to freshen up their cooking.”

Cooking for Jeffrey – Ina Garten

“For America’s bestselling cookbook author Ina Garten there is no greater pleasure than cooking for the people she loves—and particularly for her husband, Jeffrey. She has been cooking for him ever since they were married forty-eight years ago, and the comforting, delicious meals they shared became the basis for her extraordinary career in food.

Ina’s most personal cookbook yet, Cooking for Jeffrey is filled with the recipes Jeffrey and their friends request most often as well as charming stories from Ina and Jeffrey’s many years together. There are traditional dishes that she’s updated, such as Brisket with Onions and Leeks, and Tsimmes, a vegetable stew with carrots, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and prunes, and new favorites, like Skillet-Roasted Lemon Chicken and Roasted Salmon Tacos. You’ll also find wonderful new salads, including Maple-Roasted Carrot Salad and Kale Salad with Pancetta and Pecorino. Desserts range from simple Apple Pie Bars to showstoppers like Vanilla Rum Panna Cotta with Salted Caramel. For the first time, Ina has included a chapter devoted to bread and cheese, with recipes and tips for creating the perfect cheese course. With options like Fig and Goat Cheese Bruschettas and Challah with Saffron, there’s something everyone will enjoy.

From satisfying lunches to elegant dinners, here are the recipes Ina has tested over and over again, so you too can serve them with confidence to the people you love.”

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XO

Claire B.