The food52 cookbook: 140 winning recipes from exceptional home cooks

While working on The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Hesser (Cooking for Mr. Latte) and Stubbs realized that some of the best recipes come from home cooks, and launched food52.com-a site that encourages home cooks to share recipes and tips. Each week, they challenged visitors to come up with a recipe based on a certain theme or ingredient: best shrimp recipe, best holiday cookies, best baked pasta dish, and so forth. Here, they collect a year's worth of those recipes, accompanied by comments from fellow foodies, as well as tips and trivia. Grouped by season, Hesser and Stubbs highlight each week's winning recipe, including the story behind it, why it was picked, a short bio of the recipe's creator, and some encouraging words on why you should try the dish. Even readers with a shelf full of cookbooks will appreciate the book's broad, creative collection: from Pink Bolognese (a merging of the creamy vodka sauce with classic Bolognese), to a simple Ginger Sangria, to more ambitious fare, such as a stuffed manicotti with homemade pasta, DIY Merguez sausage, and a Caramelized Pork Bahn Mì sandwich. Cooks of all skill levels will find plenty of room to stretch. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

This cookbook is based on a simple premise: the best recipes come from home cooks. Hesser (The Essential New York Times Cookbook) and Stubbs held a contest on their website, www.food52.com, and the winning recipes comprise this book. These recipes are aimed at the knowledgeable home cook, and readers should already be familiar with cooking techniques and ingredients. Sprinkled throughout are little gems like, "You'll need to use your own tart dough. If you don't have one, try The Joy of Cooking." Arranged seasonally, entrees, sides, and desserts are well represented; appetizers and soups less so. Each recipe includes "Tips & Techniques," "About the Cook," and helpful, insightful comments under "What the Community Said." Verdict This cookbook is not meant to be simply a compendium of recipes; there are plenty of those around. Adventuresome home cooks who know their way around the kitchen will find it enjoyable and useful.-Grace Shanahan, formerly with Brooklyn P.L. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This cookbook is based on a simple premise: the best recipes come from home cooks. Hesser (The Essential New York Times Cookbook) and Stubbs held a contest on their website, www.food52.com, and the winning recipes comprise this book. These recipes are aimed at the knowledgeable home cook, and readers should already be familiar with cooking techniques and ingredients. Sprinkled throughout are little gems like, "You'll need to use your own tart dough. If you don't have one, try The Joy of Cooking." Arranged seasonally, entrées, sides, and desserts are well represented; appetizers and soups less so. Each recipe includes "Tips & Techniques," "About the Cook," and helpful, insightful comments under "What the Community Said." Verdict This cookbook is not meant to be simply a compendium of recipes; there are plenty of those around. Adventuresome home cooks who know their way around the kitchen will find it enjoyable and useful.-Grace Shanahan, formerly with Brooklyn P.L. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

While working on The Essential New York Times Cookbook, Hesser (Cooking for Mr. Latte) and Stubbs realized that some of the best recipes come from home cooks, and launched food52.com—a site that encourages home cooks to share recipes and tips. Each week, they challenged visitors to come up with a recipe based on a certain theme or ingredient: best shrimp recipe, best holiday cookies, best baked pasta dish, and so forth. Here, they collect a year's worth of those recipes, accompanied by comments from fellow foodies, as well as tips and trivia. Grouped by season, Hesser and Stubbs highlight each week's winning recipe, including the story behind it, why it was picked, a short bio of the recipe's creator, and some encouraging words on why you should try the dish. Even readers with a shelf full of cookbooks will appreciate the book's broad, creative collection: from Pink Bolognese (a merging of the creamy vodka sauce with classic Bolognese), to a simple Ginger Sangria, to more ambitious fare, such as a stuffed manicotti with homemade pasta, DIY Merguez sausage, and a Caramelized Pork Báhn Mì sandwich. Cooks of all skill levels will find plenty of room to stretch. (Oct.)