Cookbooks

	Eat Me: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin by Kenny Shopsin and Carolynn Carreno From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Kenny Shopsin hates publicity the way a magnet must hate metal filings. With a documentary, a New Yorker profile and several New York Times articles clinging to him, this supposedly reluctant restaurateur now adds to his own troubles by releasing a totally hilarious and surprisingly touching treatise on cooking, customer loyalty and family bonds. As his brood grew to include five kids, his Manhattan eatery shrunk in size, yet maintained its idiosyncratic 900-item menu (reproduced here in a 12-page spread). Recipes for more than 100 of the offerings are presented, including Mac n Cheese Pancakes and Blisters on My Sisters (sunny-side-up eggs placed atop tortillas and a rice and bean concoction). But the real treat is Shopsin’s salty philosophizing. Sure, pancakes are tasty, but he reminds us that, They are flour and milk drowned in butter and some form of sugar. They’re crap. And the customer is always wrong until they show me they are worth cultivating as customers. Two such well-cultivated customers were the writer Calvin Trillin and his wife, Alice. They pop up throughout the book, providing not only happy reminiscences, but a roux of poignancy as both Shopsin and Trillin become widowers, bonded together over the love of a decent meal, quickly rendered.
	A Twist of the Wrist by Nancy Silverton and Carolynn Carreno From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. In this beautifully illustrated book, renowned Los Angeles baker and chef Silverton (Nancy Silverton’s Sandwich Book) uses premium prepared ingredients as shortcuts to ease the home cooking time crunch. Most recipes are timed at 30 minutes or less, but the elegance and seeming difficulty of the dishes set them apart from the usual quick-fix crowd pleasers: Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb Chops with Stuffed Grape Leaves and Tahini Sauce, or Buttermilk-Fried Oysters with Pickled Vegetables and Chipotle Mayonnaise sound like they should take much longer than half an hour, but with the ready-made ingredients, few cooks will have a problem. They might, however, have trouble actually finding those ingredients; even big-city dwellers may have to turn to the Internet for specialty items like green masala paste or fennel pollen, though a helpful glossary provides insight into locating them and some substitutions. Famous chef friends like Charlie Trotter and Mario Batali provide recipes revealing their own secret shortcuts. Fans of Silverton’s last book will love the chapter on crostini with innovative toppings like ventresca, piquillo peppers and caper mayonnaise, using leftovers from jars bought for other recipes. Cooks looking for upscale yet quick meal ideas, and who will pay extra for pricey exotic items, are sure to appreciate this stylish cheat sheet. 38 color photos. 75,000 first printing.
	Fresh Every Day: More Great Recipes from Foster’s Market by Sara Foster and Carolynn Carreno From Publishers Weekly This follow-up to The Foster’s Market Cookbook offers new simple, spruced-up recipes from the author’s North Carolina gourmet takeout shops. In the tradition of Martha Stewart, with whom Foster coauthored the previous book and worked as a chef in the ’80s, the effortlessly elegant food also reflects Foster’s Southern background, with its prevalence of sweet potatoes, cornmeal and black-eyed peas. Flavorful marinades, fresh herbs and seasonal ingredients maximize taste for quick meals on the grill or hands-off roasts. Numerous salsas and sides enliven each plate, and alternatives “for all seasons” to standards, like Twice-Baked Potatoes, Rice Pilaf, and Sautéed Shrimp, provide year-round variety. Desserts are unfussy crowd-pleasers such as Mom’s Apple Cobbler with Buttermilk Biscuit Topping, and Individual Chocolate Pudding Cakes. Sidebars on “Basics” and “Tricks of My Trade” share tips on techniques, shortcuts and gadgets. Busy cooks will learn to love leftovers when delicious Slow-Roasted Pork Shoulder is transformed into spicy Green Chili, and Skillet Cornbread becomes rustic Panzanella, an Italian bread salad. This is homey, American food with a kick, sure to appeal to cooks in search of easy ways to revitalize their repertoire. 160 color photos.
	New York: Authentic Recipes Celebrating the Foods of the World by Carolynn Carreno Known as much for its pizza, bagels, and baklava as for its dazzling restaurants, New York has always inspired culinary heights. Williams-Sonoma New York, which includes recipes such as Puerto Rican Black Bean Soup, New York Cheesecake, and more sophisticated fare like Polenta Crostini with Chanterelles, is a celebration of the big apple and its favorite foods.
	Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking: More Fresh Simple Recipes from Foster’s Market by Sara Foster and Carolynn Carreno From Publishers Weekly In her third cookbook, Foster, the owner of two gourmet markets in North Carolina, presents us with more of her trademark recipes; elegant, simple dishes with Southern flair. This time around she’s focused on ways to prepare meals for what she calls “the way we eat today.” She explains: “salads are meals, sandwiches and quesadillas qualify as a respectable grown-up dinner… and eggs can be eaten any time of the day.” The recipes call for basic ingredients that are easy to keep in your refrigerator and pantry, and include plenty of tips on saving time and varying dishes. The Party Platters section includes recipes that can be made quickly with very few ingredients like Crispy Sweet Potato Chips with Caramelized Onion Dip, a simple antipasto platter with olives, nuts and dried fruit, and Warm Crab Dip. Simple Suppers, like Rosemary Grilled Leg of Lamb with Tuscan White Beans and Roasted Tomatoes have relatively short ingredient lists and also include Quick Fixes like using canned ingredients to save time. Last but not least is the “Simplest Sweets” chapter, which avoids complicated baking techniques with recipes for grilled apricots with buttermilk ice cream and lemon poached pears with lemon cream. Anyone with limited time and a real desire to cook will benefit from this solid, accessible cookbook.
	Once Upon a Tart . . .: Soups, Salads, Muffins, and More by Frank Mentesana, Jerome Audureau, and Carolynn Carreno From Publishers Weekly Once Upon a Tart, a charming cafe in New York’s SoHo, was founded by two refugees from hotel management intent on a dream. Audureau, who ran a tarterie in Avignon, France, his home town, saw that New York had not discovered this French lunch delight the savory tart, with its accoutrements of salads and the finish of a sweet. Jersey-born Mentesana learned to cook from his Italian grandmother. The cafe chefs add unusual twists to traditional recipes for example Zucchini Tart with Curried Custard and Dried Currants and Chickpea-Tomato Soup with Fresh Rosemary. Zestful loving touches, such as Tomato Chutney with Golden Raisins as a spread for sandwiches, are what make this book and the cafE a standout. In chatty, accessible style, Audureau and Mentesana explain everything from blanching vegetables to how to cool tart crust and how to make apricot glaze for sweet tarts. The cafE’s regulars will be ecstatic to have this generous offering of recipes for their favorite tarts, scones, tea breads, and cookies, such as My Mother’s Are Better Ginger Cookies and the Chocolate-Pecan French-Style Macaroons. Each section, from salads to condiments, is carefully presented and full of ideas and hints. The lunchbox-size book (9 x 7) and lovely photos make for a cozy, lighthearted presentation.
	100 Ways to Be Pasta: Perfect Pasta Recipes from Gangivecchio by Wanda Tornabene, Giovanna Tornabene, and Carolynn Carreno From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Pasta’s very simplicity can sometimes trip up cookbook authors. After all, how many recipes for spaghetti with tomato sauce does one need? Mother and daughter Wanda and Giovanna Tornabene easily skirt this issue with inventive dishes such as Tagliolini with Green Apple Pesto and Speck, and Ditaloni with Eggplant Balls, Potato, and Pancetta. To coauthor Carreño’s credit, the voices of these two women, who run a restaurant in a 13th-century Sicilian abbey, remain genuine and convincing throughout. They demonstrate that cuisine can be inventive without involving backbreaking labor: in a recipe for Bucatini with Dried Figs, for example, they explain that they purchase dried figs rather than drying their own, “a boring and tedious task.” In a charming sidebar, they describe the pasta they prepare for their dogs and cats twice a day. There’s a distinct Sicilian flavor throughout, which means less of an emphasis on handmade egg pasta (Papa’s Ricotta Ravioli with Simple Butter Sauce is one exception) and an homage to the classic Lampedusa novel The Leopard in the form of a timballo that mimics one served in a prince’s home in the novel, as well as a version of Sicily’s Famous Spaghetti with Eggplant and Ricotta Salata. Recipes are clearly written and divided into types, such as rich pasta, one-dish pasta, soup with pasta, etc. The Tornabenes’La Cucina Siciliana di Gangivecchio (Knopf, 1996) and Sicilian Home Cooking (Knopf, 2001) were James Beard Award winners; this new addition looks like another potential champion.