TIM

The Modern Baker: Time Saving Techniques for Breads, Tarts, Pies, Cakes and Cookies
By Nick Malgieri (DK, $35.00)

Whenever a new book by Nick comes in the store I know that something really good is going to come out of my ovens. Nick is such a wonderful teacher and guides you effortlessly through recipe after recipe. The Banana Walnut Tart is such a lovely simple dessert and leaves your kitchen and home full of the most wonderful smells. Don’t forget the Caramel Crumble Bars.
The best!

AMY

A-16: Food + Wine
By Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren (Ten Speed Press, $35.00)

Northern California visitors to the Cook's Library can't say enough great things about A-16 one of the hottest restaurants in San Francisco.  We counted the days until the cookbook crossed our doorstep and, wow, what a book it is. This is a sensational restaurant book.  It isn't for the fainthearted, but they managed to make it accessible with a bit of challenge added in.  The pizza chapter alone makes the book worth having.  There are recipes aplenty for those who are working on improving their skills in the kitchen.  This is a book home chefs and restaurants chefs will go back to over and over again.

TEHRA

Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, With Recipes
By Jennifer McLagan (Ten Speed Press, $32.50)
 
Pleasure, is the main ingredient in the book Fat.  If I am to understand Ms McLagan, if you are going to eat it, then eat it well. And by eating it well, she turns out recipes for Salted Butter Tart, French Fries cooked in Lard, Bacon Fat Spice Cookies, and scrumptious Duck Rillettes.  The most controversial ingredient becomes the subject of the book and I, for one, am grateful. 

ALAN

The Flavor Bible
By Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg (Little Brown and Company, $35.00)

Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg have created an extensive and comprehensive guide for cooks and chefs of all levels, who are passionate about food. With impute from noted chefs across America, this book will help you explore various flavor combinations that will help you deepen, brighten and intensify your palate.
Complete and concise, this kitchen must have is a great way to discover and create new and exciting dishes.

CP

Two Dudes, One Pan: Maximum Flavor from a Minimalist Kitchen
By Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo (Clarkson Potter, $24.95)

As Jon and Vinny say in their introduction “why use three pans when one will do? Why blow your entire food budget on loins of veal and exotic out-of-season produce?” As I flipped through the recipes I didn’t even realize the one pan per dish was the hook for this book. The recipes just jumped out as delicious and do-able. This is the kind of book you leave in your car to check out as you drive home, stop at the grocery store and figure out something easy and delicious for dinner. It’s a cookbook you really want to cook from, no higher praise than that. Their restaurant Animal, in Los Angeles is getting great reviews too. Two of the first things I’m going to make from this book are the “Old School Tartar Sauce (to go with a number of great seafood dishes) and the “Spicy Citrus Glazed Duck Breasts.