Cookbooks for Christmas

The Philadelphia Inquirer has a nice article suggesting some of the newest and best cookbook titles for Christmas gift giving.

I highly recommend the cookbook mentioned first in the article, THE AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN FAMILY COOKBOOK. This book combines a huge number of do-able recipes for the average cook with helpful step-by-step photography and photos offering tips for beginners. Want to know the difference in size between minced onions and finely minced onions? There's a photo! Within the last week I made my first-ever Chicken and Dumplings, as well as the Pan-Seared Steak with Red Wine Sauce, and each meal turned out great. One very rarely can go wrong with anything from America's Test Kitchen or Cook's Illustrated.

THE BEST RECIPES IN THE WORLD by Mark Bittman looks like an interesting purchase for the future. Bittman's HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING is one of my most-referred-to volumes. His new book, as one could guess from the title, has an international spin.

Bittman, incidentally, has a nice article on the pleasures of cast-iron cooking in today's New York Times. (Registration may be required by The New York Times.)

Returning to recommended cookbooks: I haven't read it yet but Lisa Yockelson's CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE looks like an amazing feast for the eyes, if not the stomach!