Every year cookbook styling and recipe development get better and better. In reviewing the past year's offerings, I ended up with a large pile of favored cookbooks. Reducing this stack to only 10 was a bit sad, as I had to put away some cookbooks that I really, really like. Each of the remaining books had to pass a test: I had to be inspired to cook from it repeatedly. This means that a lot of beautiful/coffee-table-style cookbooks didn’t make the cut, no matter how awesome they might be to look at. Likewise, cookbooks with extremely intricate recipes might not be on my list, because as much as I love to cook, I also love to weave cloth, craft stuff, and romp around the garden with our poodle, Mathilda.
While the below list is in alphabetical order, I do have a number one favorite:
Deep Run Roots. At a very close second place in my gluttonous heart is
Red Rooster. Both are Southern cookbooks and both are very well produced. They have good-looking layouts, feature eloquent author voices, and celebrate a strong sense of place. They battled in my brain for about a week before one reigned just a tiny bit more supreme. I hope you like Southern food, as three books featuring Southern cooking made it into my top 10, each via a different area of the country — from Harlem, from Seattle, and from the actual South.
In January I’ll post the top-selling cookbooks of 2016.
Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a F*ck was the number-one bestselling cookbook of 2015. Can it have held that position for another year? And will
Yotam Ottolenghi again rule the top five, with multiple bestsellers? The new year will be here before we know it, and I’m looking forward to seeing the final list.
Big Food Big Love
by Heather Earnhardt
Big Food Big Love is Southern food from Seattle, Washington. There is a little bit of everything — hush puppies, mac and cheese, dill pickles — all with the full-bodied flavor we expect from Southern food.
Favorite recipe: Country Breakfast Sausage. I often buy spiced ground sausage from the butcher. Why do I do this when I can easily whip it up at home? The spice mixture for this is hot and smoky with just a touch of sweet.
Runner-up recipe: It’s a tie between Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in Seattle and Smoked Chocolate Chip Cookie. Truth be told, I haven’t made these yet, but I’m dying to. I’m looking forward to seeing just how good the best chocolate chip cookie in Seattle is. And the smoked cookie — there is not just smoke but bacon in this cookie!
Crisps, Cobblers, Custards and Creams
by Jean Anderson
I love an old-fashioned grandma sort of dessert, and cobblers make everyone happy. Besides the obvious, there are pandowdies, panna cottas, soufflés, and trifles as well.
Favorite recipe: Berry Patch Cobbler With Pecan Shortbread Crust. This is a simple blackberry cobbler with a touch of lemon to punch up the sweet of the berries. What makes this special are the little square bits of shortbread floating on top.
Runner-up recipe: The Best Chocolate Bread Pudding. I love a dense chocolate mousse-style dessert that is easy to make.
Deep Run Roots
by Vivian Howard
My favorite cookbook of 2016! This is a perfect cookbook. The author’s voice is strong, the recipes are good, and you’ll learn something new about cooking and food. This is Southern cooking from eastern North Carolina.
Favorite recipe: Party Magnet. It’s a cheese ball! A cheese ball with butter! And dates! And other good stuff! I’m going to be making this all through the holidays, and I expect I’ll be asked many times for the recipe.
Runner-up recipe: Stuffed Butternut Bottoms. This is squash with sausage, kale, cheese, and a touch of sweet and sour. Or wait, maybe the runner-up is Grape Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sausage. Or maybe it's the rather odd-sounding, but enticing, Chocolate Fig Gravy. I guess I’m not going to bother trying to pin down one runner-up when it’s my favorite cookbook of the year.
Dorie's Cookies
by Dorie Greenspan
Have you ever baked a cookie? Do you think you might bake a cookie in the future? Then you need to have Dorie's Cookies. The. Best. Cookie. Book. Ever.
Favorite recipe: All of them. Since I have to pick one, I choose Snowy-Topped Brownie Drops. These are known in my family as Chocolate Crinkles, and they are a holiday tradition. Greenspan’s version is based from her classic brownie recipe, so this starts from awesome and then gets better.
Runner-up recipe: Again, all of them, but I’ll pick just one: Parmesan Galettes. I love a crispy cheesy cookie. This is nothing but butter, cheese, a touch of salt, and just enough flour to hold all that goodness together.
Food With Friends
by Leela Cyd
When cooking for company, I want the dishes to be easy to make and I want the food to be a little on the special side. Author Leela Cyd presents a cookbook that fits this perfectly. Her international travel background informs some of the recipes with elegant ethnic flavoring.
Favorite recipe: Smoky Delicata Squash With Pecorino. The last few weeks of fall, I hit the farmers markets hard, snapping up as many delicatas as I could store for the winter. Cyd’s squash is touched with paprika for a smoky tone.
Runner-up recipe: Labneh Balls. I love gifts from the kitchen. I love to give them and I love to get them. These are yogurt balls rolled in spice and stored in oil. Put them in a nice storage jar and you’ve got yourself a lovely gift to give away. Or don’t give them away. There is no shame in eating them right up, right away. Better make a double recipe. Or triple.
Minimalist Baker's Everyday Cooking
by Dana Shultz
The super-popular Minimalist Baker turns her attention to what to eat before dessert. Recipes are plant based and limited to 10 ingredients or less, and they take no more than 30 minutes. There are plenty of gluten-free recipes.
Favorite recipe: Garlic Pineapple Stir Fried Quinoa. Sometimes I just want to go face down in a bowl of Chinese-American fried rice. But I know this doesn’t make the best nutritional sense. This quinoa is treated with flavored oil, nut butter, and tamari. With this much flavor, who cares if there is no rice?
Runner-up recipe: Blender Sweet Potato Pie. Because: pie! Because: you can make it in a blender!
The Red Rooster Cookbook
by Marcus Samuelsson
Southern food by way of NYC. Samuelsson’s Harlem restaurant, Red Rooster, celebrates not only Southern fare but Harlem itself: the community, the music, and of course, the food.
Favorite recipe: Egg on Egg. Layer one: a flat omelet. Layer two: cheese and leftover stew. Layer three: a sunny-side up egg! Layer four: sour cream and hot sauce.
Runner-up recipe: Aunt Maybel’s Ham Buns With Chocolate Gravy. Ham. Ginger. Chocolate. Oh my goodness.
The Short Stack Cookbook
by Nick Fauchald and Kaitlyn Goalen
Short Stack is a lovely book with a midcentury-modern flair. Read this while lounging in your Eames or Herman Miller chair. The artwork is simple but a lot of fun. Each chapter concentrates on a single topic (honey, rice, tomatoes, etc.). Recipes were all developed by trusted professionals in various areas of the food industry.
Favorite recipe: Thai Coconut-Chile Macaroons. They're everything you’d expect from a macaroon plus Thai basil, chili, and lime.
Runner-up recipe: Sweet Cardamom Risotto With Ginger-Stewed Plums. Sometimes you want something both old-fashioned and modern at the same time.
Small Victories
by Julia Turshen
There is always one cookbook that we here in the new book buying department collectively love. This year’s most-loved cookbook is Small Victories. Each recipe is pretty simple, and author Turshen provides an extra helpful hint (a “small victory”) with each one. It's good for both the experienced cook and the new cook.
Favorite recipe: Scallops With Chile and Parsley Bread Crumbs. Turshen’s small victory here is how to get that crispy sear. (Patience is part of the hint.)
Runner-up recipe: Peach and Bourbon Milkshake. Because what about a peach and bourbon milkshake doesn’t sound delightful?
Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore
by Anna Thomas
Vegans and vegetarians shouldn’t get shut out of a fabulous feast just because a carnivore set the table. I never want anyone at my table to feel like a second-class citizen. The recipes in Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore make it easy to style one recipe three ways so that everyone can happily chow down.
Favorite recipe: Fried Black Rice With Peanuts. Citrus for a gentle flavor and peanuts and cilantro for a color pop make this a striking dish.
Runner-up recipe: Dana’s Bacon and Garlic Crisps. Okay, there's nothing here for anybody but the omnivores, but I find this combo irresistible.