Product Description

The perfect gift for Southerners, history lovers, and foodies alike.

Customer Reviews (1)

Low country food and stories
This book is not just a cookbook, but more of a celebration of life in the Lowcountry. There are inserts of history, such as the Swamp Fox and General Oglethorpe's victory over the Spanish in 1742. Chapters tell of the rice plantations, the Gullah, and the mystique of the Lowcountry. Included is Carolina Gold, the West African connection, historic Charleston, Savannah, and Beaufort. Recipes included are: Lowcountry beverages, hors d'oeuvres, seafood, rice, soups, stews, and gumbos, benne seeds, peanuts, pork, chicken, vegetables, corn and spoon bread, grits, wild game, and desserts.
There is a dictionary of Charltonese (bare=a beverage made from barley and hops, flow=what you stand on, true="he true the ball").
Joe Dabney, who is a James Beard Cookbook of the Year winner brings a volume of recipes and stories. There is an equal amount of both. It is a trip to the Lowcountry. ... Read more

Product Description
From the experts at Southern Living comes the most comprehensive guide to Southern cooking ever published-the essential source to experience, prepare, and savor the New South cuisine as well as the region's beloved classics.

This treasury of Southern cooking showcases recipes with entertaining commentary spotlighting the colorful cultural influences, Southernisms, fiery food debates, and the lighthearted side of Southern cooking.

You'll also find helpful tips, menus for strictly Southern occasions, quick inspirations, and Taste of the South features highlighting just what gives a recipe its Southern accent. Discover what the Food staff considers to be their quintessential Southern ingredients, techniques, and equipment.

Browse through these pages and find:

• Over 1,000 tried-and-true favorite Southern recipes
• More than 150 full-color mouthwatering images
• Valuable cooking pointers throughout that make preparing Southern classics and updated favorites foolproof
• Recipe banners to help quickly identify types of recipes like family favorite,make ahead,for kids, and more
• Food Finds featuring some of the finest eateries the South has to offer, all of them recognized by the magazine's Food and Travel editors

Product Description
Famous for its rich flavor and comforting qualities, Southern food is also notorious for its high fat content and for cooking procedures that destroy nutritional value. The author of several best-selling books on Southern cooking, Daisy King fully understands the qualities that make Southern food so appealing. In Miss Daisy¹s Healthy Southern Cooking she applies her expertise to creating healthy versions of her famous recipes and providing healthy alternatives to many popular Southern dishes.

"Year after year," she writes, "guests who patronized Miss Daisy's requested low-fat, low-cholesterol, and low-calorie recipes and menus. During those years I continued to develop, collect, and file recipes for a cookbook containing healthier versions of traditional Southern recipes." Miss Daisy¹s Healthy Southern Cooking is filled with those recipes, and it provides ways to fine-tune a healthy lifestyle though carefully developed and tested recipes for lighter, healthier foods that really taste good.

More than just a cookbook, Miss Daisy's Healthy Southern Cooking is a guide to a healthy lifestyle. Miss Daisy offers helpful hints on how to shop for groceries, plan menus, dine at restaurants, order fast food, and understand the nutrition labels mandated by the federal government. She discusses health concerns and the effects of diet on health, thus making it a revelation for everyone who wants to eat Southern and eat healthy. ... Read more

Product Description
Apron Strings, the official cookbook of the city of Little Rock, contains recipes ranging from old southern favorites to the newest trends. Menus, parties, shared wisdom, and sweet memories...a southern celebration of food and family. Clinton family favorites along with stories and favorite recipes from celebrity John Grisham will surely please the most discerning reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Southern Cooking for the New Century
Delightful, delicious and easy to prepare recipes for today's busy lifestyle. Apron Stings has over 300 recipes ranging from old southern favorites to the newest trends. It is beautifully illustrated withfull-color photography and includes charming anecdotes which evoke thespirit of Southern cooking.A must have for your cooking library! ... Read more

Product Description
Think of Southern fruits and vegetables, and tomatoes, corn, okra, and watermelon come to mind.But what about grapefruits, oranges, and key limes from Florida? Or peas, beans, and greens from the fields of Mississippi? Damon Fowler, who is passionate about preserving Southern culinary traditions, offers recipes for transforming Vidalia onions, sun-ripened tomatoes, field peas, butterbeans, okra, Georgia peaches, plump figs, watermelons, key limes, and Florida citrus into the fruit and vegetable glories of the Southern table. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Southern veggies - the real way
Finally able to duplicate the vegetable dishes my grandmothers made.

e.g. Slow cooked Pole Beans with ham hocks, like I remembered. Tip: you have to have the right type of green bean or it just won't work.

Don't Let the "Booklist" Review Scare You
This book is a treasure.I was so pleasantly surprised that it wasn't "weird" and un-southern like "Booklist" led me to believe.Now I can almost cook like my great-grandmother did. (I need more practice.) Not only is this a great cookbook and reference, it's full of very enjoyable reading. I find myself picking this up for my recreational reading and getting hungry. It also tells me all I want to know about the vegetables themselves, like how to choose a ripe cantalope, and why sweet potatoes are sometimes called yams. However, it's very well organized and laid-out if you need to get a recipe and skip the conversation. (But that's not very southern of you.)I can't get enough of that braised cabbage!

So much more than collards and grits!
Damon Lee Fowler's "Beans, Greens, and Sweet Georgia Peaches" is a follow-up to his successful "Classical Southern Cooking", concentrating this time on the Southern cook's way with fruit and vegetables. It is, however, much more than merely a book of recipes. Instead, Fowler serves up a delightful treatise on the philosophy and outlook of Southern cooking, in which the recipes act more as examples of his principle arguments, rather than the book's main raison d'être. It is clear that the author is more interested in explaining the `why' of Southern cooking than the `how' - something that is very useful when you find yourself needing to make substitutions because of problems of availability! In addition, his enthusiasm for his subject shines through on every page. In all, this makes for a fascinating read. The book also contains some really wonderful recipes!

Throughout, Fowler concentrates on Southern traditional ways, always aiming for the authentic touch to his dishes and methods of preparation. Consequently, even though this book is mainly about vegetable dishes, prepared Southern-style, it is by no means a vegetarian cookbook. Traditional Southern pork dripping or ham, as well as seafood features prominently throughout the book. Nevertheless, Fowler remains sensitive to the fact that its title and subject matter may well draw the attention of those seeking vegetarian recipes and so he thoughtfully (and tastefully!) provides true vegetarian (and even vegan) alternatives wherever possible. While these may not be totally true to their origins, the results are every bit as tasty.

My copy of this book was given to me by my wife, as a memento of our first trip to Atlanta. Even though some of the ingredients are a little hard to come by the UK, it has nevertheless come to be one of my favourite sources of inspiration in the kitchen. And it is a wonderfully mouth-watering way to be reminded of the hospitality the Southern States!

YUMMY!!!
Southern cooking is more than pork fat and collards (though these are good things).Southern cooking is--like any other important cuisine--making the most out of nature's bounty. Damon Lee Fowler knows that. He takes thenatural abundance of Southern gardens and creates (or in many cases)recreates recipes that make eating your vegetables the best part of themeal.

If you grew up in the South and/or (like me) had a Southern motheror grandmother who cooked lots of seasonal vegetables.This book is chockfull of recipes and memories.

I have tried about 2/3 of the recipes sofar and I haven't found one that I disliked. ... Read more

Product Description
Here's a gourmet's collection of nealy 200 robust, satisfying dishes from southern Italy and Sicily. Antipasti, soups, pasta and grain dishes, meat and fish courses, beans, vegetables, salads, desserts and pastries are all presented here, along with menus, ingredients, information on wines, and conversion tables. Now available in trade paper. 32 full-color photos. ... Read more

Product Description
Celebrated chef and author Joyce Goldstein has a gift for sharing her extraordinary knowledge of unusual and delicious cuisines in such an approachable and joyful way that they quickly become part of the home cook’s repertoire. In Saffron Shores, she brings to the table the sensual aromas and exquisite flavors of the Southern Mediterranean in a celebration of its rich Jewish heritage. From Morocco comes a vibrant orange salad strewn with olives; from Algeria, a hearty tagine of chicken with quince; from Tunisia, a spicy eggplant puree; from Libya, a saffron and paprika infused fish soup-all are authentic, kosher, and a delightful introduction to a healthful, flavorful cuisine for the modern cook. A fascinating exploration of cultures and cuisine, lush with images, Saffron Shores is as beautiful to look at as its always-accessible recipes are delicious to eat.Amazon.com Review
Though most of us think of Jewish cooking as Eastern European in origin, there's an alluring second traditional Jewish cuisine, that of the Mediterranean. Joyce Goldstein's Saffron Shores explores the most southerly branch of this exotic repertoire, which includes the spice-infused dishes of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Goldstein, who pursued Italian- and Spanish-Jewish cooking in Cucina Ebraica and Sephardic Flavors, is ideally suited to introduce this largely unexplored and delicious cuisine; she offers 100 recipes for a wide range of dishes--appetizers through sweets--including don't-miss treats like Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Honey, Baked Fish Stuffed with Almond Paste, and Cumin Flavored Meatballs with Onion Jam and Spicy Tomato Sauce. Simple in conception, and mostly easy to do, the dishes work well for modern cooks who want something "different" without going to great lengths to get it.

Beginning with a brief history of the cooking, and presenting its flavor profile (like that of the Jews who settled in the Ottoman Empire, the Southern Mediterranean palate favors vivid spiciness with the likes of cumin and cinnamon, plus a penchant for sweet-and-sour combinations), she then introduces the tempting recipes. Of special interest is a section on savory pastries like Iraqi Chicken and Chick Pea Pastries and Lebanese Spinach Turnovers, "labors of love," says Goldstein, that are nonetheless worth a cook's involvement, and sweets, such as Syrian Rice Pudding and Raisin and Walnut Jam Tart. (Also included is a recipe for preparing boxed couscous that finally makes the most of this obvious convenience.) With holiday menus and color photos throughout, the book is truly welcome. --Arthur Boehm ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Amazing food but recipes need to be more specific about amounts
I cooked 2010 Passover dinner for 8 people entirely from this cookbook.Every recipe I used was just absolutely delicious and my guests raved in particular about Haoari's Spicy Eggplant Puree and the Tunisian Passover Stew with Spring Vegetables.I made the Alternate Harissa for both dishes.I like this harissa so much that I spread it on matzos and eat it just like that. The Passover Stew made probably double the servings listed on the recipe (20 instead of 10). I had to split the stew between a large pressure cooker and my electric countertop roaster, both of which were full.I also made the Osbane sausage recipe for this stew, so that may have driven up the number of servings.

The recipes need to specify amounts more precisely though. In a lot of the recipes it says for example, "2 onions" or "the juice of one lemon".For the Osbane, I used two onions, however, when I mixed it together, it was obvious that the author's idea of a normal sized onion was much smaller than what I had on hand. I ended up fishing out pieces of onion to get the mixture down to where the sausage would hold together. These discrepancies in portions and amounts are the only reasons the book did not get five stars.

Despite this, I recommend this book strongly to anyone, not just Jews. A lot of people have asked me for the recipes from this, but really I would like them to just buy this book instead. The author deserves your money.

Another great cookbook
I'm currently bulking up my Jewish and Kosher cook book collection. If you're doing the same, you NEED Joyce Goldstein's books. They photography is stunning and the recipes are easy to follow. The ingredients are easy enough to find and there's nothing too exotic.

It's a welcome change from the massive amounts of Ashkenazim cookbooks on the market.

A Sephardic Splendor
This book is a MUST HAVE for anyone wishing to create a table that captures the Jewish cullanary experience of the S. Mediterranean.

Great purchase!
absolutely fantastic book. With a bookshelf of cookbooks I rarely use I was debating on purchasing this book. I am glad I did!

Spicy `Shores' of the Mediterranean
author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Great Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family

from the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
November 29, 2002

Celebrated cookbook author and chef Joyce Goldstein can trace her bloodline to a Russian shtetl, but her heart and soul lie in the Mediterranean.

In "Cucina Ebraica" (Chronicle Books, 1998) and "Sephardic Flavors" (Chronicle Books, 2000) she explored Italian Jewish and Spanish Jewish cuisine, and now, to round out the trilogy, in "Saffron Shores" (Chronicle Books, $35) she continues her Mediterranean culinary journey with the exotic cuisine of the Maghreb: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, even including related Judeo-Arabic countries like Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.

"I have been cooking this food for I cannot tell you how many years," said the former chef/owner of the renowned Mediterranean restaurant Square One in San Francisco. "When I was doing research for `Sephardic Flavors,' I realized the subject was so huge I couldn't do it all in one book, so I covered the northern Mediterranean in `Sephardic Flavors' and the southern Mediterranean in `Saffron Shores.' Here the style of cooking changes with a lot more spices and herbs and additional uses of fruit, but, of course, there is some overlap."

Notable for its absence is Israeli cuisine. "I left it out because it's a hodgepodge," she explains. "The last time I was in Israel I was served sashimi and Thai-flavored something or other, and I thought, sorry, I didn't come here for that. Israeli cuisine is a melting pot, a lot like America. Whoever is there is cooking Romanian food, Italian food, Yemenite food. Is there Israeli cuisine? I think it's fusion, so I didn't give it much attention. It's not pure. I'd rather go back to the sources."

Indeed, each recipe reflects Goldstein's impeccable research and attention to detail, and regional differences are carefully noted. For example, for the Cumin Flavored Meatballs, Goldstein offers Moroccan and Syrian variations. But she never sacrifices flavor for authenticity, adding a touch of orange to the sfenj (Moroccan Chanukah donuts), for example, and adjusting the spices in various dishes.

"The spices of North Africa are really vibrant, just incredible, so much fresher and more intense than those we can buy here," she said. "To make these recipes taste right, I often had to double them."

More than just a recipe collection, "Saffron Shores" traces the history of Jewish life in these exotic lands and its impact on the cuisine. We learn that unlike the Ashkenazim, who preserved their Judaism by isolating themselves, the Sephardim were more involved in the communities in which they lived. "They shared recipes and culinary traditions with their non-Jewish neighbors," she writes. "Their food reflected the cuisine of their homeland but adapted to follow the kosher laws."

Because the Sephardim were more active in the community, in trades and in business, there was a greater exchange of ideas between Jews and Muslims, and the similarity in recipes between Jews and their non-Jewish neighbors is striking, she notes.

"On the other hand, certain [Eastern European] dishes, when you think of them, you know they are Jewish. I have many Russian cookbooks, but I don't see too many recipes in there for brisket or tzimmes. There's not as much overlap between the Jewish and non-Jewish dishes. Some of the ingredients are the same, like cabbage and potatoes, but the recipes don't track the same way that the Sephardic ones do."

A tireless researcher, Goldstein combed cookbooks from the area, written in French, to capture the authentic tastes and aromatic flavors of such dishes as Iraqi Chicken and Chickpea Pastries, Lamb Tagine with Prunes and Honey and Moroccan Chicken and Almond Pie. The latter, known as B'Stilla, Goldstein calls "a masterpiece of Moroccan cuisine."

And while most of the recipes are easy to prepare, favoring the use of fresh, local ingredients over the labor-intensive method, the savory pastries that Goldstein calls "labors of love" are worth the extra effort, she said. Teams of women would prepare them together for special occasions, a tradition that is sadly dying out. Goldstein suggests families create their own traditions by preparing these bistels, briks or buraks together. "Anything that is fried is appropriate for Chanukah. The Tunisian briks are rounder in shape and contain egg, as compared to the bistels from Morocco and buraks from Algeria," she explains, "but they all can be fried."

For those who can't think of Chanukah without potatoes, there are potato filled briks from Tunisia. But Goldstein offers a variety of fillings for these pastries, from beef or lamb to feta cheese to chicken with chickpea to spinach with pine nuts. Depending on the region, the dough may be phyllo, yeast raised, short crust or semolina, and the pastries may be baked as well as fried.

These spice-infused pastries make an alluring addition to any Chanukah table. And for Ashkenazic Jews, what an exotic change from latkes.

>Cumin Flavored Meatballs With Onion Jam and Spicy Tomato Sauce

1 pound ground beef

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander (cilantro)

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1¼4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

11¼2 teaspoons salt

1¼2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. Light a fire in a charcoal grill. (You may also use a skillet heated over medium-high heat.)

2. In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients. Mix well, form into 16 oval meatballs wrapped around skewers, or into eight oval patties.

3. Grill or cook in oil on a hot pan until browned on all sides.

4. Serve with onion jam and tomato sauce.

Serves four.

Moroccan Chanukah Doughnut

2 envelopes active dry yeast

1¼4 cup sugar

1¼2 cup warm water

4 cups all-purpose flour

1¼2 teaspoon salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten (optional)

grated zest of 1 orange

1¼4 cup canola oil, melted margarine,

or melted unsalted butter (optional)

11¼2 to 2 cups warm water or part

water, part orange juice

Peanut or canola oil for deep frying

Granulated sugar for sprinkling or warm honey for dipping (optional)

1. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the water. Let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Pour into a large bowl and gradually stir in the flour and salt.

3. Stir in the eggs, zest, and 1¼4 cup oil, margarine or butter, if using.

4. Stir in just enough water or water and juice to make a soft and elastic dough.

5. Knead well, with a dough hook or by hand, on a lightly floured surface, until the dough is elastic, smooth and shiny.

6. Roll the dough into a ball, place in an oiled bowl and turn to coat.

7. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled (11¼2 to 2 hours).

8. Oil your hands. Divide the dough into 20 balls about 2 inches in diameter.

9. In a deep saucepan or wok, heat 3 inches of oil to 365 F.

10. Take a ball of dough, make a hole in the center, and pull it out to make a doughnut shape. Deep fry a few at a time until the donuts are puffed and golden.

11. Using a slotted spoon or skimmer, transfer to paper towels to drain.

12. While still hot, sprinkle with granulated sugar or dip in warm honey. Serve warm.

Makes about 20 donuts. ... Read more

Product Description
There was a time when life was simple and good. a time when love and care went into cooking fragrant country hams and sausages, green beans were slowly simmered for a day, pies and cakes were lovinglybaked and eagerly eaten. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
Southern Living, launched in 1966, is the heart of Southern life. Over 16 million people turn to the magazine each month for recipes, travel tips, gardening guides, and home decorating inspiration. Readers use it, keep it, live by it. It's the magazine that no Southern home in any part of the country can be without ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Southern Living is the Greatest
I have been ordering Southern Living for over a decade now, and they are the "Greatest."The recipes are awesome!I highly recommend purchasing "Any" and "All" Southern Living Cookbooks.I know it may be costly, but I wish every recipe had pictures.The pictures do wonders for me, these are the recipes that I try first. ... Read more

Product Description
The immediacy of the Internet, the accessibility of books, and the experience of About.com Guides are all at your fingertips in this dynamic how-to series!

Mississippi maven Diana Rattray teaches you the basic techniques and tried and true secrets of making authentic Southern foods! Featuring recipes for everything from classic comfort food to French influenced Cajun fare, The About.com Guide to Southern Cooking offers an inviting introduction to America's favorite cuisine.

This dynamic cookbook features:

Product Description

There's a whole world of flavor packed into an eighty-plus-square-mile area surrounding the cities of Charleston and Savannah. It's called the Low Country of South Carolina.

For centuries, Low-Country cooks have taken the diverse foods of Africa, France, Spain, and the Caribbean and turned them into one of the most intriguing regional cuisines.

Marvin Woods, chef/owner of Diaspora Foods in Charlotte, North Carolina, offers a new take on this extraordinary cuisine. By incorporating these international flavors with contemporary techniques, he stays true to the roots of the original dish, yet creates new flavors that are innovative and delicious. With the sure hand of a seasoned chef, Woods transforms standards like fried chicken and gumbo into updated dishes for today's kitchen. Try his Southern-Exposed Fried Chicken; it's fried, then baked, for crispy, greaseless results. His Vegetable Gumbo is light, flavorful, and satisfying. There's everything from Bourbon-Soaked Pork Chops and Barbecued Short Ribs to Pan-Seared Pompano and Southern Summer Ratatouille.

Rice, South Carolina's great contribution to the American culinary melting pot, takes center stage in Crab and Shrimp Pilau and Five-Greens Rice. You'll also find recipes for the ultimate Southern classics--biscuits and cornbread--along with sensational desserts such as My Favorite Mini Mud Pies and Praline Bread Pudding.

But The New Low-Country Cooking is much more than a great cookbook. Woods shares historical tidbits on how dishes and ingredients got their names, where they originated, and the indisputable importance of African-American cooks in Southern life.

The New Low-Country Cooking hits a high note in American regional cuisine.

Customer Reviews (12)

Definitely not worth the money. So many better books out there!
This book was given to me as a gift by a friend who usually has great taste. After giving the book a good read (as much as a person can read a cookbook), I was left completely disappointed.It seems as if not much work went into this cookbook at all, and I was left completely uninspired.Given the thousands of great books out there covering the same cuisine, I would recommend others to not waste their time.I would return it in a second had it not been a gift.Into the attic it goes...

WOW- A revelation!!! Delish!
I LOVE this cookbook! The BEST spicy southern fried chicken ever! All the recipes are pretty simple and delicious. I just wish he'd written a 2nd book!!! YUM YUM!!!!

everyday comfort food with perfect flavor!
an excellent cookbook on a regional cuisine. excellent and accurate choice of recipes (although i wish there were more chicken dinner ones). these recipes are perfect for flavorful basic meals. this is without question the book i use most, especially for sunday dinner. i have passed along the mac/cheese recipe to dozens of folks. the smothered chicken recipe is a staple in our house. try the butternut squash succotash or the spiced apple pie or the stewed chicken. they're can't miss and delicious

the food in this collection isn't fancy or fussy, but it is very very good. this book is best suited for everday folks who have cooking and eating as an integral part of daily home life.

Southern cooking with a real flair
This is one of my favorite cookbooks, especially after spending a summer in Charleston last year. I was raised on very traditional southern cooking, and I was looking for something that added a bit of gourmet flair to traditional recipes (and made them a bit healthier). This cookbook does it beautifully, and has a lot of nice background on low country cooking, food traditions, and history. The collard greens and gumbo recipes are just spectacular. I like too that there are basic recipes for things like hoppin john and plain old rice. No pretty pictures, but the volume of recipes more than makes up for it.

If you are looking for something reminiscent of your grandma's cooking in the fifties, with lots of fatback and crisco, you won't find it here. But I think this is a much tastier, healthier turn on my favorite little bit of southern food.

Nice but ....uninspired.
I was eaagerly awaiting the delivery of this book and was disappointed. The recipies were little more than re-hashing some basic carolina cooking. Nothing innovative or even interesting.

I was hoping for more. ... Read more

Product Description
A nose-to-tail guide to the very best Southern pork recipes, from award-winning food writer James Villas

Though beef, poultry, and fish all have their place in Southern cuisine, one animal stands snout and shoulders above the rest—the mighty pig. From bacon to barbecue, from pork loin to pork belly, James Villas's Pig: King of the Southern Table presents the pride of the South in all its glory. 300 mouth-watering recipes range from the basics like sausages, ribs, and ham to creative ideas involving hashes, burgers, gumbos, and casseroles.

A North Carolina native, Villas doesn't just provide great pork recipes but also brings the spirit of Southern cooking alive with tasty cultural and historical tidbits and favorite recipes from beloved restaurants like Louis Osteen's on Pawley's Island and Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill. With gorgeous full-color photography and recipes from Maryland to Louisiana and everywhere in between, Pig is the definitive take on the South's favorite animal.

• Includes 300 recipes for pork dishes of all kinds, including appetizers, soups, sides, rice dishes, and even breads
• Features recipes like Cajun Boudin Rice Sausage, Bacon-Wrapped Pork Loin with Dates and Walnuts, Mississippi Spice-Stuffed Baked Ham, and Collard Greens with Pork Belly
• Offers more than just recipes—the book includes a pig-parts primer, a glossary of pig cooking terms, and cooking tips and sidebars throughout
• Written by James Villas, winner of two James Beard Journalism Awards and former food and wine editor of Town & Country magazine for 27 years

Whether you're planning the perfect summer barbecue or just looking for new ideas for family dinners, Pig shares the secrets of great Southern cooking with every corner of the nation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Sapid and Sinful Southern Specialties
You won't find calorie counts at the end of these recipes, but if you're looking for sumptuous southern-style pork dishes where flavor is what counts, //Pig, King of the Southern Table//, a cookbook by James Villas, is a good choice.

The introductory material, including a glossary, a "Southern-Pig Primer" and a "Gospel of Southern Barbecue," serves as an Emily Post of southern barbecue. Thank goodness, because apparently, at least according to Villas, this is "the most controversial and misunderstood subject on earth."

This author is committed to his pork, and has created or compiled 383 pages of recipes for every course. My favorites are the Canadian Bacon, Vegetable and White Bean Soup (60), Ham Croquettes with Parsley Sauce (174), Baked Country Ham Stuffed with Greens and Apricots (236), Country style Sausages and Apples (259), and something akin to a jambalaya, the Sullivan's Island Bacon and Shrimp Bog (268).

More southern than Aidells's //Complete Book of Pork//(Harper Collins, 2004), and less informative on the basics -- preserving fresh pork, rendering lard or making salami, for example, are not included in Villas -- //Pig// really is a recipe book for lovers of southern-style food and diners with strong arteries.

A sapid and sinful cookbook where all the vegetables are cooked with bacon fat, porkbelly, salt pork or hamhock: This is not for the faint of heart.

Reviewed by Robin Martin

The pig, the whole pig, and nothing but things that enhance the enjoyment of eating pig.
This is a book that explores the importance of the pig to Southern cooking.The author refers to pig instead of pork because the book explores dishes for every part of the entire animal rather than just the usual muscle and flesh pieces we regularly call pork.Mr. Villas doesn't fill the book with essays other than the introductory material. But Villas includes his marvelous insights as introductions to each recipe.His award winning writing style and vast experience as a food writer and editor show in this book's entertaining and informative readability as well as through its utility as a cookbook. I also enjoyed the little quotations that are at the end of many of the two-page recipes. And the photos are collected into sections with page numbers for the associated recipes.They are of extremely high quality as one would expect from a magazine editor.

But don't expect a mere recipe book of dishes Villas collected as an explorer into Southern Cookery.He knows this food to the depth of his soul.Most of the recipes are his own, his family's, and some included are identified as coming from locations and people he has gotten to know along the way.When he identifies that they came from others he also lets us know if he has made his own tweak on it.

He begins with a wonderful section on Appetizers and Salads.Oh, yes, we get Smithfield Ham Spread, Kentucky Potted Ham, Crisp Potato Skins with Cheese and Bacon, Spicy Sausage Balls, and Pork Liver Pate.But we also get a recipe for Souse, another for Pork Cracklin' Black Eyed Pea and Shrimp Salad, Pig Knuckle Salad with Mustard Vinaigrette, Congealed Ham and Orange Salad, and Tennis Ball salad with Salt Pork-Buttermilk Dressing.And many more treats.
And where would the world be without pig based soups, chowders, and gumbos?I think we will all be instantly attracted to the things like Spiced Pork Meatball Soup, Plantation Pork and Rice Soup,Creole Seafood, Sausage, and Okra Gumbo, Birmingham Red Bean and Ham Bone Soup.But I encourage a deeper look at things like Pot Likker Soup (Pot Likker is the glorious cooking water for fresh greens of all types), or the Outer Banks Muddle (a mess of fish), or the traditional Good Friday dish, and Gumbo z'Herbes.And, of course, there are many more.

Then there are Stews, Casseroles, and Stratas.No book on Southern Cookery would be complete without a recipe for Brunswick Stew and the author's Virginia take is a good one as is his recipe for Frogmore Stew.But also try the Pork and Eggplant Stew.The Casseroles and all interesting and you might like the Sausage and Leek Buffet Casserole or the Spice Breakfast Sausage and Cheese Bake.A Strata is a layered casserole (hence the name) and are perfect for those times you want to make something ahead of time, store it in the fridge and simply warm it when you get home from Church or some other event.All look wonderful to me.How about the Pork, Pea, and Noodle Strata?Or the Slab Bacon and Mushroom Strata, or the version with sausage and mixed veggies?

We then arrive at Chops, Cutlets, and Steaks!What meat loving red blooded American wouldn't want to try each and every dish here?How about the Baked Double Pork Chops stuffed with Oysters?Sounds like heaven to me.Or the Creole Pork Steaks?Can you get more Southern than Broiled Pork Chops with Peachy Cheese Crust?Or Mississippi Smothered Pork Cutlets.Have fun!

The next section provides a tour of Pies, Loaves, Hashes, and Burgers.Again, all pork based.Old Fashioned Pork Pie with a Biscuit Crust, Barbecued Pork and Sausage Meatloaf, Natchitoches Pork Pie, and an Open Face Pig and Pimento Burger are just the highlights.

Villas devotes a whole section to 19 recipes for Pork Roasts.Some are with loin, some are with tenderloins, or pork shoulder or Butt, and one is for a Roasted Quail with Salt Pork and Country Ham.But there is a whole section with 19 recipes devoted to Hams, as well.Well, one is for Ham Hock Seasoning Liquid that you use with other things, but it is still part of the ham and it is a recipe even if it isn't a dish.You get recipes for dealing with a fresh ham and a recipe for a basic cooked country ham.But most of the recipes are for use prepared hams or portions of them.Why would you not want to braise a country ham in cider and molasses?Sounds like heaven to me.

Most of us most of our pork products as sausage and bacon.Villas encourages us to get our own grinder and make our own high quality sausage because it tastes so much better and is the key to superb sausage dishes.He provides and easy and solid recipes for Bulk Pork Sausage, Savannah Spiced Country Sausage, Cajun Boudin Rice Sausage, Creole Chaurice and much much more.You might want to go right to the Mississippi Bacon Spaghetti, though.
And of course, where would we be without Barbecue and Ribs.Villas begins with two sauce and two rub recipes and then takes us through both kinds of North Carolina `Cue, many kinds of ribs, chops, and loin recipes as well as kabobs and a recipe for Barbecue Bourbon Ham Steaks.The section on Variety and Specialty Meats deals with various kinds of pickled pork, preserved ham, deviled liver, puddings, scrapple, even feet, brains, sweetbreads, and ears.

Dishes with Vegetables and Rice are good down home basic fare and includes a Perloo and a Bog recipe.Both are similar to the jambalaya, but the Perloo is drier and the Bog is wetter than the traditional jambalaya.

The book concludes with a collection of bread recipes that include cornbread, hoecakes, corn pone, hush puppies, spoon bread, biscuits of various kinds, rolls, actual loaves of bread incorporating pork and other products.

What a wonderful journey Villas takes us on and shows it to us in such a delightfully personal way.Give the guy another James Beard Award!

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Saline, MI

AS A SOUTHERNER-----
----I JUST WENT AND GOT THIS BOOK BASED ON THE TITLE ALONE.
CAN'T WAIT TO DIG IN!

A top pick for any culinary collection, from general to culinary school libraries!
Pig: King of the Southern Table is a fine additional to any Southern or regional American cookery library. It packs in some 300 recipes culled from every state in the South, blending color photos and recipes to provide a satisfying blend of history and local specialties. A top pick for any culinary collection, from general to culinary school libraries!

Southern food...
I don't particularly like Southern food.I have no idea why, though.And because I don't like Southern food, I don't like this cookbook.But I have no idea why.In all regards, this cookbook is made to high standards.I can't find a single thing to pick on it about.And I can tell from all the reviews that most people love it.So, this must just be something wrong with me.Rating the cookbook on it's quality, and not my feelings towards it, it's a solid five-stars.This book is well laid out, well bound, and well written.So, my personal feelings against the style of food.

Why did I buy it?Well, because I have very few "Southern" cookbooks, and what few I have are really Gullah cookbooks, so I thought it would be a good investment; plus, it's about ham, and I like ham.

On the plus side, it does have a recipe for chitlins.This recipe is also the occasion of the only bad thing I have to say about the writing: there is no warning about the smell of chitlins.(Remember: no one reported Jeffrey Dahmer for the terrible smells of his victims because it just smelled like he was cooking chitlins.) ... Read more

Product Description
Taste the chocolatey goodness of Mississippi Mud or marvel at the extravagant elegance of the Lady Baltimore and there will be no doubt that Southerners know how to bake a cake. Here are 65 recipes for some of the most delicious ever. Jam cakes and jelly rolls; humble pear bread and peanut cake; whole chapters on both chocolate and coconut cakes each moist and delicious forkful represents the spirit of the South. A Baking 101 section offers the cake basics, some finishing touches (that means frosting and lots of it!), and the how-to's of storing each lovely concoction so that the last slice tastes as fresh and delightful as the first. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (45)

Fine Purchase
The book came in good time and in excellent condition.Thinking now about ordering two more if they're
still available.

Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott
Admittedly, I bought this book because of the pictures; they are very attractive. I have cooked for a long, long time and I do know my way around my kitchen. I'm wondering if anyone actually baked these cakes and made the frostings, each and every one, to see if the recipes work. I followed directions to the exact specs and the results were not great...I was expecting something spectacular with lots and lots of GOOD TASTE! The lemon-filled coconut cake, for example, is pitiful. I think the ingredients are wrong: when making "fluffy white frosting", it seems that only light corn syrup OR cream of tartar would be required and there is no way this stuff needs to be beaten for 16 minutes! I think the "Lemon Curd" is missing an ingredient; seems like there should be a thickening agent, like cornstarch for this stuff to set up -- it did not. I did not expect to have soup for the cake filling. Beautiful looking cakes are nice, but in my world, the cakes ABSOLUTELY MUST taste good and these do not and I'm not really interested in proving out each recipe. I'm really sorry to have purchased the book...

A well written and photographed cookbook that brings the most popular Southern cakes to the modern kitchen
I grew up in North Carolina surrounded by family members and friends that loved to cook. Cakes were for special occasions like birthdays, family gatherings, holidays, and church events.

The dessert table at a church dinner on the grounds was a beautiful and much anticipated site. Everyone knew who made the best cakes, and these cooks were expected to bring their specialties. At the church I attended as a little girl, there was an annual Harvest pig picking/dinner on the grounds along with an auction to raise money for different church projects. Along with quilts made by a quilting bee that met in the fellowship hall, miscellaneous crafts and other items, there was always a table of the most luscious pies, banana pudding, and glorious cakes to be auctioned off. The cakes were a big seller.

I love all things culinary, but I have a deep love and interest in Southern foods, especially the cakes. I have several old cookbooks that detail the history of different cakes with Southern roots.

This cookbook is one of my favorites. The recipes are easy to follow and there is a section on basic cake baking instructions so even the inexperienced baker will have success with these recipes. The classic Southern layer cakes and pound cakes are included as well as more everyday cakes like Mississippi Mud, apple, pear, Louisiana syrup and Ocracoke Island fig. Coconut cake has a dedicated chapter since it is such a Southern tradition and favorite and has so many different versions. There is also an added chapter on frostings, icings and fillings on top of the versions included in many of the cake recipes.

If I could only have *one* cookbook of Southern cakes, I would choose this one. The recipes are historically accurate, and whatever Southern cake you can think of is included, from Lady Baltimore, Charleston's Huguenot Torte, New Orlean's Doberge, and Ozark Pudding. The classic pound cake is eerily similar to my Great Aunt Maggie's award winning secret recipe. I can't wait to make all of' my family and friends' favorites from this cookbook.

Heavenly Cakes!
These recipes are fantastic. if you like fig preserves, try the Ocracoke Fig Cake it's delicious! the cakes are just as the title says "sweet and irresistable" You won't be sorry if you buy this book.

These recipes aren't good -- don't be fooled by the pictures
I've cooked a lot of cakes in my day, and I have never had such consistently bad luck with recipes as I have with pretty much every single recipe -- from cake to frostings -- that I have used from this book. I bought it for the gorgeous pictures, but the recipes were awful, time after time. ... Read more

Product Description
For culinary connoisseurs, the Southern Living annual recipe collection is a must-have. That’s because it serves up every tasty recipe from the past year, nearly 1,000 in all. From large family-style meals, to easy-to-pull-together weekend brunches, to everyday family-pleasing treats—with gorgeous photographs, step-by-step instructions, and more than a dash of genteel Southern charm and style. Not that you have to be from the South, by any means, to enjoy these mouthwatering recipes. (Just don’t tell that to Southerners.)Features:

Step-by-step directions, timesaving tips, and savory secrets

Features the 2006 Southern Living Cook-Off winners

4 convenient indexes, easy-to-find ingredients, simple substitutions

Recipe tags make finding favorites a breeze ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Great Series
Good recipes and easy to follow.I never miss a year of this annual book.They look great all lined up on a kitchen shelf.Makes me feel like I am a real cook.I recommend this series of cookbooks (yearly) instead of clipping them out of the magazine.I refer to them for ideas and I always find something.The annual Christmas Series is also worth buying.

Wonderful Cookbook!
This is a beautiful book with all of Southern Living's recipes for 2006.You can feel assured that every recipe has been tested and tried by the Southern Living staff.Having one book with the recipes lets me now recycle all those magazines.I love the color pictures of some of the food and I love the seasonal recipes, since they are grouped by each month.Having the bonus section, which has recipes from the cook-off winners as well as slow-cooker recipes, is also a real plus.This book would make a nice gift as well.I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves to cook or simply sit and read a cookbook!

GOOD BOOK
I have not made anything yet, but I can tell you this book is full of delicious recipes. I know right away if I will like a book based on how many recipes I find interesting. Every page I turned I was highlighting the recipes I wanted to try. I know I am going to enjoy this book. There are not that many photos that is why I gave it a 4 but the recipes seem so simple that you really won't need a picture to figure out how it should look.

Great layout for recipes!
Loved the quality of the recipes, layout and the pictures. Very nice quality cookbook!

Southern Living Annual Recipes
My wife and mother-in-law really love these Southern Living Annual Recipe books.I've purchased all the annual books & select other Sothern Living books for each of them for many years.Husbands & son-in-laws, purchasing these books is a quick & easy way to take care of part of your holiday & birthday shopping.Plus the food is great as well.Enjoy!!! ... Read more

Product Description
This annual best-selling collection serves it up nice and tasty —Southern style, of course. It compiles every kitchen-tested recipe, nearly 1,000 in all, from a whole year’s worth of Southern Living magazine into one heaven-sent volume.For family-friendly meals during the week, fabulous entertaining on the weekend, and everything in between, there’s something special about Southern cooking—and you don’t have to live in the South to love it!

Features:

* Nearly 1,000 time-honored, kitchen-tested recipes from all 12 months of Southern Living magazine

* Packed with timesaving tips and savory secrets from the experts

* Step-by-step directions, easy-to-find ingredients & substitution ideas

* Well-organized with photography and four convenient indexes

* Bonus section with even more kitchen-tested favorites

* Features the 2005 Southern Living Cook-Off Winners! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Not your typical magazine recipes
I received this cookbook as a gift about a year ago. It honestly set on the shelf for months before I really looked at it. I do not read Southern Living magazine and I usually do not like recipes in magazines in general. These recipes are not what you usually see in magazines. All the ones I have tried are very suitable for cooking at home. For the most part the recipes call for everyday ingredients that are easily found in your regular grocery store. It is divided into months of the year, so that's handy for incorporating seasonal produce. I like how recipes are grouped together so all the recipes you would want for a meal are next to each other on the same page. You may like this or not. Another reviewer mentioned that it was hard to find something specific and that is true. However the general index isn't bad as most recipes are listed by their name and their main ingredient. There is also a month-by-month index which seems like a waste of space since it is in the same order as the book itself.

Cookbook Lover
The recipies in these Southern Living cookbooks are pretty good for the most part, but the organization is a disaster.No sections for types of recipies, such as cakes, vegetables, meat, they just put it all together in "menus" which you then have to read through to find anything.Too much work, its almost an accident when I actually find what I'm looking for.I'm glad I bought them used so that the price was about right for what they are.

Excellent Cookbook
This cookbook has pretty much anything one would want to prepare.I have not cooked much from it yet, but the recipes look easy enough.The 2005 magazines had so many wonderful recipes, and I love how this book compiles all of them!

great gift
I bought this as a gift and it was greatly appreciated.Southern Living always has a highly rated product.

A great Value for the money.
Where else can you find so many recipes all carefully tested in the Southern Living Test Kitchens in Birmingham?This annual volume collects the best recipes from a year's worth of magazines.It's a great collection in a kitchen-friendly format.Of course we especially liked the Thanksgiving recipes excerpted from our own book, "Three Guys From Miami Cook Cuban."

Southern American regional cooking at its best and a nice gift for anyone who loves great food... ... Read more

Product Description
Johnnie Gabriel, cousin of renowned cook Paula Deen, presents delectable, enticing Southern dishes from her Atlanta restaurant and bakery, Gabriel's Desserts, recipient of numerous accolades and plaudits.

Johnnie Gabriel began her restaurant career in 1989, when she baked and sold desserts from home to supplement her income. In 1996, Johnnie and her husband Ed made the decision to go into the baking/catering/restaurant business full time and opened Gabriel's Desserts in Marietta, Georgia. Mouthwatering sweets and savory Southern cooking-the vegetables are a favorite-have earned the restaurant four Best of Atlanta awards. Recipes include:

• Peach Pound Cake
• Lemon Bars
• Pork Tenderloin with BBQ Sauce
• Smothered Chicken
• Broccoli and Raisin Salad
• Creamed Corn
• Fried Okra
• Hashbrown Casserole

Customer Reviews (18)

Cooking in the South is one great cookbook! ! ! ! !
This is a collection of wonderful recipes many of which have interesting little stories and/or anecdotes with them which makes the reading of the recipes much more fun.Thank you Johnnie.

Georgia on my mind........
I live in Georgia, and I have eaten at Johnnie Gabriel's restaurant in Marietta and at Paula Deen's restaurant in Savannah.The food at Johnnie Gabriel's restaurant is better...........and her cookbook is great. The recipes include Southern cooking and American food......there's something for all cooks.

Her cakes are legendary in my area of Georgia.....comprising NW Georgia and the Atlanta area.Want her cakes at your wedding?Book the cake a year in advance.......they're that much in demand.

Recipes have typos!
So far I have tried two of the recipes from this cookbook, and both dishes turned out wonderfully.The caveat, however, is that both recipes contained typos.The ingredient list for the casserole I made lists milk as an ingredient.However, the recipes never instructs the reader what to do with the milk!The pasta dish I made called for 3 OZ. of olive oil to saute garlic! The recipe should have read 3 tablespoons of olive oil.If you are savvy enough to ignore or correct mistakes, then the book contains some great recipes, but I personally found the typos disappointing...

Cooking in the South with Johnnie Gabriel
This is a great little book with basic southern recipes.The pictures of the finished recipe makes your mouth water just looking at them.I bought this for my granddaughter so she would always have recipes for some of our favorite foods.I recommend this book to everyone - even if you don't cook it is interesting reading.

We must be cousins!
Cooking in the South is one of the best regional cookbooks it has been my pleasure to come across in quite some while.Johnnie Gabriel has done a bang-up job of explaining Southern culture while she gives us absolutely 100% authentic recipes for old favorites and standbys that have formed the back-bone of Southern cooking across the region for many a decade.

The first recipe I happened on the very second that I opened the book was my mother's recipe for Pear Honey - which we've been making in my family for more than 60 years now.If you've never had Pear Honey, you must try it - easy to make almost any time of the year and simply luscious.Whether it is the Cheese Straws that no good Southern girl of any age would consider throwing a shindig without, or the Pimiento Cheese we all adore so much, thePound Cake with Caramel frosting or the Key Lime Pie, every single bite is authentic - right down to that Vanilla Ice Cream that we cranked up every Sunday afternoon when I was a girl, the one my kids still produce today.

Don't think Johnnie's little book is all "old" recipes though.I found a wealth of new things to try - a Southewestern Chicken Soup, White Chili, a recipe for the Best Salmon You'll Ever Eat and one I can't wait to try - Roasted Carrot Souffle.

Johnnie Gabriel - Bless Your Heart!

PS - The dessert section is not skimpy either!

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Product Description
A unique, flavor-based approach to southern Italian cuisine that uses traditional ingredients in delicious new ways
From Linguini with Clam Sauce to Sautéed Cauliflower, southern Italy is home to some of the world's best-loved dishes. In this inventive collection of 225 recipes, Italian cooking expert Erica DeMane explores the bold, vibrant flavors of classic southern Italian cooking and shows the home cook how to adapt and use them in fresh, creative combinations. For instance, plum tomatoes—a southern Puglia favorite, usually filled with bread crumbs, cheese, herbs, and olives or anchovies—are paired with new ingredients in Plum Tomatoes Baked with Caprino (Goat Cheese), Rosemary, and Black Olives, while DeMane's irresistible Grilled Leg of Lamb with Tomatoes, Mint, and Honey is an inspired alternative to traditional Sicilian fennel or rosemary flavorings.

Erica DeMane (New York, NY) writes on Italian cooking for Food & Wine, the New York Times, Gourmet, Saveur, Fine Cooking, and Marie Claire. She is the author of Pasta Improvvisata. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

no pictures, only text ?
I must see photographs of final meal and/or ingredients. It's not complete without pictures with just a text.
I didn't want to try to cook anything from this book.

Cookbook I use the most
I don't have a preference for Italian cuisine, other than for its general weeknight-dinner-friendly simplicity, and I own about sixty cookbooks.So I am a little perplexed at realizing that I have adopted a higher proportion of its recipes into regular rotation that of any other one I own.I think it's because they're technically simple, feature direct and vivid flavors and available ingredients, and tend to work.Heavily repeated successes have been: sausages with grapes, roast pork with bay leaves and fennel, peperonata with almonds, spaghetti with cockles (I sub clams),zucchini and tomato gratin, grilled leg of lamb,bruschetta w/ marjoram -- and I've had one-time success w/ many more. I've actually wrecked my first copy had to order a new one.Weak point is desserts, including, in my experience, the gelati (which ought to be good, right?Except maybe that's something most Italians would never make at home?) But no cookbook is strong in every category, and Erica admits she's not a sweet-lover.Great book.

Best Italian cookbook I've seen!
Written like a true Italian! After spending weeks in Italian kitchens, I found this to be the first book that represents how chefs cook in Italy - a handful of this, a pinch of that...worth every penny. You won't be disappointed!

Intensely Delicious and Fascinating to Read
I love this book and this author! After making a single recipe and reading just a few pages I was hooked, and am now an Erica De Mane fan. I've read the book cover to cover and refer to it often.

Others have described the contents better than I can. Surprisingly, the recipes are quite healthful without making any claim to be so.I highly recommend this book.

Fine-Tuned Italian
8/9/2004


THE FLAVORS OF SOUTHERN ITALY
By Erica De Mane

"I am convinced that the foods a person cooks best embrace the flavors he or she grew up with. All the recipes in this book reflect my childhood. This is a very personal collection ofrecipes and thoughts on cooking, all anchored by the flavors of southern Italy." This is the opening statement in DeMane's introduction. This came as a surprise to your reviewer who found many recipes not usually associated with Italian cuisine. "I hope my love of southern Italian flavors and eating and cooking will rub off on you," she ends.

Glancing at the Contents, DeMane devotes 64 pages to lining out various techniques which set Italian cuisine apart from other foods. She pairs certain ingredients:Fennel and Saffron, Pancetta and Salami, Pine Nuts and Raisins, Tomato Paste and Sun-Dried Tomatoes and more. These pairing are a tip-off of what's to come. In addition to the usual sections on Seafood, Soups and Pasta, she includes one on Savory Tarts, Pizza Neapolitan Style, also Calzone. After Desserts, she sharesspecial menus and her take on "My Favorite Southern Italian Wines."

Here are some of the recipes she includes in this complete book:

Wheat Berries with Zucchini, Pine Nuts and Ricotta

Plum Tomatoes Baked with Caprino, Rosemary and Black Olives (Caprino is the Italian word for goat cheese)

Baked Eggs with Winter Tomato Sauce

Coleslaw with Sicilian Flavors
(these include pine nuts, raisins, peperoncino chili, sugar and nutmeg)

Tuna Tatare Crostini with Capers and Avacado

Mussels with Mascarpone, Green (shoots) Garlic and Spring Herbs

Steak and Celery Salad with Capers and Romaine

Duck Pizzaiola with Red Vermouth

Pizza with Escarole, Fontina and Baked Eggs

Chicken Soup with Pumpkin, Escarole and Marsala

Dried Figs with Almonds and Chocolate

The arrangement of recipes in menus at the end of the book are clearly foods expertly prepared for other fine Italian cooks. She closes the book with a menu she titles, "A Birthday Dinner for Myself," and which "I cook myself ... since I cook with all the flavors I love best, always including anchovies, cheese and luscious red wine."





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