Weekend Cooking: Cookbook Gift Ideas #weekendcooking @BethFishReads

Weekend Cooking is a weekly feature hosted by Beth Fish Reads linking up food-related posts. Click here to check out other Weekend Cooking posts.

Cookbooks for Christmas? Yes, please!

Included in this list of cookbook gift ideas is a brand-new magazine for gluten-free eaters called GFF. All of the recipes and articles relate to the gluten-free diet in some way, but it reads like a regular foodie magazine, so it would make as good a gift for someone who wants to cook an occasional gluten-free meal as for someone with celiac disease. (I received a subscription as a birthday gift, and though it may seem a bit pricy at $40 for a quarterly, the inaugural issue is easily worth $10 for the appealing recipes and engaging writing.)

The following descriptions are from the publishers.

Six New & Newish Cookbooks for Home Cooks

But I Could Never Go Vegan! by Kristy Turner
The Experiment, 2014
Blogger-author extraordinaire Kristy Turner deliciously refutes every excuse you’ve ever heard with 125 bursting-with-flavor vegan recipes for every meal of the day—including dessert!
If you’re a waffling vegan newbie, on-the-fence vegetarian, or veg-curious omnivore, this book will banish your doubts. You’ll find you can get enough protein, fit in at a potluck, learn to love cauliflower, and enjoy pizza, nachos, brownies, and more—without any animal products at all. (Even vegan pros will discover some new tricks!)
Colorful photographs throughout will have you salivating over Kristy’s inventive, easy-to-follow recipes. So what are you waiting for? Get in the kitchen and leave your excuses at the door!
Check out the book trailer on YouTube.

Flavor Flours by Alice Medrich
Artisan, 2014
In this monumental new work, beloved dessert queen Alice Medrich applies her baking precision and impeccable palate to flavor flours—wheat-flour alternatives including rice flour, oat flour, corn flour, sorghum flour, teff, and more. The resulting (gluten-free!) recipes show that baking with alternate flours adds an extra dimension of flavor. Brownies made with rice flour taste even more chocolaty. Buckwheat adds complexity to a date and nut cake. Ricotta cheesecake gets bonus flavor from a chestnut flour crust; teff is used to make a chocolate layer cake that can replace any birthday cake with equally pleasing results. All of the nearly 125 recipes—including Double Oatmeal Cookies, Buckwheat Gingerbread, Chocolate Chestnut Soufflé Cake, and Blueberry Corn Flour Cobbler—take the flavors of our favorite desserts to the next level.

French Comfort Food by Hillary Jordan
Gibbs Smith, 2014
In France, people take pride in preserving the recipes of their regional heritage and deeply rooted traditions. What has remained true over time is that the French have a determined hold on their beloved regional classic dishes, the ones they grew up with that their mothers and grandmothers and grandmothers before them made—French comfort food.
Collected here are recipes from friends and acquaintances Hillary Davis has made while living in France, recipes handed down through the years as well as modern family remakes of the originals. With these resources, plus referring to her hundreds of well-worn cookbooks, Davis has brought together her favorite comfort food recipes from France, with a hope that they will inspire and charm you, showing just how fabulous good home-cooked food from France can be.

The Healthy Slow Cooker, 2nd ed. by Judith Finlayson
Robert Rose, 2014
Definitions of healthy eating have changed quite dramatically since The Healthy Slow Cooker was first published in 2006. In those days, it was one size fits all — low fat, low calorie and no saturated fat. Since then, there’s been a shift in thinking. Many leading experts now feel that many of our modern diseases are directly associated with the consumption of wheat and advocate reducing carbohydrates. Another significant development is that the evidence against saturated fat has been gradually diminishing. All the recipes are delicious, nutrient-dense and have a balanced approach that will suit a wide variety of people. Incredibly healthy meals prepared in a slow cooker is an unbeatable combination!

Moosewood Restaurant Favorites by the Moosewood Collective
St. Martin’s, 2013 (Second year of hinting…)
Moosewood Restaurant, founded in 1973, revolutionized vegetarian cooking by introducing delicious soups, satisfying sandwiches, warming casseroles, zesty entrees, spiffy salads, and divine desserts. Moosewood Restaurant Favorites contains 250 of their most requested recipes completely updated and revised to reflect the way they’re cooked now—increasingly vegan and gluten-free, benefiting from fresh herbs, new varieties of vegetables, and the wholesome goodness of newly-rediscovered grains.

Plant-Powered for Life by Sharon Palmer, R.D.N.
The Experiment, 2014
Fall in love with whole plant foods and they will love you back! 52 simple steps and 125 globally inspired recipes show the way.
Fruits, veggies, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and other plant-based foods can work wonders for your health and vitality—and they’re delicious when done right! Still, many of us don’t get enough.
Whether you’re a meat-loving omnivore or junk-food vegan, if you’ve been meaning to eat more whole plant foods, Plant-Powered for Life is here to help. Sharon Palmer, RDN, helps you set a personal goal (anything from “I will eat a plant-based meal every day” to “I will go 100 percent vegan”), then approach it at your own pace by taking 52 simple steps and cooking 125 mouthwatering recipes in any order you like.

Happy Weekend Cooking!

Disclosure: One of my daughters works for The Experiment, the publisher of But I Could Never Go Vegan!, Plant-Powered for Life and other cookbooks and nonfiction books.

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