The First Cookbook Issue Ever

Cookbooks play an important part in any home or even professional chef's arsenal.They not only provide inspiration for meals, they also broaden horizons.They teach home chefs new techniques and introduce them to ingredients they've never tried before.Now the New York Times has created the first cookbook issue. They review and recommend cookbooks  that would be perfect in any kitchen.

Fall 2016 has some culinary celebrities coming out with some interesting compilations. Alton Brown, the Food Network's genius has Everyday Cook . Fans may be disappointed  that it's not full of puns that he's famed for. It's a more introspective book, as Food regular contributor Kim Severson wrote.it reflects his midlife crisis of going through a divorce, drinking and eating too much peanut M&Ms. His recipes are cozy, the kind you'd make for family and friends. There are warm Saltines brushed with dried mustard,hot sauce and butter along with a unique but delicious breakfast carbonara that marries spaghetti with breakfast sausage and eggs.Mr. Brown not only has a cookbook out but also a one man show called "Eat Your Science." Another celebrity with a new cookbook is British chef and radio personality, Diana Henry/ Ms Henry has written "Simple Effortless Food, Big Flavors, Tejan Rao, another regular contributor describes her recipes as having very little instruction because they're so precisely worded. A yogurt marinaded chicken has only three neatly worded paragraphs on how to prepare and cook it.It also includes how to dress a salad too. A recipe for Greek style beans is terse for a recipe that takes exactly one hour to make.

Yet another contributor, Margeaux Laskey reviewed Poole's by Ashley Christensen, a cookbook featuring the best recipes of here famed diner in Raleigh, North Carolina.This is not your ordinary diner food. This is home recipes with an artesinal twist. She calls for roasting and pickling peppers and making cider vinegar mayonnaise .The book has some homey recipes like macaroni au gratin and a warm broccoli salad with a bacon vinaigrette. The piece de resistance is the famed sweet potato hummingbird cake.It's a  fruity, spicy confection topped with a light cream cheese buttercream icing. Chopped peanuts top it.Newcomer Oliver Strand writes about Jessica Koslow's new book, Everything I  Want To Eat: Squirl and The New California Cooking which has the best recipes from her whimsically named restaurant, Squrl.It's a mash up of diner and health food combined with Michelin starred eateries.The style is raw and direct, not much on words as usual cookbooks are.The exotic is also featured. David Tanis reviews Naomi Duguid's book Taste of Persia that features herbed yogurt soup along with fish kabobs made with Alaskan baked cod and tomatoes.

Cookbooks are the best tools in any chef's arsenal. This fall there are more to add. Go for the exotic , or try the homey. They are all informative and fun.