Crack into this collection of fifty-two sweet and savory crème brûlée recipes, featuring simple tips for preparation and presentation. With its caramelized crisp topping and delicious silken custard, crème brûlée makes a fine finale for any occasion. Cooking expert Lou Seibert Pappas shows you how to make a variety of sweet, savory, nutty, or chocolately recipes using just a few key ingredients plus flavorings. Create such showstoppers as irresistible Double-Chocolate Crème Brûlée, Balsamic-Blackberry Crème Brûlée made with Greek-style yogurt, tartly sweet Cranberry-Orange Crème Brûlée, or sweet and crunchy Pineapple-Macadamia Crème Brûlée. Featuring easy-to-follow recipes that will delight first-time cooks as well as the most experienced chefs, page after page of scrumptious color photographs, plus practical presentation and serving tips, Crème Brûlée is the perfect guide to great home entertaining. Welcome to simple elegance.

Teaches how to make variations of classics as well as other desserts. This work offers the secrets of cookware and accessories, how to turn simple ingredients into tempting marvels, and techniques and tips. It also teaches how to pair up your favourite dessert with chocolate, nuts, fruit, caramel, liqueurs, as well as, seasonal ingredients.

"This book begins by telling the story of a great Supper Club, the River Inn, which was located in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin and about my tenure there"--Page 2.

This culinary biography tells the incredible true story of how a Founding Father and his slave introduced French Cuisine to America—perfect for history buffs, foodies, and Francophiles alike In 1784, Thomas Jefferson struck a deal with his slave, James Hemings. The Founding Father was traveling to Paris and wanted to bring James along “for a particular purpose”— to master the art of French cooking. In exchange for James’s cooperation, Jefferson would grant his freedom. So began one of the strangest partnerships in United States history. As Hemings apprenticed under master French chefs, Jefferson studied the cultivation of French crops (especially grapes for wine-making) so they might be replicated in American agriculture. The two men returned home with such marvels as pasta, French fries, Champagne, macaroni and cheese, crème brûlée, and a host of other treats. This narrative history tells the story of their remarkable adventure—and even includes a few of their favorite recipes!

A sweet tooth is a powerful thing. Babies everywhere seem to smile when tasting sweetness for the first time, a trait inherited, perhaps, from our ancestors who foraged for sweet foods that were generally safer to eat than their bitter counterparts. But the "science of sweet" is only the beginning of a fascinating story, because it is not basic human need or simple biological impulse that prompts us to decorate elaborate wedding cakes, scoop ice cream into a cone, or drop sugar cubes into coffee. These are matters of culture and aesthetics, of history and society, and we might ask many other questions. Why do sweets feature so prominently in children's literature? When was sugar called a spice? And how did chocolate evolve from an ancient drink to a modern candy bar? The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets explores these questions and more through the collective knowledge of 265 expert contributors, from food historians to chemists, restaurateurs to cookbook writers, neuroscientists to pastry chefs. The Companion takes readers around the globe and throughout time, affording glimpses deep into the brain as well as stratospheric flights into the world of sugar-crafted fantasies. More than just a compendium of pastries, candies, ices, preserves, and confections, this reference work reveals how the human proclivity for sweet has brought richness to our language, our art, and, of course, our gastronomy. In nearly 600 entries, beginning with "à la mode" and ending with the Italian trifle known as "zuppa inglese," the Companion traces sugar's journey from a rare luxury to a ubiquitous commodity. In between, readers will learn about numerous sweeteners (as well-known as agave nectar and as obscure as castoreum, or beaver extract), the evolution of the dessert course, the production of chocolate, and the neurological, psychological, and cultural responses to sweetness. The Companion also delves into the darker side of sugar, from its ties to colonialism and slavery to its addictive qualities. Celebrating sugar while acknowledging its complex history, The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets is the definitive guide to one of humankind's greatest sources of pleasure. Like kids in a candy shop, fans of sugar (and aren't we all?) will enjoy perusing the wondrous variety to be found in this volume.

Recipes with spirit for every meal and every season: “A great resource and an essential for unlocking the flavors of bourbon in the kitchen.” ―Tucson Citizen Once thought to be only the tipple of southern gentlemen and the companion of confederate roughnecks, bourbon has gained a steady resurgence in popularity over the years with an ever-expanding and diverse audience. A beverage distilled almost exclusively in Kentucky, bourbon has attained prominence and appreciation for its complexity, history, and tradition. In The Kentucky Bourbon Cookbook, Albert Schmid provides readers with the best recipes using the famous spirit of the Bluegrass. From classic Kentucky cocktails such as the Mint Julep, to bourbon-inspired desserts such as Bourbon-Pecan Crème Brulée with Chocolate Sauce, and more savory fare such as Steaks with Bourbon Ginger Sauce, this book supplies recipes for every course. Schmid uses the four distinct seasons of the Bluegrass State to guide you through this rich collection of bourbon dishes and color photographs. In many ways a lesson on the flavor profiles that pair with and improve the flavor of bourbon, this book can be used by the home cook and the professional chef alike for inspiration to create new dishes—and also recounts bourbon lore, food traditions, and Kentucky history, for a full appreciation of America's native spirit. “All the recipes are straightforward, are easy to prepare, and involve readily available ingredients. As with most good home cooking, the emphasis is not on the painstaking or the exotic but on easy prep and easy eating.” ―The Wall Street Journal

Not so long ago, parsley was the only fresh herb available to most American cooks. Today, bunches of fresh oregano and rosemary can be found in nearly every supermarket, basil and mint grow abundantly in backyards from coast to coast, and garden centers offer pots of edible geraniums and lemon thyme. But once these herbs reach the kitchen, the inevitable question arises: Now what do I do with them? Here, at last, is the first truly comprehensive cookbook to cover all aspects of growing, handling, and cooking with fresh herbs. Jerry Traunfeld grew up cooking and gardening in Maryland, but it wasn't until the 1980s, after he had graduated from the California Culinary Academy and was working at Jeremiah Tower's Stars restaurant in San Francisco, that he began testing the amazing potential of herb cuisine. For the past decade, Jerry Traunfeld has been chef at The Herbfarm, an enchanted restaurant surrounded by kitchen gardens and tucked into the rainy foothills of the Cascade Mountains, east of Seattle. His brilliant nine-course herb-inspired menus have made reservations at the Herbfarm among the most coveted in the country. Eager to reveal his magic to home cooks, Jerry Traunfeld shares 200 of his best recipes in The Herbfarm Cookbook. Written with passion, humor, and a caring for detail that makes this book quite special, The Herbfarm Cookbook explains everything from how to recognize the herbs in your supermarket to how to infuse a jar of honey with the flavor of fresh lavender. Recipes include a full range of dishes from soups, salads, eggs, pasta and risotto, vegetables, poultry, fish, meats, breads, and desserts to sauces, ice creams, sorbets, chutneys, vinegars, and candied flowers. On the familiar side are recipes for Bay Laurel Roasted Chicken and Roasted Asparagus Salad with Fried Sage explained with the type of detail that insures the chicken will be moist and suffused with the flavor of bay and the asparagus complemented with the delicate crunch of sage. On the novel side you will find such unusual dishes as Oysters on the Half Shell with Lemon Varbana Ice and Rhubarb and Angelica Pie. A treasure trove of information, The Herbfarm Cookbook contains a glossary of 27 of the most common culinary herbs and edible flowers; a definitive guide to growing herbs in a garden, a city lot, or on a windowsill; a listing of the USDA has hardiness zones; how to harvest, clean, and store fresh herbs; a Growing Requirements Chart, including each herb's life cycle, height, pruning and growing needs, and number of plants to grow for an average kitchen; and a Cooking with Fresh Herbs Chart, with parts of the herb used, flavor characteristics, amount of chopped herb for six servings, and best herbal partners. The Herbfarm Cookbook is the most complete, inspired, and useful book about cooking with herbs ever written. -8 pages of finished dishes in full color -16 full-page botanical watercolors in full color