Year’s Best Cookbooks

To find the year’s 25 top cookbooks for F&W’s Best of the Best, I tested more than 150. Best of the Best offers several of the tastiest recipes from each winner, as well as one never-published bonus recipe. The oddest-sounding dishes were sometimes the most revelatory, like farfalle with yogurt and zucchini. Here, a sampling of those bonus recipes.

25 best cookbooks of the year

TV Stars

Barefoot Contessa at Home
by Ina Garten

Giada’s Family Dinners
by Giada De Laurentiis

How to Boil Water
by Food Network Kitchens

Jamie’s Italy
by Jamie Oliver

The Kitchen Diaries
by Nigel Slater

Chef Showcases

Big Small Plates
by Cindy Pawlcyn

Braise
by Daniel Boulud

The New Greek Cuisine
by Jim Botsacos

The Red Cat Cookbook
by Jimmy Bradley and Andrew Friedman

Sparks in the Kitchen
by Katy Sparks

Spice
by Ana Sortun

The Global Perspective

Baja! Cooking on the Edge
by Deborah M. Schneider

The Food of France
by Sarah Woodward

The Food of Northern Spain
by Jenny Chandler

All-American

The Good Home Cookbook
edited by Richard J. Perry

The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook
by Matt and Ted Lee

Lobel’s Meat and Wine
by Stanley, Leon, Evan, Mark and David Lobel

Stonewall Kitchen Favorites by Jonathan King, Jim Stott and Kathy Gunst

Italian

A Ligurian Kitchen
by Laura Giannatempo

Biba’s Italy
by Biba Caggiano

Cucina of Le Marche
by Fabio Trabocchi

On Top of Spaghetti
by Johanne Killeen and George Germon

Dessert

The Cake Book
by Tish Boyle

The Essence of Chocolate
by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg

Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters
by Marilynn and Sheila Brass

Published June 2007