Title:

Fine Cooking Annual - Volume 2
(The Taunton Press, 2008) ISBN 978-1600850059 1-600850057

Theme:

Fine Cooking magazine provides a year's collection of 200 recipes, tips and techniques.

Sample Recipes:

Goat cheese crackers with hot pepper jelly. Russet potato soup with pancetta croutons. Arugula, mint and apple salad with walnuts and buttermilk dressing. Fettuccine with arugula walnut pesto. Cranberry honey glazed chicken. Beef and black bean chili with chipotle and avocado. Crispy breaded tilapia with classic tartar sauce. Carrots with curry yogurt sauce. Cranberry streusel shortbread bars.

Notable Elements:

Do you dice tomatoes with or without seeds? A sidebar describes two ways to seed and dice tomatoes, the pros and cons of each and which is best for round and plum tomatoes. Another sidebar depicts, with photos and descriptions, how to cut pork tenderloin to suit the cooking method: steaks, medallions or butterflied. Many recipes feature a tip such as how to keep potatoes from darkening when exposed to air, how to store and bring out the flavor of paprika, and how to position chicken wingtips before grilling.

Fine Cooking Annual's olive guide describes the flavors, sizes and colors of gaeta, manzanilla, nicoise, California (mission or black), picholine, cerignola, oil-cured (dry-cured or salt-cured) and Kalamata olives.

A sidebar explains the different types of lettuce in mesclun mix: arugula, lollo rossa, red oak leaf, red romaine, green romaine, spinach, mizuna, mâche, green oak leaf, red chard, frisée, tango and tatsoi, with the flavors they contribute. For example, arugula is peppery, frisée is bittersweet and mizuna is mustardy.

Tone / Style:

Each Fine Cooking recipe includes serving size, ingredients, preparation description and an image of the finished dish. Techniques sidebars describe how to make fregola (toasted pasta), how to purchase shrimp (by the count, not vague adjectives like 'jumbo') and how to trim a baby artichoke.

Visuals:

The 377 page cookbook features 300 mouthwatering color photos of finished dishes and ingredients.

Contents:

• From the Editor
• Starters & Snacks
• Soups
• Salads
• Pasta
• Poultry
• Beef, Veal, Lamb & Pork
• Fish & Shellfish
• Sides
• Desserts
• Contributors
• Index

Editors:

Pamela Hoenig and Martha Holmberg

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