Best Cookbooks of 2009

By now you know I love to eat and you should also know I love to cook. So I was driving around San Diego the other day listening to NPR, and a segment about cookbooks came on. I immediately perked up. The guest on the show was going to tell me about the 10 best cookbooks of 2009. Now the last thing in the world I need is another cookbook, but somehow it seems I keep buying them. I love to read cookbooks. I enjoy looking at the pictures. Funny thing is, I actually don't make many of the recipes. Most of my recipes come from friends. Maybe I should write a cookbook of recipes from my friends!

Anyway, it's holiday time and a cookbook is always a great gift. I listened to Susan Chang, cookbook reviewer for the Boston Globe, talk about her favorites from this year. If you want the entire list, go to http://www.npr.org/.

Some experts predicted that cooking would become a spectator sport, what with the likes of the Food Network, The Next Top Chef, and other shows, where we watch and vicariously enjoy the food they're preparing. But that's not what has happened. Yes, lots of people watch the food shows, but more people than ever are cooking at home, especially in a poor economy. Here are some of the books Susan liked. I'm hoping that one or two of them will end up in my kitchen soon.

1. The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones. The title alone is intriguing. Judith has been a widow for 13 years, so she's had lots of practice cooking for herself. Cutting down large recipes is difficult, so this book really fills a niche. She includes Linguine with Smoked Salmon Sauce (yum) and many recipes for leftovers.

2. Gourmet Today, edited by Ruth Reichl. This magazine was my favorite food magazine for over 40 years, so obviously this is a book I would love to have. Susan Jones raved about the Sesame Spinach and Israeli Coucous. Many of the recipes will help give weeknight dishes an international flair.

3. Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking, by Eileen Yin Fei Lo. This book will help you create authentic and ambitious dishes like a master. Lots of pictures to help you through. The barbeque pork bao got rave reviews, something even a beginner cook can handle.

4. Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide for Eating Close to the Source, by Terry Walters. Susan Jones calls this book "A graduate course in meatlessness." The book celebrates the once obscure, now popular heirlooms, like Roasted Kabocha Squash and Creminis with Fresh Herbes. There are also minimalist luxuries, like Winter Green Salad with Sugared Walnuts, Crispy Pears and Pomegrantes. Clean Food is a gateway book for the vegan lifestyle. It's not for everyone.

5. Rose's Heavenly Cakes, by Rose Levy Beranbaum. This is the follow up to her earlier book, The Cake Bible. This is for the palate that wants to take a step beyond the pound cakes and yellow sponges and chocolate roulades of yesteryear. Chocolate Tweed Angel Food Cake is the sophistacated heir of angel food cake. More exotic but just as grownup is the Sicilian Pistachio Cake, brilliant green blanched pistachios scattered over a golden buttercream. Great book for all you bakers.

So if you're stuck for a gift this year, try one of these new cookbooks from 2009. I think the recipient will thank for your thoughtfulness. She/he may even make you dinner.