The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook: Old-Fashioned Recipes From New York's Sweetest Bakery
by Jennifer Appel, Allysa Torey, Rita Maas (Photographer)
Simon & Schuster, 1999. 127 pp.
"Appel and Torey are owners of the eponymous Manhattan bakery, which turns out the kind of white-cake treats that graced most tables decades ago. Retro deserts include Chocolate Wafer Icebox Cake, made with Nabisco wafers, and Oatmeal, Raisin, Almond Cookies. These recipes are classics, with a few updated touches.
...A chapter on cheesecakes offers Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake and White Chocolate-Hazelnut Cheesecake. A section of baking tips includes little new information for even novice cooks (e.g., advice such as measuring accurately and watching cookies carefully to guard against burning). The same can be said of this book as a whole: these recipes are good, if ordinary." --publisher's weekly
Maharaja Quality Sweets and Snacks (Queens > Jackson Heights)
Nobu: The Cookbook
by Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, Fumihiko Watanabe (Photo)
Kodansha International. 2001. 200 pp.
"Matsuhisa usually called Nobu is an immensely talented chef who now has 13 restaurants around the world ... His food draws on his Japanese heritage and training as a sushi chef and the years he spent as a chef in South America, as well as his tenure in the United States with cross-cultural dishes such as Toro with Jalapeno, Freshwater Eel and Foie Gras, and Scallop Filo with Truffle Yuzu Sauce.
His attractive cookbook features stunning color photographs of every recipe, as well as black-and-white technique and "location" shots. Many of the recipes are not especially complicated, but they depend on pristinely fresh, high-quality and sometimes difficult-to-find ingredients. It's also unfortunate that, as a note in the introduction points out, the cup measures used in the recipes are for Japanese, not American, cups. Nevertheless, this is an essential addition to any collection of chefs' cookbooks" Library Journal
Beautiful French pastries, chocolates, and croque monsieur.
Simply Sensational Desserts: 140 Classic for the Home Baker from New York's Famous Patisserie and Bistro
by Francois Payard, et. al.
Broadway Books. 1999, 236 pp.
"There is no doubt that Francois Payard can conjure up complex French desserts: he does it every day at his eponymous patisserie and bistro in New York City. Here, however, he takes on a different challenge, and succeeds brilliantly, creating less complicated recipes that home cooks can easily follow.
...Even souffles seem less daunting with Payard's careful instructions. A Warm Harlequin Souffl‚ is a praline-and-vanilla checkerboard. Many dessert cookbooks make readers drool; this one will actually help them bake. It suffers from none of the endless ingredient lists so endemic to cookbooks by chefs, and Payard's instructions and supporting materials on equipment and ingredients are superb. " --publishers weekly
