February 2022 New Cookbook Review

Typically, February is much larger in terms of the number of cookbook releases but (again!) publication dates “they are a’changing“. I think I feel a song brewing – perhaps a country song where cookbooks end up at the bottom of the ocean and the ever-moving publication schedule. The 2022 preview post is being updated weekly – new additions and revised release dates are added at the top of each month.

If you would like to order any of these titles titles (or preorder/order any other books or items) using our affiliate links below or BUY BOOK button on the book details page, earns Eat Your Books revenue as an Amazon Associate from qualifying purchases when using our links:

 USA * Canada * UK * Book Depository

Please remember your local bookstores during this time – for preorders as well and your local restaurants. We need to do what we can to make sure these businesses stay afloat.

If there is an   available for a cookbook, look for the orange icon in the blurb. Clicking on that icon will take you directly to the preview. Lastly, if events are planned for particular books/authors, I have included a link. Be sure to check our Calendar frequently for new entries.

To jump to a particular country’s listing, please click on the links below.

• United States
• United Kingdom
• Australia

United States

Always Home: A Daughter’s Recipes & Stories by Fanny Singer is being released this month in paperback version. With 73 recipes, this culinary memoir about growing up as the daughter of revered chef/restaurateur Alice Waters is a story of food, family, and the need for beauty in all aspects of life. Recipes include: My mom’s garlicky noodle soup (embroidered version); Gigot d’agneau à la ficelle and Buckwheat “tarte au citron” along with some basics such as Chicken stock; Roast chicken; and Pizza dough. A loving tribute from a daughter to her mother.

Every Nation Has Its Dish: Black Bodies and Black Food in Twentieth-Century America by Jennifer Jensen Wallach is being released in a paperback edition this month. This book investigates the experiences and diverse convictions of several generations of African American activists. While differing widely in their approaches to diet and eating, they uniformly made the cultivation of “proper” food habits a significant dimension of their work and their conceptions of racial and national belonging. Directly linking black political activism to both material and philosophical practices around food, Wallach frames black identity as a bodily practice, something that conscientious eaters not only thought about but also did through rituals and performances of food preparation, consumption, and digestion. The process of choosing what and how to eat, Wallach argues, played a crucial role in the project of finding one’s place as an individual, as an African American, and as a citizen.

Caketopia: Your Guide to Decorating Buttercream Cakes with Flair by Sheri Wilson, cake decorating wizard, brings you a book of tutorials and recipes designed to teach home bakers how to take their cake decorating to the next level. Sheri has a unique and creative approach to cake décor with her Midnight Black Buttercream, her breathtaking stained glass designs, her exploding geode–rock candy cakes and more. This book is an explosion of colorful inspiration that bakers of all ages and levels will appreciate.

Crazy for Cookies, Brownies, and Bars: Super-Fast, Made-from-Scratch Sweets, Treats, and Desserts by Dorothy Kern is one of those books that you want to bake everything from. Dorothy’s blog Crazy for Crust was one of the first blogs I followed way back when and Dessert Mashups published in 2014 is a keeper. In Crazy for Cookies, you will find recipes for Bacon and caramel brownies, a Three layer cookie cake, Lemon poppy seed thumbprints; along with 100 other tempting treats.

Food IQ: 100 Questions, Answers and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts by Daniel Holzman and Matt Rodbard features 100 essential cooking questions and answers; 113 recipes and instructions for a variety of dishes that utilize a wide range of ingredients and methods; and essential information every home cook needs on a variety of cooking fundamentals. Learn more about this title as well as information on the FOOD IQ newsletter in our promotion/giveaway.

The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook: Over 100 Fabulous Recipes to Use Eggs in Unexpected Ways by Lisa Steele, fifth-generation chicken keeper and founder of the popular blog Fresh Eggs Daily, knows a thing or two about eggs. And she’s ready to show you just how easy and delicious it can be to make eggs a staple of every meal of your day. Learn more about this title in our giveaway post. Events

The Savory Baker: 150 Creative Recipes, from Classic to Modern by America’s Test Kitchen explores the savory side of baking with a multitude of flavor possibilities. There are creative twists like gochujang-filled puff pastry pinwheels or feta-studded dill-zucchini bread as well as baked goods from around the world, from Chinese lop cheung bao to Brazilian pão de quejo. This is a keeper and a must for any baker. I want to make everything in this title. 

The Sourdough Whisperer: The Secrets to No-Fail Baking with Epic Results by Elaine Boddy, founder of the blog Foodbod Sourdough, has published her second cookbook this month and proves why she is a trusted resource on all things sourdough. Last year’s Whole Grain Sourdough at Home shared 70 recipes and step-by-step tutorials on making a starter and more. This new release not only shares her master recipe (in incredible detail) with pages of imagery to guide us), Elaine also delivers pages of troubleshooting advice such as “Why is my loaf gummy inside?” and 40 new recipes.

The Steger Homestead Kitchen: Simple Recipes for an Abundant Life by Will and Rita Mae Steger and Beth Dooley is a collection of meals and memories gathered at the Homestead, the home of the Arctic explorer and environmental activist Will Steger, located in the north woods near Ely, Minnesota. Rita, Will’s niece, is the chef at the center and this title shares Steger family recipes as well as those served at the center. This book is not only a fantastic read but is filled with recipes that run the range of Cashew stir fry and Vietnamese steak salad (Rita’s mother is Vietnamese so you will find dishes with Asian flavors) to Rita Mae’s seed crackers and Many berry pie. Find out more about the Stegers, the Steger Center and the authors in our Quick Bites and worldwide giveaway.

The Carnivore Code Cookbook: Reclaim Your Health, Strength, and Vitality with 100+ Delicious Recipes by Paul Saladino: In The Carnivore Code, Dr. Paul Saladino revealed the surprising healing properties of a primarily animal-based diet. This essential cookbook makes it even more delicious to reap the benefits of the carnivore diet. Featuring satisfying mains like One-Pan Honey-Glazed Brisket and Grilled Mediterranean Lamb Chops, recipes for every craving like the Real Meat-Lover’s Pizza, White-Sauce Zucchini Lasagna, and Carnivore Waffles, and even decadent desserts like Yogurt Cheesecake with Blueberry-Lemon Compote, this cookbook is sure to please every palate.

Fridge Love: Organize Your Refrigerator for a Healthier, Happier Life―with 100 Recipes by Kristen Hong: Practicing “fridge love” is a roadmap to eating healthier, saving money, and reducing food waste while enjoying a beautiful and harder-working fridge. This book—part organizational guide and part food-prep handbook—is your guide. Author Kristen Hong adopted a nutrient-dense, plant-based diet in an effort to lose weight and improve her health. But amidst the demands of day-to-day life and a busy family, she found it impossible to stick to. The solution? A smarter, better-organized fridge that served her real-life needs. In this invaluable resource, you will discover how a beautifully organized fridge can make your life—including healthy eating for the whole family—easier. It covers general fridge organization (for all models and configurations) as well as shopping tips, storage guidelines, the best meal-prep containers, and more than 100 easy plant-based recipes made for meal prepping.

Other titles of interest include:

• Reader’s Digest Plant Based Cooking for Everyone: More than 150 Delicious Healthy Recipes the Whole Family Will Enjoy by Reader’s Digest
• The Thai Kitchen of Boo Raan: Sharing Recipes From Dokkoon Kapueak by Dokkoon Kapueak 
• The Complete Fish Cookbook: A Celebration of Seafood with Recipes for Everyday Meals, Special Occasions, and More by Dani Colombatto
• PlantYou: 140+ Ridiculously Easy, Amazingly Delicious Plant-Based Oil-Free Recipes by Carleigh Bodrug
• Prawn on the Lawn: Fish and Seafood to Share by Rick & Katie Toogood (previously released in the UK in 2018).
• Spill the Beans: Global Coffee Culture and Recipes
• The Tombstone Cookbook by Sherry Monahan

United Kingdom

Ayla: A Feast of Nepali Dishes from Terai, Hills and Himalayas by Santosh Shah: Explore and experiment with the spices and flavors of Nepal with this range of recipes, perfect for both the beginner and experienced home cook. Popular chef and Masterchef: The Professionals finalist, Santosh Shah, is here sharing 60 simple but flavorsome recipes alongside stories from his personal experience and the history of certain foods.

The Brownie Diaries: My Recipes for Happy Times, Heartbreak and Everything in Between by Leah Hyslop: This new book delivers 50 modern recipes for the beloved brownie. Try something new with the Dreaming of Scotland brownies that feature a shortbread, fudge and whisky flavor profile; when life gives you lemons then make blondies with lemon curd and meringue; or “Do you like piña coladas?” blondies with toasted coconut, pineapple and rum. Complete with a cocoa-dusted smattering of brownie trivia and quick-fixes to stop your brownies from sinking, The Brownie Diaries is the perfect book for brownie lovers everywhere.

Mind Food: Plant-Based Recipes for Positive Mental Health by Lauren Lovatt is an invitation to eating whole foods, with a mind-nourishing twist – inspired by years of research around how food can make us happy and boost our moods. Founder of Feed Your Mind Candy, Lauren Lovatt mindfully reconnects readers to the adage of ‘we are what we eat’ in this appetising new-wave cookbook. Focusing on hero ingredients of plants, whole grains, healthy fats, legumes, and tonic herbs, vibrant vegan recipes offer emotional balance with a splash of creativity, and a sprinkle of magic!

Home Cooked: Recipes from the Farm by Kate Humble is a beautiful book that features the recipes that Kate cooks all the time. Kate states that she is “not a cook” but that she does like cooking in her trademark “slapdash” way. The author is one of the UK’s best known TV presenters who transformed a small working farm into Humble by Nature, a thriving rural skills centre that offers myraid classes ranging from food to smallholding and animal husbandry, getaways and more (smallholding is an agricultural holding smaller than a farm). The book shares recipes that range from making your own homemade bacon, granola, condiments and jellies to Butternut tea loaf, Lentil & tomato soup; and Spinach and feta parcels. Events

Italian Breakfast by elBullifoundation: This in-depth encyclopedic volume, from world-renowned chef Ferran Adrià’s think tank the elBullifoundation, provides the last word on the first meal of the day. From what breakfast comprises to where it is served and consumed, its history, and how it differs around the globe, this book is the ultimate companion for all chefs and serious food enthusiasts. Guided by the unique ‘Sapiens’ methodology, and with the breakfast of Italy as its foundation, this valuable reference work redefines the way we look at what is regarded by many as the most important meal of the day. The book contains no recipes.

Foolproof Fish: 60 Delicious Dishes to Make at Home by Libby Silbermann shares 60 fuss-free recipes, beginning with clear instructions for basic preparation, including how to scale, de-bone, gut and fillet, followed by delicious and practical recipes for brunch and light bites, quick and easy dishes, or weekend feasts.

Australia

Salad: 100 Recipes for Simple Salads & Dressings by Janneke Philippi offers more than 100 recipes with lighter choices for lunch or heartier choices for an evening meal. From the classic Caesar to recipes that experiment with pork belly or dumplings, alongside simple dressings, toppings and sides like mozzarella bread and crunchy herb grissini, this cookbook has something for every taste and every season.

Dinner Express: Fast, easy dinners (+ hacks!) for busy people by George Georgievski provides 60 fast, fresh and easy dinner recipes from Australia’s lunchbox dad. Most of which can be whipped up in 30 minutes or less with ingredients that you’ll already have in your pantry and fridge.

50 Easy Indian Curries by Penny Chawla travels through India delivering 50 recipes for easy curries from each region. From region to region, and one household to the next, the dish is transformed with new spices and ingredients. The self-professed “curry queen” makes this dish that is complex in flavor, easy for the home cook.