Highlights of April’s Cookbooks Part 1

April is a busy month, 150 books from around the world are being released that will make it to our roundup. To prepare you and your bookshelves, I’m previewing a dozen US releases with you today (and one from May). Check back in the coming weeks for more information and highlight posts. Every book mentioned here is scheduled for a promotion that will be coming this month so be on alert. 

If you wish to preorder or buy any of these titles, using our BUY BOOK button helps support our indexing efforts by providing a small affiliate fee. Any of your purchases from our affiliate sites benefit that effort. Remember to be sure to enter all our giveaways we have open here – scroll through all two dozen!  
 

Bread Toast Crumbs: Recipes for No-Knead Loaves & Meals to Savor Every Slice by Alexandra Stafford is the debut cookbook from the writer behind Alexandra’s Kitchen. Right off, we learn how for years the author’s mother lied about her bread recipe (stating it was a King Arthur recipe from the back of the bag) and has never shared mom’s recipe until now – front and center at the beginning of this book. This story won me over – I like Alexandra and I like her mom! There are 75 pages of gorgeous bread recipes from Apple, Almond, and Thyme Bread to Dark Chocoalte Loaf in the Bread section of the book. The Toast portion shares 60 pages of recipes to use those loaves from Breakfast Strata with Sausage, Onion and Cheddar to Tarragon Chicken Salad Sandwiches. The author finishes up with Crumbs which has 70 pages of recipes for Salads, Sides, Pasta, Mains and Sweets. This is a beautiful book with stunning photographs and scrumptious looking recipes. Run to get this book! 
 

While you are running to get Alexandra’s book don’t stop until you have Tartine All Day: Modern Recipes for the Home Cook by Elisabeth Prueitt, Jessica Washburn and Maria Zizka. If Tartine published a book full of stick drawings, I would have to have it. Tartine’s books are member, and this cookbook lover’s, favorites. Over the years, I have made many recipes and have not experienced a flop. All Day is a lovely mixed bag of recipes covering exactly what the title states – meals for the entire day from breakfast to dinner – from a Kuku Sabzi (Persian Vegetable and Herb Omelet) to Blueberry Cobbler with Cornmeal Buttermilk Biscuit Topping. 
 

Casa Marcela: Recipes and Food Stories of My Life in the Californias by Marcela Valladolid is the third cookbook from the Food Network personality and this one is by far my favorite. The first two were more basic, in my opinion, and here she hits her stride. Gorgeous photographs are plentiful throughout this book and recipes for Braised Beef Tongue Tacos in Green Salsa, Grilled Shrimp Burritos with Chile Peanut Butter, and Pork Shoulder in Morita-Hoisin Sauce will keep the experienced cook happy and content. Page 79 has a photograph of her cookbook collection – Marcela needs to join Eat Your Books where cookbook authors receive a complimentary membership (and The Cookbook Junkies, of course).
 

Maggie Austin Cake: Artistry and Technique by Maggie Austin is the debut book from the cake designer whose work has been seen on The Today Show and in the White House. Many step-by-step photographs of techniques and cakes that are truly works of art fill this book. There are basic recipes contained in this title but the majority of its pages are devoted to design – truly a stunning book. 

Food 52 has done it again with Ice Cream and Friends: 60 Recipes and Riffs for Sorbets, Sandwiches, No-Churn Ice Creams, and More. Bringing us the best of their contributors’ recipes such as cinnamon roll ice cream, Saltine-brownie ice cream sandwiches and Burnt Toast Ice Cream. After filling up on all that ice cream, thank goodness for 

Mighty Salads: 60 New Ways to Turn Salad into Dinner and Make-Ahead Lunches, Too. Food52 has me rethinking salad. Thai Pork Salad with Crisped Rice, Roasted Potato Salad with Mustard-Walnut Vinaigrette, and Fried Eggplant, Tomato & Peach Salad with Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette. We have a good cop – bad cop situation here with Ice Cream and Mighty Salads – but I say go for broke and find a balance. 

Fress: Bold Flavors from a Jewish Kitchen by Emma Spitzer, the UK Master Chef finalist, brings together a mix of Middle-Eastern and Eastern European flavors with this contemporary Jewish cookbook. 100 recipes that every home cook can easily recreate in their kitchen is shared along with gorgeous photographs. Spitzer states,  “Fress is the realisation of a dream to bring classic, Jewish dishes into the modern day, in a book where the recipes are both accessible and exciting for the home cook to create.” 

King Solomon’s Table: A Culinary Exploration of Jewish Cooking from Around the World by Joan Nathan is the prolific author’s most beautiful title to date. Joan takes us around the globe and brings us a world of Jewish cooking. The recipes in this book are so incredibly tempting – Macedonian Leek and Meat Patties, Persian Chicken Soup with Gundi, and Multi-Seeded Fennel-Flavored Challah which are just a few examples. 

Ladies and gentlemen, start  your smokers for The South’s Best Butts: Pitmaster Secrets for Southern Barbecue Perfection by Matt Moore which is a pork and barbecue lovers dream will true. Moore has gathered the best ‘cue secrets to be had from all parts with recipes for the five mother sauces, Spicy Korean Pork, Rice Wine Vinegar and Miso Braised Collard Greens and Fried Banana Pudding. This book looks intoxicating!
 

To finish up this delightful dozen, there is one more title I want to mention in this preview although it is being released in early May – Bangkok: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Thailand by Leela Punyaratabandhu. It is absolutely gorgeous and shares 120 recipes that capture the true spirit of the city – from heirloom family dishes to restaurant classics to everyday street eats to modern cosmopolitan fare. 

As mentioned above, promotions are coming on all titles and I hope to bring you more information on Fress and Bread Toast Crumbs. 

Which book are you most excited about?