Food52 Genius Recipes: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook

These 100 recipes are ever-so-carefully curated from "luminaries of the food world." I'm pretty sure I didn't know about the food52 com website until I bought the book, but today I'm a faithful reader. The recipes in this book, for which the author dug far and beyond those that had appeared in her column, all come with amazing pedigrees: every one is authored by a highly-respected chef and/or cookbook author. It must have taken Ms. Miglore, the author, months simply to secure copyright permissions. The book, which I own in hardcover, is organized by "course," beginning with "breakfast." The very first recipe, "fried eggs with wine vinegar," from Roger Verge, is so amazing that, to this day, I'll usually crack a pinch (Verge calls for much more) of vinegar du jour into my morning eggs. Union Square Cafe's "Bar Nuts" is a staple for parties and, on occasion, holiday Ball-jar gifts (the "genius" part of the recipe is that they toast the nuts first and then toss then with the spicy butter coating--no chance of burning the coating). Other tried-and-trues: Marcella Hazan's famous super-simple "Tomato Sauce with Butter & Onions," which, by the way, I've been making (with canned tomatoes) from her seminal cookbook since the 1980's; Jim Lahey's famous "No-Knead Bread;" "Warm Squash & Chickpea Salad with Tahini" from Moro Restaurant (I don't know the London restaurant, but if a recipe includes chickpeas and tahinis, I'm in; "Green Lentil Salad" from Patricia Wells (I make as a side dish and I don't discard the onions and garlic); "Gratin of Zucchini, Rice & Onions with Cheese" (Julia Child) which I modify for altitude (rice) and using a spiralizer instead of a grater; "Broccoli Cooked Forever" from Roy Finamore: I don't know who he is, but I know that the dish is indeed genius; and "Shrimp Grits" (from Edna Lewis & Scott Peacock): my notes say "it was ridiculously complicated--even for me." Still, I keep making it, even adding an extra step (reserving 1/4 of the cooked shrimp for garnish). "Onion Carbonara" from Michel Richard is phenomenal in the opinion of this onion lover. The "genius" here is using onions sliced into long ribbons (I use the mandoline) to mimic pasta. The recipe calls for bacon, which I omit. Yum! Finally, "Fresh Blueberry Pie" from Rose Levy Beranbaum is a classic show-stopper. If I'm invited for dinner in blueberry season, I'm bringing this pie (I make it as a tart and, in lieu of a lattice top, I add cut-outs for fun--see photo). Every recipe is beautifully presented, with a headnote telling us why the dish is special, plus, perhaps, a bit of its history. Every dish has a color photo, and some have up to 12 photos demonstrating technique. Not sure how to cut up butternut squash? 12 photos show you how. Since I don't eat meat other than fish, I did not make most of the many recipes in their "Meaty Mains" chapter. However, there are plenty of classics that I make and again--plus, in the course of paging through the book for this review, I slapped 5 Post-It's on the pages for other recipes I want to make! This is a book that's well worth the price--and, as demonstrated by my new Post-It's, worth coming back to from time to time for new inspiration.

I have owned and cooked from this book for more than six months now and while I still use other sources and cookbooks for recipes, Genius Recipes as quickly become a favorite in my kitchen. If you are unsure whether to buy it, I strongly recommend cooking from the Genius Recipes blog at the Food52 website. If you do, you will know two things: 1) whether these recipes are to your taste, and 2) whether you really need to invest in a cookbook for which most of the recipes are available for free on the site. I chose to buy the cookbook because my family and I loved the recipes I was making from the site, and because I like books -- I like to hold them, own them, make notes on recipes, etc. I also love the aesthetics of this book. The pictures are mouth-watering and inspiring. My favorites from the book so far (ones I've made more than once and always please my family): Roasted Applesauce, Olive Oil & Maple Granola, Raised Waffles, Deviled Eggs, No-Knead Bread (I made this literally 15 times in the month of December to give loaves as gifts!), Salt Crusted Potatoes with Cilantro Mojo, Watermelon, Mint & Cider Vinegar Tonic, Spiced Red Wine (again, given as gifts), Romaine Hearts with Caesar Salad Dressing, Chicken Thighs with Lemon (my go-to for easy, weeknight chicken now), Tomato Sauce with Butter & Onion, Strawberry Lemon Sorbet (made for 50 children -- twice!), Strawberry Shortcakes, Purple Plum Torte, Marie-Helene's Apple Cake. And because it is possible to still love something even if it isn't 100% amazing, here are the recipes that I didn't love or didn't work for me (but doesn't mean they won't for you!): Touch-of-Grace Biscuits, Crepes, Cauliflower Soup, Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake, Caramelized White Chocolate. Just as the subtitle promises, these Food52 recipes have taught me tricks and techniques and changed the way I cook. I agree that cooking delicious, crowd-pleasing food doesn't necessarily have to mean more time in the kitchen or investing in fancy ingredients. I have always found all the ingredients I need to cook these recipes at my local grocery store.

I bought this cookbook because I recognized a few of the famous recipes in the summary as ones we've all been using for years, e.g., Jim Lahey's bread, Marian Burros' plum torte, etc.; I figured the rest would be just as good. THEY ARE! It's been tremendous fun to discover each one, and while reading either the story or the recipe, I find myself saying "wow, that's a great idea" or words to that effect. I particularly enjoy the citations and stories behind the recipes, too. I really appreciate knowing whose hard work went into developing the recipe and technique, and these recipes take care to credit the sources. Thank you for a really fun book! One additional thing to mention after doing some more cooking from the book: we're vegetarians and we're pleased. Most of the book is available to us, save the expected things (e.g., steaks, etc.). While the section of "Meatless Mains" is short, the recipes are splendid.

BITTMAN, Mark. Kitchen Matrix. Pam Krauss Books. 2015. 304p, illus., index. $35. MIGLORE, Kristen. Food52: Genius Recipes: 100 Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook . Ten Speed Press. 2015. 272p, illus., index. $35. Here are two cookbooks by food columnists, Bittman for the NY Times and Miglore, for Food52.com. Neither is an essential book for one’s cookbook collection but both are helpful –fruitful—in showing variants on standard recipes (Bittman) or ways to improve favorites (Miglore). Bittman’s Kitchen Matrix is intriguing in its organization. He provides base recipes and shows how each can be varied, even moved from one national cuisine to another. You have a central recipe, usually quite simple. Around it or following it, is a number (4, 6, 8, even 12) of greatly different tasting but similarly prepared variants. Bittman is a minimalist chef. (His 2014 book, an Amazon Best Book of the year, is entitled How to Cook Everything Fast. My wife bought that book at the same time that I bought this one.) Michael Ruhlman, no slouch at these matters, says that Miglore’s cookbook is his “new favorite.” While it has many recipes that are new to me, the book’s outstanding virtue is to help reconceptualize how to make dishes one already makes: only make them better now. Both books are elegantly presented and both fill a niche on my cookbook shelf that needs filling. When I cook, I like to set out the contents of refrigerator and larder and then browse through cookbooks to see how I can vary my recipe. Here, both of these books are a help.

Today I hosted by grandson's baptism lunch and the brisket recipe from this cookbook was the star of the show. Warning: I made 7lbs for 15 people and they wanted more. I also made the zucchini rice gratin. My husband doesn't like zucchini and was none too pleased to see me grate 7 lbs of it. And he loved the finished product. I just got this cookbook and will be making every recipe in it. Spectacular techniques with ingredients already in your fridge and cupboard. I would give it 10 stars if I could.

I have made two recipes so far: Black Pepper Tofu and Broccoli Cooked Forever. Both are so good, especially the tofu dish. I am from China, with many many years of experience of cooking tofu so I had high expectations. I may not have to say this is now my favorite tofu recipe. My meat-eating family loved it so much they did not complaint that tonight's dinner had no meat. I did make two important tweaks to the tofu recipe: 1) replace 11 Tbsp of butter with 10 Tbsp of avocado oil. Next time, I think I am going to try 8 Tbsp of oil. 2) replace 2 Tbsp of sugar with 3 Tbsp of homemade date syrup - very easy to make. Look for recipe online. The two tweaks made the recipes much healthier without compromising the flavor. I have so much confidence in Food 52 and its cookbooks. I will continue to try recipes from this book and just ordered its Vegan cookbook. We are not vegan but try to eat healthier. The philosophy of this book is aligned with what we consider healthy eating.

Love the idea of this book and several things work out. But it has not proven itself to be a Genius book- to use that title, you need to have an ironclad bullet proof believe that every recipe is not only flawless but also delicious. The chicken thighs with lemon were very nice, the crispy skinned fish was great...but then the black pepper tofu? Egads. And I have many books by Yotam Ottolenghi, who this recipe is from. A tofu stir fry dish with 11 tbsps of butter? Not only is it heavy handed and really unappealing, but the tofu tastes bizarre every single bite b/c it tastes buttery! Buttery tofu??? I looked up his recipe online and in another website, there were 20 or so reviews and every single one had edited his recipe in a variety of ways to make it 'better'. So how can it be 'genius'? If this book were called "Favorites", I would judge less. I am happy I bought it but more because I am a fan of Food52 and appreciate their effort to provide tips or good ideas. But not because this book is actually full of genius recipes. It's pretty and nice and a few things have been a nice surprise. And others have been definitively disappointing.

Love this book. The blueberry pie is unbelievable. Great collection of recipes. Got one for myself and ended up getting other for a friend that likes to cook

I was not sure what this book would be like but was surprisingly taken by it. There are all sorts of different recipes from Chefs or Restaurants which I do know somewaht about some of them so it was nice to see what they submitted for the book to share with others. I have made a couple of things out of it. They were not outstanding but I was happy with the results overall. I need to cook more from it before making a more informed decision, and there are quite a few things that I would like to try.

The first time I flipped through this book I was amazed. All of the recipes sounded so good that I wanted to make almost every single one, which is rare, since I'm kind of a picky eater. It's like a "Best of the Best" collection made up of tried-and-true classics with a little spin to make them even more delicious and/or simple, as well as things you've maybe never made or heard of before but you can't wait to try. It includes recipes from top chefs around the world as well as family treasures that have been passed down. I've made a few of the recipes so far and they're wonderful! The granola is absolutely delicious and has become a weekly staple -- it's so simple and healthy, and my son loves it, too. Many more to try -- I actually look forward to cooking now! Also, the author's writing style is wonderful and down-to-earth and often hilarious. She provides lots of tips, information, and humour to make this book even more enjoyable. Buy this book -- it's amazing and you won't regret it!

Recipes are actually genius !

I love the Food52 website and regularly cook recipes from there, so it is great to have the 'Genius Recipes' - these are recipes by established chefs such as Nigella, the team behind Moro Restaurant, and Nigel Slater that have been tested by the Food52 team and have added tips for success. The recipe categories include Breakfast, Starters/Snacks and Drinks, Meat Mains, Veg Mains, Sides, and Desserts. Some of the recipes can be a bit complex, while others, such as Marcella Hazan's tomato sauce are really simple and highly effective. Only criticism: if you are a vegetarian, this is not the book for you - the Veg Mains section is rather sparse, compared to the Meat one, and some of the dishes in there are overly complex.

Livro muito bem explicado, com dicas excelentes!