The Home Cook: Essential Recipes to Know by Heart - Best Selling Cookbook for Everyday Meals & Family Dinners

This is a wonderful cookbook. The Home Cook, Recipes to Know by Heart is a very befitting title. They are the classics that we all know and love, with a slight skew to the Italian American end of the spectrum. There are both humble and special dishes throughout the book, but nothing overly difficult. I just bought groceries for four main dishes, two sides, and two breakfasts, and found all of the ingredients at the very average supermarket down the street. The tone of the book is charming, filled with nostalgia for Alex’s childhood food memories. There aren’t a lot of photos in the book, but that fits with the casual platings and the focus on flavor and technique. Strongly recommend.Below are my pics and thoughts on the dishes I tried:1) Roasted Shrimp with Chile and Almonds – p 124. The dried chiles add so much flavor to this very easy, quick dish. I doubled it for four of us, and I’m so glad I did. My teenagers loved it.2) Avocado and Orange Salad – p 204. Delicious and minutes to pull together. This made so much more dressing than needed, so I’ll probably make ½ or 1/3 next time.3) Mini Goat Cheese Quiches – p 16. These are just delightful. They’re easy peasy, so they’d make a perfect addition when you’re entertaining. Don’t skip the lovely garlic, red wine vinegar, and olive oil dressing. It really adds that little something to it. I didn’t use even half the filling in the little phyllo cups, so I think I’ll make little tart shells for the rest of the filling tomorrow.4) Pumpkin Nutmeg Bread – p 336. Fantastic flavor and super moist. It’s called pumpkin nutmeg bread, but there’s ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice in it with toasted walnuts.5) Whole Roasted Chicken with Bacon – p 107. Just lovely. The chicken is divine. It’s super moist from the skin and bacon on it. The lemon mustard sauce balances the richness perfectly. The skin doesn’t crisp up, so I removed it after the fact. Just say no to flabby chicken skin.6) White Mushrooms and Spinach – p 162. This is flavored and lacquered with garlic, a good dose of pepper, and marsala wine, and gets a brightness from lemon zest at the end. Terrific.7) Beef Brisket Soup with Quickie Parmigiano-Reggiano Dumplings – p 72. Oh, those dumplings! The brisket was delicious, too.8) Grandma Guarnaschelli’s Lasagna with Mini Beef Meatballs – p 90. Wow. Really. This is the cheese and meatball lover’s lasagna. It is fantastic.Some others I have flagged to try: Spicy Chinatown Pork Dumplings – p 23 * Glazed Five-Spice Ribs – p 24 * Spinach, Artichoke, and Toasted Pecan Dip – p 35 * Beef Meatball Soup with Paprika and Israeli Couscous – p 56 * Tomato and Fennel Soup – p 61 (grilled cheese on the following page) * Creamiest of the Creamy Broccoli Soup – p 63 * Pasta Puttanesca – p 84 * Gnocchi Macaroni and Cheese – p 94 * Chicken Cutlets with Prosciutto and Sage – p 97 * Roast Beef with Dry Sherry Gravy – p 122 * Broiled Cauliflower Steaks with Parsley and Lemon – p 132 * Classic Pot Roast – p 135 * Crispy Potato Cake – p 145 * Sweet Potato Puree with Brown Butter – p 146 * Buttermilky Mashed Potatoes – p 150 * Roasted Carrots with Cumin and Coriander – p 152 * Beets, Toasted Walnuts, and Black Pepper Goat Cheese – p 155 * Grilled Onion Rings – p 176 * Fennel and Orange Salad with Walnut Pesto – p 208 * Crispy Brussels Sprouts Salad – p 211 * Tasty Tomato Salad with Fresh Raspberries – p 215 * Warm Candied Corn Salad – p 219 * Blackberry Clafoutis – p 284 * My Cannoli Filling Rum Cake – p 287 * Pineapple Upside-Down Cake with Pink Peppercorn Caramel – p 298 * Easy Beer Bread – p 325 * Parker House Rolls – p 329 * Spicy Margarita – p 356 * Raspberry and Lime Brunch Cocktail – p 359 * Buttered Rum Lifesaver – p 362I’ll update this as I play in the book more.