Reddit mentions: The best appetizer cooking books

I'd recommend lasagna, make a whole tray and it will last you many meals and freezes well. You can find basic recipes on the back of lasagna noodle boxes. Add spinach, squash, zucchini, etc to make it healthier. I know people who use cottage cheese instead of ricotta which makes it cheaper and healthier (and they swear it still tastes as good).

Personally, I make a lot of daal makhani and I'll eat it over the course of a week and it still tastes amazing. However the ingredients may be tricky to find if you don't have a good Indian store nearby/are a cooking newbie. Unfortunately I can't give you a recipe as I don't know the English names for several key ingredients. The internet is your friend, however I'd suggest leaving out any milk or cream, it'll probably make it spoil faster and (in my opinion) does not taste any better.

Thai green curry and red curry are actually surprisingly simple to make. They may not last a whole week, but 3-5 days at least. You can find curry paste at your local Asian grocery store. Regular grocery stores carry it, too, but it's wayyy more expensive and less tasty. Pan fry garlic and onions in oil, add the curry paste and coconut milk. Make it a soup by adding a cup or two of veggie or chicken broth. Add your favorite veggies (my faves are green beans, bell peppers, broccoli and onions) + protein and ta da! Delicious food for all and easy to make in bulk.

As far as soups go, I have a book called 500 Soups. It's got a pretty good variety and has a lot of meal-in-a-bowl type dishes and I think a whole section on healthy soups as well.

Lastly, another Indian dish... palak paneer. It requires no fancy spices and is super healthy. You can substitute chicken for the paneer if you don't want to go to an Indian store. If you do that, I'd recommend simmering the chicken for a bit in the spinach mixture after you puree it so it soaks up the flavors more. You can eat it with rice or wrap it up in a tortilla like a burrito. Should last you most of a week in the fridge.

I think you may have some misconceptions about the purpose of an amuse. It is a very powerful and effective tool to set the tone for a diner's entire experience and is worthy of your utmost respect. Designing and executing a great amuse takes (arguably) more skill and subtlety than creating a full dish. Educate yourself:

http://www.amazon.com/Amuse-Bouche-Little-Delight-Before-Begins/dp/0375507604/ref=sr_1_1_twi_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1425447297&sr=8-1&keywords=amuse+cookbook

In terms of personal experience, my mother has referred to the original Spanish version of this book ever since I could remember. The amount of recipes can't be beat and it can be found in most Spanish homes. If you need it in English, there's some used copies there for about $5. She also released this book on tapas but I can't personally comment on how good it is; if it's anything like the '1080 Recetas...' then it should be a good purchase as well.

Also have a look through this list, there might be some others you find interesting; the first choice looks like a decent book on basics. I actually borrowed José Andrés' Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America book from my chef last night and though I haven't been able to give it a proper read, I saw a bunch of delicious-sounding recipes just thumbing through the pages.

I get about 20ish pierogies out of this dough. I've doubled it without any ill effect. It's a very well-behaved dough that rolls out nice and thin, is fairly resilient, and very tender once cooked. It's from the book Pierogie Love and is honestly better than anything I've experimented with myself.



1 large egg

4oz full-fat sour cream

2tbs melted then cooled slightly butter

1 tsp kosher salt

240 grams (about 2 cups) ap flour.


Whisk all the wet ingredients and salt together in a bowl. Gradually add them to a bowl with the flour. (I've used a stand mixer for this, no problem). It will be very shaggy but it will come together.

Tip it out of the bowl and knead it for 1 minute. Form into a ball, tuck it under the bowl and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Roll out (one of those silicon baking things is great for this b/c you don't have to flour the surface) to about 1/8" thick. Cut into circles, stuff, and pinch shut.

Pierogie Love uses and egg wash to hold the sides together but I'm kind of ambivalent on it.



I would also recommend that you use a cookie portioner to portion out the fillings before you roll out the dough. work with half the dough at a time. Punch out the circles then stuff them, fold them, and put them under a towel so they don't dry out. Then move on to the other half of the dough.

As far as filling goes. I make potato filling with butter, two fistfulls of shredded cheddar, and half a grated white onion with most of its juices.

For butter sauce, chop one sweet onion. Put it in a skillet with a stick of butter. Cook it on low as you parboil then fry the pierogies (fried in butter, if you please). At that point most of the excess liquid will have cooked off and you'll be left with a mess of sweet, oniony, buttery sauce.

I bought a book called 500 best soups. It's not this exact one, but something like this: http://www.amazon.com/500-Soups-Compendium-Cooking-Sellers/dp/1569069786/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1319506108&sr=8-1 . This shit is delicious. Really, really delicious. Plus, you'll learn how to cook. Also, it's hard to make great soup, but it's also hard to make terrible soup.

To my knowledge, pico de gallo refers to a fresh salsa made with tomatoes, cilantro and onions, not tomatillos, cilantro and onions. Are you perhaps confusing pico de gallo with salsa verde? Are you looking for a cooked green sauce?

I used to work at a place where we served a fresh tomatillo pico like that, though; we called it salsa fresca verde. It had diced tomatillos, chopped onions, minced garlic, minced serranos, cilantro, salt, sherry vinegar.

Mark Miller has lots of fresh salsa recipes in his The Great Salsa Book.

My first pick always is the Marinski Books....


Charcutier. Salumiere. Wurstmeister - Francois Paul-Armand Vecchio
http://www.amazon.com/Charcut.../dp/0615720846/ref=sr_1_1...

The Marinski Books : http://www.amazon.com/.../e/B001JRXURI/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

In the Charcuterie from The Fatted Calf: http://www.amazon.com/.../dp/B00C0AO18U/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1

Pig Perfect - Peter Kaminski: http://www.amazon.com/Pig.../dp/1401300367/ref=sr_1_1...

Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery - Jane Grigson : http://www.amazon.com/Charcut.../dp/B004SHJJ44/ref=sr_1_6...

The Art of Charcuterie - John Kowalski: http://www.amazon.com/Art.../dp/0470197412/ref=sr_1_sc_1...

Professional Charcuterie: Sausage Making, Curing, Terrines, and Pates - John Kinsella & David T. Harvey: http://www.amazon.com/Profess.../dp/B0032UXZ4S/ref=sr_1_1...

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing - Rytek Kutas : http://www.amazon.com/Great.../dp/0025668609/ref=sr_1_1...

Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book: http://www.amazon.com/Bruce.../dp/B007WKE2J6/ref=sr_1_1...
Patés & Terrines: http://www.amazon.com/Pat%C3.../dp/0688038964/ref=sr_1_2...

Hank Shaws Page: http://www.amazon.com/Hank.../e/B004OBEILI/ref=sr_tc_2_0...

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

amazon.nl

amazon.co.jp

amazon.fr

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There's a lot of good choices here. A couple of favorites:

• [Jose Andres' Tapas Cookbook] (http://www.amazon.com/Tapas-Taste-America-Jose-Andres/dp/1400053595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419776737&sr=8-1&keywords=jose+andres)
  
• [Saveur - The New Classics] (http://www.amazon.com/Saveur-Classics-Cookbook-recipes-kitchen/dp/1616287357/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1419777058&sr=1-7&keywords=cookbooks)
  
  Edit: HTML
  

http://www.amazon.com/Amuse-Bouche-Little-Delight-Before-Begins/dp/0375507604/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348358817&sr=1-1&keywords=amuse+bouche

Check out this book, I found it very helpful for understanding the concept of the amuse

I would recommend opening this book.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0375507604/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_OOjGzbESR5HVJ

it can be yours

You might try books published by Wei-Chuan Publishing, they have several bilingual, English-Chinese, editions. Chinese Cuisine features dishes from several regions, and Chinese Snacks has many of the goodies you find on the street or at a dim sum restaurant.

http://www.amazon.com/Amuse-Bouche-Little-Delight-Before-Begins/dp/0375507604

Garde Manger isn't an art. It's where the FNG gets put until they can be brought up to speed.