Cook This!

These hot new cookbooks are the perfect gift for the restaurant foodie who needs to start fending for himself

My New Orleans
Equal parts autobiography, coffee-table tome and cookbook, My New Orleans (Andrews McMeel) is James Beard Award–winning chef/restaurateur John Besh’s loud, proud love letter to his native Louisiana. Besh, who describes himself as a “starry-eyed boy brought up in the 
shadows of New Orleans, surrounded by cypress knees and tupelo trees,” breaks up the book in categories, including Mardi Gras, Creole tomatoe season and gumbo weather. And if full-frontal spreads of gritty, raw oyster shells and bright red crawfish boils with cracked cobs of corn get you hot and bothered, this is food porn at its finest.

How to Roast a Lamb
Greek cuisine might have been forever relegated to falafel huts and gyro stands if not for chef Michael Psilakis, who is so proud of his heritage that he includes a photo of himself in full traditional dance costume—complete with bright blue wool bloomers and tall white boots—in How to Roast a Lamb (Little Brown). At this stage of success—Psilakis and business partner Donatella Arpaia own über-popular restos Anthos and Kefi—other chefs usually have a shelf of cookbooks to their name, but this is Psilakis’ first, full of anecdotes and photos of still-life mezze platters so fresh you can almost smell the garlic. Are you frying calamari, chickpeas and lemon slices at home? Maybe not. But most recipes are geared toward the do-it-yourselfer, like grilled watermelon and Manouri, a semi-soft Greek cheese, and lamb burgers on sesame buns.

Momofuku
Let’s be honest: When we crave David Chang’s pork buns, his deep, rich ramen or a tart bite of kimchi, we’d much rather wait for a seat at Ssäm Bar or try to score an ever-elusive reservation at Ko than attempt to make it ourselves. Still, the King Midas of the East Village’s cookbook, Momofuku (Clarkson Potter), is a must-have, if not only for its faux-wood-paneled cover and signature peach on the front. Inside, it’s what we’ve all been waiting for: some good, solid time with Chang in his element—laughing in the kitchen, riding bumper cars at an amusement park—and a peek into the philosophy that helped make him one of the most sought-after chefs in the country without any help from the Food Network.

The Bryant Family Vineyard Cookbook: Recipes From 
Great Chefs and Friends
Food is only half the story of The Bryant Family Vineyard Cookbook (Andrews McMeel), though recipe contributions from Thomas Keller, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Lidia Bastianich and Daniel Boulud certainly elevate the hefty volume to rock-star status. Each dish—from Eric Ripert’s smoked-salmon croque monsieur to vineyard cofounder Barbara Bryant’s cheddar wafers—comes with suggested wine pairings. A visual journey through wine country, the book benefits more than taste buds: A portion of the proceeds help the Bowery Mission.

Pasta Sfoglia
If you think making pasta is best left to the professionals and those who have ample space to hang noodles to dry, chef Ron Suhanosky begs to differ in Pasta Sfoglia (Wiley). It’s as if he devotes the entire book to saying, “Come on, it’s much easier than it looks. I promise.” Full of recipes that have made his Upper East Side restaurant so beloved, dishes like Nonna’s Sunday Ragù address the comfort-food spectrum, while cappellacci with golden raisins and saffron butter give updated treatments to one of the world’s oldest dishes.