Cooking for Comfort: More Than 100 Wonderful Recipes That Are as Satisfying to Cook as They Are to Eat

In Cooking for Comfort, New York Times food-columnist and cookbook writer, Marion Burros, brings her sure taste and rock-solid technique to revisit simple dishes like linguine with red clam sauce, fried chicken, and quiche Lorraine. Burros knows when a good thing isn't quite good enough, tweaking some recipes (her shortbread features blueberries and lemon curd); upgrading ingredients (a Cobb salad made with arugula); or simply doing a major overall (introducing wine to her cream of tomato soup). As someone concerned about health matters, she's also "streamlined" a number of recipes, like coleslaw and potato salad, which can be made with light mayonnaise without compromise. (She also knows when to leave well enough alone, as with her classic coconut cake recipe.) The 100-plus recipes--all approachable--range from breakfast and brunch dishes to desserts, and includes an extended selection on cookies, cobblers, cakes, puddings, and delicious refrigerator sweets like Apricot Mousse and Terrine of Summer Fruit. With chatty recipe introductions and short-take formulas for the likes of Toasted Cheese Sandwiches and Make Ahead Risotto, the book is a welcome addition to the everything-old-is-new-again canon. --Arthur Boehm