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Heaping helpings

This season's cookbooks pile on the recipes

Marty Meitus, Rocky Mountain News

Published December 14, 2005 at midnight

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Santa's bag is going to be extra-heavy this year. With many of the cookbooks weighing in between 600 and 800 pages, he's going to need a jet-propelled sleigh to get anywhere. Here are some good choices for the holiday season:

A sensational sleeper

Recipes: A Collection for the Modern Cook, Susan Spungen (William Morrow, $34.95)

• Why it's a winner: This is one of those unobtrusive books with the author peeling an apple on the cover in a clean white kitchen. It said "Martha Stewart" and sure enough, it turns out that Spungen was food editor for Martha Stewart Living. This is a wonderful group of recipes.

• Recipe to try: Roast Fillet of Beef With Mushroom Sauce is a showstopper. Splurge and make it for a holiday dinner.

Armchair cooks

The New American Cooking, Joan Nathan (Alfred A. Knopf, $35)

• Why it's a winner: Nathan, known for her Jewish cookbooks, has crisscrossed the country to showcase the amazing melting pot of American cooking, from Swedish cardamom bread to Jamaican jerk chicken.

Olive Trees and Honey: A Treasury of Vegetarian Recipes From Jewish Communities Around the World, Gil Marks (Wiley Publishing Inc., $29.95)

• Why it's a winner: This well-thought-out cookbook is an excellent primer on vegetarian cooking that has its roots in Jewish communities across the globe, from India to the Middle East to Uzbekistan.

Mangoes and Curry Leaves, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid (Artisan, $45)

• Why it's a winner: This lovely coffee-table book will give you an insider's look at countries that most of us will never visit(more on Alford, 5D).

Chef-most-likely-to-succeed cookbook

Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America, José Andres (Clarkson Potter, $35)

• Why it's a winner: The man more than the cookbook is what's noteworthy here. Andres owns seven restaurants in Washington, D.C., hosts a Spanish cooking show and has crowds eating out of his hands at seminars with his quick wit and lively personality. Throw in a Spanish "bam!" or two and Andres is on the threshold of one-name success.

Local cookbooks for fundraisers

Steamboat Entertains . . . Again! (the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, $24.95, available by calling 1-970-879-0695 or

• Why it's a winner: All proceeds will support the sports club in training athletes for the 2006 Winter Games. The recipes are friendly and familiar, such as raspberry muffins.

More Across Colorado: Recipes and Recollections, the Volunteers of the Colorado Historical Society, bookstores, gift shops and the Colorado History Museum Store, $21.95

• Why it's a winner: This lovely cookbook is full of history, black-and- white photos and new recipes in an easy-to-read format. All proceeds benefit the Colorado Historical Society.

Cookbooks we've mentioned before

Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitude, Susan Purdy (William Morrow, $29.95)

• Why it's a winner: Baking at every possible elevation from sea level to 10,000 feet is easier now that Purdy has done the work for us.

Glorious One-Pot Meals, Elizabeth Yarnell ($14.95 at the Tattered Cover and

• Why it's a winner: Denverite Yarnell has patented a one-dish method of cooking.

Mexican Everyday, Rick Bayless (W.W. Norton, $29.95)

• Why it's a winner: Everybody loves Rick, with his easy, breezy style.

Cookbooks for Food Network fans

Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics

(Random House, $29.95)

• Why it's a winner: Two, two, two cookbooks in one. The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons Too! have been combined into a hardcover volume.

• Recipe to try: Auntie's Peanut Sauce

Food Network Favorites: Recipes From Our All-Star Chefs(Meredith, $29.95)

• Why it's a winner: Who's your favorite Food Network star? If you can't decide, you get a taste of all of them, in this colorful volume.

• Recipe to try: Chili Dog Nachos

Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats, Rachael Ray (Clarkson Potter, $19.95)

• Why it's a winner: Ray's book will keep you in new recipes every day of the year.

• Recipe to try: Sage and Balsamic Pork Chops With Pumpkin Polenta

Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Cooking 2 (Meredith Books, $19.95)

• Why it's a winner: Sandra Lee combines a few brand-name ingredients and whips them up in everything from drinks to desserts for almost-scratch cooking.

• Recipe to try: Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

(The Food Network and the Rocky Mountain News are owned by the E.W. Scripps Co.)

Cookbooks on everyone's list - if you can lift them

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook (America's Test Kitchen, $34.95)

• Why it's a winner: These 1,200 recipes with tips, and how-tos were compiled by the meticulous Christopher Kimball, of the PBS show America's Test Kitchen and the Test Kitchen editors. The downside: With 800 pages, the three-ring binder is cumbersome to lift, and difficult to close.

The Best Recipes in the World, Mark Bittman (Doubleday/Broadway, $29.95)

• Why it's a winner: Bittman, a well-known writer and cookbook author, has put 1,000 recipes into a 750-page cookbook that draws from countries all over, including the lesser known.

• Recipe to try: Chicken With Apricots (eastern Europe)

Cookbook for nostalgic easterners

The New England Table, Lora Brody (Chronicle Books, $35)

• Why it's a winner: Veteran cookbook author Lora Brody has a nice, personal touch with her cookbooks.

• Recipe to try: Roasted Vegetables

Cookbook for quick entertainment

InStyle Parties (Melcher Media, $27.95)

• Why it's a winner: If you're a celebrity groupie, there are sparkling stars galore, but it's the tips on planning an event that are the real gems.

Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, Pam Anderson (Houghton Mifflin, $35)

• Why it's a winner: Anderson offers recipes with tips on shortcuts, how far ahead the dish can be made, and even what to do with the leftovers.

For the folks down home

2006 Taste of Home Annual Recipes, Every Recipe From Last Year . . . Plus More! (Reiman Media Group Inc., $29.99)

• Why it's a winner: Fans of Taste of Home can have everything in one neat volume.

• Recipe to try: Triple-Cranberry Salad Mold

The sweetest local cookbook

Olé Posole! & Other Tummy Tales, compiled by Renee Fajardo and Carl Ruby (Jems Books, $16)

• Why it's a winner: This sweet children's book combines cultural short stories with recipes. It's the fourth book in a local series in which professional storytellers from the Rocky Mountain Storytellers' Conference share stories and recipes.

Marty Meitus is the food editor. or 303- 892-5229