Cooking the books

"The Internet really ought to have killed cookbooks," Helen Rosner, the award-winning food columnist of the New Yorker observes. But instead, cookbooks are selling better than ever. Rosner says this is because they have become more than merely collections of recipes.

But it seems to me that a larger reason is that books in general have yet to find a better replacement. And this is especially the case with cookbooks, where you can dog-ear a recipe you don't want to forget, note an adaptation to an ingredient, and vicariously feast on a chocolate cake as you hold in your hand a gorgeous photo of it.

As October is National Cookbook Month I offer in celebration a list of a handful of my favorite cookbooks, not ones that you probably already have on your shelf, but less well known, if not quite obscure, volumes. In each case I've picked one recipe I think is worth the price of the book.

*The Best American Recipes. A unique series of books edited by Fran McCullough and Molly Stevens that annually scoured hundreds of sources ranging from books, magazines, websites, and even supermarket flyers to find the finest of a given year. Recipe: Giant Gougère.

*Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. If Julia Child had been a vegetarian, this is the book she would have written. Burgeoning with 1,400 recipes, author Deborah Madison artfully demonstrates that besides being healthy, meatless dishes can be just as flavorful and sumptuous as any other. Recipe: All-Bean Chili.

A stack of some of Tom Harte's favorite cookbooks, reviewed in today's column for National Cookbook Month, that serve to demonstrate why the Internet has yet to kill cookbooks.Submitted by Tom Harte

A stack of some of Tom Harte's favorite cookbooks, reviewed in today's column for National Cookbook Month, that serve to demonstrate why the Internet has yet to kill cookbooks.Submitted by Tom Harte

• American Cake. A marvelous book by Anne Byrn which goes far beyond her more famous Cake Mix Doctor series. This one is a well-researched and sophisticated treatment of the development of the American cake from Colonial times to the present day replete with fascinating baking lore and wonderful recipes from every era. Recipe: Beet Red Velvet Cake.
• Around My French Table. Any book by Dorie Greenspan is worth a spot in your library and this one is no exception, but whereas her most prized books involve baking — cakes, pies, cookies, and the like — this one branches out to all courses meticulously explaining recipes Greenspan has perfected living in France part-time over the years. Just leafing through it constitutes a veritable feast. Recipe: Pumpkin Flan with Gorgonzola.
• In The Sweet Kitchen. Half baking manual and half recipe collection, this smart work by former pastry chef Regan Daley has some of the most tempting recipes I know. Consider, for example, Black Sticky Gingerbread, Caramel Cream Cheese Frosting, Chocolate Fudge Cookies with Toffee and Dried Cherries, or Gingerbread Souffle with White Chocolate Crème Anglaise. Recipe: Coffee Meringue Buttercream.

Each of these books confirms Joseph Conrad's contention that "the purpose of a cookery book is one and unmistakable. Its object can conceivably be no other than to increase the happiness of mankind."

A giant gougère, a recipe from one of Tom Harte's favorite cookbooks, that is easier than the traditional approach but just as impressive.Submitted by Tom Harte

A giant gougère, a recipe from one of Tom Harte's favorite cookbooks, that is easier than the traditional approach but just as impressive.Submitted by Tom Harte

Giant Gougère

Gougères are small savory cream puffs, not hard to make but a bit labor intensive as they require shaping individually, typically out of a pastry bag. But the genius of this recipe from Anne Willan, adapted from the 2004-2005 edition of The Best American Recipes is that they are made as a giant version which is served in wedges.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4-1/2 ounces Gruyère, diced
• 1 cup flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 4-1/2 ounces goat cheese

Cut butter into chunks and add to milk with salt and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add flour. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture pulls away from sides of pan and forms a ball. Continue to beat over low heat for one minute to dry out dough until it begins to stick to bottom of pan. Remove from heat and cool two minutes. Beat in three eggs one by one. Using a fork, mix remaining egg and mix in enough to make a shiny dough that barely falls from the fork. Beat in Gruyère. Spread dough in an oiled 12-inch tart pan and sprinkle with rosemary and garlic leaving a 3/4-inch border. Slice goat cheese and place rounds over top. Brush with tablespoon of oil. Bake at 375 degrees for 45-50 minutes until browned and crusty.