Want to know what books Becky Krystal recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Becky Krystal's favorite book recommendations of all time.
1
Recipes that reveal the life-changing happiness of cooking
There are lots of ways to start a story, but this one begins with a chicken.
Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For) is a cookbook. Or, at least, you'll flick through these pages and find recipes so inviting that you'll head straight for the kitchen: roast garlic and tomato soup, uplifting chilli-lemon spaghetti, charred leek lasagne, squash skillet pie, spicy fish finger sandwiches or burnt-butter brownies. It's the kind of cooking you can do a little bit drunk. It's the kind of cooking that is... more Recipes that reveal the life-changing happiness of cooking
There are lots of ways to start a story, but this one begins with a chicken.
Midnight Chicken (& Other Recipes Worth Living For) is a cookbook. Or, at least, you'll flick through these pages and find recipes so inviting that you'll head straight for the kitchen: roast garlic and tomato soup, uplifting chilli-lemon spaghetti, charred leek lasagne, squash skillet pie, spicy fish finger sandwiches or burnt-butter brownies. It's the kind of cooking you can do a little bit drunk. It's the kind of cooking that is probably better if you've got a bottle of wine open, and a hunk of bread to mop up the sauce.
But if you sit down with this book and a cup of tea (or that glass of wine), you'll also discover that it's an annotated list of things worth living for: a manifesto of moments worth living for. Because there was a time when, for Ella Risbridger, the world had become overwhelming. Sounds were too loud, colours were too bright, everyone moved too fast. One night she found herself lying on her kitchen floor, wondering if she would ever get up - and it was the thought of a chicken, of roasting it, and of eating it, that got her to her feet, and made her want to be alive.
This is a cookbook to make you fall in love with the world again less 
Becky KrystalIt’s a combination of cookbook and memoir. You could read the whole book cover-to-cover and be satisfied. Even if you didn’t make a dish from it. (Source)
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2
Delicious, fresh Vietnamese food is achievable any night of the week with this cookbook's 80 accessible, easy recipes.
IACP AWARD FINALIST - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR - The Washington Post - Eater - Food52 - Epicurious - Christian Science Monitor - Library Journal
Drawing on decades of experience, as well as the cooking hacks her mom adopted after fleeing from Vietnam to America, award-winning author Andrea Nguyen shows you how to use easy-to-find ingredients to create true Vietnamese... more Delicious, fresh Vietnamese food is achievable any night of the week with this cookbook's 80 accessible, easy recipes.
IACP AWARD FINALIST - NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR - The Washington Post - Eater - Food52 - Epicurious - Christian Science Monitor - Library Journal
Drawing on decades of experience, as well as the cooking hacks her mom adopted after fleeing from Vietnam to America, award-winning author Andrea Nguyen shows you how to use easy-to-find ingredients to create true Vietnamese flavors at home--fast. With Nguyen as your guide, there's no need to take a trip to a specialty grocer for favorites such as banh mi, rice paper rolls, and pho, as well as recipes for Honey-Glazed Pork Riblets, Chile Garlic Chicken Wings, Vibrant Turmeric Coconut Rice, and No-Churn Vietnamese Coffee Ice Cream. Nguyen's tips and tricks for creating Viet food from ingredients at national supermarkets are indispensable, liberating home cooks and making everyday cooking easier. less Becky KrystalShe talks about trying to make recipes that are streamlined but not dumbed down and she redoes classic dishes with some non-traditional ingredients. (Source)
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4
Former MasterChef Season 6 contestant Hetal Vasavada, nostalgic for the desserts she grew up with, shares a versatile selection of classic Indian recipes and creative interpretations. These desserts are more than one-note sweet treats; they’re complex creations, relying on a wide variety of spices, nuts and fruits for incredible flavor. Readers will learn to work with superb combinations like pistachio and rose, chocolate and ginger, fennel and almond, citrus and sesame and more. Hetal makes it easy to create unbelievable treats with simple instructions and easy-to-find ingredients. more Former MasterChef Season 6 contestant Hetal Vasavada, nostalgic for the desserts she grew up with, shares a versatile selection of classic Indian recipes and creative interpretations. These desserts are more than one-note sweet treats; they’re complex creations, relying on a wide variety of spices, nuts and fruits for incredible flavor. Readers will learn to work with superb combinations like pistachio and rose, chocolate and ginger, fennel and almond, citrus and sesame and more. Hetal makes it easy to create unbelievable treats with simple instructions and easy-to-find ingredients.
Readers new to Indian sweets will be introduced to traditional rice puddings, lassis and biscuits. Those already familiar with the go-to treats will be delighted to discover Hetal’s riffs on the classics. She infuses European and American favorites with Indian flavors, as in Mango Lassi French Macaroons and Pomegranate Curd Brownies. She also creates fun twists on Indian desserts, such as Thandai Cake Rusks, which combine a popular Indian tea cookie with the amazing flavor of thandai, a spiced beverage popular during festival season. less Becky KrystalShe has this nice mix of traditional Indian desserts and then dishes that are more of a mash-up or ‘inspired by’. (Source)
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5
"The pages of this book ooze with [Adeena's] passion for the romance and beauty of Israeli cuisine. The recipes are soulful, elemental, and stunningly delicious."
--from the foreword by Michael Solomonov
In an Israeli cookbook as personal as it is global, Adeena Sussman celebrates the tableau of flavors the region has to offer, in all its staggering and delicious variety
In Hebrew (derived from the original Arabic), sababa means "everything is awesome," and it's this sunny spirit with which the American food writer and expat Adeena... more "The pages of this book ooze with [Adeena's] passion for the romance and beauty of Israeli cuisine. The recipes are soulful, elemental, and stunningly delicious."
--from the foreword by Michael Solomonov
In an Israeli cookbook as personal as it is global, Adeena Sussman celebrates the tableau of flavors the region has to offer, in all its staggering and delicious variety
In Hebrew (derived from the original Arabic), sababa means "everything is awesome," and it's this sunny spirit with which the American food writer and expat Adeena Sussman cooks and dreams up meals in her Tel Aviv kitchen. Every morning, Sussman makes her way through the bustling stalls of Shuk Hacarmel, her local market, which sells irresistibly fresh ingredients and tempting snacks--juicy ripe figs and cherries, locally made halvah, addictive street food, and delectable cheeses and olives. In Sababa, Sussman presents 125 recipes for dishes inspired by this culinary wonderland and by the wide-varying influences surrounding her in Israel.
Americans have begun to instinctively crave the spicy, bright flavors of Israeli cuisine, and in this timely cookbook, Sussman shows readers how to use border-crossing kitchen staples-- tahini, sumac, silan (date syrup), harissa, za'atar---to delicious effect, while also introducing more exotic spices and ingredients. From Freekeh and Roasted Grape Salad and Crudo with Cherries and Squeezed Tomatoes, to Schug Marinated Lamb Chops and Tahini Caramel Tart, Sussman's recipes make a riot of fresh tastes accessible and effortless for the home cook. Filled with transporting storytelling, Sababa is the ultimate, everyday guide to the Israeli kitchen. less Becky KrystalIsraeli food and Middle Eastern food is really having a moment here in the US. It’s just such a sunny bright cuisine. (Source)
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