Staying Fit
There are dozens of wonderful new cookbooks out this fall. Some offer elegant, mouth-watering recipes from food-world legends such as Thomas Keller, founder of the famed French Laundry in Napa Valley, whose The French Laundry, Per Se was released this month. Others are more accessible — including the six described below. Each includes a wide variety of mostly easy (but often inventive) recipes that will appeal to both kitchen newbies and practiced cooks.
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Cooking for One
America's Test Kitchen
It can be hard to find a cookbook that caters to people who cook and eat alone, but the pros at America's Test Kitchen — known for testing and retesting their recipes to perfection — have come out with an excellent one. It includes lots of easy and easily adaptable small-batch recipes, such as Fastest-Ever Carbonara and Clean Out Your Fridge Soup (there's even a recipe for making just two gooey chocolate chip cookies). They often suggest good substitutions in case you're missing an ingredient, and offer a leftover storage guide to prevent food waste. Some of their super-simple dishes — pan-seared shrimp or cheddar omelets, for instance — can be jazzed up using recipes for sauces and spice mixes, also included in this essential cookbook. ($29.99)