Barbara Kafka (1933–2018)

If I was only allowed one cookbook, I might just pick this one. I have given it to many new brides. No, it is not as classic as Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but it is seminal. There has been no microwave cookbook that was as throughly researched as this one. When Barbara was writing it, her friends who were chefs were baffled by why a classically trained chef would bother with a microwave. She was fearless about telling what dishes were BETTER in a microwave than cooked show more conventionally and equally fearless about debunking claims by manufacturers that ANYTHING could be cooked in a microwave. It is also an excellent reference book. If it can be properly cooked in a microwave, Barbara will tell you how. show less

What I love, first and foremost, about Barbara Kafka’s book is that it fairly glows with the author’s enthusiasm. Kafka is a woman who knows how to cook, and more importantly, knows how to eat. Her uninhibited delight for her subject sneaks out in the little comments, observations, advice and hints that accompany each and every of the 750 recipes she includes in the book. (“This is a star dish,” she writes about the Asparagus with Morels above. “Do not serve it with anything else, show more not even rice or pasta.) As I paged through the book I had this vision of Kafka sitting at her kitchen table with her recipe box—which must be the size of a Volvo—going through her collection of carrot recipes thinking, “Oh I have to include this!” and “I can’t forget to add this!” and making growing stacks of recipe cards and clippings until they covered the entire table, the counter, and had begun to encroach on the lesser-traveled parts of the floor. . .read the full review show less

When we joined a CSA ("community supported agriculture"), I knew I'd be getting random vegetables every week that I might have no idea how to use. So I invested in this fabulous book. It was a smart move. I've yet to see a vegetable that isn't in this book. I LOVE Vegetable Love!

This book really is all about soup which seems a little too specialized at first. But there are a few really excellent recipes in here that make it worth owning. I'm not sure about all the other recipes - they seem yummy and worth a try but I rely on this book more during the winter and when i do make soup it's usually to a specific request for one of the few hits I've tried (African peanut stew is a HUGE hit in our household)