Dining In: Highly Cookable Recipes: A Cookbook

by Alison Roman

Overview

Discover the cookbook featuring “drool-worthy yet decidedly unfussy food” (Goop) that set today’s trends and is fast becoming a modern classic.

“This is not a cookbook. It’s a treasure map.”—Samin Nosrat, author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY San Francisco Chronicle • NPR • Epicurious • Newsday • KCRW’s Good Food • The Fader • American Express Essentials

Alison Roman’s Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread made her Instagram-famous. But all of the recipes in Dining In have one thing in common: they make even the most oven-phobic or restaurant-crazed person want to stay home and cook. They prove that casual doesn’t have to mean boring, simple doesn’t have to be uninspired, and that more steps or ingredients don’t always translate to a better plate of food. 

Vegetable-forward but with an affinity for a mean steak and a deep regard for fresh fish, Dining In is all about building flavor and saving time. Alison’s ingenuity seduces seasoned cooks, while her warm, edgy writing makes these recipes practical and approachable enough for the novice. With 125 recipes for effortlessly chic dishes that are full of quick-trick techniques (think slathering roast chicken in anchovy butter, roasting citrus to ramp up the flavor, and keeping boiled potatoes in the fridge for instant crispy smashed potatoes), she proves that dining in brings you just as much joy as eating out.

Praise for Dining In

“Sorry, restaurants. Superstar Alison Roman has given us recipes so delicious, so meltdown-proof—and so fun to read—we’re going to be cooking at home for a while. Quite possibly forever.”—Christine Muhlke, editor at large, Bon Appétit

“Anyone who wants the aesthetic, quality, and creativity of a Brooklyn restaurant without having to go to a Brooklyn restaurant will love Alison Roman’s cookbook. It’s filled with recipes that are both unique and approachable. Reading it, you’ll find yourself thinking ‘I would have never thought of making this but I want to make it right now.’”—BuzzFeed

“Dining In is exactly how I want to cook: with bright, fresh flavors, minimal technique, and no pretense. This isn’t just a bunch of great recipes, but a manifesto on how one original, opinionated home cook sees the world.”—Amanda Hesser, co-founder, Food52

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451496997
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	10/24/2017
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	44,558
Product dimensions:	8.10(w) x 10.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Alison Roman is a columnist for the New York Times Food section and Bon Appétit. She is the author of the bestselling Dining In, named a best cookbook of the year by NPR, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Epicurious, among others. A native of Los Angeles, Alison lives in Brooklyn.

Read an Excerpt

CARAMELIZED WINTER SQUASH WITH TOASTED COCONUT GREMOLATA 
(Continues…)

---

Excerpted from "Dining In"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Alison Roman.
Excerpted by permission of Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

08/07/2017
Roman, former senior editor at Bon Appétit and BuzzFeed, brings restaurant experience and her joy of cooking at home to this debut cookbook. The 125 recipes are down-to-earth but far from ordinary, incorporating trending ingredients and flavors inspired by a pantry stocked with salty, spicy, crunchy, fatty and tangy “stuff” and key make-at-home condiments such as seed mixtures, brines, spicy oils, salsas, and romesco; lemony relish, dressing, and pickles; and bread crumbs. Incorporating these “sidekicks,” Roman builds a stable of dishes packed with pizzazz. There are large, colorful nests of “knife and fork salads,” such as red cabbage and beet-brined pickled turnips drizzled with lemon-tahini dressing and a tangy fennel grapefruit salad with lime juice, honey, and mint. Savory breakfasts of chickpeas, tomatoes, and chorizo baked eggs along with family secrets for perfect matzo brei are featured. Grain bowls and pasta options are plentiful as are quick, flexible seafood recipes. Meat dishes include cumin lamb chops with charred red onions and peanuts and short ribs with kimchi. Roman’s pastry-chef prowess (she’s worked in the kitchens of Momofuko Milk Bar and Quince) is showcased in shortbread, biscuit, pie, and cake recipes. There are also “make ahead options” along with technical advice. Throughout this gallery of good eats is Roman’s amusing narrative of food memories that invite cooks to hang loose in their own kitchens. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Alison Roman joyously leads you to the promised land of extraordinary home cooking. Into every one of her stunningly beautiful recipes she's tucked the clues that will invariably lead you to deliciousness: keep it simple, have fun with your food, pack in the flavor, and, most importantly, share it with the people you love.”—Samin Nosrat, bestselling author of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

“Alison Roman combines expertise with ease. Dining In should make Brooklynesque restaurants around the country nervous. Why would you dine out when you can roast chicken in anchovy butter and toast up croutons in the schmaltzy, umami-tastic butter, or make crispy chickpeas and lamb with greens and garlicky yogurt?”—Bon Appétit

“Never too fancy, Alison solves the greatest mystery every home cook faces—how to transform thoughtful food into a greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts one-pan-wonder or next-level crowd-pleasing masterpiece.”—Christina Tosi, author of Momofuku Milk Bar

“Roman's voice is funny and energetic and such a change of pace from the usual short-and-robotic recipe format.”—Bon Appétit online

“Not your grandmother’s all-purpose cookbook.”—Food52

“A classic waiting to happen.”—Epicurious

“Former pastry chef and food editor Alison Roman’s first book is a collection of recipes that speak to this moment in modern dining: One-pot dinners, sharable plates, casual desserts. Roman makes clever use of pantry staples and condiments to season and draw flavor out of winter vegetables and slowly simmered stews.”—Eater 

“[Roman's] recipes feature plenty of ‘it’ ingredients, like kimchi, pistachios,and za’atar, but they all make delicious, craveworthy sense. Flipping through Dining In, I wanted to read every word and make every dish; there’s not too many cookbooks I can say that about.”—Fine Cooking

“Designed to make your weeknight dinner more delicious and less fussy.”—The Kitchn

“You might walk right past this cookbook, with its modest title and quiet design, but take my advice and stop for a closer look. . . . Nearly every recipe I tried was a desert-island dish: blistered green beans with creamy tahini, cumin lamb chops with charred scallions and peanuts, salted butter and chocolate chunk shortbread. Definitely for dining in, as the title suggests, since you'll want your privacy as you're licking every last crumb off your plate.”—T. Susan Chang, NPR

“Alison Roman, who has cooked in restaurants and editorial kitchens, reads a little like a contemporary Colwin–in that her voice dances with energy and wit and self-awareness and intelligence. She seems to have little interest in precious cooking, fancy kitchen gadgets or anything that distracts from honest ingredients and foolproof techniques. To read Alison Roman is to feel a kind of instantaneous kinship.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Like your best friend who’s a great cook, [Alison Roman]  spends a lot of ink up front persuading you that, yes, you can do this, you can cook. And as your best friend, she speaks to you in a conspiratorial tone and keeps things easy. Her recipes rely less on tricky technique than on clever flavor and textural combinations. Everything seems thrown together in a breezy manner, but the genius is evident. . . . Every recipe seems ‘highly cookable,’ her catchphrase, and craveable. And any chef who admits she likes black olives from a can ‘that you can wear on your fingers’ is someone we’ll follow into that kitchen.”—Chicago Tribune

“Roman’s book is filled with plenty [of] inventive ideas that would work just as well for a weeknight meal as for a high-stakes dinner party.”—Vogue

“This isn’t one of those pretty cookbooks that sits on a shelf. It’s a pretty cookbook filled with winning recipes begging to be made.”—The Boston Globe

“Fun and approachable, and most likely better than most dishes you’d order eating out.”—The San Francisco Chronicle

“Some of Roman’s greatest hits.”—The Cut

“One of the year’s best cookbooks.”—Joanna Goddard, A Cup of Jo 

“Very much a reflection of how we eat now.”—Mind Body Green

“I am always wondering what Alison Roman is cooking because, without fail, it's just what I want to make (Sour Cream Flatbread! Vinegar-Braised Chicken!). From her relaxed approach to her inventive combinations, Alison’s indispensable recipes are easy to prepare and fun to eat and make home the best place to dine.”—Julia Turshen, author of Small Victories 

“Unpretentious, inspired, invigorating, Alison Roman’s voice is exactly what I’ve been waiting for in cookbooks. Within hours of opening Dining In, the irresistible Anchovy-Butter Chicken was in the oven. Dining In is destined to be a beloved, food-stained, dog-eared Bible for a new generation of cooks.”—Stephanie Danler, bestselling author of Sweetbitter

“Dining In is more than just a long list of super interesting recipes — it's a book that will probably fundamentally change the way I cook. Recipes with unfussy new techniques like her Anchovy-Butter Chicken with Chicken Fat Croutons (with some radishes on the side!) produce ridiculously pleasing results that have inspired me to always take that extra little step. The book is filled with sneaky gems meant to steal the show at dinner parties. Make her Salted Butter & Chocolate Chunk Shortbread for dessert and you'll never be mad again.”—Myles Tanzer, The Fader

From the Publisher

★ 12/01/2017
While reading the introduction to freelance food writer Roman's joyous first book, you'll want to cheer. "I would never ask you to toast nine different hard-to-locate spices on a Monday after work," she reassures, right before unveiling an abundance of craveable cuisine. Even gourmets and frequent restaurant-goers will want to stay home for recipes such as butter-tossed radishes with fresh za'atar, clam pasta with chorizo and walnuts, fennel-rubbed pork chops for two, and sorbet in grapefruit cups. These varied recipes are relaxed, doable, and anything but pedestrian. Striking color photographs and punchy writing further heighten the book's appeal. VERDICT Filled with page after page of delights, this work is as much fun to read as it is to cook from.

Library Journal