Home cooks can now recreate some of Houston's best recipes from the city's favorite restaurants. Houston Cooks, the new cookbook by Edible magazine editor Francine Spiering, offers 40 recipes from restaurants such as Atlas Diner HTX, Doris Metropolitan, Giacomo's, Himalaya Restaurant and Catering, Izakaya, Theodore Rex, and Tribute at The Houstonian.
Proceeds from the book's sales will go to Second Servings of Houston, the city's only prepared and perishable food rescue organization.
"We have an amazing food community of independent chefs, restaurateurs, bartenders, and artisans who believe in their craft and inspire us," wrote Spiering in the book's introduction. "They push boundaries, they take risks, and, best of all, deliver. In turn, they can count on an appreciative dining audience. Houstonians have an insatiable appetite for good food and collectively, we are always craving variety.”
But while Houston's diners look for variety and treat eating out like the city's unofficial favorite pastime, Spiering also sought to call attention to the fact that many in the Bayou City are not only unable to dine out, they're not always able to meet their own needs.
Approximately 16 percent of Houston residents suffer from food insecurity. That's why partnering with Second Servings was so important to Spiering. The nonprofit delivers surplus food to more than 75 Houston-area shelters, soup kitchens, low-income housing, and many other charities.
The recipes in the volume showcase the dizzying depth of Houston's dining landscape. Appetizers and small plates, brunch, soups, salads and sides, main courses, desserts, and drinks offer home chefs the chance to recreate the flavors they've loved from chefs they admire. Whether they've wondered how Fadi Dimassi makes his silky smooth hummus so delicious or what the trick to Chef Ara Malekian’s flavorful and sweet chocolate bread pudding with bourbon caramel sauce is, Houston Cooks uncovers the secrets of the city's most impressive kitchens.
"The book captures the stories of many well-known chefs and up-and-coming Houston restaurants while highlighting the city’s astounding gastronomic diversity. These fabulous recipes will keep me busy in the kitchen for a very long time," raved Paul Galvani, the author of Lost Restaurants of Houston.
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Houston Cooks will be available for sale on October 15. The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.
Houston Cooks serves up recipes from Doris Metropolitan.
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