Beef and Bean Taquitos with Avocado Sauce

'Tis the season for hosting parties. While sometimes that can be a bit stressful, the experts at Cook's Illustrated have come out with this book of 75 "only the best" appetizer recipes to reduce some of the stress. All-Time Best Appetizers Cookbook makes it easy to create a spread with everything from things that can be dipped, spread, or eaten by the handful to two-bite treats. These Beef and Bean Taquitos with Avocado Sauce are great for any get together...or for a "finger food" dinner. From the authors: "Why this recipe works - Making crunchy, golden taquitos is easy for restaurant cooks with access to a deep-fryer; our goal was to make them foolproof for home cooks, too. Adding mashed pinto beans to a seasoned ground beef filling and rolling the taquitos tightly helped the filling hold together. Sealing the edge with egg wash offered extra insurance, and frying in a mere cup of oil prevented the taquitos from unrolling as they cooked."

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Baked Crab Dip with Crostini

Whether you want to have a few friends over to watch a football game or movie, or you want to celebrate a holiday, you're going to need a few things to nosh on. Make the decision easier - and a lot less stressful - by using this wonderful book from the experts at Cook's Illustrated. This All-Time Best Appetizers Cookbook of 75 "only the best" appetizer recipes will make it easy to create a spread with everything from things that can be dipped and/or spread, or eaten by the handful or even two-bite treats. This Baked Crab Dip with Crostini makes perfect use of our delicious Pacific Northwest crab in making a appetizer that will become your "go to" dish to make for any gathering. From the authors: "Why this recipe works - In its ideal form, crab dip is a warm, decadent party pleaser full of creamy, meaty seafood and savory spices. Unlike other versions of this popular appetizer, ours has a high ration of crab to cheese, allowing the sweet crab flavor to come through. To make it even more party-friendly, we used a cast-iron skillet as an oven-to-table cooking vessel, which ensures that your guests will enjoy the dip while it's hot. For a serving option that was sturdy enough to scoop into the rich dip without any need for a spoon, we made a quick batch of crostini from sliced baguettes. To make a savory base for the crab dip, we first cooked onion in the skillet, adding just a bit of Old Bay seasoning and coriander. We then removed the sautéed onions from the skillet and combined them with cream cheese, mayonnaise, and parsley. After gently folding the crabmeat into the mixture, we put the whole thing back in the skilled and baked it until it was warm and bubbly, with the crostini fanned around the perimeter. Do not substitute imitation crabmeat here. To soften the cream cheese quickly, microwave it for 20 to 30 seconds."

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Pumpkin Bread

Yay! Pumpkin season has arrived, and we're kicking it off with pumpkin bread. This recipe is delightfully moist, with a velvety crumb and heavenly spice. Pumpkin bread is a wonderful seasonal treat for breakfast, snacking or dessert. These loaves are not too sweet, and the combination of Kashmiri Garam Masala and Grand Marnier is delicious. The recipe makes two loaves and conveniently uses a single can of pumpkin purée. They come together quick and easy and you can mix up the spice and liquor pairings in all kinds of creative ways.

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Spicy Fish Salad

The countries in the Persian culinary region are home to many religions, languages, cultures and politics. In culinary traditions, however, they all have a deep love for food that has tart flavors and is fresh and colorful. You'll find fresh herbs at every meal and colorful ingredient used such as pomegranates and saffron. Naomi Duguid's Taste of Persia shows us through delicious recipes and fascinating stories how diverse and wonderful this region is. This gorgeous looking salad uses poached fish and makes for something a little bit different for any meal. From the author: "Kuchmachi is a Georgian dish that’s most often made of simmered chicken or beef or lamb, a kind of meat salad dressed with a savory rich walnut sauce and served at room temperature. This version is made with poached fish. I first tasted a version of fish kuchmachi at a Palm Sunday fasting feast in Akhalkalaki hosted by the Bishop of Javakheti. The guests, most of whom were keeping the Lenten fast (no animal products except for a few days when fish is permitted), were happy to be able to eat fish on this special day. Outside, the landscape was spare and beautiful, with snow capped peaks on the horizon. Not far away lay the borders with Turkey and Armenia. Serve this on a hot day as a main course with an assortment of salads, or serve it as one course in a winter feast, preceded by a clear soup and followed by roast meat or roast vegetables."

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Pomegranate Ash with Meatballs

We have long been a fan of Naomi Duguid's cookbooks! The countries in the Persian culinary region are home to many religions, languages, cultures and politics. In culinary traditions, however, they have a deep love for food that has tart flavors and is fresh and colorful. You'll find fresh herbs at every meal and colorful ingredient used such as pomegranates and saffron. Naomi Duguid's latest book Taste of Persia shows us through delicious recipes and fascinating stories how diverse and wonderful this region is. From the author: "Ash is at the heart of Persian home cooking, a category of slow-cooked sustaining soups that are welcoming, subtle, and rewarding for cooks and eaters alike. The soups are also flexible: You can make substitutions, as long as they stay within the feel of the original. This ash is an inviting blend of legumes and rice, flavored with little lamb meatballs. A crowd-pleaser. Like most ash recipes, this one looks long, but please don’t be dismayed. Yes, it takes some time to cook, but it’s a carefree kind of thing to make: Start it on a weekend afternoon and then set it aside until shortly before you want to serve it. Or make it a day ahead, and reheat it to serve. Just make sure it comes to the table hot."

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Fried Eggplant Roll-Ups

One of the countries in the Persian culinary region that has colorful and flavorful food is Georgia. Nestled between the Caucasus Mountains and the Black Sea, Georgia has a climate similar to the Mediterranean's, and a love of vegetables blended with walnuts and vibrant herbs. This recipe from Naomi Duguid's book Taste of Persia shows up how the combination of eggplant and a rich walnut paste can make for one delicious dish. From the author: "These succulent roll-ups are one of the treasures of the Georgian table. Strips of fried eggplant are coated with spiced walnut paste and rolled up. They're best if made an hour or more ahead of time and slightly chilled, so that the filling firms up and the flavors have time to blend. Badrigiani make a great appetizer, though in Georgia they are usually served as part of a wide selection of dishes at a meal."

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Pink Peppercorn and Ginger Poached Pears

Here's a show-stopping dessert from from My Two Souths and Chef Asha Gomez. this gorgeous Pink Peppercorn and Ginger Poached Pears recipe. on her love of pears here in the US, From the author: "Although India received pears from China many centuries ago, and they are grown and available most commonly in the northern provinces, they are still not nearly as beloved a fruit as the mango. In the southern US, pears struggle to compete with peaches, which are harvested regionally about the same time in the summer and into the fall. But when it comes to poaching - and I love poaching all types of fruit - the pear seems to be the best fruit, with its ability to retain its shape and its blossoming flavor. Because of importation and advanced agricultural practices, lovely ripe pears are available at the grocery store at almost any time of the year. However, for this recipe I chose a darling little pear called Seckel, also known as a sugar pear, because it is unrivaled in terms of sweetness. With a short, round, chubby appearance, sugar pears offer an off-white to pale yellow flesh that is slightly more dense and coarse than other varieties; they embody the phrase "good things come in small packages." Seckel pears - or many other varieties for that matter, such as Bosc, Anjou, or Bartlett - are perfect for this dessert since they readily absorb the flavors and fragrance of the ginger and sweet pink peppercorns. Serve these for a stunning fall dessert."

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Down South Goat Biryani

From My Two Souths and Chef Asha Gomez, we get this stunning recipe for Down South Goat Biryani. With her love of Deep-South cooking as well as her southern Indian roots, this recipe is sure to please all of those experimenting with biryani for the first or the tenth time. Don't worry if you can't find goat - Chef Asha says it's just as delicious with beef or chicken. If you're looking for a stand-out dish for fall entertaining, this dish is for you. From the author: "Biryani is a celebration dish. Weddings, birthdays, festivals, and other times of good cheer are the usual occasions when this iconic dish of rice with meat or vegetables graces our table, with almost the entire spice cabinet having been invited into the cooking vessel. Across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, countless renditions of this festive dinner abound, as do the many names by which it is known. I think the following recipe is my favorite version to make at home, though it is wonderful made with beef chuck roast or chicken thighs. I love the tender goat layered between saffron-spiced rice and baked, then dressed with roasted shallots, cashews, raisins, and a confetti of cilantro. As I fluff the flavored rice, I always remove the star anise, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and bay leaves - counting the fifteen spice hulls as I go - and set them aside to use as a garnish. Alternatively, you can tie all the spices except the saffron and cumin seeds in a piece of muslin to make a bouquet garni, which makes a quick job of removing the spice hulls. Or, if no muslin is available, but them in a tea ball and hang the ball over the side of the pot."

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Cuban-Spiced Pork with Mojo Sauce

This Cuban spiced pork is an easy recipe for the slow cooker as summer slides into fall, when the comfort of a warm roast starts to sound appealing, but you're not quite ready to let go of the bright flavors of citrus and fresh herbs. Our Cuban Spice seasons the meat with cumin, oregano and orange for deep layers of flavor, with lime, orange and mint adding sunny flavors to the sauce. Serve alongside black beans and rice for a hearty meal or a green salad for lighter fare.

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