All About Braising

All About Braising: The Art of Uncomplicated Cooking By Molly Stevens, W. W. Norton & Co., 2004. Hardcover. $35; 482 pages

We were surprised and happy to find that the first recipes in this deeply instructive book are for vegetables—it’s not all pot roasts and coq au vins (though they’re here, too). In this lengthy section you’ll find World’s Best Braised Green Cabbage, a gratifying dish that earns its name by transforming, over a couple of hours, the humble head into a buttery, sweet, meltingly tender dish.

GIVE THIS TO: The patient cook ready to jump from the slow cooker into the Dutch oven. —Robin Bashinsky