Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food

An NPR Best Book of the Year from New York Times Cooking contributor Colu Henry, Colu Cooks: Easy Fancy Food is a collection of sophisticated recipes for everyday dinners.

Colu Henry has been working in food for more than 15 years, and from her time at publications from Bon Appétit to the New York Times, she’s learned that what resonates with her readers is her always unfussy and empowering recipes.

In this cookbook—a nod to home cooks who are happy to do everything but pastry—Henry helps readers assemble an amply stocked new-American pantry so that they can perfect (and build upon) classic everyday meals.

With 100 recipes and photographs, Henry offers ideas and solutions to get you out of your weeknight routine, explore new ingredients and techniques, build your confidence, and have a sophisticated meal on the table in around 45 minutes.

These dishes include:

• Lemon Anchovy Toast with Radishes and Herbs
• Cherry Tomato Confit
• A Summer Corn Salad with Shrimp
• Crispy Lamb with Cumin, Leeks, and Celery
• Creamy Risotto with Crispy Wild Mushrooms
• Nutella Fudgsicles
• Peach Tart with Five Spice Honey
• and so many more!

“Colu makes food I want to eat. Like, all of it: the smoked trout with capers and pickles, the green beans with harissa butter, the broccoli rabe toast with gooey provolone. These are recipes that remind me that sophisticated doesn’t need to be complicated.”—Food 52, Emma Laperruque

Colu Henry is a writer, recipe-developer and frequent contributor to the New York Times and Food & Wine. She has worked in food for over 15 years and has learned what resonates with home cooks by creating elegant, yet approachable recipes without overthinking it. She is the author of Back Pocket Pasta and host of Colu Cooks on Patreon. Henry splits her time between Hudson, New York, and Nova Scotia, Canada, with her husband.