Great American Food by Charlie Palmer
The was a very popular book back in the 1990′s, when Charlie Palmer was a big name on the scene and American chefs were at their peak. I guess some people would call it food porn, as the wonderful photographs are definitely a selling point.
My copy is the 1996 first edition (it has since been reissued and updated), and I bought when it was unique for its excellent recipes. Mainly about those nurturing comfort foods we all love, it jazzes up basic recipes, adding nice tweaks and embellishments to create really satisfying dishes. I personally made and loved the Alva Double-Garlic Chicken with Overnight Tomatoes (incredibly delicious rich saucy garlic-drenched YUM!) and the wild mushroom minestrone with mascarpone dumplings – like I said, comfort food!
I don’t use this much anymore, specializing in pastry as I do. It is somewhat inspirational, but mostly useful for a home cook, and guaranteed to garner compliments at the dinner table.