How to Be a Genius, or at Least Cook Like One

The beginning of every month brings a little rush of anticipation as our Cookbook Club starts afresh with a new cookbook to focus on. We can't help but be a little extra excited this month though, as Club members voted to focus on one of our own. All throughout December, we'll be cooking through Food52 Creative Director Kristen Miglore's Genius Recipes and she'll be joining us in the Club as well.

If you aren't yet familiar with Kristen's work, the book (a New York Times bestseller!) is based on her (James Beard Award-nominated!) Genius Recipes column here on Food52. She uncovers recipes and tricks that change the way we cook (often sourced from tips from our community), whether it's a way of rethinking a cooking technique or using an ingredient in an unexpected way. And her cookbook includes more than 100 foolproof recipes—some greatest hits from the column and some never before featured—from food luminaries like Julia Child, Nigella Lawson, and Michael Ruhlman.

If you haven't picked up a copy of Genius Recipes yet, there's still plenty of time—snag a signed copy from the Shop (or heck, signed copies of a collection of Food52 cookbooks!). But there are also a number of Genius recipes to get you going right here, like the 15 recipes below, which can also all be found in the book.

New to the Club? Head here for all the details on how to participate and what's ahead for the group.