Get Saucy: Make Dinner a New Way Every Day with Simple Sauces, Marinades, Dressings, Glazes, Pestos, Pasta Sauces, Salsas, and Mo

Parisi, a chef and writer for Food & Wine magazine, goes far beyond garden variety ketchup- and barbecue-based sauces in this compendium of flavorful recipes. Though she includes versions of those too, the bulk of her book is taken up by more unusual vinaigrettes, pestos and dessert sauces. She takes her inspiration from all over the world, showing that the French don't have a monopoly on inspired flavor combinations. On a two-page spread, recipes for marinades from Turkey, Tuscany, Vietnam and Latin America appear, all giving simple takes on ways to spice up various meats. Most of the ingredients are readily available, with the exception of a few Middle Eastern and Asian specialty items, and the instructions are easy to follow, though they do require some cooking knowledge, particularly for main-dish recipes like Turkey with Roasted Shallot-Teriyaki Gravy. Parisi introduces each recipe with a short note about appropriate ways to serve the sauce or tips on preparation; other helpful hints pop up in boxes throughout, addressing such dilemmas as how to keep gravy warm and lump-free or how best to freeze pesto. Cooks who want to take their meals to another level without learning a whole new repertoire of full-fledged dishes will find this book to be a great resource.