In its first year, THE BEST AMERICAN RECIPES established itself as a runaway success and a newsmaker in the food world and was hailed as one of the top cookbooks by the NEW YORK TIMES, the BOSTON GLOBE, HARPER'S BAZAAR, and many other major publications. For this volume, editors Fran McCullough and Suzanne Hamlin have assembled an even larger collection of the year’s best recipes from an even wider array of sources. The result is a dazzlingly diverse collection. There are weekday dinners: a skillet supper that no family cook should be without, a huge vegetarian feast in a single bowl, a winter salad that won the hearts of a top food magazine’s editors. There are recipes to satisfy our latest cultural cravings: the lamb shanks that knowledgeable New Yorkers consider the best, an easy Indonesian chicken that Lauren Bacall reportedly adores, a slow-roasted salmon from the country’s most fashionable Irish chef. There are great grilling recipes, cutting-edge dishes, best-ever holiday classics, and for dessert, everything from simple cookies to a show-stopping chocolate cake.