“From the Oven to the Table” by Diana Henry

Chosen by Ella Risbridger, who says:

It’s not a stretch to say that Diana Henry is a huge part of the reason I am a food writer. Diana, to anyone who loves food and writing about food, needs no introduction: One of the leading lights of British cookery writing, she makes food you want to eat and writes about it in prose you want to read. I used to save up for her books with coins in a jar (literally!). But her latest, “From the Oven to the Table,” is one of my favorites of all, both beautiful and useful. It’s an intensely practical book, and it does exactly what it says on the cover: You put the things she says in the oven in the order that she says, and then it’s magic. (Try the chicken with plums!) You would think this meant some kind of compromise on flavor or texture or ingredients, but it never does. Not once.