This author holds a very special place in my heart. Though I grew up surrounded by cookbooks (my mother began collecting years before me), it wasn't until I graduated from college and moved to New Orleans that I was exposed to world-class chefs in person. This author was my first "kitchen crush" and I fell hard. I followed his cooking closely, and it informs my own to this day. I do miss him so.

Austin was one of the most beloved culinary figures in New Orleans, whose passing in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina was universally mourned. Born in 1934, he began working in high school at Portia's Fountain on Rampart Street under Chef Bill Turner where he learned to cook many of the dishes for which he would become famous.

In 1964, his Aunt Helen opened the legendary Chez Helene, and he went to work as the full-time chef. The restaurant's menu offered both haute creole dishes and down-home items with the former being positively compared to those of the classic grand restaurants such as Antoine's, Arnaud's, Brennan's and Commander's Palace. New Orleanians know their food and Austin became a major star in the local firmament from the modest neighborhood dining room. A number of his signature dishes remain untouchable in local memory including the transcendent Fried Chicken with Dill Pickle, Potato Salad and Stuffed Peppers. His Creole Bread Pudding with Vanilla Whiskey Sauce was the stuff of culinary dreams, while the Smothered Cabbage with Pig Tails, his Fried Chicken Livers and ethereal Mustard Greens should never be forgotten. In 1984, he published his first cookbook, Chez Helene: New Orleans House of Good Food, which has become highly collectable.

The North Robertson neighborhood where the restaurant was located gradually became unsafe, causing a drop in business. Though Austin, who had become the sole owner in 1975 when his aunt retired, moved the restaurant to the French Quarter, much of the charm of the original location was lost, and he eventually closed Chez Helene in 1995.

His subsequent endeavors included stints in Denmark, as well as a couple other restaurants in New Orleans, most notably Jacque-Imo's, all while continuing to burnish his reputation with ecstatic guests. In 2000, he published Austin Leslie's Creole-Soul: New Orleans' Cooking with a Soulful Twist.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he was forced to take refuge in the attic of his home. He was rescued from the roof after two days in 98 degree heat and humidity, and evacuated briefly to Arkansas, then finally to Atlanta. Several days later, he was admitted to a hospital with a high fever, and died the following day from a heart attack at the age of 71.

Anyone who knew him will always remember his trademark captain's cap and great big smile, as well as the well-earned moniker of The Godfather of Fried Chicken.

Significant publications:

• Chez Helene: New Orleans House of Good Food (1984)
• Austin Leslie's Creole-Soul: New Orleans' Cooking with a Soulful Twist (2000)

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,300+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

I'm one of those "recipe collectors" who checks out multiple cookbooks (ebook version) from the library at a time and then reads them. Yes, I read them -- if the author has put the time and energy into writing explanations of the dishes, ingredients, culture, background, etc., of the cuisine they're teaching me how to cook, I want to read all of it. And then I take screenshots of the recipes I want to eventually try.

I saw Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe by Alissa Timoshkina had just been added by my public library on Libby (though published in 2025) and immediately borrowed it and started reading. I have way-back (like 400+ years or more) Romanian/Caucuses roots, so everything "Eastern European" has fascinated me since I discovered that part of my DNA/ancestry.

This cookbook is a wonderful exploration of the food and flavors from the Eastern Europe diaspora. It also includes and explores a lot of Jewish/Ashkenazi foods and their influences throughout the region as well.

I usually screenshot the few recipes I want to keep from a library ebook cookbook and then work from the images when trying them. But with this book, there were way too many recipes I wanted to keep. So my newly purchased physical copy will be arriving in two days. :)

If you have this book, what's your favorite? Which recipe should I start with?

Hello everyone and happy Thursday!

Today’s book is from St. Charles Borromeo, a catholic school in Tacoma, Washington. Perhaps a very interesting thing I’ve noticed is that no publisher is listed. Typically these organizations will go through publishers like Morris Press, Fundcraft Publishing, etc. But - and perhaps it’s obvious based on the formatting - this almost seems like the school decided to forego a publisher and print the book themselves. If that’s the case, that makes this book slightly rarer because I’m assuming less copies were made

In addition to that, there is no official year on this book. You could probably find out by looking up names and directories and such, but I’m going to make things easier on myself and just assume that with the presence of “Millennium” in the title that this is most likely from the year 2000

The recipes themselves range from standard to interesting, and this cookbook is on the lighter side of my collection with only being 114 pages total. As always, I included the most interesting recipes but every recipe can be accessed down below on the archive page.

Feel free to shout out any fun, or maybe not fun, details you noticed or opinions you have! I will be sure to see you in the next blog tomorrow!

Their staff of over 12 years was let go due to restructuring. Is this whole thing just going to be a social media app now?

I love to cook but can't really afford a bunch of ingredients in recipes. A lot of the books for simpler recipes I looked at used premade things which I don't want to do either because I still want to cook from scratch.

I've been cooking a lot from Rick Bayless, Yasmin Fahr, Ali Slagle, and Lidia Bastianich because a lot of their recipes don't call for that many ingredients.

Which authors/books are your favorites for simple recipes with few ingredients?

I believe this releases today....anyone pre-order it and take a look at it yet? Curious how people like it + what the technical level is...

I’m looking for a beginner Mexican cookbook. I’m wanting to expand my knowledge of Mexican cooking but I’m kinda limited in the ingredients I have available near me. Which cookbooks are good for people just dipping their toes in to Mexican cooking?

Just looking for recs. So much looks good here!

Maybe it’s just me, but I really dislike spending time on a dish that in the end I have to top up with something salady or carbs. Hit me with an all-inclusive meal, please. I will panic thinking about what to pair it with it. Am I alone??

**Hey all - this is the last time I post about this, I promise! There were some folks who had signed up on our message boards after my last post, but the software was buggy, so we had to rebuild with a different system. I just want to make sure those folks know!**

I'm a lover of all things cookbooks, travel, and food, so I've started a virtual cookbook club called The Edible Itinerary! Each month, we'll pick a regional cookbook, try some recipes, and chat about what we liked, what we learned, and maybe even our own travel experiences. I'd love for you guys to participate - any reason to try a new cookbook each month, right? :)

This month, we're cooking from Mia Castro's Cocina Puerto Rico, and I plan to announce November's cookbook choice in the coming days.

There are a number of ways to participate. I hope to grow the community on our Message Boards over time, but I'm also posting on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, and Substack, so whatever your preferred method, we're there!

Hi all! I just recently discovered that I like to cook (I’m in my late 40s)! I am prediabetic and my spouse can’t do dairy or wheat, and doesn’t like beans. So we’re basically grain-free, sugar-free, dairy-free, limited legumes. We go for lots of above-ground vegetables and meat. Paleo has been the closest match for us, in terms of a diet model. Our favorite flavors are middle eastern. Sometimes Mediterranean if there’s no pasta, but Middle Eastern flavors always do it for us. We’ve loved Palestinian, Iranian & Persian, and Israeli dishes, but I’m confident we’d be into other regions as well.

I bought Paleo Perfected by America’s Test Kitchen and have liked it, but there’s not really much Middle Eastern going on. We also have Zaitoun by Yasmin Khan, and the flavors are great, but there’s are lots of carbs in the recipes. I checked out More Mediterranean by America’s Test Kitchen, and there are a few recipes I saved from it, but again, most meals are carb heavy.

So does anyone have any book recommendations for Middle Eastern recipes which are either Paleo or made for diabetics?

Thanks in advance!!

P.S. I’m new to this, but I love this subreddit!

I wasn't expecting to find a copy, but a random google search led me to this! I got it for around $11 (i live outside the US), in excellent condition!

I recently returned home after a visit to Sicily where I spotted cookbooks in two different stores. I didn’t pick any of them up as I prefer to buy my cookbooks secondhand. Does anyone have a favorite Sicilian cookbook I should be on the lookout for while thrift shopping?

I was just checking my Kickstarter for something else and noted The Mongolian Kitchen Kickstarter closes tomorrow. I don't know if she is doing a run outside of Kickstarter or that's it. A lot of people on this subreddit offered her advice as she was building the cookbook so just wanted to throw it out there into the world.

No I'm not a bot or associated with the author. I just like cookbooks and hate chasing extremely expensive cookbooks because I missed a print run (well really it's my husband that hates it).

Sorry if you hate Kickstarter but I thought this was a very relevant cause.

Hello, so I’m already working on Christmas presents, and I’m looking for a sort of pan-Asian cookbook for a new-ish but eager cook who loves Asian food— she already has Jet Tila’s classic 101 Asian Dishes. Eva Pau’s Asian Cookbook is a very new book which looks like it would also be good for someone who is new to Asian cooking— it looks like it’s a spinoff of her TV cooking show and her family business (Asia Market, Dublin), good explanation of Asian ingredients, photos of most dishes. Does anyone here have any experience with the author’s recipes? Her show doesn’t air here. I should add that I’m not looking for cutting-edge or groundbreaking recipes— just reliable and tasty. :) Thanks so much.

Any must-bakes from Sift? I know the reception to Cooking with Vegetables was mixed but I am intrigued by a Los Angeles native taking his background and cooking through (what seems to me) like a Euro restaurant approach. I've only made a couple of Ottolenghi's online recipes and this is my first cookbook purchase. Nabbed it and From Williamsburg Kitchens at the thrift store.

Hello everyone and happy Wednesday!

Today’s book is Kitchen Fais-Do-Do, alternatively called “Foot-Stomping Good Food”. This is kind of a culture-based cookbook in that it has a strong emphasis on cajun cooking, which I have almost zero exposure to, so let’s dive into the recipes immediately!

Grape Lemonade sounds pretty interesting. I’m trying to think if I have ever actually had bonafide grape juice. My mom raised me with white grape juice, which I swear was just apple juice’s cousin

I was really interested to see three different roux recipes. I probably will never make gumbo in my life, but I like the variations they presented. Also figured I’d include the page with the Tarzan joke

Also my goodness does the Venison soup sound like a large affair or what 😵‍💫. I would hope the entire family would have some after that amount of effort gets put into it lol

The Triple Apple Salad sounds pretty good too… as long as it isn’t a huge sin for me to take out the pimiento and celery 🫠

Definitely wanna try the Twinkie Cake at some point. Surprisingly not a whole lot of opinions on the dessert section from me because none of them were that unique. The main dishes stole the show today!

Lastly, I knew I needed to show off the recipe for Cajun seasoning as that’s a pretty familiar recipe to a lot of people - even I’ve had that. You’ll see on that page that this is a 200 page book, so there’s lots to uncover if you decide to check out the full book.

Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you around!

Sharing a few recent cooks since I’m loving soup/stew season! These were all new recipes to me and I enjoyed the process making each of them.

1. Carrot peanut satay ramen from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon.

This was delicious! I grew carrots as a new gardener so was excited to use some for this recipe. Next time I’d add a squeeze of lime to add more acidity since you can’t really taste the rice vinegar. Would make this again!

1. Beef with onions and wine from Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martin.

Doesn’t look pretty but this hit the spot on a fall day, served over mashed potatoes. It took a longer time because of the braising but it was super flavorful. I couldn’t find pearl onions so skipped those. Would make this again!

1. Butternut squash and saffron soup with caramelized pistachios and herb salsa from Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley.

This felt so special and was surprisingly low effort despite prepping the squash and the toppings! The toppings complimented the soup and made it feel very fancy. Butternut isn’t usually my first choice of soup but I’m glad I made this. Would make this again!

Mexican Corn Chowder from The Southern Vegetarian. This was so easy to make and so delicious. Pretty spicy, too. I made it as a side for quesadillas. Definitely will be making again! 9/10

Spinach and Goat Cheese Quesadillas from America’s Test Kitchen The New Vegetarian. My boyfriend said “oh my God” when he bit into this. These were a fun twist on regular quesadillas and I also would make again! I didn’t add as much oil as the recipe called for frying to lower the amount of calories, but they tasted just as good without. 8/10

Cheesy Tomato and Bean Bake from America’s Test Kitchen The New Vegetarian. These were so simple to make with pretty simple ingredients, but the flavor was so good! It was a good mostly pantry stable meal and I will make this again as a quick and easy lunch meal prep. 8/10

Chana Masala from America’s Test Kitchen The New Vegetarian. Mine is not as pretty looking as the picture because this is before I added the toppings (I meal prepped this for my work lunches). I enjoyed this one a lot and ate it with pita on the side. It is quite spicy! 9/10

Hot Honey Roasted Broccoli with Chickpeas and Couscous from Caroline Chamber’s new What to Cook When You Don’t Like Cooking Make it Fast. This was good for what it was. Since her recipes are designed to be quick, I don’t expect them blow me away. But this was a good easy weeknight dinner that’s a step above what I might normally make for myself. 7/10

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Tacos from America’s Test Kitchen The New Vegetarian. Again, an easy weeknight meal which has been the theme for the last few weeks with a busy work schedule. This was solid, but nothing super special. 7/10

I’m a big fan of America’s Test Kitchen The New Vegetarian. I’ve cooked 14 recipes from it since June and haven’t had a single miss.