As a home cook, I seek out and use cookbooks in a different way from those who cook for a living. To review cookbooks for this article, I recruited a good friend who's also an acclaimed chef. Chef Scott Pampuch is head chef and partner at n e thyme cafe, a new American bistro in Minneapolis. He gives the books an expert once-over, while I'll tell you how Joe or Jane Average Cook looks at the same volumes.

Our daily bread
Home cook's view: I like cooking, but I love baking. "The Bread Bible" by Rose Levy Beranbaum (W.W. Norton, $35) is my favorite of the books reviewed here, and it's earned a spot on my counter.

The book's very first recipe, Cinnamon Crumb Surprise, is so good I've already made it three times. Made with cake flour, this quick bread is almost like pound cake, and features a surprise layer of tart apple slices and a delicious cinnamon crumb topping. When I served it at a party, guests gathered around the plate until it was gone. I wasn't as fond of Cranberry-Banana-Walnut quick bread (one banana, which is all the recipe calls for, is not enough).

W.W. Norton & Company

After reading that the author grew up teething on bagels (her father made wooden bagel peels), I couldn't resist making Levy's Bagels. They weren't bad. But I spent time in New York City a few days after making them, and despite high praise from her father, the recipe's bagels were less complex in taste than those I bought fresh in the Big Apple.

And of course I couldn't properly review a bread book without making a yeast bread. I baked the book's main recipe, Basic Soft White Sandwich Loaf. It was delicious--light and airy with a full flavor. Readers who are new to bread-baking should note that this recipe requires you to first make a simple sponge or dough starter, which is simple but does take 1-4 hours to ferment.

Chef's view: Chef Pampuch freely admits that he is not a baker, but that said, declares "To me, this is a must-have cookbook. It gives you so much reference material, so much education."

Some cookbooks, notes the chef, are so slim they could be one issue of a magazine, but "The Bread Bible," in both heft and content, is deserving of a place in the kitchen. While the book has three sections of full-color photographs, it's decorated throughout with black and white illustrations that Chef Pampuch compares to those seen in the works of the famed James Beard. "Very classy," he notes.

The chef focused on preparing quick breads from the book, and he too made the Cinnamon Crumb Surprise, which he recommends for home cooks of any skill level. "It's really easy, and then [you] can say, 'I did it and it worked,' and that builds up confidence."

He also tested the book's blueberry muffins and its rich and creamy ginger scones. "Both good recipes," he said. "Very straightforward and solid."

Sweets for the sweet
Home cook's view: Who doesn't like dessert? "A Passion for Desserts" by Emily Luchetti (Chronicle Books, $35) is a book as beautiful as the dishes in it. Luchetti's recipes are divided by season, and for good reason -- even in cherry-producing Washington, I'm unlikely to find Bing cherries for the Black Forest Brownies in the middle of winter.

Chronicle Books

First I tackled the Espresso Cupcakes, which are filled with milk chocolate ganache and topped with white chocolate frosting. The results were mixed. The cupcakes themselves were the recipe's weak spot -- the flavor was not as rich as it should have been, and made me long for the satisfying taste of a simple box mix. That said, the ganache filling offered a surprising, melty treat in the center of each cake, and the frosting -- really a basic icing recipe with melted white chocolate added -- was so good I made a mental note to use it with other desserts.

I also made a recipe called Fifty-Year Apple Cake, even though my husband dryly noted "I'd like something fresher." (The name refers to the fact that Luchetti's friend's grandmother has been making the cake for 50 years.)

The recipe was unbelievably simple, and assembly took maybe five minutes. But the only liquid in the recipe was a half-cup of oil, and as I forced the cement-like batter into the pan, I said out loud "This isn't going to work." Was I ever surprised when, 45 minutes later, I pulled from the oven a tasty, cinnamony cake that had come together nicely. I wouldn't make it every day, but for those months when apples are everywhere, this is a nice use of them.

Chef's view: Chef Pampuch admires the style of the book. "This is a very pretty book," he says. "Very feminine."

He complimented its creative combinations. "These are very simple and clean flavors," he notes.

He prepared the book's Fig Galettes with Cinnamon Marsala Sabayon, a sophisticated dessert that I as a home cook would be unwilling to tackle -- it calls for semolina and fresh figs, almost unknown in most American kitchens. "Semolina flour, which is very fine and flavorful, is more available now than ever," says the chef. "Co-ops have it in bulk." The resulting galettes were delightful.

The chef also made the book's apple-caramel bread pudding. "Good stuff," he says. "It's a simple, classic flavor combination. If you master this basic recipe you can make a million-and-one bread puddings."

South of the border
Home cook's view: As a home cook, the only Mexican dishes I'm accustomed to making at home are the simple ones that really require only assembly, like tacos and burritos. So I was a bit nervous picking up "From My Mexican Kitchen: Techniques and Ingredients" by Diana Kennedy (Clarkson Potter, $40).

Clarkson Potter

The beautiful book is almost a reference work for Mexican cuisine, but all the dishes seem so complicated. One section of the book is devoted to making your own masa for tamales, calling for things I just don't have, such as a metal corn grinder. Although I love tamales, I steered away from this chapter.

The recipe I did try, Enchiladas Verdes, was complex enough. Kennedy wants cooks to make their own homemade salsa verde, and cook and shred a chicken, all before even starting the recipe. I picked up a jar of salsa verde at the store just in case, but soon learned that her salsa recipe is not only quicker than I expected, but produces a delicious, fresh-tasting salsa that's much better than the jar I bought. The chicken shredding went fast, too, and the resulting enchiladas were a nice treat that were not nearly as difficult as I feared.

Chef's view: Chef Pampuch has nothing but raves for Kennedy. The book, to him, is a jumping-off point for cooks, a place to learn the basics before twisting them to accommodate one's own tastes and style. "She is a true professional who is saying 'OK, if you want to do this stuff right, here are some hard and fast rules, but after that, go for it,' " he says. "That is how regional cuisine happens."

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‘[Diana Kennedy] is a true professional who is saying 'OK, if you want to do this stuff right, here are some hard and fast rules, but after that, go for it. That is how regional cuisine happens.’ — Chef Scott Pampuch

he chef especially liked Kennedy's Mole Poblano, a turkey dish served with her homemade mole sauce. (Kennedy doesn't use accents over the "e" in mole.) The sauce is famous for containing chocolate, but it's hardly a hot fudge sauce. Chef Pampuch points out that in Kennedy's sauce, one shouldn't be able to taste the cumin, cinnamon, cloves or other ingredients separately -- instead one should be able to taste them all blended in a new flavor, that of the sauce. Chef Pampuch also enjoyed Kennedy's guacamole recipe -- hardly an earth-shattering take on the popular dish, but a nice mix of ingredients.

Kennedy's book goes into great detail on certain topics. "She goes so much into chiles it's ridiculous," says the chef with a laugh.  "But then again, people could hurt themselves with those things if they're not careful."

While he says Kennedy's in-depth section on masa is informative, he admits "I don't know how many people are really making their own masa. We did it once at the restaurant and it took forever." Still, perhaps that's not the point of this book, he says. "She's giving you techniques and ingredients. It's OK to go from there and choose how much of that you really want to do."

Doin' the dishes
Home cook's view: If a book claims it offers one-pot meals, I think it should deliver on that promise. Yet one of the dishes I made from "Tom Valenti's Soups, Stews, and One-Pot Meals : 125 Home Recipes from the Chef-Owner of New York City's Ouest and 'Cesca" by Tom Valenti and Andrew Friedman (Scribner, $30), betrayed me. I tackled the bistro staple Coq au Vin (chicken in red wine sauce), and by the recipe's third step had already used three bowls.

Scribner

Besides the number of dishes, the dish wasn't one I'd make again. As a home cook, it's rare that I remember to marinate something for hours in advance, and while the resulting chicken was tender, the sauce took forever to thicken. (It was better the second day, actually.)

I also made the Potato Gratin the book recommends as an accompaniment to the Coq au Vin. Again, this one required more than one dish (well, a saucepan and a baking dish), but it was extrememly simple. The resulting potato dish was creamy and taste, but this is a common staple, and I have to say I've made better.

Chef's view: The one-pot trend has been around for a while, notes Chef Pampuch. He's not against it by any means -- even chefs hate to do dishes.

He prepared the book's Portuguese-style Pork Roast with Steamed Clams. "It was great, super easy," he says. "A nice bunch of flavors." His wife, Stacy, herelf an accomplished home cook, loved both the recipe and the book.

That said, the chef thought the book oversold itself. "This book is really only five or so recipes, with six or so variations of each." And those basic recipes seem pretty familiar, he says. Although what's familiar to a professional chef may still be new to home cooks, he has a point when he says "From two name chefs, with their restaurant names mentioned quite a bit in the forward and on the cover, I want to see something a little more interesting."