Elegant recipes for dishes that are just right for the family and perfect for entertaining.

All the Best Fine Foods is the leading caterer and gourmet food shop in Toronto. The 275 recipes in this cookbook reflect their years of experience preparing great food that keeps people coming back again and again.

Jane Rodmell's innovative approach to elegant food rivals The Silver Palate Cookbook. The recipes cover a wide range of dishes -- starters, soups, sandwiches, main dishes, vegetarian options, side dishes, salads, salad dressings and even fabulous desserts. These recipes are perfect for entertaining and the baking section is extensive. Here's a sampling:

• Spicy coconut shrimp with tropical salsa
• Roast beef tenderloin with cracked pepper Dijon crust and Madeira reduction
• Tuna marmitako
• Potato parsnip latkes
• Roasted vegetable lasagna
• Papaya guacamole
• Brown sugar chocolate shortbread
• The best trifle.

Twenty food essays provide fascinating backgrounds on such topics as the countless varieties of salt to the many types of olive oil and their uses. One of the very best recipes is a foolproof guide to making a perfect roasted chicken and gravy.

Extensive tips and techniques, preparation suggestions and make-ahead ideas make All the Best Recipes indispensable in the home kitchen.

Jane Rodmell is the proprietor of All the Best Fine Foods. Established in 1984, it is a dynamic specialty food and catering company in Toronto, Canada.

Jane Rodmell's profile page

It's been 25 years since this talented Toronto writer-caterer opened her Toronto bakeshop, and she has chosen her favourite recipes, some already published in her previous four cookbooks, to include in this well-written, beautifully illustrated book. An international collection, it could be a gift for any type of cook from beginner to veteran, helping the former to get started or livening up the latter's cuisine. Rodmell likes real, fresh ingredients: butter on the order of Julia Child, limited amounts of salt, real Parmesan cheese, and easy supermarket shopping. Tips and variations are dotted through the book, as are informative essays on such foods as mustard and chocolate by David Cobb. A best buy of a book.

Favourite Cookbooks of 2009, Montreal Gazette