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Napa Valley Register, August 16, 2011

Local authors fill cookbook shelves
Napa is becoming almost as famous for its food as its wine, but it has another distinction, too: Probably more cookbook authors per capita than any comparable place in the United States.

A number of our local authors have recently released interesting cookbooks. Here’s a look at some.

“100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes to Enjoy with Wines You Love” by Jill Silverman Hough
Jill Hough’s “100 Perfect Pairings: Main Dishes To Enjoy With Wines You Love” takes the same contrarian approach as her earlier book, “100 Perfect Pairings: Small Plates to Enjoy with Wines You Love.” She starts with the wine and creates main dishes that will complement it.

It’s the perfect book for the person who only drinks Napa cab, for example.

Featuring recipes for both casual dinners and entertaining, it presents 100 main dish recipes that pair with favorite wines like chardonnay (roast chicken with potatoes) and merlot (mixed mushroom pappardelle), as well as with newer varieties to most American wine drinkers like viognier (lobster tails with vanilla drawn butter) and syrah (ribeye steaks with green olive butter).

It is organized into 12 chapters — six for white wine varietals, six for red — and illustrated with 40 color photos.

The compact Wiley paperback contains 192 pages and costs $16.95 retail. The author’s website is JillHough.com.