Monday, November 29, 2010

a masterpiece. in new form.


This fall we published the wonderful and timeless story of The Little Prince in graphic novel format. Adapted and illustrated by Joann Sfar, an award winning French graphic artist, this format is the perfect gift for any comic book/ graphic novel lover or anyone who has been moved by the words of the 1943 classic.



This week the New York Times book review voted The Little Prince graphic novel as one of the top Notable Children's Books of 2010!



Little Prince Graphic Novel by Joann Sfar
9780547338026. $19.99. Hardcover

Thursday, November 18, 2010

HMH Presents 2 Works!

We are introducing the first four titles into our new "HMH Modern Classics" series. Two contemporary classics bound into one collectable hardcover edition. These beautifully packaged stories are the perfect gift for any literary lover!


Interpreter of Maladies/ The Namesake
Jhumpa Lahiri
9780547447810. $22.00

Homage to Catalonia/ Down and Out in Paris and London
George Orwell
9780547447339. $22.00


Mrs. Dalloway/ A Room of One's Own
Virginia Woolf
9780547447346. $22.00


Everything is Illuminated/ Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Jonathan Safran Foer
9780547447261. $22.00

Monday, November 8, 2010

Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow...

...debuts at #10 on the New York Times best-seller list for Children's Books!



The Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix

9780618852796. $16.99. Hardcover

Jimi Hendrix was many things: a superstar, a rebel, a hero, an innovator. But first, he was a boy named Jimmy who loved to draw and paint and listen to records. A boy who played air guitar with a broomstick and longed for a real guitar of his own. A boy who asked himself a question: Could someone paint pictures with sound?
This a story of a talented child who learns to see, hear, and interpret the world around him in his own unique way. It is also a story of a determined kid with a vision, who worked hard to become a devoted and masterful artist. Jimi Hendrix- a groundbreaking performer whose music shook the very foundations of rock 'n' roll.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Cold Weather = Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese

In my opinion, there is nothing better than tomato soup and grilled cheese on a cold New England day and nobody does it better than Barbara Lynch.



Spicy Tomato Soup with Crispy Grilled Cheese

Serves 6

Spicy and really easy to make, this is a great soup. But it’s what the soup is paired with that makes it exceptional—crisp, full-flavored, croutonlike sandwiches that feel more like cheese that’s been grilled than a traditional grilled cheese. (By the way, I know at least two people who swear they hate caraway yet love these sandwiches.) I make the grilled cheese on a well-buttered baking sheet, weighing the sandwiches down with another baking sheet on top. This ingenious method makes them super-thin, amazingly crispy, and beautifully browned. It also means you can make a lot at one time. Though delicious as a comforting main course, the grilled cheese can also be cut into tiny pieces and served as part of an hors d’oeuvres spread, with the soup in shot glasses; people go wild for it.

FOR THE SOUP
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (up to 1/2 teaspoon more if you want it spicy, as I do)
2 28-ounce cans plum tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons crème fraîche (optional)

FOR THE GRILLED CHEESE
Good country, French, or Italian bread
1 1/2 tablespoons caraway seeds
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 pound Morbier or other good melting cheese, such as Italian fontina, Gruyère, or Mimolette

TO MAKE THE SOUP: Heat the olive oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is tender, about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups water and cook, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes. Add the basil, season lightly with salt and pepper, and let cool briefly before pureeing the soup in a food processor or a blender, in batches if necessary. Pass the soup through a fine-mesh strainer, pressing on the solids with a ladle. (Save the pulp, if you like; though it has no place in this soup, it’s great on crostini or baked eggplant.) Keep the soup on medium-low heat if you plan to serve it right away.

TO MAKE THE GRILLED CHEESE: For easier slicing, stick the bread in the freezer briefly; it will be easier to slice when cold and firm. With a serrated knife, cut the bread into 12 exceedingly thin slices—as thin as you can without the bread falling apart. (I use a meat slicer and slice it about 1/4 inch thick, and I cut it long enough so I can balance the sandwich across a soup bowl, though you can certainly serve the sandwiches alongside the bowls.)

Heat a small, dry skillet over medium heat. Add the caraway seeds and toast them, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. (It’s easy to burn spices, so stick around during this part.) Transfer the seeds to a bowl. Go ahead and melt the butter in the same skillet. Let it cool a bit and then add 1 tablespoon of the toasted caraway seeds to it.

Heat the oven to 400°F. Have ready two heavy baking sheets of the same size so that one can nestle into the other. Line one with a sheet of parchment paper.

Slice the cheese thinly, too. (How thin is not as crucial here, as the cheese melts so thoroughly that it practically disappears into the bread.) Brush 6 of the bread slices with the melted butter and lay them on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Top each with a single layer of cheese and then top with another slice of buttered bread to make sandwiches. Put the sandwiches on the prepared baking sheet, leaving some space between them. Cover the sandwiches with a piece of parchment and stack the second baking sheet on top of the first; this will cook the sandwiches on both sides without the need to flip them and will also flatten them a bit. Bake until the sandwiches are golden brown and crisp, 15 to 20 minutes. Carefully peel away the top layer of parchment, transfer the sandwiches to a cooling rack, and serve warm or at room temperature. If there are any ragged bits of baked cheese hanging off the sandwiches, just trim them away by hand; you’ll want to eat these, so go ahead.

To serve, divide the hot soup among six bowls. Float a tablespoon of crème fraîche on top of the soup, if you like, and garnish with some of the reserved toasted caraway seeds. Position a grilled cheese sandwich across the top of the bowl, if it fits without falling in, or beside the bowl, and serve.

MAKE AHEAD:
You can make the soup a few days ahead; refrigerate it, covered with plastic wrap, and then reheat it when ready to serve.
I think it’s easier to make the grilled cheese sandwiches earlier in the day or even a day ahead. Store them, once cooled, in a sealed container at room temperature.

For this receipt, and more- check out Stir!


9780618576814. $35.00