Who doesn’t need an extra pair of hands when cooking the holiday feast?

If you have a rice cooker in your kitchen, you are good to go then.

Because it’s almost like having an extra helping hand.

Especially when it comes to making risotto.

Imagine being able to make this creamy rice dish without having to stir it constantly. The rice cooker will free you up from that.

“Risotto Milanese” is from the 10th anniversary edition of “The Ultimate Rice Cooker Cookbook” (Harvard Common Press) that was written by my two good friends, Julie Kaufmann (my former editor at the San Jose Mercury News), and Beth Hensperger, a James Beard award-winning and most prolific cookbook author.

The book boasts 250 recipes, many of which you’d never guess could be made in a rice cooker, including tamales, puddings and porridges.

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When guests sit down to the holiday spread, they may squeal with delight over the sight of crisp potato cakes, warm homemade rolls and creamy, cheesy cauliflower gratin.

But secretly, they’re glad you put out some green beans, too.

Because for all the over-the-top indulgences we can’t get enough of at this time of year, we also crave just a little respite with something fresh, crisp and green.

“Green Beans in Brown Butter and Ginger Fish Sauce” fits that bill.

The recipe comes from the Wall Street Journal and it was created by Chef Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, KY. You may remember him as a competitor in last season’s “Top Chef” competition.

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Chef Chris Cosentino of Incanto restaurant in San Francisco may be known for his offal-good cooking, but there’s little organ meat to be found in his new cookbook, “Chris Cosentino’s Beginnings: My Way to Start a Meal.”

Sure, you’ll find a little bit of tripe, bone marrow and chicken liver, but there’s much more in this book (Olive Press) by Cosentino, of which I received a review copy.

Some of the recipes may have you hunting down specialty purveyors such as for the boar shoulder in “Pickled Boar, Herb Pesto, Grilled Onions & Pine Nuts” or bumming some leaves off your vintner neighbor for “Pan-Roasted Grapes, Turnips & Grape Leaves.”

But most will have you marveling at how just a few key ingredients can elevate a dish to new heights.

You’ve probably roasted acorn squash before. But have you ever served it with stracciatella, dreamy strands of fresh mozzarella soaked in heavy cream?

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Forget the old-school cheese balls and tired crostini concoctions.

This Christmas, when I welcome guests with a palate-awakening nosh before dinner it will be with these: “Spinach Turnovers.”

They’re the creation of Faith Gorsky, whose An Edible Mosaic blog I’ve enjoyed poring over for her beautiful photos and enticing recipes. It’s from her new cookbook, “An Edible Mosaic: Middle Eastern Fare with Extraordinary Flair” (Tuttle), of which I recently received a review copy.

Gorsky became immersed in Middle Eastern cuisine when she married her Syrian husband and lived in the Middle East for the first six months of their marriage. The book is filled with specialties she’s learned to cook from her mother-in-law, as well as creations all her own, from “Fried Eggplant with Garlic and Parsley Dressing” to “Spiced Shawarma Chicken Wraps” to “Sesame Fudge.”

Being the carb lover that I am, I’ve always had a soft spot for yeasty, flat Middle Eastern breads, especially ones imbued with spices that take me on a journey the moment I smell or taste them.

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When I was little, my two older brothers and I could spend hours whiling the afternoon away with a bedspread, a flashlight and my Mom’s folding board that she used to cut fabric on for the clothes she sewed for us.

With those three things, we could let our imaginations soar.

We’d unfold the board across the space between the twin beds in my brothers’ room. Then, we’d drape the bedspread on top, leaving the edge to hang over the board. And with that, we’d created a prehistoric cave, a tent for camping or any manner of secret hideaway even if it was actually in plain view.

We’d take turns crawling into the space created between the two beds and the board that lay atop them. We’d use the flashlight to send secret coded messages or to just light up the small space, pretending it was night time underneath a starry sky.

It’s funny how that make-shift cocoon made us feel so safe and cared for. But then again, when you have a toasty warm cover blanketing anything, you can’t help but feel comforted.

Maybe that’s why almost every winter holiday, I love serving some sort of gratin dish on my dinner table like this one.

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