Best Cookbooks?

[Crampedon]

I gave up collecting cookbooks when I stopped cooking professionally.

I use the web if I need a certain recipe I can't find or remember.

This guy is great, try this!
http://screen.yahoo.com/the-perfect-...-28345584.html

And for all you Julia fans this is timeless- " SAVE the Liver!''

http://www.hulu.com/watch/3523/satur...he-french-chef

[DJSapp]

Edit: How can we forget the "Joy of Cooking?" Seriously.

This. The joy of cooking is so much more than 95% of 'cookbooks' out there (I'll save my tirade on cookbooks being mislabeled recipe collections with pretty pictures). It explains how to debone a chicken, properly carve meats, and so much more of the mechanics.

The interwebs are now the place to find a recipe, which renders most "cookbooks" out there useless.

[schuss]

Bittman is good, but I find myself shying away from cookbooks these days. That said, I'll plug my mom's blog here as she spoiled me growing up and now has a ton of recipes on her blog:
http://shesinthekitchen.blogspot.com

[Blashyrkh]

+ 2 on Joy of Cooking. My folks got me a copy when I moved out, and I've found it to be a great resource for all the classic cooking stuff like cooking roasts and making chocolate chip cookies. The recipes in there all feel like something my grandmother would have made, and that's pretty cool.

I like reading the classic reference books (Silver Spoon, Marcella Hazan's books, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, etc.) as I find them useful for technique and knowledge, rather than the individual recipes themselves (which are often pretty solid too, but maybe not as exciting as some others).

Internet is great for recipes, but I find the volume to be too overwhelming sometimes, and I'm not always sure which ones to trust. Like someone else said in here, usually I just read a bunch of recipes for something and average them out to what makes sense to me.

It's nice to have an author you trust to give you a solid recipe rather than going through the effort of deciding which of the 2,000 recipes for meatloaf to use on epicurious (not that i need a recipe for meatloaf...).

[Tunco]

Bittman is good, but I find myself shying away from cookbooks these days. That said, I'll plug my mom's blog here as she spoiled me growing up and now has a ton of recipes on her blog:
http://shesinthekitchen.blogspot.com

Nice. Bookmarked. Thanks.

[Alaskan Rover]

When I was growing up, I remember THIS cookbook being opened on the countertop more than any other...




Well....I don't know what the hell is wrong with the Editing function here...in that we can't edit text as easily as we used to be able to...like I can't even put this text block where it should BE!!! Like HOW in HELL did those three pics get melded together such that I can't even separate them with text???

But anyway.....those two books above: "The Enchanted Brocoli Forest" and "The Moosewood Cookbook" are two cookbooks NO kitchen should EVER be without. The y are written by the owner and main chef of the famous Moosewood Inn in Ithaca, NY.....an amazingly good resturuant.

Here's a link to this amazing, delicious and wacky place: and some of the best food I've EVER had!!

http://moosewoodrestaurant.com/

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EDIT: Oh yes...."Joy of Cooking" I remember was also on the counter a LOT!! Forgot about that one!

[Grange]

I just got Dr. BBQ's Big-Time Barbecue Cookbook by Ray Lampe. I've read several recommendations on BBQ message boards about this book. My brother-in-law has Serious BBQ by Adam Perry Lange which has a lot of good information and some good recipes.

[NmbrdDays]

+3 on The Joy of cooking. My rents got me the latest edition last Xmas. That is a great go to. Everything is in there. Even game recipes. Its a vet complete book.

I also have 2 weber books which are great. One in the charcoal grilling the other is their grilling book. Both are great. Have good tips and techs too.

BBQ USA has allot of regional recipes. It's nice to see what differences this country has for BBQ.

[fool]

Either of bittman's "how to cook everything" books as a base...

From there it depends if you want to use it or have pretty pictures. Bourdain's les halls book strikes a decent balance and is funny.

The whole beast is a great meat-centric one...

I've wanted Les Halles for that reason exactly and I've wanted to checkout the Whole Beast as well. Bittman's my go to, though I also have Mastering the Art and Pepin's Complete Techniques.

[fool]

Internet is great for recipes, but I find the volume to be too overwhelming sometimes, and I'm not always sure which ones to trust. Like someone else said in here, usually I just read a bunch of recipes for something and average them out to what makes sense to me.

It's nice to have an author you trust to give you a solid recipe rather than going through the effort of deciding which of the 2,000 recipes for meatloaf to use on epicurious (not that i need a recipe for meatloaf...).

Agree on all: my recipes are usually a mix of what sounds the best.

AK Rover: Thanks for the info on Moosewood. I haven't made it to Ithaca yet but I'm not too far so I'd love to check it out.

[Tippster]

....those two books above: "The Enchanted Brocoli Forest" and "The Moosewood Cookbook" are two cookbooks NO kitchen should EVER be without. The y are written by the owner and main chef of the famous Moosewood Inn in Ithaca, NY.....an amazingly good resturuant.

I have both.

Every single recipe would benefit from Butter, Bacon, or both.

[grrrr]

The interwebs are now the place to find a recipe, which renders most "cookbooks" out there useless.

There are some cookbooks that are full of recipes that inspire in a way that searching for a recipe won't. Pick up Plenty by Yotem Ottolenghi for some amazing vegetable recipes. I've also got a collection of killer cookbooks I brought back from Italy that have lots of great stuff you wont find here. Primi piatti has some nice pasta ideas and I've got an amazing book on pasticcerie.



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[FreakofSnow]

America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Serious business. We've been using ours often and found every recipe to be delicious.

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Kitch.../dp/193361501X

[HotDiggity]

Really enjoying both of these:

http://www.amazon.com/Ottolenghi-The.../dp/0091922348

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145...JGRSV5BCC8QXVC

[Chainsaw_Willie]

If you like to BBQ this book is great:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1558...pt#reader-link

The thing I like about a book like this is it has interesting recipes in it that I would never think to look for on the web. The web is fine if you know exactly what you're looking for, but if you want a bit of directed inspiration it's hard to beat a book like that.

[mtngirl79]

Everyone should have the Joy of Cooking...

I have a couple of the Cook This, Not That cookbooks that have some really good recipes, especially for watching calories..

[brice618]

Second or third Les Halle's, a bit of a coffee table book, but deals with the more country style French cooking ( with fois gras of course)

Nose to Tail is great.

Tartine is great for bread and includes some good recipes as well.

I like to turn these recipes into Dutch oven meals for camping trips it makes it fun to figure out the compromises and makes you a better cook in my opinion.

[RootSkier]

Serious business. We've been using ours often and found every recipe to be delicious.

http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Kitch.../dp/193361501X

All of the America's Test Kitchen books are baller. I have The New Best Recipe and the New International Best Recipe. The reason these books are good is because they explain WHY they have you do things a certain way, which I think really helps you learn even if you don't follow the recipes exactly.

Cheap, hudge, and good: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Recipe-Co...3934451&sr=1-1

[auvgeek]

I'll have to check out the other books on BBQ, but this one has never failed me yet: http://www.amazon.com/Webers-Book-Gr.../dp/0811831973 (It's not so much a BBQ book, as just a "how to grill" book. But we get our BBQ sauce from Larry's Smokehouse, and I can't imagine making it better than that.)

Tried out a new recipe from the book today for Easter: a huge (6 lb!) center-cut tenderloin stuffed with sauteed herbs & mushrooms and glazed with a mustard-based paste. Buddy's girlfriend (who cooks alot) says it was the best meat she's ever had. But I actually think I prefer the recipe for burbon-glazed cajun tenderloin, but I've been wanting to try this one for a while. If you buy the book, be sure to give that one a shot.

*Obviously, the only way to get good results is to use high-quality meat.

[Alaskan Rover]

I have both.

Every single recipe would benefit from Butter, Bacon, or both.

Oggghhhhhhh!!!! That's a travesty!

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[idiot]

Joy of Cooking is great.

My mom gave me a cookbook for christmas this year that was a compilation of family recipies. I have to say I go to it often.

[Jer]

Has anybody mentioned To Serve Man yet?