Sunday
Sep262010
CTbites Shout Out: What's Your Favorite Cookbook?
If you're like me, there is a cookbook in your kitchen that is just a little bit dirtier than all the rest. You know... the one with the smudges and grease marks from that last dinner party.
Given the plethora of cookbooks out there, a home cook could seek inspiration from a new guide every week, but we know there is one that is closest to your heart (& stomach). What is your go-to recipe muse?
What is your favorite cookbook?
Share your answer (or answers) by posting a comment below.
Come back to see which cookbooks rank as CTbites favorites!
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CTbites Shout Out
CTbites Shout Out
Reader Comments (26)
My husband and I are currently in the groove with Thomas Keller's "ad hoc at home" cookbook. It is Thomas' family-style recipe book for more relaxed casual dining...the kind of cooking the "rest" of us do. There are some nice visual how-to's, and the Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup is to die for.
How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman
America's test kitchen and barefoot contessa claim most of the space on my cookbook slef, but the ATK Family Family recipes (the binder style one) is by far and away the most used- yes, it's more simple and classic recipes, but that's exactly why it's the most used. we love it and give it away all the time.
Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I often riff on his basic recipes, and always turn to him as The Definitive Source. Joy of Cooking is a half-step behind.
it is hard to pick one cook book that is my favorite but there are some that I return to when the seasons change to get grounded. Coincidentally as I type I am reading The Fine Art of Italian Cooking by Giuliano Bugialli since the fall season approaches and I want to get focused on some good Italian for the season. Then a little of Marcella Hazan's to push the fun further down the road into the season.
Fanny Farmer has been the go-to cook book for generations in my family. My mother has several editions and I have one which is tattered and dog-eared and stained and much loved. It is my "reference" book of choice. For creativity and inspiration I go to Ina Garten's books. You simply cannot go wrong with any of her recipes.
Overall my San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook Vol II collection has the most food particles wedged between its pages. Although it's a seasonal thing so right about now I am renewing my affection for my Martha Stewart Baking Handbook and have my Thomas Keller ad hoc bookmarked at the buttermilk fried chicken recipe primed for a cold and rainy weekend.
It's so hard to pick just one, but since you're forcing my hand..."Baked" by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito has been my latest go to for desserts and "Sunday Suppers at Lucques" provides consistent seasonal inspiration.
Definitely Modernist Cuisine--and it's cheap!--only $625
I'm going to put a 3rd vote in for Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything". I love using it as a reference for exploring new dishes - and then move to something more complex. I also love "The Good Housekeeping Cookbook" for the same reason. Although a lot of the recipes in this tome are a bit outdated (can you say 'aspic') - Each chapter on meat gives you a breakdown of every possible cut of beef, pork, poultry, etc, and the best method of preparation. It makes it very helpful when faced with a new or unknown ingredient.
If you're like me and can't choose and also want to keep trying new ones, and recommended older ones, my solution is to check cookbooks out of the Westport Public Library's excellent, extensive collection. I keep them for 3 weeks and try them out before buying. That way, I've discovered Rozanne Gold's Cooking 1-2-3, a 3-ingredient excellent cookbook, along with Alice Waters, Bert Greene (Greene on Grains, Greene on Greens) and baking with Beatrice Ojakangas.
I have so many cookbooks, it's hard to pick favorites. But for traditional Chinese noodles and dumplings, my favorite is Florence Lin's Complete Book of Chinese Noodles, Dumplings and Breads; for Korean recipes, Dok Suni by Jenny Kwak, and for Indian food, my current favorite is Suvir Saran's Indian Home Cooking. I do what Maxine suggests, check out books from the library and test them out first before buying (unless I just have to have it!)
"The Food I Love" by Neil Perry. Full of not just "how's" but also "why's." Great book.
Runners-up...
"Momofuku" may be a challenge to use as a cookbook, but is a wonderful thing to read.
"Ad Hoc At Home" is the most usable of the Thomas Keller books, though I refer to "Under Pressure" fairly constantly, for sous vide guidance.
James Peterson's "Vegetables" and "Essentials of Cooking."
"Chez Panisse Fruits."
Another great read, but also assertively usable book is Anthony Bourdain's "Les Halles Cookbook."
Not really a cookbook, but "The Flavor Bible" like Harold MacGee's "On Food and Cooking" is essential.
In a pinch, on a weeknight, I grab Giuliano Hazan's "Every Night Italian."
I am a self-professed cookbook geek and recipe junkie, and I have many of the cookbooks mentioned in these posts. However, two of my favorite cookbooks originate from local residents in Wilton, CT. I love " Fiesta del Giardino" by Sally Maraventano, a friend, neighbor and fellow Sicilian. She brings to life some of the traditional vegetable-based recipes I grew up eating. Another favorite, is a cookbook of compiled recipes contributed by Wilton PTA members of Miller/Driscoll school. It's called "Savoring the Season". The recipes are divided up by their seasonality. When I am looking to make a recipe that's not too complicated and that is sure to be a crowd-pleaser, I thumb through the pages of this book and usually find something I'd love to make.
I continuously come back to "The All New Joy of Cooking." It's my bible for great "how to's" for just about every type of food. I love their fail-proof chicken piccata recipe (and variations on the same sauteed chicken breasts), the best pancakes and waffles ever, a simple, savory quinoa recipe and so much more!! I can't live without this cookbook. It may not be sexy, but it's chock-full of useful information on every food group imaginable.
Like many folks here it's not easy for me to pick just one. I am a cookbook junkie and have many that are well worn. However, since it was the very first cookbook I ever owned, my choice has to be The Joy of Cooking. It was a Christmas present from my mom and was my introduction to cooking on my own. I still to this day depend on it in a pinch.
"Bistro Cooking" by Patricia Wells.
A flawless, fun, straightforward and informative collection of recipes from the best bistros in France. Complete with stories and tips (trucs) from Ms. Wells and the chefs. Very easy and satisfying book to cook from as it produces excellent results every time.
@ Virginia - that's a nice book and reminded me that I would certianly mention Patricia Wells's books on my extended list. Especially "Simply French" with the easier takes on Joel Robuchon dishes - but I also use both "The Paris Cookbook" and "The Provence Cookbook" routinely. "Made in Marseilles" by Daniel Young, but also published by Harper Collins in the same format as PW's "Paris" and "Provence" is also very nice.
@ Dan - you can preorder "Moderist Cuisine" on Amazon for only $500! (Though I think they drop it to $421 - cheap! - from time to time. BTW, it has been delayed until March 2011.)
@ Chris - The Paris Cookbook and The Flavor Bible are also on my shelf. Your post has prompted me to revisit them, thank you. Also, you included "Every Night Italian" on your list and I would add "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking" by Marcella Hazan as my Italian "bible".
THE NEW BEST RECIPE..IS BY FAR ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS. TELLS YOU WHY TO DO CERTAIN THINGS THAT WILL MAKE THE RECIPE COME OUT PERFECT..DETAILED AND EDUCATIONAL..MY FAVORITE COOKBOOK!
Another vote for Mark Bittman as the ultimate reference. Three new favorites of mine include, Saved by Soup by Judith Barrett, Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells, and The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters.
@ Virginia - "Essentials..." is definitely a classic,
It's funny that I don't even own "How to Cook Everything," but I use Bittman's "Fish" routinely.
I find "The Flavor Bible" to be indispensable. If you are improvising dishes based on ingredients at hand, it steers you the right way. It is also especially helpful for sous vide, when the fats and flavoring agents go in with the protein at the beginning, and there's no turning back.
Which reminds me that the books I've probably actually referred to as much as any this year are "Cooking Sous Vide" and "Sous Vide for the Home Cook." - though Douglas Baldwin's handy charts are available on his website: http://amath.colorado.edu/~baldwind/sous-vide.html. (I keep threatening to get the SV temps and times tattoo'd down my forearm - it'd make life easier!)
@ Chris - Fish is wonderful...like a dictionary, the best reference book. When I am faced with building a recipe, my best allies are "The New York Times Cookbook" by Craig Claiborne, "New York Cookbook" by Molly O'Neill and, Julia.
Fascinating, your Sous Vide -- have much to learn here and will study DB's charts. Please don't damage dermis!
I love cookbooks can't have too many. I go through phases of loyalty. Right now I'm loving the Cooks Illustrated Yearbooks from 2009, 2010 and 2011. They are beautiful and the recipes always work. But I notice my attention is going toward Ad Hoc at Home.
I'm also going to vote for Bittman - but I'll go with How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.