What is your favorite cookbook?

For the instructions to make a wild yeast pizza dough starter, I must say that The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish is a cookbook I actually use.

ejbronte wrote: »

I have a collection of medieval cookbooks, with the recipes adapted for modern times: "To the King's Taste", "Fabulous Feasts", "Take A Thousand Eggs or More". And a hardcopy adaptation of "Le Menagier de Paris", a fourteenth century tome written by an elderly gentleman to his young wife, so filled with medieval household hints and recipes you really have to wonder how much time this man must have spent in the kitchen and laundry-room bugging his poor servants. For fun, here's an online compilation:

pbm.com/~lindahl/menagier/

Thats fun

In the 1950s, the Junior League of Baton Rouge started collecting local recipes for a fund raiser publication called "River Road Recipes". Some that I have made have been fantastic. They are diverse and classic recipes from the region. I've heard the released an edition of healthy recipes, but i have yet to read it. Maybe I'll get it.
https://juniorleaguebr.org/river-roads-recipes/

Speziface wrote: »

"Frugal Gourmet Cooks American" by Jeff Smith was the first cookbook I bought and I go back to it frequently.

I use to watch him on TV and have a couple of his books. Too bad his career ended prematurely as a result of sexual abuse allegations brought against him.

I've got a large cookbook collection but I often just search the Net for recipes; much easier and less time consuming than trying to find a specific recipe in one of my books unlessit's one of my go-to recipes that I've bookmarked previously.

I'm British, so number one is Delia (Smith) mainly for reference, but I also love Nigella (Lawson) and have a couple of Jamie's (Oliver) books too. I'd quite like an Ottolenghi book and have been using my Moro cookbook recently. Nigel Slater is good too. River Cottage Family Cookbook and Sarah Raven get looked at occasionally.

My aunt made me a cookbook of family recipes when I got married, but I also love the "cook this, not that" cookbook. It helps me adjust other recipes I find on Pinterest

the internet ..you can find anything and i mean anything on there !!!

General purpose: Joy of Cooking by Rombauer.

Italian: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Hazan, The Italian Country Table by Rosseto-Kasper. Would like to add the Silver Spoon Cookbook (which is sort of the Italian Joy of Cooking).

Southern USA: Craig Claiborne's Southern Cooking, Bill Neal's Southern Cooking, The Fearrington House Cookbook by Fitch.

Healthy comfort food: Healthy Homestyle Cooking, More Healthy Homestyle Cooking, Healthy Homestyle Desserts, by Tribole.

I own Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen by Andoh, haven't used it much, and would like to get into Japanese cooking more.

barberellass wrote: »

jennybearlv wrote: »

Joy of Cooking It was my first cookbook when I was learning to cook and still the first place I look when trying something new.

This and anything from America's Test Kitchen.

Yes to both - I have an older edition of "Joy of Cooking" and never miss an episode of "America's Test Kitchen" if I can help it. I learn something from every episode, even if it deals with food or cooking styles that don't appeal to me.

While we're on the subject of televised cooking, I'll throw in "Good Eats", which is like a wilder, stranger cousin of "America's Test Kitchen".

It depends!!!

1. Fannie Farmer for old favorites, things I remember my grandmother making, like apple crisp, gingerbread, pies, popovers, preserves. Although for most of these I don't need to refer to the recipes any more.
2. San Francisco Encore for interesting taste combinations that aren't too complicated
3. Mark Bittman and Martha Shulman for vegetarian ideas
4. The yellow edition of the Gourmet Cookbook, Julia Child or Silver Palate if I'm looking for something special for a party, tho I often tinker with the ingredients to make it healthier. (My version of JC's daube, for example, has about a third fewer calories than hers and I don't notice any difference in taste.)
5. And for basics and techniques - Joy of Cooking or America's Test Kitchen

I do use some on-line sites I've become familiar with like Epicurious and Kalyn's Kitchen. But even there I find I have to read all the comments and reviews and not rely too much on the rating - too many people put up a review that says "this sounds really good" and give it 5 stars even tho they haven't actually made it. (That drives me nuts!!!) And some people modify the recipe and then rate what they did rather than the original version - I don't mind that so much as long as they tell you what they did (more spices, less butter, cooked it longer, used spinach instead of broccoli - whatever) so I can evaluate.

Any and all Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks. Healthy and creative but not kooky.

cogodscountry wrote: »

Many of the cookbooks listed are old school high fat cookbooks.

I don't see that. Yes, Joy of Cooking isn't the healthiest. But a lot of the books listed aren't unhealthy. I might think that if we were seeing a lot of, I don't know, Paula Dean or Best Buttery Brownies and 1000 Calorie Desserts (Yes, I just made those two up, I've a tired brain today) or something, but there are a lot of health conscious cookbooks listed...or cuisines which aren't known for unhealthy general focus (like 660 Curries, which is amazing, someone else mentioned it).

Also, just because a cook book has less healthy recipes doesn't mean you can't modify the recipes & make notes.

ejbronte wrote: »

barberellass wrote: »

jennybearlv wrote: »

Joy of Cooking It was my first cookbook when I was learning to cook and still the first place I look when trying something new.

This and anything from America's Test Kitchen.

Yes to both - I have an older edition of "Joy of Cooking" and never miss an episode of "America's Test Kitchen" if I can help it. I learn something from every episode, even if it deals with food or cooking styles that don't appeal to me.

While we're on the subject of televised cooking, I'll throw in "Good Eats", which is like a wilder, stranger cousin of "America's Test Kitchen".

Agree completely. America's Test Kitchen and Good Eats are my top two favorites! I have the newest ATK cookbook and it is my absolute favorite to use, even though it is HUGE and HEAVY! At least it sits nicely on my counter.