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Favorite Cookbooks

Janet H said:
There are several I like and use or read regularly but these two are the most splattered, stained and used on the shelf

Larousse - I bought a copy when I was a student in Normandy
The Creative Cooking Course by Charlotte Turgeon - my favorite cookbook
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Wow, did you see how cheap a used copy of The Creative Cooking Course might go for on Amazon??? That one looks like a good reference. I think I'll try to preview it via ILL and see if I 'need' it for keeps. My general rule of thumb is, if I find more than ten recipes I want to try, the book is probably worth buying.
 
As long as we're discussing cooking, I thought I'd share my current favorite food site, tastespotting. It's so great when you don't have an idea for what to make - or when you want to stare at other people's cookery projects. The really great thing I like is that it is pictures, pictures, pictures, recipes only if you click. They're basically from people's food blogs, but as I say, it's all in the images.

As far as cookbooks, my most interesting one is an old fashioned Seventh Day Adventist one with lots of proverbs and dietary advice. Vegan, of course, and originally issued in the sixties or so.
 
I have alot of cookbooks but my favorite is an old Greek cookbook my sis-in law sent me that has original recipes that I love.Also,recipes are best when shared,because they have been tried and tasted.
 
^ That idea of recipe sharing is why church or community cookbooks are always worth looking at. Most of them contain recipes that were hits at potlucks. What I like about the community-related cookbooks published by reckognized publishers is that those recipes are checked more closely for accuracy than those produced by vanity press publishers. They're also more likely to tell me how many servings to expect from a recipe, which is rather vital to someone cooking for an army every day!
 
abecedarian said:
...those recipes are checked more closely for accuracy ... They're also more likely to tell me how many servings to expect from a recipe...
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Tastespotting is somewhat uneven in that way, a person should be experienced enough to spot a problem in a recipe, or able to adjust them to suit, but as an idea generator, or if one wants to slaver a bit, that's the place. Plus, they are sometimes in languages other than english...but that's kind of fun too.:cool:
 
bren said:
Tastespotting is somewhat uneven in that way, a person should be experienced enough to spot a problem in a recipe, or able to adjust them to suit, but as an idea generator, or if one wants to slaver a bit, that's the place. Plus, they are sometimes in languages other than english...but that's kind of fun too.:cool:
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That's how it is with Recipezaar too. If a recipe looks off kilter, I always check several similar ones..then do what I want anyway:lol:
 
The only one i ever used is The French Pocket Cookbook
by Ginette Mathiot.I don't know if you heard of it,it's simple,a bit like a dictionary.My wife has plenty of the Darina Allen an Irish Cook with big red glasses.
 
My go-to cookbook is THE BEST RECIPE from Cook's Illustrated. For each recipe, their test kitchen tries hundreds of variations in ingredients and techniques before arriving at their recommended best recipe. Descriptions of their experiments are included with each recipe, which gives you some ideas if you want to do some experimenting of your own. My favorite recipes from this book are the chicken pot pie and the cheesecake, though there are many, many others I've used and enjoyed. It is always the first place I look when I'm trying to find a recipe. I also subscribe to COOKS ILLUSTRATED magazine, which takes the same approach.

I also have made my own 3-ring binders with my favorite recipes.

I find a lot of good recipes at epicurious.com, too. And cooking blogs can be a lot fun. My favorite is noblepig.com.

Thanks for the suggestion of discusscooking.com and tastespotting.com. They look very interesting.

I keep seeing people write about ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES, but everybody who is enthusiastic about it seems to have previously been a non-baker or at least not a regular bread baker. Is there anybody who is a regular bread baker who has converted to this no-knead method? I ask because I got sourdough starter a few weeks ago and I've been making artisan-style loaves that easily rival anything I can get at the bakery. Is it possible no-knead could be this good?
 
Maine Colonial said:
I keep seeing people write about ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES, but everybody who is enthusiastic about it seems to have previously been a non-baker or at least not a regular bread baker. Is there anybody who is a regular bread baker who has converted to this no-knead method? I ask because I got sourdough starter a few weeks ago and I've been making artisan-style loaves that easily rival anything I can get at the bakery. Is it possible no-knead could be this good?
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Since I haven't been successful with sourdough baking before, I may not be the best one to answer this question, but I made 50 loaves last week using three recipes from this book...and judging by the responses I've heard this week at church, I'd say this method gives traditional sourdough a good race. In essence, it really isn't that different. The longer the dough sits in the bucket, the more it sours. A professional chef friend recommended that I not clean out the buckets between batches, so as to create a more sourdough taste. The bread turned out wonderful, and we've been enjoying them very much. I DID try the pizza recipe, using the peel and baking stone, with less than great results..too messy trying to get the loaded pizza off the peel and onto the stone..Using the same dough, I did much better just rolling the crusts out onto a cookie sheet. Also, I'll go back to my older methods of par-baking the crusts before adding the sauce and other ingredients..other than that, I've been very pleased with the methods outlined on Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

On the other hand, now that I've had a taste of success with this method, I'm much more interested in trying regular sourdough bread again...
 
My friend gave me a cookie cookbook when I graduated from 8th grade and I love it! It has over 100 recipes for different cookies and most of them are fairly easy! When I get bored I often try a new recipe from it, especially at Christmas time.

Cookies Galore- Jacqueline Bellefontaine
 
I have a whole shelf full of cookbooks and I also keep a binder with my foodtv favorites in them.

One of my all time favorite cookbooks is Cooking from Quilt Country by Marcia Adams. Very simple, country cooking at its finest. And its illustrated so beautifully it fun to just look through.
 
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