I want to get a couple of new cookbooks and wanted to know what you chowhounders would name as your absolute favorite book, and why. Thanks in advance!
By balabanian
on Jun 16, 2008 04:24 PM
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I've been totally in love with Molly Steven's "All About Braising" for two years now. I've yet to have even one recipe disappoint, and I've made probably half those in the book. It's a beautiful book, with many full-color pictures and illustrations; she includes many useful essays on how to buy particular cuts of meat, what to look for at your green grocer, etc.
My favorite recipes include her "world's best braised cabbage," "zinfandel pot roast," adn "brisket braised with rhubarb and honey." Oh, and "braised pork belly with glazed turnips."
You can check out some of her recipes and techniques on her website www.mollystevenscooks.com.
Most would consider this to be more a winter cookbook than a summer one, but for a NYC apartment dweller with no grill or outdoor space, I can live with heating up the apartment for the kind of moist, flavorful food that comes from braising.
I've given this cookbook as a gift to maybe half a dozen people, and those that have tried the recipes later told me how much they like it.
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I agree with JimJohn, All About Braising is a great book. It's extremely informative with lots of tips, and I love the variety of recipes - everything from classics to "Vietnamese Braised Scallops" and "Mediterranean Squid. Some of my favorites are "World's Best Cabbage", "Braised Halibut Steaks with Creamy Leeks", and "Veal and Ricotta Meatballs".
Lots of info here with reports of recipes and pics as it was a Chowhound Cookbook of the Month: October 2006 Cookbook of the Month: All About Braising'
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/330177
Actually, in that theme, these are some of my other all-time favorites from the Cookbooks of the Month - I use them as my go-to books for both weeknight and entertaining menus, have learned a lot from each author regarding their style of cooking, techniques, and cooking tips, they've influenced and changed my style of cooking, and most, if not all, recipes I tried were winners:
Marcella Hazan, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking http://www.chowhound.com/topics/325712
Judy Rodgers, The Zuni Cafe Cookbook: A Compendium of Recipes and Cooking Lessons from San Francisco's Beloved Restaurant
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/355995
Claudia Roden, Arabesque: A Taste of Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/387069
Suzanne Goin, Sunday Suppers at Lucques: Seasonal Recipes from Market to Table
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/397079
Fuchsia Dunlop, A Treasury of Authentic Sichuan Cooking
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/494660
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I've been using the original Joy of Cooking for 40 years, so that must be it. Craig Clairborne's International Cookbook got me going into world cuisine and Pierre Francy's 60 Minute Gourmet opened up a world to me. James Beard's New Fish Cookery taught me the Canadian cooking theory of 11 minutes to the inch. Pretty old stuff, huh?
PS I do have a lot of new cook books too.
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The Hazan and Goin books are definitely two of my all time favorites. I also rely a lot on The Way to Cook. Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other Stories is a new favorite.
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i love molly stevens' braising book too! it's been wonderful. ditto on the braised cabbage -- so good! and pork braised in milk is another favorite. and the duck legs in port were amazing as well. and i make the quick lemony prune olive braised chicken legs all the time. and there are many more!
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"Mastering the Art of French Cooking" Vols. I and II, by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck, is my favorite cookbook. I started cooking out of both volumes when I was about twelve years old and it/they introduced me to the concept of sauces (other than, say, ketchup or meat gravy). Furthermore, everything in it works. There are no losers, at least, none among the many recipes I have tried. Evrything is delicious and it is all explained clearly. Of course, citing Julia Child's book may be a bit passe, but hey, sometimes the old books are the best. This cookbook changed my life and turned me into a cook. I love it.
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I love "Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchens, by Malulee Pinsuvana. It is a quirky, spiral-bound little book that it would be easy to dismiss as dated... but the recipes are really quite something. The Chicken Satay recipe alone is worth having the book for! And the photos are hilarious-- often a glass of beer sits by the plated food -- this is obvioulsy about to be consumed, not styled for a photo shoot.
My other favorite is Trattoria, by Biba Caggiano. Each recipe is accompanied by a description of the trattoria from which it came... Reading it is as much fun as cooking from it. And the recipes are more like the food I loved in Italy than any other I've looked at.
Oh, and I do use the Bittman 'bible' (How to Cook Everything) more than any other cookbook I own. Doesn't make it my "favorite" -- but it is my most-used!
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missoulagrace, I was given Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchen more than 20 years ago, by Finns while I was living in Helsinki. It was my introduction to Thai food. Now it looks like Number 2 Son will be moving to Thailand to teach in Aug. (Number 1 Son lives in Seoul. Hmmmmm, maybe we go teach in Taipai or Viet Nam?
Isn't Julia the grande dame of American cooking? I think I am over due in getting her books. Her biography is fascinating.
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The Olives Cookbook by Todd English. Recipes that are challenging but possible for the average to good home cook. Garlic Risotto with lobster cream sauce, yummm! My copy has been used so much that the back is broken and most pages are stained but it is my favorite of all time.
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Missoulagrace,
"Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchens - Book 2 With ASEAN Recipes" by Malulee Pinsuvana came out in 1986. It's in the same spiral format and also has a cover showing four dishes.
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Really? I will look for it!
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Missoulagrace,
Since it is so old I doubt if it is still available in the usual bookstores in Bangkok, but it might be findable at the big flea market they have they at Chattuchak Park. My (Thai) wife and I will be going there around December. If you have no luck on eBay or other stateside sources let me know and I can try to find a copy there. My email is adcamer77@bellsouth.net. We have probably 30 Thai cookbooks, most written completely in Thai, and hers are a couple of favorites.
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That is such a nice offer... thank you! --Grace
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Okay, so I was able to get ahold of "Cooking Thai Food in American Kitchens" and it is exactly as quirky as you describe. The recipe I have to try first is the one for "steamed buns" that calls for Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits in a tube. I am just so incredibly curious.
~TDQ
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LOL! I never thought of that! I have been longing for steamed pork buns for a while now but too lazy to make the dough. Never thought of the dairy case! I'll have to give that a try! '-)
Oh god, if it works well, the pounds I will gain...! <sigh>
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Restricted to one choice I would say Joy of Cooking.
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The first Mastering the Art of French Cooking is almost thread bare but my most often used book is Chez Panisse Vegetables - always gives inspiration.
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Absolutely agree on Chez Panisse Vegetables. And CP Fruit is another favorite. I've been doing a lot of cooking from Patricia Wells at Home in Provence recently and everything has been excellent.
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My all time absolute favorite cookbook is The Silver Palate Cookbook: Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukins ...First published in 1982
I have relied on it hundreds of times.
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Agreed. It's the quintessential "American" cookbook. The recipes are pretty easy to follow and are pretty delicious. Tons of recipes and the sidebars are fun to read.
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The first cookbook I ever purchased and still one of my favorites. Love!
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If I have to choose just one, this is my favorite too.
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Marcella's Italian Kitchen (Marcella Hazan) - it's falling apart from use - everything I've made from it has been stellar.
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Rick Bayless's Mexican Kitchen: Introduced me to a lot of great food I wouldn't have cooked otherwise, and that I prepare now on a regular basis. I've made 116 of 150 recipes plus many of the variations. I can't think of any other book that has more balanced or better tested recipes. Even back when I started the book, and my cooking experience was limited, people were always impressed by the food.
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Im pleased to say that I have almost all of the books mentioned above in my own personal library. But my favorite in recent years among the collection has been "Nigella Bites" by Nigella Lawson. There was something about having her cook many of the recipes on her BBC show that made me understand how easy it is to prepare these wonderful dishes. She's all about "maximum flavor with minimal effort". Last fall I met her at a booksigning (for "Express" her latest effort) and I brought along my dog-eared and sticky-tabbed copy of :"Bites" to be autographed. When she saw it, she exclaimed "Oh I LOVE this!" being so pleased that someone so obviously was USING the book.
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If I could choose only one cookbook, it would be Extending The Table: A World Community Cookbook by Joetta Handrich Schlabach. This book is from the Mennonite Central Committee and it really is a celebration of the connectedness of humans via their food. It's not my most used cookbook (Bittman's How to Cook Everything, late 90s Joy probably get those honors) but whenever I read it I feel a little more humble, a little more grateful for what I have and a little more compassionate. Many of these recipes are from native people with whom the Mennonite outreach workers interacted (and they are credited for their recipes). FWIW, I am not a Mennonite--in fact, I belong to no religious organization. But I find this book quite beautiful, nonetheless.
Recipes are from the entire world--Appalachian US, India, Nigeria, Brazil, etc. They may not be the most authentic, but many were collected in the years before ethnic ingredients became so mainstream that they can be found in many, if not most, supermarkets. They are also designed to be used in American kitchens. I love the Gado Gado recipe, but I take their suggestion and replace the water with coconut milk. My mom has requested this for her visit next week.
The book is also filled with stories that are a pure joy to read. Well most of them (there is one that is really tragic, but it makes me so grateful for what I have). Sometimes this cookbook is an antidote to my own sometimes snarkiness.
That said, I'd hate to be limited to a single cookbook! Heck, I don't even like to be limited to a single cookbook for ice cream (which is why I had to get a second!)
Great thread!
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I love that one too- also their first Cookbook- More with Less!
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Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I grew up with such a wonderful garden, and a mom who taught me that you go pick your veggies once the pan is hot, but it was this cookbook that made me fall in love with cooking whole foods and beautiful produce. And it's a great all-around book, too. How to perfectly soft-boil an egg, how to make bread, how to prepare all kinds of beans. You don't need to be a vegetarian to love it (I'm not!).
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No such thing, as several posters said, as "a" favorite cookbook. There's a suite of basics for me (I suspect for everyone). Mine includes Julia, Mastering the Art, Book I; Joy of Cooking; Arthur Schwartz, What to Cook when You Think There's Nothing in the House (an underrated gem); Rick Bayless, Mexican Everyday; Pam Anderson, Perfect Recipes for Having People Over; my forty + year-old copy of Jim Lee's Chinese Cooking (no one's ever heard of this but I took my first Chinese cooking class from him that long ago). There are other cookbooks, but those are musts for me. BTW, have you ever heard of Food Lover's Companion, by Sharon Herbst? Not a book of recipes, but "comprehensive definitions of nearly 6000 food, drink, and culinary terms." I could no more be without than without a good dictionary!
Have fun browsing!
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I love the Jim Lee book too, the recipes are excellent and the style most engaging. Have used it since that long ago as well. I have seen it mentioned maybe once other than this on the boards. The cooking class must have been fun!
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So nice that someone loves Jim Lee also! His Elegant Stir-Fried Vegetables remains my standard for Chinese veggies. And although I may not use many of the recipes, I ALWAYS check him out, and read whole chunks for fun and information. He was a very engaging teacher. He was short and roundish, like a dim sum, and very down-to-earth. He and his wife lived on the edge of Chinatown in a converted matzoh factory. (How could I forget?) Those were the days of Strictly Cantonese; part of the fun of reading the book is remembering those days. I think there's a lot of snobbism and El Bulli-ism now about Chinese food. Cantonese cooking is due for a revival! (Except, like all cuisines that rely simply on top-notch ingredients, it's not in step with our times.) Thanks for the memories, buttertart.
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P..S. to buttertart: which are your favorite recipes from the book?
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I've used his marinated pork chop recipe forever, among others - will have a look and see which pages are stuck together!
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I have Pam Anderson's Perfect Recipes for Having People Over, but haven't cooked from it yet. Could you recomend some of your favorite recipes? Thanks!
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Rubee, where shall I begin? Her lasagne is much more than it modestly claims, Really Good. (Best I've had, ever!) She's terrific on soups, theme and variations.I am a salad hater, but hers I make exception for; try any of them. The Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes with Garlic and Basil is the simplest ever, but dinner guests always insist on the recipe! (I make it a lot, because it's so simple, and such a winner.) Her Quick Southern-Style Baked Beans are the equal of my cherished 8 hour New England baked kind (I'll still make them in the winter, becuz it's such a great thing to have the oven on and a delectable smell warming the house, but this recipe is just as good to the taste.) The Roasted Peaches (or Pears, Plums, or Apples) with Caramel Sauce is also easy, versatile and a big favorite. And if you don't mind a little more trouble (not too much) the Molten Chocolate Cakes with Sugar-Coated Raspberries are over the top. Little black dress Dinner Party stuff! (although the Berkshires aren't very much of a little black dress kinda place). Obviously this is a very idiosyncratic selection: but most of her recipes have in common being straightforward, pretty simple, and immensely flavorful. Have fun!
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Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. Those sound great. I'm going to go through it tonight and mark those recipes so I can report them under the "unused cookbook report" thread. Thanks again!
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You don't say what you already have. I agree that Stevens, Goin, Rodgers, Dunlop would be right at the top of the list. But I wouldn't want to have to live without the New Gourmet Cookbook or Bittman's How To Cook Everything. I'd choose either of those over any edition of Joy of Cooking in a heartbeat. And if it were desert island/only one cookbook time, it would be agony trying to choose between the two.
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JoanN--I'm so delighted to see the Dunlop books at the top of your list. I recall when those were the COTM, about mid-way through, when you were still coming to a conclusion about those books.
Those are two of my favorites, too, although, perhaps for a completely sentimental reason. I had never thought I could cook Sichuan or Hunan food that could in anyway approximate the deliciousness I found in my favorite restaurants. And, in spite of the way I bumbled through those two books, I was pleasantly surprised at how successful many of the dishes were. And, I love the little essays that Dunlop uses to introduce each recipes--I found them interesting and engaging.
RE: the Gourmet Cookbook and BIttman's How to Cook Everything, aside from comprehensiveness, what especially appeals to you about those? And what are the relative strengths of each, if I might ask? The reason I ask is I don't yet own Joy of Cooking and figure I should probably pick one up someday. Maybe I shouldbe considering the Gourmet Cookbook or Bittman instead?
~TDQ
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I've cooked perhaps two dozen recipes each from The Gourmet Cookbook and How to Cook Everything and there isn't a single dish I wouldn't (perhaps haven't) done again. The recipes are thoroughly tested, clearly written, and don't require finagling or adjusting of flavors to get them to work. This may be somewhat unfair, but the Gourmet recipes have been more guest-worthy, the Bittman more reliable for the what-can-I-do-with-these-chicken-breasts-that's-different tonight. That's because Bittman, more so than Gourmet, often gives a number of different flavor variations for a basic technique. I would highly recommend either book, perhaps giving the slight edge to Gourmet but only because a few of those recipes (Cilantro Lime Shrimp, La Brea "Tar Pit" Chicken Wings, Creme Brulee French Toast) are now regularly asked for by the guests for whom I first made them.
Because I needed them professionally, I have four different editions of Joy of Cooking and rarely look at any of them. If I need a Joy of Cooking type of reference, or a very basic recipe, I usually go to The New Doubleday Cookbook (now in it's third edition). You just can't beat Jean Anderson for reliability. I wouldn't bother with Joy. It's been devalued and superseded.
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Thank you, as always, for your insights! I'll take a closer look at both of those (I've been thinking about the BIttman one for awhile) and at the New Doubleday Cookbook, too.
~TDQ
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By far, our "bible" of the kitchen is The Best Recipe...from the editor's of Cooks Illustrated. Swear by every recipe in it!
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The Best Recipe is my favorite too... i love all things ATK. :)
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I second Romanmk's vote for Rick Bayless' The Mexican Kitchen. I have been cooking out of this cookbook for about 5 years now and the binding has come apart from such frequent use. I have loved everything I've made. People are always delighted with the food even really really picky friends from Mexico. Often when I use other cookbooks I feel small details have been left out so that I can never quite achieve what the chef achieved by following the recipe. Rick Bayless teaches you how to cook the food explaining the tiniest details so that the food you end up with often tastes better than what you could get in a restaurant--a very satisfying feat for a home cook. Happy buying anyway--I always love to get new cookbooks.
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I just finished all the soup recipes. They're phenomenal!
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I could never pick just one. But the yellow Gourmet cookbook has become a favorite, and I agree with everyone that the Molly Stevens braising book is a gem. But more of a winter gem.
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So I'm a food geek. If I were told to pack up and be ready to evacuate in one hour and could only take one of my nearly 200 cook books with me, it would absolutely have to be Larousse Gastronomique, hands down. <sigh> Okay, so sue me. I'll be over the weight allowance.
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All time has to be my first cookbook. While I cooked a bit at home with my mother, a good Southern cook, the first time I was on my own was at a fire station where the firefighters had to cook for themselves. The others on the crew were so lame in the kitchen, I did most of the work. The cookbook of choice (one) was a Betty Crocker 2nd edition and I cooked out of that for summers and college. A few years ago, I found a pristine copy in a used book store and was delighted to buy it. The cake and cookie recipes have held up very well.
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I still love "The Frog/Commissary Cookbook."
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I picked this one up a while ago, but have only made one or two things from it. Which recipes do you love?
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Wow, too many good recipes to list. I really like their herb vinaigrette, the curried chicken salad, oatmeal cookies, carrot cake and the "25 Quick" Hors d'Oeuvres and Salad ideas, but there hasn't been any recipe I've tried that stunk. I do substitute canola oil for corn oil though. This is the only cookbook I own that has fallen apart from using so much.
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Thanks - I'll check them out. For me, I thought the wings were okay but we really liked the mushroom barley soup.
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Sunday Suppers by Suzanne Goin. Everything I've made from here has been terrific. Love her flavors, her writing and her focus on seasonal ingredients. If I had to pick a 2nd place winner, I'd choose Spice by Ana Sortun. I've made lots of winners from this cookbook and I've learned so much about different spices and cooking from the eastern Mediterranean countries.
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I love Portuguese food and live near a huge Portuguese population and there are many authentic restaurants to choose from - but I'm going to be moving out of state where there isn't a Portuguese eatery in the entire state so I needed to learn how to cook the dishes myself. I found Portuguese Homestyle Cooking and thank God, the recipes were similar to what I'm used to eating and they turned out great - now I can have Alentejo pork with clams anytime!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1566...
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Don't laugh; Woman's Day Book of New Mexican Cooking by Jane Butel. A small paperback, I've carried it around, for the last 30 years since I left New Mexico, even to Scandinavia and South America. Here in Maine, it is a life saver; I have even loaned it to lost Texans! I know most of rhe recipes by heart. Green chile enchiladas (stacked), w/ a fried egg on top and a side of pintos for suppah tonight. Sure as hell beats a Yankee boiled dinner or even worst the baked beans w/ the horrid day glow hot dogs.
Bien provecho!
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The cookbooks I have found most useful are Hazan's Essentials of classical Italian and Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home. The book I find least useful but am boderline obsessed with is Henri Paul Pellaprat Great Book of French Cuisine. Every time I look at the turkey he serves in a sculpture of horses carved out of butter I laugh.
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My two favorites are The Joy of Cooking and The Cook's Kitchen Bible. When I really started to expand my skills as a cook, I found the Cook's Kitchen Bible invaluable. Then I went on to the Joy of Cooking. If I refer to a recipe at all, it'll probably be in one of those two books. Most of the time I create my own adaptations, unless we're talking breads. I have a 3-ring binder notebook filled with bread recipes.
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