| Author | Message | ||
     anotherkittie Citizen Username: Anotherkittie Post Number: 165 Registered: 4-2006 |
I recently got the Moosewood Simple Suppers cookbook and I have to say it's one of my all time favorites. I usually find the Moosewood recipes a little involved, but this is absolutely perfect for someone who likes to cook and doesn't have a lot of time to spend devoted solely to cooking one meal. The recipes are truly simple, they are all vegetarian (and fish) and the prep times that accompany the recipes are accurate. I'm always up to find more good cookbooks! Let me know what you like and why. Thanks. | ||
| papayagirl Citizen Username: Papayagirl Post Number: 671 Registered: 6-2002  |
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan is one of the few cookbooks that i can sit down and read like a novel. I learn so much about mixing simple flavors to get amazing results from it. The Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks are some of the few that i'll trust to have a recipe come out good the first time. Even if i don't like the particular dish, others often do and ask me to make it again. The Best Recipe is fantastic if you're a Cook's Illustrated/Alton Brown-type of person who grooves on the science and experimentation of food. | ||
| Strings Supporter Username: Blue_eyes Post Number: 913 Registered: 4-2004  |
The Essential Eating Well Cookbook is my favorite because the recipes fit perfectly with my eating style - "good carbs, good fats, great flavors". Everything I've made out of it from pizzas to sides to stuffed chicken or stir-fried beef has been easy and delicious. It breaks down calories, fat, carbs, protien, fiber and other nutritional details as well. I also have a soft spot for Giada's "Everyday Italian" cookbook - great recipes, easy to make, but I usually use a bit less oil and low-fat cheeses instead. | ||
| doulamomma Citizen Username: Doulamomma Post Number: 1809 Registered: 3-2002 |
Agree with Papayagirl on The Barefoot Contessa books. An old standby is The New Basics by Rosso & Lucas. Have not tried many recipes, but recently got the Whole Foods cookbook & think it looks good | ||
| LilLB Citizen Username: Lillb Post Number: 2355 Registered: 10-2002  |
I subscribe to Cooking Light magazine and make things from that all year. They have really great recipes in there. At the end of the year, I buy their Annual Recipes cookbooks which contains all the recipes from the year. As my husband points out, I should probably skip the magazines and just get the annual books, but that's just not as much fun.  Lidia's Italian Table Martha Stewart Living Cookbook (LOVE the butternut squash risotto and seafood risotto recipes in there....mmmm). The recipes are well written and are nice and basic. I also get lots of recipes from Williams-sonoma.com. (I'm making the summer squash and leek soup recipe from there this weekend.) | ||
| Richard Kessler Citizen Username: Richiekess Post Number: 202 Registered: 11-2004 |
How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman is prety amazing...I agree with Papayagirl, the Hazan Essentials is, in fact, essential. | ||
| Señor Moment © Citizen Username: Howardt Post Number: 2456 Registered: 11-2004  |
www.Epicurious.com | ||
| Deidra Citizen Username: Deidralynn Post Number: 655 Registered: 6-2004  |
I love Barefoot Contessa and her books. She has such great style and simple approach to the recipes she creates. Her show is one of my fav's on the Food Network. I've also been prone to taking recipes right out of my Williams-Sonoma catalog. Also, may a make a shameless plug for Clinton School's anniversary Cookbook called "The Melting Pot". It's a wonderful compilation of standard and creative recipes from a diverse set of cultures. There's also favorites from local eateries. It's $16.95 and I believe you can still pick up a copy at Goldfinch Books (as well as the school). Some of the recipes include: Impossible Broccoli Pie, Morning Glorious Muffins, Tabbouleh, Coconut Barbequed Ribs, and Vegetarian Chile. It's a wonderful cookbook and you'll enjoy the photos and the set of recipes pages written and illustrated by Clinton students. It's a must have! | ||
| joy Citizen Username: Joy Post Number: 588 Registered: 5-2001  |
I like collecting old cookbooks - my favorite is "Cakes Men Like" put out by GM. Dates to the 50's I think. But my most used cookbook is, of course, the Joy of Cooking. | ||
| Psychomom Citizen Username: Psychomom Post Number: 691 Registered: 5-2005  |
Joy of Cooking and Better Homes and Garden are my most used... I also like a little local book I picked up when out in Indiana with all local recipes in it. I think I want to get Rachel Ray's 30 minute Meals...anyone try that yet? | ||
| Diastole Citizen Username: Diastole Post Number: 37 Registered: 7-2005  |
The Joy of Sex | ||
| Amateur Night Citizen Username: Deborahg Post Number: 1970 Registered: 5-2001  |
How to Make Everything is a standby in my kitchen, also Hazan, and Epicurious. There's also quite a good slow cooker cookbook I use a lot, Slow Cooker Cooking by Lora Brody. | ||
| anotherkittie Citizen Username: Anotherkittie Post Number: 169 Registered: 4-2006 |
Psycho, I have Ray's 365 No repeats 30 minute meals. It's pretty good, although some are more than 30 mins (at least the first time you prepare it). She can also get annoying with the way she writes the recipes. I'm interested in trying other books by her. | ||
| Eats Shoots & Leaves Citizen Username: Mfpark Post Number: 3607 Registered: 9-2001  |
All of the ones above are among my favorites--great recommendations (make sure Joy is the original version, though). I also like Rick Bayless's books on Mexican food--very fun reads. A hidden favorite that will blow your mind is Colorado Collage by the Junior League of Denver (1995). I still see it in some bookstores and online. This is NOT your typical Junior League cookbook--although they also put out two others before it (Colorado Cache and Creme de Colorado, that are excellent examples of Junior League books--some good recipes in these also). Collage has recipes that are truly outstanding, different with a Southwestern twist, yet relatively easy to make. My favorite is Grilled Chicken stuffed with Couscous and Cherries, smothered in Toasted Ancho Chili sauce. Looks and tastes like it took hours to make, but you can prepare the whole thing in about 1/2 an hour. The chili sauce alone is worth the book, and I use it on pizzas, eggs, and even once (warmed) over vanilla ice cream (it was amazing). Another gem is Chris Schlesinger's Big Flavors of the Hot Sun (he also did Thrill of the Grill). Chris owns some of the more fun restaurants in Boston, and this cookbook is full of off-beat, interesting flavor combinations with really clear instructions. I especially like to use this book when I am feeding the masses at an open house or art opening, because the recipes easily double and triple. Bon apetite. Now, back to the chicken soup I am preparing for a gathering of 20--the house smells almost like my grandmother has come back to life! Oh, for her chicken soup, or even better, her split pea soup! I wish I could recreate those flavors for my kids, but they will have to make do with Dad's recipes as she did everything out of her head and she passed before I was old enough to know to write them down. As a result, I keep my own book of favorites so that my sons will have them, and I am busy collecting my mom's best recipes for the same reason. If we can pass on our family neuroses, why not also pass on the savory moments full of great flavors and sumptuous (and raucous) family meals? | ||
| eliz Supporter Username: Eliz Post Number: 1723 Registered: 5-2001 |
My favorites- Barefoot Contessa in Paris, Sunday Dinners at Lucques by Suzanne Goin (one of my favorite chefs - if you like fresh seasonal cooking this book is great), and for grilling I love Hot Barbecue by Hugh Carpenter and Teri Sanderson - great if you like spicy asian flavors. | ||
| Rose1 Citizen Username: Rose1 Post Number: 55 Registered: 3-2006  |
Cook's Illustrated's " Best Recipe" book, Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything", and Rick Bayless's "Everyday Mexican" are the three that get the most use. They all are practical for quick cooking and pretty much fool proof. I can't even count how many recipes I have made from each. Despite the shelves of cookbooks and stacks of magazines I have, I still find that most of my other recipes come from online, because sometimes it is just easier to print out a page and have that on the counter than a whole book. Epicurious and the Cooking Light website are particular favorites. | ||
| jem Citizen Username: Jem Post Number: 1635 Registered: 5-2001 |
I'm a huge fan of the Cooking Light web site. I use it all the time, and I love being able to search on a paricular ingredient - beef, basil, cheddar, whatever - and come up with a good selection of possible recipes. I think you need to be a subscriber to the mazazine (which I am) in order to use the site. | ||
| papayagirl Citizen Username: Papayagirl Post Number: 675 Registered: 6-2002 |
ES&L - i married someone who grew up in Colorado, and for my bridal shower, his relatives all gave me a copy of Colorado Cache with notes about their favorite recipes. The Denver Chocolate Cake is awesome! I'll have to check out Colorado Collage. | ||
| Calliope Citizen Username: Calliope Post Number: 1161 Registered: 3-2006  |
My favorite is "The Good Housekeeping Cookbook" 1946 edition. It was a wedding shower present from my mother's grandmother (along with a set of Pyrex nesting bowls). The binding is falling apart, the pages are brittle and stained,and the reason I love it has nothing to do with what is written on those pages. Calli but it contains the BEST Devil's Food Cake recipe on earth...oh, and I have the Pyrex bowls, too. | ||
| Alleygater Citizen Username: Alleygater  Post Number: 2569 Registered: 10-2004 |
Angelica's Kitchen Cookbook and Everyday Asian by Marnie Henriksson (who was the owner of Marnie's Noodle Shop on Hudson Street in Manhattan one of our favorite restaurants in the city over 10 years ago). Every recipe I've made from both of these books have been phenomenal. If you want to learn some great vegetarian and/or Asian dishes you really couldn't go wrong with either of these. | ||
| Lucy Supporter Username: Lucy Post Number: 5404 Registered: 5-2005  |
Cali I have the same book passed on from my mother with treasured recipes in her handwriting. I feel her with me when I start cooking and look at her notes. | ||
| Calliope Citizen Username: Calliope Post Number: 1173 Registered: 3-2006 |
Lucy, It is quite a gift, isn't it? My mother was great on marginal notes, too! One of her projects for herself when my mom was sick, was compiling all the recipes I loved that were not in any cookbooks---these have measurement notations like "one butterfly glass of ice water" "Use the big Corningware dish" and "mix by HAND! I repeat-DO NOT USE THE MIXER" She typed (on a manual typewriter) all her Christmas cookie recipes, because those were all in her head, passed down by my grandmothers on both sides. It was such a meaningful legacy. What a treasure we are both lucky enough to share. Calli | ||
| Scott Citizen Username: Selnychef Post Number: 91 Registered: 10-2002 |
second for Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated |
