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Favorite cookbooks
I'm a cookbook fiend. I don't think I can ever have enough. and I read them like novels. I read recipes I never intend to cook, recipes I wouldn't even enjoy. I read way more cookbooks than novels.
Anyway, the wife and I are cleaning upstairs before some family come to visit, and the wife wants to get rid of some. Well, we can get rid of some. They can't all be winners. I don't know if this is my favorite, but it holds some sentimental value. This was my first one, purchased in 1986 or 1987 from a traveling encyclopedia salesman. I was 8 or 9 years old and I convinced my mom to buy it for me. I even remember a couple recipes I cooked from it - one of the spaghetti sauce recipes, which was the first thing I made from it; the grilled Cornish game hens I made for my parents' wedding anniversary when I was 10. It's like a reunion with an old friend. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/27/ne2yseqe.jpg |
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Don't use one, go by taste.
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I do, too, but you didn't always, did you? |
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I've got a lot of cookbooks, and I don't really have a favorite, per se. I've taken the recipes I've used and put them in Mastercook recipe files. I've got one that holds all my favorite recipes, and that would be my favorite cookbook.
Here's one cookbook I've taken quite a few recipes from (I'd recommend it even for the pantry items alone): http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/def...?itok=3PxUE3kw and her first book is also excellent, IMO: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.gif |
hmmm. I have a few still in storage, but of the ones I have in my kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's "Fast Food" gets used quite a bit. It's a play on Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals...but these don't suck.
I have an Alton Brown book that is great, but I haven't had a lot of time to go through it and try very many recipes. Other than his steak recipe cooked via a 500 degree cast iron sear etc, followed by a deglaze of blue cheese using brandy and some other goodies. |
my favorite cook book is google.com
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Ray's first cookbook has a couple good ones in it. Her's is the basis for my carbonara. I liked her show for a while, and I'll always give her props for being the only cook on Food Network that actually cooked in the time slot - by all accounts, she does everything in that 30 Minute Meals show she used to do within the time period, and if she screwed up either went with it or they started shooting the episode over. But she's way over-exposed. Not like Guy Fieri over-exposed (FN does like 9 straight hours of DDD a couple times a week), but over-exposed nonetheless. I enjoy Brown's books more for the science than recipes. They're like reading an episode of Good Eats. |
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I agree on RR. I'm no sure when it happened, but it after a while ever recipe of hers that I tried was so amazingly bland. By the time I did all the tweeking to the flavors, it was basically a new ****ing recipe lol. |
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Sounds very plausible. I would regularly try a recipe, and it would need to be completely re-seasoned at the end. Ridiculously bland.
the other thing I like about GR's books are how they're laid out. very easy to read, not too busy etc. |
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When you get a chance, post up one of your favorite Ramsay recipes. I'd be interested to try one. I have made his "perfect rice" dish he did on his Youtube channel once. It was damn good rice as far as rice goes. |
man.....picking a recipe will be a toughy. I 'll look this afternoon. so many tasty ones.
This is the book http://bks1.books.google.com/books?i...tK66UFbWSh-k_O |
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This is my wife's. In this day and age, we look our recipes up online on our tablets now. Haven't used a cookbook in quite sometime.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg |
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My cookbook I use a lot was an old Betty Crocker my Mom gave me when I first moved out on my own. I refer to it still to this day.
I bought this one recently and highly recommend. It has a lot of kitchen tools they recommend also. http://img2.imagesbn.com/p/978193649...1_s260x420.JPG |
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http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pQAVAL8Gck.../s1600/001.jpg My mom actually gave one just like this to my wife a couple years ago. I'm not sure if it was hers or one she found on eBay. Quote:
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I'm ordering the ATK book next week. Good to see someone likes it. |
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http://americastestkitchen.buysub.co...-cookbook.html http://americastestkitchen.buysub.co...oking-bks.html http://americastestkitchen.buysub.co...kbook-bks.html |
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Williamsburg Cookbook is excellent |
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/28/durepere.jpg
Glad you made this thread because now I'm missing one of my favorite books, time to tear this place apart. Here's a few I enjoy, the Costco one is actually really good and it was free at the entry one day. Who doesn't like free? |
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http://c1522152.r52.cf0.rackcdn.com/...m-132515l1.jpg |
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Pepperidge Farm... Goldfish crackers... Keep up Inmem. |
Buying a cookbook today is just like using the yellow pages to look up a phone number-a complete waste of time.
There are probably 50,000,000,000 or more GREAT recipes online for every imaginable food and that includes many of the recipes from all the so called stars of cooking, like Julia Child, Jacques Pépin, Mario Batali, Bobby Flay, and Emeril Lagasse to name a few. |
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And yeah, there's a shit ton of crap in books, too. But you generally can find authors you trust and stick with them. And beside the point - sometimes I like to just sit down and thumb through a cookbook. Using a Kindle is an awful experience for many cookbooks. |
I've gotten some good ones from an Andew Weil book, but I don't know which book. I just wrote the recipes down on note-cards. Mostly salads.
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I like having hardcopies available. |
With a cookbook I can browse and find something I might like to try. Its a lot harder on the internet.
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Cookbooks are like a snapshot in time based on when they were written. Online is fast and handy but reading old cookbooks opens up a whole different perspective on what and how we cook
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I'll have my favorite when FMB decides to publish his own.
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My favorite is titled Real Beer and Good Eats. It has many recipes where beer is an ingredient or foods that pair well with beers. Cooking Danish is another of my favorites.
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The ex brought these with her - she's from Louisiana and these were her 'go to' cookbooks. If you like cajun or creole - they're from long before that stuff got popular.
http://www.amazon.com/Cookbook-Louis.../dp/0935032029 http://www.amazon.com/River-Road-Rec...D8BJERF0XXSZZ6 Richard Olney was a cookbook writer, a good one - and this is my favorite of his books. Lulu's Provencal Table. http://www.amazon.com/Lulus-Provenca...rovencal+table Another by Olney - http://www.amazon.com/Provence-Beaut.../ref=pd_cp_b_1 But this is my favorite old-skool Mediterranean cookbook - Honey from a weed. It will tell you how to make a lot of dishes - but it's not formatted like a cookbook. Whatever, just find a copy somewhere and enjoy. http://www.amazon.com/Honey-Weed-Fea...ey+from+a+weed |
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:thumb: |
I really like the Joy of Cooking because it is far more than a collection of recipes. It teaches you how to cook. Julia Child's cookbook, another favorite of mine, is much the same way.
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This was the first cookbook I ever purchased: http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg FMB, if you don't have it, I'd recommend (at least for you) Harold McGee's seminal work "On Food & Cooking:" http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...4,203,200_.jpg It's not a recipe book, but rather an encyclopedic look at the science and history behind the main aspects of cooking. I consider it a near-masterpiece level work of literature (especially the revised, 20th anniversary edition) and perhaps the reference point for food and the culinary craft. |
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That sounds pretty cool. Thanks!! |
Some of my current favorites:
<img src="http://assets.coolhunting.com/coolhunting/mt_asset_cache/2012/04/a-girl-and-her-pig-1-thumb-620x430-38745.jpg"> <img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51uTAAjLy-L._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg"> <img src="http://www.taschen.com/media/images/640/cover_xl_modernist_cuisine_at_home_1308211736_id_678604.jpg"> |
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I have this, too. Love it! |
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Here is a cool site that tries and translates colonial recipes to modern:
http://recipes.history.org/ |
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that looks interesting. |
Ok, I thumbed through some of my favorite recipes that I've tried from GR's "Fast Food".
Obviously Pretty simple, but damn good. Scambled Eggs with Crabmeat & Chives - served on a piece of thick toast ala "Shit On A Shingle" My text below is direct from the book, but here is a link that is very slightly adjusted: http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/257...ab-Meat-Chives Ingredients: -2Tsp Butter -12 Lg eggs (beaten) - 7oz crab meat. (I think one package of imitation crab meat is right at 7oz) -Chives -2 Tsp creme fraiche.....though I didn't mess with it - I just used some plain yogurt -bread Melt butter, and add beaten eggs. Stir over low heat until eggs are about half set. Stir in the crab, chives, seasoning (salt / pepper to taste. I've also used a pinch or two of old bay). Keep stirring until eggs are damn near seat - then quickly add the creme fraiche (or substitute). Remove and set on your piece of toast/bagquette/english muffin etc. I loved this recipe with a flute or two of mamosa mix. Really light meal/brunch. |
I prep/approach this one much like I do my carbonara (thanks for the tip FMB on keeping some of the left over starchy water)
Obviously if one doesn't like anchovies, you'll hate this. but if you do....mmmm. Spaghetti w/ Anchovy, Garlic & Parsley Ingredients: -10oz dried spaghetti (or whatever noodle you fancy) -Olive oil (plus some for drizzling) -2 garlic cloves (I think this recipe is a good balance of garlic. so if you like more, feel free to add. if you're not a huge fan, maybe cut it in 1/2. I LOVE garlic, but I'm just listing what's in the recipe itself) -6oz of roughly chopped anchovies -italian parsley/flat leaf -parmesan to serve (or depending on how nutty and/or salty you like your cheese, you can change it up obviously) Cook: -cook 'sketti (8-10 min for al dente) -heat oil in large sauce pan; add garlic over medium heat - cook until fragrent and brown at the eddges -stir in anchovies -tip in cooked sketti -toss and season to taste |
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I still like this one from my grandmother. Honestly though, my favorites are some of the little ones I've bought over the years from little local organizations where granny's submit their family recipes for different dishes.
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Missouri Conservationist use to publish a booklet on wild game recipe. I got this sometime back and use very much.
Don't know if they still do. If interested check MDC.com |
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for the Mint and Coconut freaks (like myself)
Grilled Pineapple wih Mint & Toasted Coconut Ingredients: -sugar (super fine if available, but if not it's no biggie) -small handful of mint (or one of the packages at the stor does the job); shredded -1 Large pineapple - 1/4 dry unsweetened coconut Cook: Put sugard into a pan and add 2/3C water - stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat and bring to a boil. Toss in mint sprigs, turn off heat and let infuse as it cools. cut pineapple into 8 wedges and cut out the core. Heat a grill. ( i used medium). add pineapple and grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until lightly charred. the let cool slightly. Cut away the skin from the pineapple, then slice the grilled flish thinly and place in a small bowl. Remove the mint sprigs, then pour the infused syrup over the pineapple wedges. Chill until ready to serve. Didide the pineapple /portion out and sppon over the syrup. Sprinkle with shredded mint leaves and toasted cocounut. |
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The Oral Traditions of a Mafia Family for me.
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we're talking Cook books, not Porn movies.
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LMAO
Not those kind of oral traditions. |
My Mom is a big Lidia fan. She has this one and I have copied several recipe very good stuff.
http://saucytart.typepad.com/.a/6a00...65e5970c-800wi |
I have so many cookbooks and magazines, I honestly can't say I have on favorite. I am a sucker for buying such things. I also buy one from trips.
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I got the "Esquire Eat Like a Man" book for Christmas a few years back. It has a lot of great recipes and info in there.
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This looks delicious.
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damn , that does sound good. and im not even a huge fan of peas.
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