Good Cookbooks/Recipe Books/Books about Food

[bonds]

I'll put in a word for Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything.

[Chimp]

I assume you're a bit of a novice? If so, here are some good books:

Emerils new new orleans: I know he's a caricature. But this is a great book for rookies/intermediates. Delicious food, simple recipes.

Julia and jacques cooking at home. Not as many or as varied recipes, but great explanations and techniques to learn from.

Splendid table: excellent northern italian cookbook. A bit more advanced than the other two, but italian food is generally simple to make so this is still ok for beginners. No pictures though, which may be impediment to someone w/o much experience.

[mosuavea]

Good thread idea Cap.

This may or may not belong here but I will go ahead anyways.

Any books on knife skills anyone would recommend? Something I would like to work on as it would really help the amount of time spent on recipe prep time.

I normally get all of my recipes from the intraweb but might look into some books people have suggested.

[Chimp]

I'd actually not recommend the prof. Chef. It's massive and enclyclopedic, so you can definitely learn from it. But the recipes are generally for large quantities of food, which isn't user friendly for a home cook. Also, it's more of a textbook, so its not terribly "fun" or interesting. It's a good resource, but I'd start out with something else.

I hadn't read your response when I first posted. Since you seem more confident of your skills, I'd also add Bouchon and norman van aken's new world cuisine to the list. These are great books too.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd actually not recommend the prof. Chef. It's massive and enclyclopedic, so you can definitely learn from it. But the recipes are generally for large quantities of food, which isn't user friendly for a home cook. Also, it's more of a textbook, so its not terribly "fun" or interesting. It's a good resource, but I'd start out with something else.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hm - but couldn't you just halve or quarter the recipes? Also, general question about Professional Chef - how "high end" is it? I'm comfortable in a kitchen, and like to make more complicated stuff now and then, but am not looking to turn out high-end cuisine on a regular basis.

[ QUOTE ]
I'll put in a word for Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything.

[/ QUOTE ]

Eh - it's OK imo. I was a little dissapointed (got it as a gift). Seems to be a lot of basic stuff with shortcuts, and while it has good recipe ideas, I've usually turned to another cookbook to make a better version of the Bittman suggestion.

-Al

[CappyAA]

I tend to love italian recipes. I ran a search on Amazon and 1000 Italian Recipes appears to be a good book for Italian food at first glance. Anyone with any experience with it?

1000 Italian Recipes

[Chimp]

[ QUOTE ]
I tend to love italian recipes. I ran a search on Amazon and 1000 Italian Recipes appears to be a good book for Italian food at first glance. Anyone with any experience with it?

1000 Italian Recipes

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope. My recs for Italian food are the Splendid Table, mentioned before, and Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Italian Cooking

Both cookbooks are really well done. Lots of great recipes, and lots of useful essays/explanations too.

[bobman0330]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll put in a word for Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything.

[/ QUOTE ]

I love Bittman, but it doesn't sound quite right here. I think it's excellent for people who don't cook at all and who need to learn how to make delicious food without putting a ton of time into it. That was my situation when I received HTCE as a gift, and as a result, I love it. But every more experienced cook who reads it that I've talked to thinks, "What's the big deal, all these recipes are simple and I already understand how to saute a chicken breast or buy a piece of pork."

[Chimp]

[ QUOTE ]

Hm - but couldn't you just halve or quarter the recipes?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure, but it's just not user friendly. Also, the recipes are all done by weight (e.g., "3 lbs of eggplant, 6 oz. of gelatin....), so it's even less intuitive and easy to convert for home cooks.


[ QUOTE ]
Also, general question about Professional Chef - how "high end" is it? I'm comfortable in a kitchen, and like to make more complicated stuff now and then, but am not looking to turn out high-end cuisine on a regular basis.


[/ QUOTE ]

The recipes are more classic French than anything else. They're not very modern at all, which is what I would mean by high-end. By comparison, the French Laundry's cookbook is far more high end (and modern).

The prof. chef. is what you turn to when you want to learn how to make 4 gallons of hollandaise, which pretty much means never. I only pull it down about once a year when I have a very specific question about an ingredient or technique. I have never, ever used a recipe from it for home cooking.

pm me if you're ever downtown and want to borrow it.

[jbrent33]

This is my favorite.

Full Disclosure: I worked at Highlands's a couple of summers while I was in college and still try eat there once a month.

Frank Stitt is a James Beard award winner, and is usually consider one of the founders of New Southern cooking. He takes traditional southern ingredients and cooks them in a classic french style. Very interesting guy, and the book is enjoyable to read outside of the great recipes

Frank Stitt's Southern Table