The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hello! This may go against the norm. ^_^

I don't know if there are a lot of people who like to cook out there, but if so, I need cook book recommendations (or even recipes from said books)! I am most interested in North Dakota, Montana, or Massachusetts related books/recipes, but of course any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks a heap!

When I think of Montana and North Dakota, I think of hunting, which leads me to Ted Nugent. He has a couple of cook-books on killing and grilling.

I'm a big fan of Ina Garten and love her cookbooks. She makes complicated, elegant food seem easy.

I love cookbooks and have quite a number of them. Not ones that are traditionally associated with those states, though. Particularly since I am a vegetarian.

I will say that I have Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics and I've liked every recipe I've made from it although they've all been too salty for my tastes (and I tend to like salty stuff!). I usually cut the amount of salt in half in anything but baked goods and then add it to taste later.

Some good ones that I've really liked lately that while they're vegetarian/vegan have recipes good enough for everyone are:

Vegan Soul Kitchen Fresh, Healthy, and Creative African-American Cuisine by Bryant Terry
The Tropical Vegan Kitchen Meat-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Dishes from the Tropics by Donna Klein
The Roasted Vegetable by Andrea Chesman
Still Life With Menu Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
Mediterranean Harvest by Martha Rose Shulman
Twelve Months of Monastery Soups by Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette
The Flexitarian Table by Peter Berley

These are state-specific cookbooks.

1. Best of the Best from the Great Plains: Selected Recipes from the Favorite Cookbooks of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. This is recipes submitted from the most popular cookbooks published in the state.

2. Best of the Best from Big Sky Cookbook: Selected Recipes from the Favorite Cookbooks of Montana and Wyoming. Same editors as above.

3. Savor Montana II Cookbook: More of Montana's Finest Restaurants, Their Recipes and Their Histories by Chuck and Blanche Johnson. Tour of the region's best restaurants with recipes and pictures.

4. Eat Our Words: The Montana Writers' Cookbook.

5. The Dakota Farmboy Cookbook by Porter Lansing IV. This is a novel with 100 Dakota recipes woven in!

6. Journey Around Cape Cod and the Islands Cookbook by Martha Day Zschock and Heather Zschock.

7. A Master Class: Fresh, Passionate New England Cooking by Ellen Michaud and chefs of New England Culinary Institute.

(There are a huge number of cookbooks on New England cooking).

Brenda wrote: "When I think of Montana and North Dakota, I think of hunting, which leads me to Ted Nugent. He has a couple of cook-books on killing and grilling.

I'm a big fan of Ina Garten and love her cookb..."

Do you know the names? I've tried to find them but no luck yet.

The All New, All Purpose Joy of Cooking is my favorite cookbook and I use it a lot as like a reference guide. There is also a series of cookbooks called like the big book of...like The Big Book of Soups and Stews 262 Recipes for Serious Comfort Food, most of the recipes are really easy and delicious. I have an obsession with cookbooks but those are probably the ones I use most often with the best results.

I'm not a vegetarian, but I love all of Mollie Katzen's Moosewood books:

Mollie Katzen

The Enchanted Broccoli Forest
The Moosewood Cookbook

They are so beautifully done, hand written by the author (not typeset, I mean) and with illustrations by the author too.

Grace wrote: "Brenda wrote: "When I think of Montana and North Dakota, I think of hunting, which leads me to Ted Nugent. He has a couple of cook-books on killing and grilling.

I'm a big fan of Ina Garten and..."


Kill It and Grill It: Ted and Shemane Nugent's Guide to Preparing & Cooking Wild Game and Fish by Ted Nugent

You can never go wrong with Paul Deen. I have all her books except her most recent one. I love everything that I have made of hers. They are not the most healthly recipes (because she loves butter), but oh so yummy!

I bought a huge cookbook called America the Majestic Pictorial Cookbook for $2.00 in a yard sale, and it has recipes for all the states along with beautiful photos of each state.