What's Cookin' discussion

Hello,
I am new to this group and trying to get an idea of what you are all cooking. What is your favorite cookbook and why?

Great question - but who can choose just one? I love The New Best Recipe: All-New Edition with 1,000 Recipes for all-around cooking and the classics, Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals for quick & easy recipes, Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two: For the Small Slow Cooker for the Crock Pot... and Baked: New Frontiers in Baking for desserts (I'm a bit cookbook-addicted!).

Rachael Ray is a classic?

@ Erika: no; New Best Recipes, from Cooks' Illustrated, is good for classic cooking (takes all the old standard recipes and improves on them). RR is good for tasty, quick, easy weeknight meals.

I see, I read it wrong. Sorry about that. I have to say I'm glad it was my mistake.

It's hard to pick just one book when I am a bit obsessed with buying cookbooks, but I really love Ottolenghi, mainly because I want to make almost everything in it and I love the fresh take on Middle Eastern flavours. Also, the recipes are pretty easy and the results both beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.

I also love Ottolenghi's books: I have Plenty and turn to it all the time. I love Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Everyday too. And Dorie Greenspan's books are so beautiful and comprehensive. How To Cook Everything is quickly becoming one of my most used books.

...cookbook? What cookbook? ...oh, you mean the cookbooks that give directions? Perhaps my lack of cookbook using is the reason I tend to forget to add important ingredients to my cooking, lol. I should look into getting one of these. Thanks for asking such a good question, Heather!

I've always been a fan of the The Culinary Institute of America Cookbook: A Collection of Our Favorite Recipes for the Home Chef. It's packed with great recipes from around the world (even some Korean favorites!) and has tons of great photos.

Another new favorite of mine is Ramen. I've always loved Ramen noodles. Not the kind that comes out of a package, but the kind you get from a great ramen shop; homemade noodles and a savory broth made from real stock! This book has it all, from pork ramen to shio ramen and a great dashi ramen.

Hi there, I'm a newcomer to the group.
One of my favorite cookbooks (and one that I use on regular basis) is The Little Paris Kitchen, a fairly recent book that I love for many reasons.
Rachel Khoo is a lovely cook and I really like her style and unpretentious way of cooking. She cooks mostly French classics but with a modern twist. Being French myself I can assure that her recipes are always spot on (her Boeuf Bourguignon is the best I've tried)!
But mostly, her and I share a similar trait: we both cook in tiny kitchens!
Her book is beautifully illustrated and contains a lot of wonderful anecdotes.
I would recommend it to every lovers of the French cuisine, and also to anyone cooking on low budget and limited space.

one of my favorite contemporary classics is "How to Cook Everything" by Mark Bittman. He's practical and no nonsense in his approach but he doesn't compromise on thoroughness and taste. It's the cookbook I often gift it for new couples or as a house warming gift.

I like any cook book by Taste of Home!!! I have 3 or 4 of them on my shelf. I am very LUCKY, the library here in town has tons of cook books. I have taken several home and copied down tons of receipes!!!!

I am LOVING "Vietnamese Home Cooking" by Charles Phan. It's so beautifully detailed, I feel like I'm taking a master class in Vietnamese cooking. Not for beginners, or folks without access to Asian ingredients like galangal, tiny dried shrimp and banana leaves, but if you always wanted to cook Vietnamese dishes, you'll love it.

I have too many to use, to be honest! I refer to The Silver Spoon a lot, and love Keith Floyd's books - the travelogues within them make them so much more than a cookbook. Nigel Slater's Food Diary is excellent, and Angela Boggiano's Pie is wonderful, too. I'm currently looking for a great Turkish one, any recommendations, anyone?

I also consider How To Cook Everything (Bittman) and the Cook's Illustrated cookbooks very essential. I love Molly Stevens' book on braising, All About Braising, and Rose Levy Beranbaum's books (The Bread Bible and The Cake Bible) plus all of Dorie Greenspan's books, especially Around My French Table. I use my Cooking Light cookbook and my Barefoot Contessa cookbooks frequently. A few others that I refer to regularly that you might not have in your collection:

Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook - I love my slow cooker and this is the best of the slow cooker cookbooks, IMO. I've made probably 75% of the recipes and they've all been fantastic.

Dinner, A Love Story: It all begins at the family table - More of a memoir than a cookbook, but chock full of simple, weeknight recipes. I scoffed at this book at first, because the recipes seemed so simplistic, but when I actually started trying them, I was impressed. I haven't had a bad meal yet, and I've gone back to some of these recipes over and over again.

A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table - Also a memoir, but full of recipes. This is one of my favorite books about food ever, and also where I found a couple of recipes that are now all-time favorites. Definitely worth owning.