Best basic cookbook

[smith938]

I LOVE cookbooks (actually saw this thread and came here to get ideas LOL!) I don't often actually make something from my cookbooks but I sit and read them and 'dream'! honestly nowadays I find a lot of recipes and how-to videos online from allrecipes and youtube and sooo many recipes on facebook! If I'm being organized (which I need to be) I print out a recipe, try it, and if I like it it goes into a binder in those clear plastic sheet protectors so I can wipe it off it gets something on it. also saved in a file on my computer. I love flipping through a cookbook in 'book' form but for cooking it's so much easier with a single page of paper that's protected.

and depends on what he likes to eat- what appeals to you may not appeal to him. I wanted to fix what I was familiar with when I went off to college - stuff my mom had been making. now I want to eat healthier overall and less processed (still use canned beans/tomatoes but try to avoid or really reduce the canned cream soups like so many casseroles call for)

I would have him flip through some of the books from the library - maybe try a few recipes before he goes - maybe copy a few to try before buying the book(I don't mean copy the whole book LOL!) but I did this with an Ellie Krieger cookbook- copied a recipe then took to the ktichen to try (didnt' want to get the book dirty).

there are a lot of good cookbooks- I love them so have a lot - my favorites to look through and have cooked a few recipes from (getting ready to do so again!) are some of the gooseberry patch spiral bound ones (there's a blue one with shortcuts in the title that I've made about 5 things from and another I need to find on my shelf and mark that has an awesome crockpot sloppy joe recipe and another with a chicken artichoke casserole that rocks everything (not healthy LOL!)but can be put with a healthy veggie/salad to bulk it up and I DID use light mayo.....cooking light has some hardback 'best of' or 'five star' recipes....local church cookbooks are some of my favorites or fund raiser ones with 'real' recipes from people...there were 3 by the same authors I got (not sure if they're still in print) but one was looney spoons and had little stories the women wrote and cute sketches.he recipes looked pretty good bu tnot full of color pictures to see what the stuff looks like....crockpot cooking may be good for college wish I'd done it! fix it and forget it(I have too much trouble with the pasta recipes if the pasta goes in the crockpot uncooked..gets too mushy or undercooked)...taste of home also has some good stuff and has a lighter version as well (home cooking fattening stuff like southern living ha!), I also like (for stuff not so healthy but might could be fixed a bit)-pioneer woman, paula deen, alton brown...

I have most of the 'stand-by' recipes books - better homes, betty crocker, joy of cooking, fannie farmer though I never use the last 2 since I was cheap and bought the smaller paperback-sigh-knew better! I need big pages not tiny print.

there are some others I've debated - thug cookbook(this has some strong language I've heard including the 'f' bomb but is supposed to be vegetarian or vegan I think)...skinnytaste (her website is good too)

[BunnyHop]

In recent weeks I've been using a good many recipes from the Smitten Kitchen cookbook. I've owned it for a while, but never made much.

The Date Almond Oat breakfast bars (or whatever they're called) are very tasty.

Mom's apple cake? Tasted wonderful, but I used grated apple mixed in the batter, not chopped apple on top and bottom. Also probably didn't bake mine long enough. The apples and the cake needed more cooking. Totally my fault. I think next time I'll bake it longer at a lower temperature, the way I might a poundcake.

Gnocchi with tomato broth: Made this just last night, and both elements taste wonderful, and delicious together. To make this a bit more substantial, I sliced a few meatballs I'd roasted in the oven and put them in our bowls. Delicious. (I also think I added extra bread crumbs to the meatballs. Definitely an improvement on what I've done before, need to remember that.)

The Peach and Sour cream pancakes? Eh. I think I'd rather just make pancakes by themselves and top them with some stewed peaches, for simplicity's sake, but maybe that's just me.

The rice and corn and cheese stuffed poblanos: decided to just dice up a few poblanos, and mix them in to the risotto. Reasonably tasty, but next time I think I'll leave out the rice and just make this a corn/veggies dish. Or maybe use a quarter as much rice, or something. The full measure seemed like too much, as it was sort of bland.

(I also found it handy to have roasted so many poblanos. I peeled and diced them and found all sorts of ways to add them in to my other cooking over the next few days. Chicken pie was a nice one. (Just made a chicken broth gravy with onions, celery and carrots, with some diced poblano and chicken thighs. Let it all simmer til the chicken was very tender, and served with a small strip of pie crust. ) )

[lreidgreen]

Originally Posted by smith938

I LOVE cookbooks (actually saw this thread and came here to get ideas LOL!) I don't often actually make something from my cookbooks but I sit and read them and 'dream'! honestly nowadays I find a lot of recipes and how-to videos online from allrecipes and youtube and sooo many recipes on facebook! If I'm being organized (which I need to be) I print out a recipe, try it, and if I like it it goes into a binder in those clear plastic sheet protectors so I can wipe it off it gets something on it. also saved in a file on my computer. I love flipping through a cookbook in 'book' form but for cooking it's so much easier with a single page of paper that's protected.

and depends on what he likes to eat- what appeals to you may not appeal to him. I wanted to fix what I was familiar with when I went off to college - stuff my mom had been making. now I want to eat healthier overall and less processed (still use canned beans/tomatoes but try to avoid or really reduce the canned cream soups like so many casseroles call for)

I do this. I have a binder mostly of recipes I make regularly or at least have tried and like. I have another smaller one that has recipes I want to try. I have set a goal to try one new recipe a week so I can either move it to the first binder or toss it.
When I am in planning mode I take out the recipes I want to make the following week and make up my shopping list on Friday. I usually plan to make easy stuff on the days I work like grilled meat that I marinate the night before or a crock pot dish.
As I mentioned before I made up a binder for my son of his favorites trying to include easy stuff.

[videofit]

I use Master Recipes by Stephen Schmidt when I need to check a technique. It teaches the fundamentals of cooking and then you learn how to create other versions based on the original concept. Great reference book. You can get a used copy for $1.00 on amazon. I have at least fifty cookbooks for all types of ethnic cuisines and have cooked since I was nine years old.

[lreidgreen]

Thanks videofit. I wanted to take a look at this but my library doesn't have it. It is in my Amazon cart -used for $2 plus the shipping. I am going to check the used book store in town first though.

ETA: Videofit, which edition do you have the 1987 or 1998?

[videofit]

1998