I'm looking for some new cook books. Not the "dinner party" fancy 4 hour types, but the "walk past the butchers and bought something nice and need to figure out what to do with it" kind of thing.
Which are those books that are spattered with sauce, with pages stuck together (Adrian / Mirfield......stop giggling at the back), well thumbed favourites that get 100x more use than the Alain Ducasse / Heston B books you got for Xmas?
My favourites are
Nigel Slater - pretty much anything, but Real Fast Food, Real Food and Kitchen Diaries are my favourites
The River Cottage Meat Book - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - a carnivore bible!
The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan....tells you how to properly make all those things you've been badly making all these years!
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I would recommend a book from Ken Hom. I have never found a restaurant in 5 years that can match a home made Chinese from his books.
Why are there so many places doing Thai and not authentic Chinese?
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Re: Iconic Cookery Books
I own about a dozen cookery books - Jamie, Delia, Sweary Bloke, Readers Digest, etc. - but never get round to doing anything from them (or even reading them).
They always seem like a good idea, but even the simplest recipes seem faffy. My style is to make it up. Just chuck what I think should be there into a pan and see what happens.
They always seem like a good idea, but even the simplest recipes seem faffy. My style is to make it up. Just chuck what I think should be there into a pan and see what happens.
It mostly works.
Yeah....I'm a bit the same but I sometimes flick open a book to get some inspiration or else I get stuck in a rut
I like Donna Hay books (I currently own "Seasons" but will be getting more). Usually few ingredients and yummy pictures. Maybe not for the complete beginner as some explanations are a bit short but fine for someone who has cooked before.
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I like Donna Hay books (I currently own "Seasons" but will be getting more). Usually few ingredients and yummy pictures. Maybe not for the complete beginner as some explanations are a bit short but fine for someone who has cooked before.
"New Food Fast" and "The New Cook" are also great. Lots of fast easy recipes and each recipe is pictured, which I love.
I can recommend Australian chef Donna Hay's "Modern Classics 1". It has all the classics and all have turned out fantastic. "Modern Classics 2" is the sequel and is just desserts.
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"The Silver Spoon" based on the Italian "Il Cucchiaio d'argento" Has a lot of authentic Italian wonders and also some "What the hell could I cook with this?"- recipes when 'this' is for ex. frog.
Roast chicken and other stories by Simon Hopkinson is well written, a really lovely book (although I haven't actually cooked anything from it yet) - but do have a look at it on amazon. There's no pictures of the recipes, but lots of information and stories from the author.
Also, how about a subscription to a cookery magazine for a year (e.g. delicious magazine)- that way you get seasonal recipes.
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Anything where the ingredients aren't given in cups! Sorry folks but I really don't have time to put anything in cups.
But if you class a good book by how well it is used (and how grubby it is) then:
Nigel Slater (especially the 30 minute cook) and a couple of Jamie Oliver's for consistently good and fast food.
Mr. Oliver's Italian book is great for risottos
Daphne's Modern Italian Food by Mogens Tholstrup is probably my favourite and is well used.
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