Snowy Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 While I was stood at the cooker doing tea tonight, I was mentally reassessing the number of cookbooks I have in the kitchen and wondering which I could get rid of (I have loads ). Thought it might be interesting to see which ones you actually use - out of all mine there are only 4 or 5 that I do use regularly. So, whats your top 4 (or 5 if you can't decide ). Mine are: Delia Smiths Complete Cookery course - the original and very battered but invaluable for it's range of casserole and stew type dishes. Hugh FW's River Cottage Family Cookbook - for drop scones, lemonade, zesty flapjacks. The Teapot Trail - for cakes and puddings, plus has lots of odd handwritten recipes in the notes page! Sainsbury's Chocolate Cookbook - great for a chocolate fix, most used recipes though are chocolate custard and chocolate sauce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Chick Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 (edited) Mine are my trusty Good Housekeeping complete cookbook, a Jamie Oliver one, a chocolate cookbook and the curry secret. Edited to say.. I can't wait to try out my new Michelin cookbook Edited January 9, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Well, I really like the Abel and Cole cookbook that I got for Christmas. It is fab because it is arranged seasonally. Then there is Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course - it is invaluable for the proportions of ingredients in the basics. The book I got with my fan oven gets used for temperatures and timings for various things. I use that quite a lot to convert from conventional oven temperatures and timings, and it has a few good basic recipes in there too. The book I got with my Panasonic bread-maker gets used a fair bit too, not surprisingly for variations on the basic bread recipe. I just got the Riverford Organics one too, but no chance to suss that out yet, however a first glance says it is very good indeed and arranged according to the relevant vegetable, so you can always find something to do with kohl rabi if you are puzzled by it! The cookbook I got with my food processor also gets a look in because it gives ingredients for different serving sizes - so you can make small, medium or large versions of the same thing without having to convert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Delia books are always used in this house The one I use all the time because its easy and has pretty much everything in is Leiths cookery bible If I can't see it in either of those someone bought me a kids cookbook called Cooking up a storm which is good for teen food or I'll google it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClaireG Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I'm a bit of a cookbookaholic The ones i use the most though are Delias Complete Good Housekeeping 1001 Recipes The Dairy Cookbook I had two new ones for Christmas which i know i'm going to be using a lot to Nigel Slater - Real Cooking and a Maurguerite Patten James, Preserves and Chutney one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinnamon Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 River Cottage family cookbook : Salmon fishcakes & the worlds best spag bol (blipping away on my stove right now!) Nigella bites: Mini meatballs,Ham in Coke Jamies at Home cookbook : Chicken Caesar,Divine salads,proper family food Ainsleys BBQ Bible: A bit retro I know,but gets used every summer River Cottage Preserves book : Invaluable Please note that this list is before I have read Nigel Slaters 'tender' & 'The Hummingbird bakery Book' I got for Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Hmmm, I love books but the one type of book I avoid is usually cookery books, because they will have so many recipes in them I will never use! Having said that, I bought a brilliant sauce book last year from The Book People, called 'Paul Gayler's Sauce Book (300 world sauces made simple)' which is excellent. I like it because they aren't his recipes for sauce, they are the definitive recipes, with hints and tips along the way. I have also had a really good book all about bread for my birthday, by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter, again hundreds of bread and cake recipes from all around the world. I think this will get used a lot! I dip into the following very occasionally 'Wyre Forest Recipes' by Catherine Rothwell, 'The Real Witches Kitchen' by Kate West, and a box set of 4 WI books called 'Best Kept Secrets of the WI' soups, jams pickles and chutneys, puddings and desserts, and cakes and biscuits. I have some other books I really rarely use, but I also have a fixed leaf plastic wallet book which is full of recipes I use, taken from magazines and the internet or even here! This gets used the most I seem to prefer books about one type of cooking and am after a sweet making book next. Like docsquid, I find the booklets which come with appliances sometimes have a wealth of recipes in them, which of course suit the appliance you have I have all mine in the kitchen, they can be very useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chick wiggle Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Its Jamie all the way for me. i love his recipes and his casualy approach - a glug of this and a dash of that, is right up my street. The books are well laid out and easy to read and follow too. The only one of his I had a look at and didnt fancy or buy was his latest american one. My local coop doesnt sell crocodile steaks or aligater tails Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffyfeet Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Marguerite Patten's All Colour Cookery - I've had this for donkeys years. 1001 Recipes - bought for 99p from a cheap bookstore, no pictures but brilliant recipes. The WI book of 650 favourite recipes - another bargain and well worth it. Mrs Beetons family cookery - next door neighbour was having a clear out and asked me if I wanted it - have to admit I've always wanted a Mrs Beeton book, plenty of recipes that can be as fancy or as economical as you like. Dawn x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I have loads of cookbooks..I find them difficult to resist...and so to make sure I use them all when I am looking for inspiration I just pick one at random and choose something to cook something from it....however I do seem to have cycles of using particular books..Rose Elliot is my Delia as a vegetarian and so I have many of those on the go...the others I am currently dipping in to regularly are Nigel Slater "Appetite", "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest "- Mollie Katzen (really really truly that is it's name..it was my second veggie cookbook sent to me as a gift by an aunt in America but I think the Moosewood Books are available here now...the recipes are lovely) Cranks Fast Food and The Accidental Vegetarian....Simon Rimmer... I just love Nigel's recipes...he is my particular food hero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluekarin Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 1. Delia Complete Cookery Course which my sister bought me in 1997. Its very battered, held together with sellotape, a couple of pages have been torn in half and I'm not sure where they are. 2. Sainsburys cook book by Josceline Dimbleby from my parents in 1991 which they bought me that Christmas when I moved in with my then BF now hubby. Lots of twists to usual everyday meals. It's really made me look at recipes and understand how I can change them. And that you don't have to follow everything verbatim. 3. The manual that came with our slow cooker that my nan bought when we got married. 4. Dairy diary cookbook - the 80s edition. Really good for basics and some excellent biscuit and cake recipes. Only really good if you have dairy in the house as every recipe has something of that ilk in it. 5. My homemade recipe folder. Its all the recipes I've collected over the years, stuck or written onto coloured card and divided into sections (red - meat, yellow - chicken, green - veggies etc etc) I cut out lots of recipes and just pop them in there. Then every now and then I organise it, chuck away any I know I'll never cook, and stick them in. Lots of really good stuff. MY bible Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 never had a bad result from Nigellas Feast, love my Mrs Beeton (good for all the basics) HFW's Preserves and also River Cottage Year which I got from Freecycle absolutely brand spanking new! Plus I have a drawer with newsaper cuttings, scribbled recipes and internet print-outs! BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saronne Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 I collect cookery books (147 last time I counted ). Like lots of people, I go through phases, too, but some of my favourites include those by Antonio Carluccio and Nigel Slater...and one called 'Margaret's Recipes' (by Margaret Bacon) bought from her award winning tea room in Norfolk. It has the most wonderful cake and scones recipes! Saronne x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miffy Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Like a lot of folk I have loads of books and often use only one or two from each. However my all time most used are 1....Recipe booklet that came with my original Kenwood Chef (1979) 2....Complete Delia......held together with selotape and pages loose!!! 3....Readers Digest Cookery Year.....again from around 1980 4....Vegetarian Kitchen by Sarah Brown ......from late 1980's I guess not sure what that says about my cooking all these old books, I have loads of new ones but use them rarely....... I also ahve my mums Margerite Patten book and make the cakes out of it like she did when I need cossetting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Mrs.Beeton's is quite often my first port of call. River Cottage Family Cookbook. Two paperbacks on vegetarian cookery - from 1980 Two Mary Berry - Fast Cakes and More Fast Cakes Miniature Cakes and Pastries - Pam Dotter I have a small collection of old cookery books and about a hundred or more others. I also have all loose recipes filed in two box files with dividers - most of the recipes are printed out from the All Things Nice section and are the most used these days. I could happily spend all day reading cookery books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted January 9, 2010 Share Posted January 9, 2010 Ah, I was wondering why Mary Berry's Fast Cakes hadn't been mentioned - one of my favourites, too, Lesley! And her Fast Desserts is good too. Delia Smith Complete Cookery Course is my 'bible' - everything from proportions for cakes, to roasting meat, to how to make Yorkshire pudding batter - the answer lies within, and most of the recipes are jolly good as well. Nigella 'Feast' is another winner for me, as is the 'Domestic Goddess' book. Nigel Slater and Jamie Oliver, not used them as much but I like the recipes. this means I probably have about 30-40 cookery books that I have never cooked more than one recipe from, and which I could remove to make space for other things ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted January 10, 2010 Author Share Posted January 10, 2010 Wow! How many of us have a battered old copy of Delia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackiepoppies Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 My Mrs Beetons from 1966! By the way.........has anybody got the Sainsburys recipe cards from the late '70s? There was a brilliant recipe using peanut brittle, sponge fingers, cream and I can;t remember what else. I have all the other cards but this one has gone missing! I emailed Sainsburys, but they can't help! Now if anyone can, it's you!!! Jx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I too have loads of cookbooks. The most consulted book is the Complete Good Housekeeping Cookbook ( very battered and well splatted) followed by the Nigel Slater cookbooks. I have several of the River Cottage books and cookbooks for Fench, Italian, Chinese and Greek cookery - I can cook my way round the world! I have a Mrs Beetons my is the 1915 edition - inherited from one of my Grans ( my other Gran left me a 1960's milk powder tin!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerryegg Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I love to read cookery books and have loads but always return to the Dairy cookbook. Recently updated my worn out 1969 edition with a 1973 from the charity shop. Excellent for basics and I think you can still buy it from the milkman. may go mad next year and update again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I use my mum's good housekeeping complete cookery book the most. My grandparents gave it to her when she left home so its 30 years old now but so useful for looking up random things. My grandma also got herself one at the same time but for reason it got thrown away and so her brother in law brought her another newer version that she doesn't like. I'm hoping when i leave home they will get me one. I also have a file on my computer full of recipes i've copied out of recipe books from the library, from the all things nice section on here or from the internet. I'm in the process of making a folder full of them split into different sections. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Like everyone else, the dreaded Delia (yes the pages have fallen out and no they haven't been put back in the right order, I'm so glad they're numbered!) for sensible advice about how to do something precisely, followed by Nigel Slater (Real Food, Real Cooking & Kitchen Diaries) for simple, easy and yummy everyday food, followed by 2 Moro books for smarter occasions when I don't mind spending a bit more/taking more time. HFW gets the occasional look-in as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I also have a file on my computer full of recipes i've copied out of recipe books from the library, from the all things nice section on here or from the internet. I'm in the process of making a folder full of them split into different sections. I have two of these for all my printouts and rip outs! http://www.phoenix-trading.co.uk/web/corp/products/catalog.do?catalogId=phx_acc_organiser I use one for all the sections and the other for cakes and baking as that is my main interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Goodness, I have absolutely loads of cookery books . My most used modern ones are Mary Berry's Ultimate Cakes and a couple of Nigella's but my most thumbed books are all old 1930s/40s/50s ones I've either inherited or picked up at car boot sales/charity shops because they are simple, no-nonsense, no fancy ingredients recipes - perfect for every day cookery. Like Sunshine, my Grandma's Good Housekeeping Complete Cookery book is a definite favourite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 I have quite a few cookery books but probably just use a couple of them. Delia's Christmas Good Housekeeping 1001 recipes - bought two and gave one to DD for uni Jamie at Home but I use my 3 folders with recipes that I've taken out of magazines more than anything else, oh and the internet. Much quicker than trawling through books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
