Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with cooking and cookbooks

I need a serious, simple, general-purpose cookbook.

BostonTerrier — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 15:55:40 -0800

What is an example of a cookbook wherein the recipes have had the hell tested out of them? After seeing "Julie & Julia" I have a hankering to get back into the workshop and start cooking again. But I've been burned (ha) many times in the past by recipes that don't seem to have been tested on a five year-old, let alone a gourmand. Some cookbooks suffer from poor or nonexistent editing, and I hate the whimsical drifty line drawings which illustrate some of lamest of them.
My current stand-by is a 1980 edition of Fannie Farmer; a serious, tried-and-true gem. But I want something in addition, and nothing too terribly difficult.
I'm looking for a general cookbook; not a particular cuisine. And actual photos of the process, in addition to the end result, is a plus.
In short: if a cookbook were a personality, I'm looking for a Type A.

Looking for some healthy recipe resources

Afroblanco — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:15:58 -0800

Looking for cookbooks, blogs, websites, and forums that specialize in simple, healthy recipes. I'm a single guy who doesn't have a whole lot of time to cook or wash dishes. But I'm tired of eating out all the time, and would like to change my eating habits.

I'm not looking for a "diet." I want to make a permanent change in the way I eat.

I like healthy/vegetarian food, but am not myself a vegetarian. So no dietary restrictions really, except that the food must be healthy, nutritious, low-fat and low-calorie.

I don't mind putting some effort into my meals, but ideally these recipes wouldn't require a lot of time-consuming preparation or cleanup.

Assume that I don't know anything at all about cooking, because, well, I kinda don't.

Bittman & Bittman

Bezuhin — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 12:54:04 -0800

Overlap between Mark Bittman's cookbooks? I have the new version of Bittman's "How to Cook Everything." I recently bought "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" as a supplement, but there seems to be a significant amount of overlap between the two. For example, the section on Vegetables and Fruits appears more or less identical in both books. I'm not a vegetarian, just looking for additional non-meat recipes to mix things up. Should I just return "Vegetarian?"

Which is the meatiest Indian cookbook?

vorfeed — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:19:06 -0800

Lamb and chicken, pork and beef... which is the meatiest Indian cookbook? I love to cook Indian food, but the Indian cookbooks I have feature lots of foods I can't eat (namely, starchy stuff like beans/legumes and rice). I know it's tough, because many Indians are vegetarian, but can you recommend an Indian cookbook with plenty of meat dishes? Individual recipes are fine, too, but I'm mainly looking for something I can flip through when I feel like cooking. The more meat recipes, the better, but I'd like something with lots of authenticity and flavor, too!

I have Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cooking" and "Quick & Easy Indian Cooking", along with Shahnaz Mehta's "Good Cooking from India". Between them, I've got enough ideas for the next five years of veggies, but the meat dishes take up only a few pages in each. I'm sick of rogan josh, vindaloo, korma, and saag murgh, please help!

Help this impatient person learn how to cook from a book.

mintchip — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:50:25 -0800

Help this impatient person learn how to cook from a book. I don't know how to cook. I am extremely lazy in the kitchen and want to learn to make good, tasty meals that require a MINIMUM of preparation* and utilize as many shortcuts as possible (e.g. frozen veggies, pre-made stir fry sauces, etc.).

I love vegetables, chicken and fish but don't eat red meat. I prefer ethnic flavors such as thai, indian, asian etc. I'm thinking learning some stirfry techniques might be a good place to start, but I'm open to other ideas.

What are the best cookbooks for me to try? In addition to a lack of cooking technique, I also know very little about basics such as stocking my kitchen. Thanks!!

*Ideally 10 minutes or less.

Are American cookbooks stupid?

betterton — Wed, 03 May 2006 18:01:42 -0800

Why do American cookbooks give ingredient measurements by volume and number instead of weight? Measuring ingredients by weight seems better because (1) it should give better results for things like flour, for which the volume depends on the history ("contents may settle during shipping") but the weight doesn't and (2) it avoids subjectivity (e.g., what constitutes a "medium tomato"?).

When I lived in France I noticed that cookbooks there give ingredient measurements based on weight.

So what's up with American cookbooks? I'm interested in any historical reasons for this, as well as explanations for why I'm wrong and volume/number measurements are better than weight.

help me get pukka

synecdoche — Fri, 03 Feb 2006 23:57:16 -0800

I like to cook, but I'd like to know more of the theory of how and why to do things. I'm not a bad cook or anything. I can cook for myself and do well at it-- I enjoy the food I make, and I enjoy making it. I'd like to be better though. I'm not as interested in recipes so much as books that detail why you do certain things with certain foods. I don't like things that are techy like Alton Brown, but more along the lines of "We do thiis because it adds this to the texture/flavour/whatever." What I'd like to be able to do, ultimately, is make up my own recipes like my current TV favourite Michael Smith does on Chef at Home.

I have The Joy of Cooking, and am planning on picking up "How to Cook Everything" tomorrow, based on reading many of the other threads on here. But are there any other suggestions?

I guess my favourite chefs are Jaimie Oliver and Michael Smith-- I am a big proponent of simple but tasty cooking.

I've been reading the other threads on here and have found a goldmine, but I have a lot of cook books already and don't want recipes (though something akin to a cooking class, that maybe details a technique and then provides a recipe that highlights it would be good).

Grilling Cookbook

madman — Thu, 13 Jan 2005 13:59:45 -0800

I'm looking for a cookbook on grilling that has a decent coverage of grilled food from all parts of the world. Do you have any recommendations?

Recommend inspirational and reliable cookbooks

misteraitch — Wed, 29 Sep 2004 03:15:23 -0800

Continuing the food theme: what cookbooks would you recommend that you find both inspirational and reliable? Inspirational, as in the recipes just beg to be tried, or the photographs look so mouthwatering. And reliable, as in you've learned to trust that the recipes will turn out well - if not every time - then much more often than not. We have shelf-full of cookbooks already, but I'd still like to add a few more…

Reference Cookbooks

me3dia — Sun, 07 Mar 2004 20:25:51 -0800

I'm looking for recommendations for a reference cookbook to supplement my current bible, The Joy of Cooking. Your thoughts? [A list of what I've got already will greet you inside.] - Sundays at Moosewood (vegetarian food)
- Better Homes & Gardens "New Cook Book," circa 1965
- Good Housekeeping Cookbook, circa 1962
- "I'm Just Here for the Food," by Alton Brown
- "The Chef's Secret Cookbook" by Louis Szathmary

I'm looking for good overall reference books, not specialties -- in other words, what book do you turn to over and over again.