Conference turris::cooks

    The one that I am compiling for my children for Christmas. It is
    a collection of all the families favorite recipes in the same place.
    
    

    
    	I love the Moosewood cookbook. It is a vegetarian cookbook,
    I'm not a vegetarian but I find some wonderful recipies in there.
    Each recipe is preceeded with preparation time and number of
    servings. If you have to do something like soak beans, it is listed
    in there also. I find it to be easy to follow, they tell you everything
    to do except to wash your hands before starting to cook!

    Different books for different purposes. "Joy of Cooking" is valuable
    because it includes information about the various ingredients -
    if you need to know what to do with Jerusalem artichokes, it'll
    be in there.
    
    The Weight Watchers books ("Quick Start" and "International") are
    fantastic (and I'm not even on a diet). Great-tasting recipes, easy
    to make, and low on salts, fats, and other easy-to-overdo ingredients.
    
    "The Nero Wolfe Cookbook" (I'm not kidding!) is another favorite.
    Author Rex Stout was quite a chef in addition to writing mysteries,
    and the book includes recipes for many of the dishes so lovingly
    described in the books.

    -b

    For UK  readers, my two favourites:  for 'normal' use, it would be
    Delia Smith's -  wide  variety of recipes and lots of useful hints
    and tips;  for very,  very  entertaining  writing and sheer joy in
    the preparation, cooking and eating of  fish it would be 'Floyd on
    Fish' (both BBC publications I think).
    
    
    Tony.

My favorite is the 12' of cookbooks on the 2 shelves in my kitchen.  I rarley 
use a recipe from any one of them.  Instead, I peruse several, and get an idea 
of what to do with the ingredients on hand.  My favorite perusers are the TIME 
LIFE Good Cook Series and the 2 volume set published by Gourmet Magazine.

						     
							- JP

    My favorite is "The Festive Famularo Kitchen" by Joseph Famularo
    (no relation).  Italian cooking at it's best!  Look for Mr. Famularo's
    articles in Bon Appetit Magazine from time to time.
    

    Our favorite is the Good Housekeeping Cookbook.  It hasn't got fancy
    recipes, but is chock-full of cooking tips and guidelines.  It's
    saved us on many occasions.  It's well organized and easy to read
    and use.
    
    Mike

GOOD FOOD BOOK           
    
    I  Like Jane Brody's Good Food Book. It has a lot of healthy, 
     easy to follow recipes. It is not only a cookbook but also a 
    bundle of information on food in general.  

    
    -Karen

My current favorite is "Cuisine Naturelle" by Anton Mosimann who is the main
chef at the Dorchester Hotel in London.  A friend who has eaten his cooking 
turned me on to the book.  Mossiman, a well known Swiss chef, invented cuisine 
naturelle, a cooking technique that excludes cream, oil, alcohol, and butter,
It also minimizes the use of salt and sugar.  Cooking is done by grilling, 
steaming, and dry sauteing.  The result of his recipes tastes and looks like
what you would get a French restaurant serving nouvelle cuisine.

    I collect cookbooks like other people collect novels.  I'm ashamed
    to say I haven't even used them all yet!
    
    I can't name one favorite, but I can tell you a few of them.
    
    I use Joy of Cooking a lot, for ideas on basics, as others have
    said.  I really like The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen
    (I hope I'm spelling her name right.  She also wrote the Moosewood
    Cookbook described in an earlier reply.)  Broc Forest is filled
    with great vegetarian recipies.  
    
    I like James Beard's basic cookbook, but that may be sentimental since
    it was my first cookbook.  When I want a fancy, time-consuming cooking
    session, I use Julia Child's French cookbook. I like volume I better
    than volume II. 
    
    Judy 

    The Time/LIFE Foods of the World series published by McGraw-Hill,
    in part because in my bachelor days I was a production coordinator
    for Architectural Record and could buy anything on McGraw-Hill's
    list at a big discount.
    
    Over the years I have gone back to these books over and over again
    for some of my favorite ethnic foods.  You sometimes find the large
    photo/travelogue books at book sales, but oftentimes people hold
    onto the smaller spiral bound recipe book that came with it.  The
    big ones do have some of the recipes though, and are worth picking
    up for the background info as well.
    
    The now-defunct Cuisine magazine had lots of recipes that I enjoyed
    trying out.  I always felt they were a magazine for people who really
    liked to cook, as opposed to Gourmet Magazine which bought them
    out.  Gourmet has always turned me off as a slick bunch of ads for
    expensive frills and wierd recipes by elitist chefs catering to
    snobs who only daydream about food and never really get their hands
    in contact with things that they intend to eat.
    

	RE: .11

	Judy:
		If chocolate is really your destiny, try Maida Headder's
	"Chocolate Cookbook".  I believe she's up to 2 volumes, and I only
	have the original.  It's full of decadent chocoholic recipes.

						     
							- JP

    
    	My all time favorite is Weight Watchers Fast and Fabulous. 
    And everything in it is just that - fast and fabulous.  The recipes
    aren't "diet", they just have the WW info listed at the bottom.
    All the recipes are quick - most can be put on the table in 45 minutes
    or less!  It's super for cooking during the week after a long day
    at work.
    
    	The recipes are imaginative but don't require lots of fancy
    seasonings or supplies.  There ave lots of poultry and fish recipes,
    but they haven't ignored appetizers, red meat, or desserts.  There
    are sections for skillet/wok recipes, "company" recipes, appliance 
    cooking (microwave/pressure cooker, etc) so everyone is bound to 
    find something they like.
                                                   
            Hmmm, I think tonite it'll be Shrimp Fandango....
                   
    			Conni
    

    My wife and I use the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. Their
    recipes work well and they give excellent instructions. The first
    hundred pages or so is a color table of contents with pictures of
    EVERY recipe. Our book is almost worn out from all the attention
    those pictures get. The Good Housekeeping people have just released
    another version with all new recipes.
    
    The other cookbook worth mentioning is the Joy of Cooking. I haven't
    always had the best of luck with their recipes, but as a reference
    book it is unsurpassed.
    
    Terry
    

	The Frugal Gourmet's cookbook is real nice. I use it occasionally 
when I want to surprise my wife. He's got a quick and easy lo-cal (not really
into lo-cal stuff) chicken recipe with white wine, garlic, olive oil, and 
lemon juice that is great. Others include the Boston Globe cookbook, Better
Homes and Gardens (great Hollindase sauce).

						Robert

    That's what I get for writing this at work - I mixed up so many
    names that I've had to reenter it with corrections.
    
    Currently my most frequently used are:
    
    1) The Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook - for the pictures. 
    I look at the pictures to decide what I'd like to make with
    whatever I've got, and then see if I've got the ingredients they used.
    I usually start with the recipes, and modify from there. 
    2) Joy of Cooking and the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook - Both are
    good general american cookbooks.  Joy is a real cooking reference,
    with its tables of substitutions (such as subbing brown sugar for
    honey in a recipe) and the info on various ingredients.  BHG has
    easier recipes - easier to have the ingreds, easier to follow, fewer
    fancy things to do.  If I have questions, I look in Joy.  If I need
    a recipe I look in BHG first, and then Joy if it isn't in BHG.
    3) The Victory Garden Cookbook got a lot of use this summer, since
    I was growing some new (to me) veggies like Leeks and Kohlrabi.
    Now I use it for inspiration - the photos are good, and they've
    got a lot of general info on various veggies (like all the Endive
    Recipes I typed in here.)
    4) My scrapbook cookbooks - these had to be separated into two
    spiral binders, and contain recipes that I started saving in Jr
    High - the best cookie recipes I have date from then.  I have
    my basic pancake and bread recipes in there - couldn't live
    without these!
    
    --Louise

    

    I have found my very favorite book to be the New York Times Bread
    and Soup Cookbook.  Excellent bread and soup recipes (what else?)!
    
    I find that I tend to use recipes found in magazines and the Globe
    alot too.  Those I like I save.  Happen to have a whole basement
    full of magazines!
    
    Terry 

    From the Nov. 86 issue of Woman's Day:
    
    "Publish your own cookbook - with favorite hometown recipes - raise
    $300 to $3,000. or more - quickly, easily, without investment -
    if your church, school or club needs money, act now. Get free fund
    raising kit that helps you reach almost any money goal selling your
    group's exclusive cookbooks. You collect member's recipes, we do
    the rest! See how easy it is, fill in and mail this ad now!
    Or call toll free 1-800-351-7822 (In Tennessee, 1-800-325-1994).
    
    Fundcraft
    Dept. B4
    410 Hwy. 72 W.
    Box 340
    Collierville, TN" 38017
    

    Fannie Farmer as a reference guide (mostly to see how different
    recipes use spices.)
    
    Rosseau for reference but rarely for exact recipes.
    
    Silver Palate Cookbook and Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook for
    interesting/easy/yummy recipes. Some recipes are time consuming but
    all are pretty easy and the results are wonderful.  Silver Palate
    is set up like a regular cookbook (app.s, soups, meat, chicken, ...)
    and the Good Times is set up by season and holiday - kind of awkward.
    
    New York Times Cookbook for excellent recipes and as a reference
    guide.   Recipes are great, but usually take time.  Good with spices.
    
    Bon Appetite's Too Busy To Cook - EXCELLENT.  Wide range of recipes.
    All easy to make.  From the column Too Busy To Cook in the magazine.
    
    Victory Garden Cookbook and Wilson's Farms Cookbook to cook and
    properly season just about any vegetable.  These beat out my Moosewood
    cookbooks.
    
    
    I use ALL of these cookbooks for just about everything new I make.
    I look up similar recipes and compare spices and other ingredients.
    I combine the recipes and usually end up with something good (unless
    I'm baking - I usually screw baked goods up when I combine ingredients.)
                                                                          

    I LOVE cookbooks and cooking!  I have several favorites:
     Victory Garden Cookbook - because we have a huge garden and love
     veggies year around.  I can always find what I need in there. 
     I will be making a carrot and parsnip puree from that book for
     Thanksgiving.
    
     Bon Apetit's Favorite Restaurant Recipes Cookbook - This one has
     been great especially for muffins and quickbreads and a great
     blueberry whole wheat pancake recipe which I use very often.
    
     Frugal Gourmet Cookbook - lots of uncomplicated but interesting
     recipes.
    
     Martha Stewart's Entertaining, Quick Cook, and Hors d'oeuvre -
     All 3 cookbooks are beautifully illustrated, have wonderful recipes
     and entertainment ideas and make great reading.  I get many 
     suggestions for parties and holidays.  I love them! 
     (By the way, she had a special on PBS last week - enjoyed it!)
    
     Last but not least!  I have a collection of Gourmet Magazines that
     date back to 1968 as well as 10 years worth of Bon Apetit, Food
     and Wine and the now defunct Cuisine Magazine stored in a file
     cabinet in my garage!  Each season or holiday, I make a trip to
     the garage and retrieve all magazines for that timeframe!  I have
     just done so for Thanksgiving and will be drawing most of my menu
     from these magazines.  Contrary to the opinion in 417.12, I feel
     that Gourmet Magazine is not a snob magazine, and although some
     of the recipes are difficult, most are quite simple and foolproof
     as I have been using them for ages!  My cranberry chutney, potato
     with onion, sweet potato and apple gratin, and apple pear crisp
     pie for this Thanksgiving are all from Gourmet and are simple to
     prepare!
    
     I also keep a notebook with recipes I come across that I want at
     my fingertips except now it is 4 notebooks!
    
     I know this was long winded but I guess I just L O V E to cook!  

    - COLORADO CACHE IS A FAVORITE AND HAS BEEN GIVEN SEVERAL TIMES
      TO FRIENDS AS A GIFT.
    
    - BON APPETIT FAVORITE RESTAURANT RECIPES IS TERRIFIC.  I ALSO COLLECT
      THE RSVP RECIPES OF INTEREST IN BON APPETIT'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE.
    
    - PAUL PRUDHOMME'S COOKBOOK ON CAJUN COOKING.  LOVE CREOLE AND CAJUN
      COOKING.  BLACKENED REDFISH IS EASY AND DELICIOUS AT HOME.
                              
    - ANYONE ONE OF MY CURRENT COLLECTION.  I USUALLY PICK UP LOCAL
      COOKBOOKS AS I TRAVEL.
    
    TAMARA

    Re:  .13
    
    Thanks for the chocolate tip. I got Maida Heatter's Palm Beach Brownie
    recipie from the chocolate file, and I think it's great!
    
    Now I know of another Christmas request.
    
    Judy

    I'm going to need a bookcase to put all of my cookbooks in.  Here
    is a list of my favorites.
    
    Joy of Cooking - Great place to start.  Full descriptions on the
    how's and what's of cooking, from ingredients to utensils.  I don't
    use it a lot for recipes anymore, as I've gotten into some topical
    cookbooks that I do most of my cooking from now.
    
    New York Times Cookbook - The cookbook is broken up into recipes
    from the different geographic divisions of the U.S.  A lot of good
    recipes for basic "American" food, from the German influenced cuisine
    of Pennsylvania to the Mexican influenced cuisine of the southwest.
    
    Both of Jeff Smith's "Frugal Gourmet" Cookbooks - My wife and I
    were watching this guy on PBS one day.  The next day she came home
    with the cookbook.  We later picked up his cooking with wine book.
    These are two of the most heavily used books in our kitchen.  They
    are full of kitchen tips, and tasty easy to follow recipes.
    
    "Some Like It Hotter" by Geraldine Duncan - If you like cooking
    with hot peppers, garlic, onion, and ginger, and experimenting with
    dishes from around the world, you will love this cookbook.  Lately
    I have been using a recipe a week out of this book.
    
    If you are into eating healthy I recommend the following 2 cookbooks.
    
    "Eat to Win" by Dr. Robert Haas - Half of this is a cookbook, the
    other half an explanation of his philosophies on health.  I lost
    40 pounds in 4 months without any ill side-effects.  I have also
    been able to keep it off for almost a year now by following the
    suggestions in the book.  The recipes are based on the philosophy
    of increasing the carbohydrate intake, decreasing protein intake,
    and eliminating fats and oils from the diet.  With hints from this
    book I have been able to select recipes from my other books, and
    to modify those which may have a high fat/oil content without losing
    anything from the recipe.
    
    The American Heart Association Cookbook - I picked this one up when
    I ran out of recipes from "Eat to Win".  It makes a very good effort
    to wipe out the myth of healthy diets are boring and tasteless.

    I have one cookbook:
    
    Mary Margaret McBride Encyclopedia of Cooking, it has absolutely
    EVERYTHING in it.  I got it from my grandmother and you know they
    know best.  The cookbook has about 1500 pages to it.  I love it!
    
    Debbi

    One of my favorites that I haven't seen mentioned is "Carla Emery's
    Old Fashioned Recipe Book" - it is an oversized paperback, about
    an inch & a half thick, and much more than recipes.  It's kind of
    a combination journal/how-to book, too.  Seems she and her family
    decided to chuck city life and moved to Idaho to start farming and
    be self sufficient.  But they didn't really know anything about
    it, so she kept track of what they did, what worked and what mistakes
    they made, so she gets into gardening, listing veggies fruits nuts
    herbs berries etc alphabetically, raising livestock and poultry
    & how to keep them healthy, gets into butchering and tanning, etc.
    She includes recipes other people have sent her and includes addresses
    and information on mail order places for seeds and equipment. 
    She is a Christian and sometimes gets more into that than I care
    for in a "cookbook", and the index isn't as complete as it could
    be, but there really is an incredible amount of information in this
    book!  Her recipes aren't gourmet/nouvelle types, but more along
    the lines of how to get the most from your garden/farm.

    

I'll second some of the earlier nominations (Frugal Gourmet, J.O.C., Jane
Brody's, Broccoli Forest, Moosewood), but have to add: 

Beard on Bread (James Beard), "The Breads of France", and "The Athlete's
Kitchen" (by a local (Mass) nutritionist. Her name escapes me -- Nancy...). This
book was given to me by a friend; neither of us would be considered athletes,
but the information (only about half the book is devoted is recipes) in it
changed my attitudes about food... carbo's, protein & fat in that order. Quality
over quantity. 

You don't have to ask ME which cookbooks I use most -- just look for food
stains on 'em.

-scott

    I'm surprised to not find here "The 60-minute Gourmet" by Pierre
    Franey.  I LOVE french food and he Makes it soooooo simple.  I have
    dozens of cookbooks, but I usually end up with a recipe from 60-minute
    gourmet because I can get a complete *meal* on two pages.  He gives
    two recipes to go along with the main entree, and of course it's
    very complimentary to the main dish.  The best part is making a
    fancy, and delicious meal in an hour or less!  He also has "More
    60-minute Gourmet" which is good, not as good as the first book
    (some redundancy), but has desserts as well, which the original
    book does not.  bon appetit!
    

    Because you don't even have to know how to boil water and you can
    make a successful dish from this collection.  They have a recipe
    on just about every (American) and most ethnic dishes with easy
    to follow directions and explanations.  Even tell you how to select
    meat and vegetables, how to carve a chicken, what type of pans/pots
    to use etc...the best core book every cook should have!

    Because the recipes are seasonal, there's a little of everything,
    (Main course, fish, meat, veg, desert, sauce). Recipes are simple
    and always come out perfect, like the picture. And people think
    the results are magnificent. The recipes are also inspiring, so
    you can add your own variation.
    
    Frugal Gourmet: Quick and easy no fuss.
    
    LA Diet: Suprisingly tasty, simple, and very healthy

    I love cookbooks and have quite a few.  The ones I turn to most
    are
     	Joy of Cooking
    	The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook
    	The Vegetarian Epicure (first and Second)
    	
    Dondi
    
    and James Beard is fun to read.    
    

    Cooks Magazine - Has good recipes as well as informative articles
         comparing different cooking products.
    
    My ultimate favorite is any Marcella Hazan cookbook (Classic Italian
    Cooking, More Classic Italian Cooking, and Marcella's Italian Kitchen).
    
    	The recipes are Northern Italian, quick, easy and most importantly,
    	DELICIOUS.
    
    

    For UK cooks, I recommend Delia Smith's complete cookery course.
    (or any other of her books for that matter) She's very practical
    and when she says something serves four it serves four full-grown
    adults, not four voles. (like some cookbooks I can think of)
    
    Reader's Digest Cookery Year is a good reference book to have around
    
    For fancy cooking you can't beat John Tovey.  The Miller Howe cookbook
    is a joy....
    
    Aly

    "The Cake Bible"
    
    why? just look at the cover!

Why is browsing notes conferences always more interesting than the work I came
in on Saturday to get ahead with? 

My favourite cook book is a tatty copy of Soyer's Modern Housewife (with the
illustration of the Soyer stove ripped out) that I got in the Winding Stair
bookshop in Dublin for three pounds. (The Winding Stair is a general second-hand
bookshop, but they often have good cookbooks. They sell good coffee, cakes and
snacks as well.) 

The Modern Housewife is presented like an epistolary novel. The modern housewife
herself is a French woman married to an English merchant whose business has
failed. The book is her "correspondance" with another Frenchwoman living in
England, and is full of useful tips about how she survives in reduced
circumstances, as well as praise for the good advice she gets from her friend M.
Soyer. It's very (very) sub-Jane Austen in some ways.

I've never used it for cooking directly, as it assumes you have an open fire and
possibly a stove, and the times and quantities seem to bear no relation to
modern reality. But it's a hoot to read, and still handy as a general reference
for fish, poultry and the like. The index is accurate, which is quite remarkable
for second edition of a cookbook of any period.

I also like:

		60 Minute Gourmet (I agree More 60 Minute Gourmet isn't so 	
		good) 

		The Good Housekeeping Cookbook--the 1950 edition is still a 	
		really good source of basic information

		Mastering the Art of French Cooking--I'm on my third set of 	
		paperbacks as it always ends up in the stew

		Madhur Jaffrey's Eastern Vegetable Cookery--very complete, and 	
		much better than her sweet lemony chicken efforts. Lots of 	
		breads, dals, pickles and of course vegetable dishes.

		Alan Davidsons's Seafood reference books, which include 	
		biological information and excellent drawings as well as 	
		recipes.

		Henry McGee's On Food and Cooking. Not a cookbook as such, but 	
		the scientific nitty gritty.

I dislike and don't own:

		Anything by Delia Smith. It's like reading the instructions on 	
		the packet.

		Moosewood and Enchanted Broccoli Forest. The name of the sequel 
		is disgusting, and the dish itself even more so. I've got 	
		nothing against the Moosewood Restaurant, which has made a 	
		significant contribution to my 250lbs. But the recipes don't 	
		travel because you do need excellent ingredients, good cooking 	
		skills and the indefinable element of TLC.

    I know this note may be too old to reply to, but I had to give an input
    as the book that I call my favorite is the ultimate Italian cookbook.
    It's called "Regional Italian Cooking" by Ada Boni and you could read
    it for hours. The recipes are catagorized by all the regions of Italy.
    Starting at the top of the penninsula and working down toward Sicilly.
    Each region has it's own chapter that starts out with a history of the
    region and the origins of the cuisine and why it evolved as it did.
    I.E. in the Naples region, the first pizza as we know it was invented
    by a baker in the mid 1800's as a tribute to the then queen of Italy.
    It was made with ingredients that were the color of the Italian flag.
    Red tomatoes, green basil, and white cheese. This was the first
    Neaopolitan pizza. And it goes on and on. For anyone with a passion for
    Italian food, the book is a must. I found my copy in a corner bookstore
    in the city of St. Augestine, Florida (cant recall the name) but it was
    the best $35.00 I ever spent.