Favorite Cookbooks

The world is making my brain hurt today. Between Republicans blaming Democrats for a Republican aide outing a Republican pedophile, The President being pleased with the economy despite the fact that job growth was only a third of what it needed to be in September, news that four times as many Iraqi cops have died in the last 2 years as American soldiers, the continued assault on Constitutionally protected rights and Constitutionally mandated division of governmental powers, and all the other stuff going on, it’s hard to single out one most important thing. So I am going to take a deep breath and talk about something else. And since we all eat food, it is relevant.
I like food. And I like to think I am a decent enough cook. By this I mean that I can generally follow a good recipe, and I can make food that does not involve boxed dinners, packets of seasoning mix, or canned soup. Although I use several internet recipe sources, that only is a useful strategy if you know exactly what you want to cook in the first place. Go ahead, google for “chicken recipes” and find yourself buried under millions of links. The fact of the matter is that there’s nothing like looking through a good cookbook to give you new ideas and help you through “well, I went crazy at the Asian market, now what do I do with this stuff I bought?”

Although I own quite a few cookbooks, there are really only a few that get used often. Please allow me to share them with you.

Such a list would be incomplete if I did not start with the classics: The Joy of Cooking. This is my go-to book for classic recipes (biscuits, quiche, pretty much anything “basic”) and general information about any given foodstuff. All the directions are straightforward, although you will want to read through a recipe in entirety before getting started, as ingredient lists are presented on an as-needed basis. A new edition comes out at the end of the month, so think Christmas present for anybody you know who will be moving out on their own soon (getting married, graduating college, whatever).

How to Cook Everything is a worthy successor to Joy and Betty and their ilk. This book does contain some advanced recipes in addition to some very basic ones. There are many recipes that are vegetarian/vegan, or can easily be made so by omiting optional ingredients, using olive oil instead of butter, etc.. There’s also a basic version.

I so wanted to love Alton Brown’s cookbook. But frankly, the layout sucked. It’s hard to read, let alone cook from. There’s lots of great information on the science behind cooking, but relatively few recipes. Maybe this will be fixed in version 2.0, but I’m not lining up to pre-order it. Alton, sweetheart, it is clear from recent episodes of your show (two episodes on water? Please!) that you are having a hard time with ideas. May I recommend you pick up a copy of either of my first two selections and work your way through the veggies chapter? That will keep in you new episodes for at least a couple years! I mean can’t you think of a half hour worth of things to say about rutabagas?

Well, I just panned one celebrity cookbook, so it’s only fair I rave about a different celebrity cookbook. Ted Allen’s cookbook is well worth buying. Mine came with a plastic book cover that wipes clean from the inevitable things you will get on it. He covers everything from how to have a cocktail party to how to cook things outdoors to what to do if you invite vegans to dinner.

My last favorite must have item is an apparently out-of-print cookbook by the California Culinary Academy entitled “Cooking A to Z.” Beautifully illustrated, encylopedic format to help you easily find what you need, concise information about any ingredient or techinique, and good recipes as a bonus.

If you want to get into cuisines of the world but don’t know where to begin, this last title is a good place to start: The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother. This book is no substitute for books that specialize in one ethnic food at a time, but it will get you started, and show you what shelf of Borders you should be browsing for more information on your favorite cuisine.
In Closing, IgNobel prize winners for 2006 include researchers who published a paper called “Termination of Intractable Hiccups with Digital Rectal Massage”; a disturbing trend, nutcases storming schools (where they do not belong, so measures designed to stop students with guns will have little or no effect) and specifically targeting girls (what’s up with that? Welcome to the Middle East or the Middle Ages?); and an all too true cartoon.