What is your go to cook book?

[lily1062]

I'm looking for a go to cookbook, so can you all tell me what your go to cookbooks are? Ideally a family one! Thanks

Persiana and Feast as love Middle Eastern food. Beautiful covers too! A mixture of Jamie, Nigella, Nigel Slater for the rest. Joe Wicks Lean cookbook for trying to be healthy. Miguel Barclay - meals for £1.00 ( can’t remember exact title.

I left home unable to boil an egg. Mu mother is the worst cook ever.

I was given a copy of the Readers's Digest Cooker Year and it was a huge education. THis was before the internet.
I learned how to joint a chicken, take meat out of a crab, prepare mussels, learn about spices, vegetables.
Brilliant book.

.

All of Delia's books.

Simple by Diana Henry. Anything at all by Diana Henry, actually.

Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. I have been using it for more than 25 years (falling apart now). I like all of her stuff though.

I looked up a recipe in Marcella Hazen's classic italian cookbook (which I used a lot when starting out) recently and was amused all over again by her attitude "you can try substituting other blue cheeses but you will never achieve ..." "lasagne is never, but simply never, made with anything but home-made pasta dough"

Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook.
I also use DK Childrens Cookbook too!!

Delia obviously and lots from BBC Good Food. Dh gets me a subscription to the magazine every year for Christmas so I get a lot from those.

Rachel Allen Everyday Kitchen. There's a recipe for a chorizo pasta sauce that I've been making for years, it freezes really well and everyone here loves it.

Perfect by Felicity Cloake. The Minestrone is to die for! I wish I could get a hold of Perfect too but it's sold out everywhere and going for silly prices even secondhand!

For baking it's The Great British Book of Baking.

I have lots of recipe books and though I have a go to baking book (thanks Mary Berry) I don’t have a go to for cooking. If I was just going to buy one new one from the ones recommended several times here, what should I go for- I suppose between Pinch of Nom, Roasting tray and Nosh for busy mums and dads (as these to be the ones that are mentioned most I think)
If it helps at all there’s me and dd, very busy lifestyle (after school activities) etc and want to eat healthy fresh food wherever possible, both eat meat and fish and dd not fussy.

Thank you so much for all your suggestions!

Delia’s Complete Cookery Course here covers all the basics really well.

Nigella for baking, Domestic Godess and Feast

Nigel Slater for sheer food porn, and Nick Nairn’s new Scottish classics for the best chocolate cake known to man.

How easy and quick did you find the ‘Nom’ books lily1062. Thanks for starting this- has made me aware of some books I didn’t know about at all.

@DramaAlpaca - we must be a similar age, as I got a copy of Delias Complete Cookery Course as a 21st present too! (33 years ago...)

She covers all the basics. Crumbles, scones, roasting times, poached pears.

I also cooked her Spanish Pork recipe prior to giving birth. I cooked so much, we ate it daily for weeks...

Delia
Hairy Bikers

Delia
Nigella more for baking
Claire MacDonald

I'm obsessed with pinch of nom books and online so many good recipes and I've got an instant pot recently so trying to convert the recipes. Tom Kerrigan book is worth it for the lamb kebab recipe alone! www.amazon.co.uk/Lose-Weight-Good-Full-flavour-low-calorie/dp/1472949293/ref=nodl_

For Asian cooking I've been watching Marian's kitchen on you tube she's makes it so easy to cook Asian foods that I'm getting more confident with cooking from scratch

I still use my battered old Delia, but I'm moving house at the minute and seriously considering having a serious recipe book cull. I have a Thermomix now and use guided cooking for most things as it just makes cooking so easy. So all my old books are seldom used. I'll probably keep some for nostalgia although the ones I like to read are seldom the ones I cook out of.

Delia
Good Housekeeping
BBC Food
Jamie
Waitrose Food magazine for some more up to date and novel ideas
Paleo For Beginners if I’m low carbing
I have got a couple of Nigela’s books but cant follow them.

I have a Marks and Spencer 'All colour cookery book' circa 1980 and a Reader's digest guide to cooking. The latter doesn't have many recipes but does teach cooking techniques.

I did have Delia's 'One is fun' but I gave it to a student who had just left care, was in her own place and said she couldn't cook.

The Dairy Book Of Home Cookery by Sonia Allison 1968 edition.

My mum had this and it's so useful; it has everything from the basics to sauces, cakes and dinners, & everything inbetween. My mum still uses her copy, but I was lucky to find one online.

Also, 2 others I like are called: 'Just like Mother Used To Make' by Tom Norington-Davies. It has some fab recipes in and the other is: 'The National Trust's Complete Traditional Recipe Book' by Sarah Edington.

Sue Lawrence’s books, especially for baking.
I also enjoyed one of her novels!
Harumi is good for Japanese cooking.

Jamie Oliver dinners is good but to be honest, I have 100 + but mostly cook from memory or make stuff up

Nigella - if I had to pick one, Feast. I use Domestic Goddess, How to Eat and Express regularly too.

The Hairy Dieters Green book. I think it's their third one. I had to buy a second copy as the first got too splattered. Don't be put off by the diet in the title, they are just simple recipes that taste fabulous.