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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask for your go to Cook books

55 replies

MyKingdomForACaramel · 19/02/2018 19:52

My parents have an old Readers Digest recipe book - from early 90s I think - and was delighted to find it a few years ago on Amazon and use it regularly. I have shelf full of Nigella, Jamie and Co- but this book is just my pure favourite - so aibu to ask - what’s yours?

OP posts:
PossiblyPFB · 19/02/2018 20:39

I love to cook. My absolute favourite that I go to time and again is Tamasin Day-Lewis’s Weekend food. Outstanding cookbook. I adore Nigel Slater’s Tender Vol 1 as well.

Icklepickle101 · 19/02/2018 20:40

It’s a new one but Jamie’s 5 ingredients. Some of the stuff is dead simple (well all of it) but really nice and easy!

borlottibeans · 19/02/2018 20:47

I had to think about this and was surprised to discover it's River Cottage Veg Everyday. I find Hugh F-W irritatingly smug but he is just about at my level of difficulty (I am a terrible cook and can only do so many tasks at once) and the carby, beany recipes tick all my boxes.

As a vegetarian I know I'm supposed to like Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty but it all looks so complicated (again: I am a terrible cook) and also each recipe seems to involve spending about £25 on obscure ingredients I'll never use again. Ditto Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food, which assumes I just happen to have leftover saffron/porcini mushrooms/obscure middle eastern vegetables lying around at the back of a cupboard.

Original poster
MyKingdomForACaramel · 19/02/2018 20:56

Haha I love Nigel Slaters books - but agree with you @borlottibeans - how views on what one may have left laying around in the fridge don’t quite square with mine seriously damsons in one book

OP posts:
Littlebearcat · 19/02/2018 20:58

borlotti- For really good veggie/vegan try the cookbooks by The Happy Pear. The have lots of YouTube videos as well. More simple than Plenty and I have yet to try a recipe that did not turn out perfectly.

nonevernotever · 19/02/2018 21:21

Katie stewart's winnie the pooh cookbook from the early 70s stands head and shoulders above the rest for me. I have a very bad habit of just making one or two recipes from each cookbook, but there's about ten in there I still make and love.

SeamstressfromTreacleMineRoad · 19/02/2018 21:24

Delia's Complete Cookery. Has all the basics in easy form - that never fail - and you can add/fiddle about with them as you gain confidence.

NiteFlights · 19/02/2018 21:34

Not a recipe book as such, but I love love love the Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit. It's a wonderful reference guide and source of inspiration, and nice just to read, too.

5foot5 · 19/02/2018 21:41

Well obviously The Complete Cookery by St Delia of Norwich.

I also have Margaret Patten's Everyday Cookery which I bought as a student in the early 80's and still dip in to on a regular basis.

I have many others but some I maybe only ever make one or two things from.

Hohofortherobbers · 19/02/2018 21:41

Delias complete cookery course. It has EVERYTHING in it and I refer it to it all the time.

BuggerOffAndGoodDayToYou · 19/02/2018 21:58

Readers Digest Cookery Year and Delia Smiths complete Cookery Course are my go to books but I also love Mary Berry’s books.

Arthur2shedsJackson · 19/02/2018 22:07

Felicity Cloake’s ‘Perfect’ and ‘Perfect Two’. A collection of her columns from the Guardian in which she consults all the experts on classic recipes, road-tests their ideas and comes up with the perfect result. Absolutely brilliant! And no failures for me yet. A perfect concept.

MrsMaxwell · 19/02/2018 22:10

Edmonds - is a New Zealand cookbook and is the only decent thing my ex Kiwi MIL gave me 😂

MrsMaxwell · 19/02/2018 22:10

And anything by Mary Berry Grin

splendide · 19/02/2018 22:11

Oh yes I love felicity ‘s perfect. I should buy her book really I always just refer to the columns

Original poster
MyKingdomForACaramel · 19/02/2018 22:13

Ado you know I have no “Delias” in my collection Blush! I must add forthwith

OP posts:
40andfeelingit · 19/02/2018 22:14

Gino Pronto. Honestly. My husband bought it from the bookman at work for a fiver and has at least 4 recipes we make regularly, ie fortnightly. Pulled off the shelf much more often than any Nigella or Nigel with the added bonus each dish takes 30 mins max. Can’t bear to watch him on the tele though . . .

Hippadippadation · 19/02/2018 22:18

Mary Berry all the way. Her recipes are foolproof. Even cakes & puddings etc. I always thought I couldn't bake, but hers come out perfect every time and they're not too sweet.

Doobigetta · 19/02/2018 22:21

Nigella Lawson "How to Eat" and Nigel Slater "Real Food".

CampariSpritz · 19/02/2018 22:24

Agreed with Arthur re Felicity Cloake’s Perfect. We also dip into Mary Berry for Sunday lunch. If I’m hunting around for something though, I find the Good Food website always comes up trumps: best potatoes dauphinoises recipe ever. Waiting impatiently for my ordered copy of Mimi Thorissen’s French cooking book... twas serialised in The Sunday Times a while back and looks full of French yumminess: tarte tatin & such like. Great thread: just been reading all the ‘full time Mum’ versus ‘working Mum’ bunfights on AIBU and this is so much nicer.

MotherofPearl · 19/02/2018 22:27

Another vote for Jamie's 5 ingredients one.
My favourite Nigel Slater is the original 'Kitchen Diaries'. I've made and enjoyed so many of the recipes, and the book itself is a pleasure to read.

user365241987 · 19/02/2018 22:27

Google is mine usually. I just put in my main ingredient and see what comes up on BBC Good Food.

EnglishGirlApproximately · 19/02/2018 22:31

Another vote for Bero. I also use Jamie at home lots, even if I don’t follow the exact recipe many of our meals are inspired by it. I’m a big fan of the Smitten Kitchen blog and book and get loads of use from my Delicious magazine subscription.

Twang · 19/02/2018 22:33

Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes is amazing

MissEliza · 19/02/2018 22:34

I thought I could cook then my df bought me the Delia 'How to Cook' books! I hope they're still in print for when my dcs leave home! Jamie Oliver is a tosser but his Ministry of Food book is great for basic everyday staple recipes. I probably use the various Hairy Dieter books the most on a daily basis.