Cookery book to fit theee requirements please

[OMGitsnotgood]

I’m considering a recipe book for a reasonably capable home cook, but can’t be overly complicated else they’ll lose patience. .
Not too many ingredients or a steps in the recipe ( but more than the ‘things you can make with 5 ingredients in 5 minutes’ type of thing. )
More interesting than everyday classics such as chilli, lasagne etc
Not Indian, Chinese or Italian.
Ideally a book you would make lots of recipes from, rather than the book taking up space and you’ve only ever used once or twice

I was thinking Ottolenghi Simple but would like to have a look at some others.

I bought hubby a kit from The Spicery recently for his birthday.
It includes a recipe book, spice mixes and a few other bits and comes packaged beautifully. Could be worth a look?

I also bought him How I Cook by Ben Lippett last year, which went down very well. I think that could fit your requirements :)

Ottolenghi has never done anything simple and normally requires incredibly obscure and expensive ingredients. Maybe "River Cottage Veg Everyday" or "From the Oven To The Table". In practice I don't think, other than the basic "Cook With Jamie" type books, there aren't any that you would cook lots from. The two I have with most post-it notes poking out are "The Slow Cook Book" and "The Vegetarian Kitchen" (ed Linda Fraser, as I think there are several books with the same title).

Ottolenghi has just released Simple Too which I’ve really been enjoying. Everything has been really simple from it and really good. I don’t have the original Simple to compare it with. He uses notably more olive oil than in any other of his books, so maybe gift alongside a nice EVOO! Another Ottolenghi book I’ve used a lot is Shelf Love, which has some recipes more everyday and some more involved but really great ones.

All of Rukmini Iyers traybake books. Persiana or Feast by Sabine Ghayour.

Nigel Slater's Real Fast Food or The 30 Minute Cook - he gives interesting recipes and suggestions for tweaking, which would suit both the beginner and the more confident cook.

Just what I was coming on to suggest. The roasting tin books are fab.

What about the roasting tin books? Bought one for my friend who’s a good cook and she’s made a good few things from there

Greekish

The Secret of Cooking by Bee Wilson. Loads of lovely recipes but also lots of thoughtful writing about cooking and eating.

Mob 6? I use this one quite a lot

I downloaded a sample of Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat which was recommended on here. Take a look and see if it fits the bill.

Any of Rick Stein's books. Some are linked to specific cuisines, but some are more general. All tend to be interesting and well written, but not overly complicated.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=rick+stein&i=stripbooks&crid=2J1F73DTDPSHZ&sprefix=rick+stein%2Cstripbooks%2C215&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

I like Cook Simple by Diana Henry

Rick Stein's Simple Suppers. Job done.

I saw an ad the other day for an personalised cookbook - you put in your parameters and dislikes etc and can then approve the recipes it suggests. Not sure how much( i assume more than an off the shelf cookbook but might be what you are looking for?

Thank you - lots to investigate there! They already have the Roasting Tin and Green Roasting Tin but agree they are great books for anyone else looking.

Definitely not Ottolengi Simple. It iscreally anything but simple.

Someone gave us a copy. The recipes required loads of different (and esoteric - for example not just harissa but rose harissa ) ingredients and the outcomes were very unsatisfactory. My DH is an excellent home cook and he applied himself to several of the recipes, but the resulting meals were more like a taster-menu portion than a full meal.

We gave it to charity.

I think it's designed for those with a Waitrose next door which sells the complete range of rose harissa, pomegranate molasses, preserved lemon marinade etc unless of course you wish to order direct from the online store.

Thank you - it’s as useful to know what not to buy as to have suggestions for what to buy, appreciated

Ottolenghi Simple is a great book and is much more straightforward than most of his other books - I've made great use of mine.

Maybe it varies person to person but I don’t find any other those particularly niche or difficult to get. I have pomegranate molasses and preserved lemons in my fridge, and a jar of rose harissa arriving in my online supermarket shop tomorrow.

If you’re curious about Simple Too, I posted on the Weekly New Recipe Thread about the recipes I cooked from it here. Like I said, I haven’t tried the original Simple, but have been impressed by how simple and delicious the recipes from Simple Too have been.

@toastofthetown you may struggle if your local supermarket options are Aldi, Asda or Morrisons in the darkest depths of Cornwall 😀

Super home cook by anthea malialis - tasty food not too complicated but also interesting variety of flavours - I love this book