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.

Simple by Diana Henry is excellent

Diana Henry is a failsafe food writer. Any of her books.

Also look at this new book by Barney Desmazery from Good Food
https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/320083/barney-desmazery

Barney is the longest standing food writer at Good Food magazine and has just released his first book. His recipes are 100% trusted to work and always be honestly delicious

You want some old recipe books, WI, early Delia, Good Housekeeping etc. Elizabeth David, too.

Interesting recipes, not many ingredients because many of today’s ingredients simply weren’t available, some simple recipes - others a bit more involved.

Have a trawl of your local second hand bookshop.

One: Pot, Pan, Planet by Anna Jones
Delicious food using one pan to cook it, and environmentally friendly choices. The headline dish always mentioned is the baked dahl and sweet potato slices topping which is fantastic. If I make it people always ask how to make it and can they have the recipe.

Interesting how people’s views of the same book differ! I’ve got a list of books to take a closer look at thank you everyone - and still happy to receive more suggestions.

I heard Jeremy Lee being interviewed yesterday and loved him. He’s got a new book out called Kitchening which might be interesting and he did one called Cooking. I also recommend Friday Night Feasts from the Jewish Chronicle

From Diana Henry's published books (all of which are good) I'd suggest Food from Plenty, which deals with the cheap, seasonal and leftover.

Claire Thomson’s (5oclock apron) books would fit the bill perfectly. I’ve never made so many recipes by a single writer!

I've been enjoying cooking New York Times recipes of late. They tend to fit the bill. Maybe one of their cookbooks or a subscription to their website/app?

I would focus on writers with a good track record of teaching/demonstrating cookery with practical ingredients (so not Ottolenghi..).

I agree with the recs for the classic writers such as Diana Henry, Slater, Stein, Hugh FW, old Delias, Rose Elliot, or the Roasting Tin books and Anna Jones from the modern - all writers I've given to intermediate level cooks wanting to be a bit more adventurous and who explain techniques to ease substitutions. I also like Jane Grigson's Veg and Fruit books for the same reason.

I also recommend Delia Smith's website which is a comprehensive cookery school and completely free to use. She used part of her fortune to set it up and it starts from boiling an egg and goes up to complex catering.

Diana Henry is great. I have from the oven to the table, which does have some recipes with a lot of ingredients but they're also great.