What is your most used cookbook?

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

You know, the one covered in flour and olive oil with pages stuck together? It's my birthday in a couple of weeks and I'm going to get my cookbook shelves revamped as a present. My most used at the moment are Jamie at Home and the Be-Ro baking book. I also like Rick Stein and River Cottage, and I use a lot of speciality ones like Curries of India, Taste of the Caribbean and Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons. What do I really need in my library?

As an aside, has anyone bought Jerusalem yet? I've had a flick through and it's a lovely book but not sure how useful it would be day to day.

Thanks :)

Oooooh! Have you got Dan Lepard's "Short & Sweet"? Easily my fav since I was given it for Xmas last year. I love that he explains the why and how of ingredients and cooking methods. Don't think I've made as many recipes in a single book before.

Delia.

Nothing fancy or flash, but a recipe/method for everything

Be-Ro here too. Gok Wan, surprisingly as well.

I have a billion cookery books (well it seems that many) and yet the place I go to most for recipes is The BBC site.

Sorry not much help as you wanted a book

Another vote for 'Short and Sweet' here - brilliant (esp the naan bread recipe). Also use Jamie's 30 Minute book quite a bit though rarely do the whole menu. Have a lot of cookery books but these are the two I'm using most atm.

Nigella lawson kitchen. Also all of nigel slater especially kitchen diaries, just invested in kitchen diaries 2.

Thanks all. Short & Sweet gets great reviews on Amazon so I might add that to the list. I don't have any Nigel Slater because I don't like him on TV but I should probably ignore that and try a book. Nigellas the same - I've got a couple of her books but she irritates me so much it puts me off!

I fancy the Gok Wan but dp doesn't eat any seafood and when he looked at the book he thought there were too many prawns ffs

Delia's Summer and Winter Collections

lots of good, reliable dinner recipes, and some nice cakes for good measure.

In the mood for food by Jo Pratt is great.

A few of my Rose Elliot one's have seen better days it has to be said, with pages falling out of them!

I've just bought Delia's Cookery Collection from a charity shop for £1 a book (three volumes) and they are FAB. Am toying with the idea of cooking my way through everything a la Julie and Julia.

Fab book for everyday family cooking is the BBC Good Food Family Meal Planner. Haven't found a duff recipe in it yet.

At the moment, The Low-Carb Gourmet. Excellent, easy recipes.

I love Be-Ro too, and another baking favourite is the Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Baking book.

Now the weather is getting colder, Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Food to Warm the Soul by Diana Henry will be delved into again. She is great, I want her Food from Plenty: Good Food Made from the Plentiful, the Seasonal and the Leftover with Over 300 Recipes, None of Them Extravagant ; and Cook Simple: Effortless Cooking Every Day.

Nigella Lawson How To Eat - covers every basic thing you'll ever need and because it was written before she was well-known she's far less OTT in tone of voice!

Madhur Jaffrey - very old battered book with singed edges where I left it too close to the gas ring.
Delia original cookery course book.
Nigel Slater - The Kitchen Diaries. Love him. His recipes always give me other ideas.
I have a Nigella Lawson that I've barely used. Can't get on with her at all.

And I have Ottolenghi - not sure that guy likes food!

The silver spoon pasta book is also amazing! If you have a pasta obsesion like me :)

My own cobbled together recipe book. But apart from that, probably Madhur Jaffrey's Illustrated Indian Cookery. I think it's out of print now but her 'Ultimate Curry Bible' has a lot of the same recipes.

Hmmm... yes it is out of print (hence the £151 asking price for 'New' copies on Amazon!!) but there are a lot of used here.

For baking I most often use Good Housekeeping 101 Cakes and Bakes.

£151

My Amazon wish list is getting very long now!

Delia Smith Complete Cookery Course circa 1985. Her Smithness looks about 25 on the front cover - all bobbed hair and a very nasty blouse. It's my culinary comfort blanket for when I forget.... again.... how many minutes per lb the leg of lamb is going to take or how much pastry I need for a double-crust apple pie. Other books have come and gone but Delia's well-thumbed greasy pages lives on.

Economy Gastronomy - saved me a fortune by helping meal plan and shop
Latest ones
Cooking in Spain and Tapas a bite of Spain both by Janet Mendel but only because I am trying to shop locally now we've moved as British food is really expensive here - 3 small bags from local Morrisons plus some coke and dr pepper came to nearly £60

Leith's Cookery Bible has never let me down.
I also use Cook In Boots by Ravinder Bhogal a lot.

Leith's Simple Cookery - its fab!

The Glasgow cookery book. It's the "dough school" cook book and is my Mum's cooking bible. They've now re-printed a centenary edition so I have my own copy.

Full of fool proof recipes, no pretty photographs though.

All the Sarah Raven cookery books
Just Like Mother Used to Make by Tom Norrington-Davies
Leith's Baking Bible

I use Ottolenghi's Plenty about once a week, so I'm reeeeaaally excited about Jerusalem.

And I use Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything - or ideas from therein - on an almost daily basis.