Recommend me a cookery book!!!!

[paperlantern]

I would like to expand what I can cook. Interested in meals on a budget and quick and easy meals to prepare. Fascinated by Jamie Olivers "I can feed a family of four for a week for £50 with decent quality meat" claim.... But bigger Gordon ramsey fan

Am a rubbish cook but even I can knock up something decent from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food. I also like Nigel Slater's Appetite. I bought Eat as well, but not got around to cooking anything from it yet...

Have a nosey around in your library. If I need inspiration I tend to borrow a book or two. DS found the Innocent cookbook there recently and we loved all of the recipes we tried.

I got Fay Ripley's family food from the library - I liked her sensible approach to things.

Hhmm, I am a huge Nigel Slater fan and his kitchen diary is my desert island cookbook, I have made most of the recipes in it and only had one fail. But it's not exactly a proper cookbook and certainly isn't saving anyone any money or time, despite wonderful recipes and writing.

IMO whilst she's unbearable on telly, nigella how to eat is one of the best all round cookbooks- there are loads of recipes and it's sectioned into slow, fast, batch, children etc.

But, as I'm not a fan of Ramsey, in fact he's my least favourite cheffy person (though this is based on the one book I have- Gorden makes it easy), perhaps my suggestions are rather unuseful in context

I quite like tana Ramsey I use her and nigella a lot.

I'm really enjoying Lucy's food by Lucy Cufflin at the moment. Lots of quick and easy recipes, with ideas to prepare ahead and hardly any ingredients that I can't buy at tesco.
Made tartiflette from it the other night and it was divine.

I really like Gordon Ramsey's home cookery course. Its always on offer on amazon and everything both dh and I have cooked from it has been a success. Not too keen on his latest one to go with the TV series though.

Joanna Weinberg's Cooking for Real Life...

river cottage family cookbook.
more inspration than proper recipes, with lots of easy and more complicated traditional meals.

River cottage everyday is great as is veg!

Jerusalem by Ottelenghi and Every Grain of Rice by Fuschia Dunlop have been the big hits of the Cookery Book Club. Threads in food/recipes from June/July onwards.

Same as JJJ - the Innocent cookbook is great. I got it out the library intending to copy out a few recipes but think I'm going to have to buy it as there are about 50 that I like the sound of!

You can get them on amazon but Rachel Ray is good. She's big in America. She has a range of cookbooks that take 30/15 min. I like her cause she does meals not just a protein. She sticks to reasonable ingredients most if the time and the recipes are tasty and reasonably healthy (some more than others).

I love 'how to cook the perfect...' By Marcus Waering. Lots of classic dishes to extend your repertoire! Lots of the recipes do call for proper stock or similar, but I've substituted with ready made and been really impressed with the results.

Here is my pinterest cooking board.

Take your pick!

I tend to use a lot of American cookbooks and all you need is a set of cup measures and there are plenty of online 'translation' guides that explain the different names of items.

Sue Lawrence writes some of the best crafted and most reliable baking recipes. Nigella's 'How To Eat/Domestic Goddess/Feast/Kitchen are all wonderful.I have all of the Nigel Slater books and rate him very highly as I do Simon Hopkinson. His book 'Roast Chicken & Other Stories' has been consistently voted for and described as one of the (and sometimes THE) best around.

I wouldn't buy or use a JO book nor would I for GR but I know they are very popular.

If you fancy a go at an American book, then Rebecca Rather's 'The Pastry Queen' is amazing. Gorgeous flavours and colours with a Texan bent. Being a trained chef patissiere means her recipes are correctly calibrated and underpinned by technique. You however do not need to have the same technique . I also love Juniors cookbook (from the Brooklyn restaurant), 'The Glory Of Southern Cooking' by James Villas and Anna Del Conte for flawless Italian recipes, not bastardised ones. If you fancy trying Moroccan and want something definitive then Paula Wolfert's 'The Cooking of Morocco' is it.

Another lovely book is Elisabeth Luards 'A Year in a Welsh Farmhouse' and her 'European Peasant Cooking'. She has also written a lovely little Spanish cookbook. I love her.

And for great budget cooking Try 'A Girl Called Jack' by Jack Monroe due out soon. And her budget book isn't going to be priced at £25 like some I could mention .

Nigel Slater is my god, Eat, his latest, is brilliant.

I really love Hugh Fearnely Whittingstall's Everyday Food, Never liked the sound of HFW or had seen him on telly, but then in-laws gave me this book and it's brilliant - very approachable and easy recipes.

In the Mood for Food by Jo Pratt is also superb, easy and delicious.

Oh yes and Ministry of Food by Jamie Oliver is also superb, as is his 30 Minute book, though take 30 minute claim with big pinch of salt.

Wanted to second the Fay Ripley one, it's brilliant and really straightforward to use - most recipes only need a few ingredients too, nothing expensive or fancy. The second book isn't as good but still better than most.

I got a massive stack of Sainsbury's cookery books from me for Christmas; all £5 or less and they are fab, really varied and comprehensive without needing loads of ingredients. Really amazing for the money!

awesome! can't believe the number of replies!

I took a look at some of the earlier ones but need stuff that isn't going to be too far beyond dd's comfort range, think the fay Ripley one might scare her off a bit.

Really looking for simple basic cooking might look at HFW as using veg a bit more would be good.

going to amazon the others

on the american side am actually a bit of a pampered chef fan, so as happy working in cups as imperial/metric.

but I have a reflux/heartburn friendly (ds has sn) cook book that is...well.... odd. The addition of sugar or maple syrup to savoury dishes is really off putting and very American

Then hfw river cottage family is a very good choice along with veg, it is aimed at family cooking and involving children in cooking. It's a very nice book.

I have never spent as much money on food as I did when I tried the Save With Jamie recipes.

Quite like the 45 minute meals one though

Rachel Allen's Easy Meals is excellent, and Nigella's Feast.

I tried the Hairy Dieters recipe books for health reasons, but the meals are actually very tasty and easy to prepare – even the DSs like them. No weird ingredients either and the fact they are also low cal is a bonus.

Also like ‘Slow Cooking’ by Katie Bishop for some different recipes on the days when we need something ready as soon as we get in.

I second the Ministry of Food by JO and Nigella suggestions above.

Mignonette, I could spend a fortune on books on your Pinterest.
I desperately want the Momofoku one.