Most used recipe book

[puffinpants]

Thinking about my Christmas list!

What's your most used cookbook? I'm a by of a geek and have counted how many recipes I've made out of my 'favourites'. I'd have said my favourite is Rick stein far eastern odyssey (8) but the count reveals ts actually The third Hairy Dieters book (21) and the Jamie family classics book is doing well at 18 considering that I've had Rick Stein for a few years and Jamie for a couple of months....

So what books do you actually use the most?

You're not alone. I'm even more of a geek and have eatyourbooks- where I save my favourites, and put a note on all tries recipes and collect my data from there.

My most used cookbook is made in India. I've made almost every recipe and never had a fail. Beautiful book.

Followed by sirocco (which I've only had two months but adore) and jewelled kitchen.

Then whole foods slow cooked , another lovely cookbook.

Mine is Dan Lepard Short and Sweet. All the recipes have been good, there's a mix of savoury, bread and then mostly baking. It's really good, I use it as my go to book if I want to make something I haven't made before and need a recipe.

Real food by Nigel Slater- I've got loads of cook books and I think this is the only one that I've made every recipe that's in it.

Good House keeping- I use this like a reference book for basics such as pastry, white sauce etc.

If I could only keep two then these two are the ones but I also like Nigella Express, Jamie at Home and Rick Steins far eastern odyssey. ....

And The Food of Italy....

And The Hairy Bikers Mum Knows Best

This is why I have too many cook books!

Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, Sainsbury's Winter Collection (or Winter something) and one about rice and potato dishes, called something creative like Potatoes and Rice.

Most of the afore mentioned, also the River Cottage series. Great, no fuss dishes that I make a lot.

Oh God Nigel Slater Real Food is epic just to sit and drool over his discussion of his favourite foods too... chicken, ice cream, cheese, potatoes...

River Cottage Veg Every Day gets used a lot here too.

These days, I use Slimming World recipe books and magazines, but the book which is falling to pieces due to frequent use is the original Dairy Book of Home Cookery (70's, I think).
I always look for it if I go into a second hand book shop, as I'd like to pass a copy on to DS, who likes cooking traditional meals.

Nigella Lawson How to eat is my most used book, it has basic stuff in it like how to make pastry and meringue. It's a good book to read as well as use for recipes although there are no photos.
It's quite dated now though, it must be twenty years old.

NannyR If you want dated I love Jane Grigson's Vegetable book, it has a chapter for each vegetable in alphabetical order. I think it was published in the 1970s . I'll find it and check

Yes it was written in 1978 and apart from a few strange comments, it's great.

Mine would have to be - Made in India by Meera Sodha

Close second is - Prashad by Kaushy Patel

Bumping for more ideas

I love Jamie but actually don't use his books all that much.

Nigel Slater Kitchen Diaries Series i have read cover to cover more than once.

Ottolenghi is great for some things.

Hemsley actually do have some good stuff too if you don't do much insufferable bone broth reading.

I just bought One Pound Meals (ie £1 per portion) after someone showed me the recipes on Instagram. Lots of simple food with simple ingredients and I'm enjoying using it to make dinner more interesting.

I love Nigella's Domestic Goddess.

I second Short and Sweet. It was the first baking book I bought, and the spine is cracked and falling apart. It definitely is the most well-worn book in my collection.

I use it mostly for breads, cakes, and biscuits. It's got a ton of stickers in it (I mark everything I've made and would make again) but there are still loads of recipes I haven't gotten around to yet. My favourite bread recipe is the sour cream bread one, and biscuit-wise I love the peanut butter ones and banana & chocolate. The carrot cake is great and I'm considering making the chocolate & almond fudge cake again for Valentine's Day.

The garlic and cheese scones are amazing, probably the most-used recipe in the book.

Another more recent one is the Honey & Co Baking book. Highly recommend the feta scones, Balkan cheese bread, chocolate & pistachio cookies (pretty easy to make but they look and taste so impressive!), and the coconut, dark chocolate & lime cake. The coconut slice with dried cherries, pistachios and dark chocolate has been requested several times by DH for his birthday, Father's Day and other special occasions.

I bought Nigella's Feast around Christmas time to use some of her recipes for Christmas Day - I love reading it but there aren't many I'd make on a daily basis (for obvious reasons, most serve crowds of people but we're just feeding 2 adults and 2 small children). What other Nigella book do people use the most? Every recipe of hers I've tried online has turned out really well but I love using cookbooks!

Ah missed the recommendations for How to Eat and Domestic Goddess above! Will check those out.

Some great suggestions here, thanks!

Like I don't already have enough recipe books!

Nigella Bites
HFW Veg Everyday
Oh She Glows book 1

Nigella Express
HFW Veg Every Day
Simon Hopkinson Roast Chicken & Other Stories

I love diana henry and have a number of her books.

Another vote for anything by Diana Henry, love 'Pickled lemons..' and have probably cooked half the dishes (can't check as all my cookbooks are in storage pending house move) 'Roast figs..' is great too though there is a lot of cheese and cream in the latter, very wintry. Her recipes often have a couple of elements that can then mix and match with ither dishes, very flexible.

I also love Fuchsua Dunlop's 'Sichuan cookery', the dumplings are great with a few homemade wrapper recipes that are a breeze. Can involve a bit of a trek for incredients (pickled mustard greens and fermented bean curd etc). Really well written too, her enthusiasm for the cuisine shines through.

I have cooked a lot from 'The Georgian Feast' by Darra Goldstein (cuisine of the country not the state or historical period). For me Georgian food is a hidden gem, bringing together tastes of persia, turkey and the balkans.

My Madhur Jaffrey is well thumbed and spattered.

Thanks so much for the Eat Your Books tip cookingongas, I have spent much of my first child free weekend for 11 months salivating over cookbooks, adding blogs to my bookshelf etc.

I have very geeky ways with my myriad cookbooks (to make lists inside front cover, flagged pages, notes on recipes etc) so don't think I need full membership but being able to add blogs then looking for recipes across all the blogs and the 5 books I am allowed as a free member is great! As is being able to check for recipe notes for books I own - and those I am thinking about getting. Brilliant stuff.

You're welcome French. I started like you and have now paid for full membership for three years I'm a notorious cookbook geek.

Many of the notes you will find are mine too - I almost never make a recipe without updating my eyb notes

Do you use a different user name cookingongas and if so care to share (by pm if you prefer)? I can recognise a fellow geek and would be interested in your take on recipes. Not had my cookbooks or equipment for almost 2 months (move from UK to France) but looking forward to cooking up a storm when they arrive in 10 days time!!!

I've not made much from Hairy Dieters though love the spicy yoghurt chicken, that is in regular rotation. Care to recommend any hits from the 21 you have tried puffinpants?

To answer the original question, for baking I have a National Trust Teatime Baking book that has been great, must have cooked 10-15 of the recipes, no duds and there is a coconut chocolate slice that had garnered lots of complements over the years.

Have name changed - I'm the OP

A lot of my staples are Hairy Dieters - so their Chicken Bhuna, chicken jalfrezi, spag Bol, chilli con carne are my go to recipes for classics.

From the green one I also really rate the puttanesca (store cupboard recipe and quick) and the chicken stir fry. The beef and coconut curry was lovely.

Pasta with summer veg and ham is lovely and the Broad bean pilaf

Chicken chassuer was well received. I wouldn't make the fusion tandoori chicken again

Caribbean chicken curry - I used the curry powder mix from their 'Chicken and Egg' book but prepared it like in the diet book (so no skin etc) and substituted sweet potato for pumpkin as you can only buy pumpkin in October

Swedish meatballs were very nice - I'd make more gravy if I were to make again

They turkey chilli from that book was unenthusiasticly received so j wouldn't make again

Transylvanian meatballs went down well - it's just another way with meatballs though

The lemon chicken is my favourite from the green book - the velveting technique makes a real difference