What's your most useful recipe book?

[ScrambledSmegs]

Not the fanciest one, not the love-it-now and making every recipe in it but the old faithful. It's not fashionable but it's the most useful one you own. The one you return to time and again and is probably covered in splotches from the very recipes inside it. Be honest!

Mine is an old Nigel Slater, Real Food. I'm genuinely surprised it's that one because I'm not a big fan of Nigel and don't like his other books, but it's the most well-worn and loved book I have. His not-at-all authentic Tom Yum soup is what we all crave when we're ill! I suppose the big appeal is most of these recipes are easy, tasty and most of the family love them. And all standard ingredients!

I love the Good Housekeeping on and also Jamie Ministry of Food

Nigella’s “How to be a domestic goddess”. Clearly I like pudding and cake.

Yes my Nigella is really well used too - Nigel just edges it though!

Leiths Simple Cookery. Has so many recipes in it that I could pretty much do away with all my other books!

BBC Good Food Family Meals

Delia's cookery course.

Nigella Express. I'm crap at cooking but there's things in that that can make me look like I've got half a clue.

Mary Berry's AGA cookbook. I was given it when I first got married and still use it.

Isa Does It by Isa Moskowitz. Vegan cookery book with lots of easy AND soya free recipes which is brilliant. It's so splotched and spine-bent that it naturally opens at either the lentil and mushroom burgers, the creamy casserole and dumplings page or the chocolate cake page .

Nigella's How To Eat, hands down. Infact I would say it is one of my favourite books of all time, let alone cookery books.

Yan-Kit’s Classic Chinese Cookbook - first cookbook I bought, heavily used and still regularly pressed into service. I came from a household where the microwave reigned supreme and I basically learnt how to cook from this book.

Nigella How to Eat and Nigel Appetite. Couldn't really chose between them they are my absolute favourites.

Runner up is the Darina Allen forgotten skills of cooking. Irish traditional recipes which remind me of my mum and granny and aunties but with a quality and timelessness as well as lots of skills. My beef gravy improved no end once I used her recipe.

Ministry of Food by Jamie Oliver.

I have made almost every meal from that book and all of them have been delicious.

Dairy book of home cookery

ministry of food Jamie Oliver great for beginners

Agree, Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food. I like the way it has a decent selection of all the basics you might want to cook for a family, easy and not too fancy. Plus full pictures and step by step photos.

The Dairy Cookbook is great too.
I'm not a very adventurous cook!

Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cookery. Sometimes the recipes seem a little underspiced but it is so well used, falls open a some much cooked recipes, sauce splattered and all. I have other Indian Cookery books, but she is my go to

The Great British Book of Baking. It was the companion to the first series of GBBO. It contains a lot of basic baking recipes. My favourites are the scones and the carrot cake.

Delia

Mine is Delia Smith's Complete Cookery Course. My copy is over 30 years old and consulted regularly.

Nothing by Delia ever goes wrong.

Mine is a Canadian classic, the Five Roses Flour Cookbook. Touted as a great gift for new brides, ha ha. Mine is from the 70s.

If I need a basic technique or sauce, I go straight there.

I have many, I was given ‘what mummy makes’ for Christmas when my little boy was 6 months only and found it a game changer for being able to cook for us all in the first months of weaning.

Don’t use it much now as he eats what we eat, but excellent when you’re worried about what your PFB should/shouldn’t eat 😂

Google

River Cottage Every Day. Hugh Fernley Whittingstall.