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 have a gazillion cookery books, general, seasonal, for specific countries, meat, fish, cakes, modern, traditional etc etc

The most used are Delia's Complete Cookery Course and Nigella's 'How to Eat'

Diana Henry - Cook Simple and the original Delia

@CuteOrangeElephant agree! Cane on to say the same book. I've actually had to buy a new copy because some of the pages were starting to stick together.

The lemon drizzle is actually the best lemon drizzle recipe I've found. It is also covered in my notes. Or scale up measurements. (I had to transfer them over into the newer copy!)

I also like Paul Hollywoods How to Bake book for the basics of bread making. I actually dislike him, but his book is great. It's taught me and my teenage son how to bake bread.

I can always tell when a cookery book is a keeper, because I scribble notes about the recipes in them. Means I've actually used the book!

Another fantastic one is Rick Steins India.

I LOVE cook books.

Gosh how funny, I literally opened this thread to say Nigel Slater, Real Food! Definitely the one I go back to time and time again, (although no need to open it any more for the Coq au Reisling recipe - that one has been made so many times it's burned into my memory!). Also, for cakes and biscuits, Mary Berry's Baking Bible is excellent.

Mine are Nigella Lawson "how to eat" and "how to be a domestic goddess". How to Eat seems quite dated now but it is so useful for basics and really enjoyable to read. The chocolate brownie recipe page in how to be a domestic goddess has so many chocolate splodges on it now, it's probably more brownie than paper!

Mine is a big old Reader's Digest one called The Cookery Year, also Nigella's Domestic Godess gets used a lot for the cakes!

I loved Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food although it was a christmas present to my ex so I don't have it any more.

This is the one I own that I go back to. I think the author was actually a MNer :o

www.amazon.co.uk/Feed-Whole-Family-Healthy-Balanced/dp/B01K18HH1U/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=how+to+feed+your+whole+family&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1627033828&sr=8-2

Ministry of food

Another one for 'How to Eat'. It's the only marmalade recipe I've ever used and the page it's on is quite disgusting. Nigella's books are great to read, I just enjoy settling down with one sometimes. I guess that's why she's come up quite a lot in this thread. I quite like reading Nigel Slater but he annoys me on TV.

Linda McCartney's family kitchen. Also just seen her new one in Tesco today. Meals looked lovely.

Nigella’s Feast is my most used book, with How to Eat and Nigel’s Appetite close behind.

river house - family cookbook
james morton - brilliant bread

those I use all the time

weirdly, my dc have an unofficial harry potter cookbook, which has great recipies (mostly baking)

In the last couple of years it's been Felicity Cloake's Perfect book, a compilation of her Guardian columns - she roadtests various different versions of classic dishes to come with the 'best' version of cottage pie, chocolate brownies, clafoutis, etc. I don't always agree with what she decides but she shows her workings, so you can counter-tweak if you want to. I've given it to a couple of young post-uni relatives as an easy way of getting them started in the kitchen.

Before that it was How to Eat or Delia. I like my cook books to be either narrative or definitive!

I have a bit of a girl crush on Felicity Cloake, and her Guardian columns. Her ginger cake is epic!

Day to day stuff is Delia. Her Complete Cookery Course was given to me for my 21st (I’m 56!) but I’m a bit of a magpie and collect recipes from all over the place.