Please give me your recommendations for a really good beginners cookbook

[Happyasahedgehog]

I struggle with cooking. I've just followed a recipe for a quiche, I have 1/3rd of the "custard" left over because it would not all fit in the pastry case, I have no idea how much pastry I need for a 23cm flan dish, so guessed and made too much so ended up making jam tarts as well.
I forgot that pastry shrinks, so cut the pastry rounds out too small, so the jam tarts are now miniature, and the jam bubbled over.
I need an idiots guide, that tells me things other recipes books presume that I know. Like how much flour do I need to make enough pastry to line a xxcm flan dish!

Yet again, Saint Delia has the answer:

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/books/delias-happy-christmas/traditional-english-trifle

I've made this countless times. It's foolproof and delicious.

Another vote for St Delia. And I like Diana Henry too, but she's not as clear on explaining techniques.

I use the BBC Good Food app on my tablet www.bbcgoodfood.com

There are guides on there and some simple recipes with user ratings and comments

I like the nosh books. Especially the busy mums and dads book. It uses a mug as measurements.

Delia was my starting point at home but she's very 70s imo. Her best book is her Book of Cakes which is hard to find but at that point she kept telling you to put wholewheat flour into the most bizarre stuff.

I usually prefer a comprehensive Mary Berry as she's been updated better by her vast entourage and she doesn't go ON and ON like Delia does. I also have a tattered copy of The Times Cookery Book by Katie Stewart which despite being pretty old is more classic than Delia. Everything in it works really well.

Tbh your cooking sounds perfectly fine.

@ScottChegg

Also, sorry that you lost your mum OP.

Thank you ScottChegg (great name!) Losing my Mum is what has galvanised me in to learning to cook properly, largely because I miss her cooking and I also want to be able to teach my children to cook too.

Delia has consistently updated her recipes and books. She introduced pesto to the masses in the late 80s/early 90s amongst other things.

I don't think jelly has any place in a trifle but that's a separate (and recurrent) thread. Put your custard into a bowl to cool and put clingfilm onto the surface of the custard then up and over the sides of the bowl. There'll be no skin on the custard and no need to keep remembering to stir it as it cools.

Quick update, I found Delia's How to cook book set, Vols 1, 2 and 3 in a charity shop, bargain price £7.50 for all three, they look like a very good starting point. Thank you for all the recommendations.

@Happyasahedgehog

Quick update, I found Delia's How to cook book set, Vols 1, 2 and 3 in a charity shop, bargain price £7.50 for all three, they look like a very good starting point. Thank you for all the recommendations.

Excellent! I’ll have a look at mine and recommend some recipes. I think there’s an excellent potato bread in there.

@Happyasahedgehog

Quick update, I found Delia's How to cook book set, Vols 1, 2 and 3 in a charity shop, bargain price £7.50 for all three, they look like a very good starting point. Thank you for all the recommendations.

Wow - you've been extremely lucky!! Well done and good luck

I have cooked a very tasty Shepherd's pie, a vegetable lasagne and chicken fajitas, so definitely widening my repertoire of family meals.
I came across How to feed your whole family ...by Gill Holcombe in the Oxfam bookshop (my happy hunting ground) and love it, really good family recipes. I may even try pastry again.
Thank you once again for all your recommendations and advice.

@StrictlyAFemaleFemale

I like the nosh books. Especially the busy mums and dads book. It uses a mug as measurements.

I like the sound of measuring using a mug, I suppose a cup would be the same. I will take a trip to the library and take a look for Nosh books.

@ScottChegg

You let the jelly set before you do the custard, and let the custard cool before you put it on. You have to keep stirring the custard so it doesn't get a skin.

As for how much, well it sort of depends on the size of the bowl you're making it in. However, there's not much that can go wrong with a trifle! Just experiment. If there's too much/not enough jelly or whatever the first time, then change it the next time but I'm pretty sure nobody is going to complain that the trifle is wrong. It'll still be a delicious trifle.

Maybe start with one jelly and about a pint of custard?

Don't put pineapple in it though. It stops the jelly setting.

I'm going to make a traditional trifle for Sunday, including jelly, sacrilege to many I know! Swill roll, fruit juice from tinned fruit (my husband is tee-total) tinned fruit in jelly and custard.

Delia is good, bbc 'good food' as well, but you can't go wrong with a 'student' cookery book!!! They really break it down and make it easy.
I often use ours, especially for cakes 😊

A tip to get jelly to set quickly, put jelly cubes in measuring jug, add about 6 tbsp of water, dissolve in microwave, approx 1 min. Add ice cubes and water to make it up to 1 pint. It will now be quite cool and set quickly. Sometimes I use frozen fruit to the trifle. Since this does add juice when defrosted, I usually make the jelly up to less than a pint to compensate. When poured over the sponge and frozen fruit, it sets quickly.

To get the hot custard to cool quickly, stir in the saucepan in a sink with cold water. Prevents skin forming and you can then just pour it over the jelly and sponge base when cool enough.

I would second all the Delia suggestions and Good Housekeeping books. Good to get you into the basics before being confident enough to try other recipes and experiment more. Glad you have found some Delia.

Ex Home Ec teacher here! Those are still my go to books. The recipes are well tried and tested. Get those under your belt and you will be fine.

Incidentally, home made shortcrust pastry is so much easier to handle than shop bought and tastes much nicer. Use plain flour and half that amount of fat. I use butter and lard, straight from the fridge or block margarine if doing vegan pastry. Often nowadays instead of rubbing in the fat, I finely grate it, dipping the fat in the flour to stop it sticking. Then just gently separate the lumps before adding the water, usually 1 tablespoon of water for every 50g of flour is enough, or a little more. Mix firmly with a fork, then test by pinching with your fingers and it should stick together. Gently shape into a flattened small circle with no cracks. Chill in fridge for 30 mins wrapped in cling film. It helps stop shrinkage. Careful when you roll it out, not too much flour which will dry it out. If lining a quiche dish, do as your mum did and bake blind with paper and baking beans, prick the bottom first. A good idea to chill pastry case again before baking. Place on a metal baking tray. Bake at 190 fan oven until pastry just starting to brown. Remove paper and beans a little before to allow base to slightly brown. The eggy filling is then cooked slightly lower at 160 fan oven.

@gingergiraffe

A tip to get jelly to set quickly, put jelly cubes in measuring jug, add about 6 tbsp of water, dissolve in microwave, approx 1 min. Add ice cubes and water to make it up to 1 pint. It will now be quite cool and set quickly. Sometimes I use frozen fruit to the trifle. Since this does add juice when defrosted, I usually make the jelly up to less than a pint to compensate. When poured over the sponge and frozen fruit, it sets quickly.

To get the hot custard to cool quickly, stir in the saucepan in a sink with cold water. Prevents skin forming and you can then just pour it over the jelly and sponge base when cool enough.

I would second all the Delia suggestions and Good Housekeeping books. Good to get you into the basics before being confident enough to try other recipes and experiment more. Glad you have found some Delia.

Ex Home Ec teacher here! Those are still my go to books. The recipes are well tried and tested. Get those under your belt and you will be fine.

Incidentally, home made shortcrust pastry is so much easier to handle than shop bought and tastes much nicer. Use plain flour and half that amount of fat. I use butter and lard, straight from the fridge or block margarine if doing vegan pastry. Often nowadays instead of rubbing in the fat, I finely grate it, dipping the fat in the flour to stop it sticking. Then just gently separate the lumps before adding the water, usually 1 tablespoon of water for every 50g of flour is enough, or a little more. Mix firmly with a fork, then test by pinching with your fingers and it should stick together. Gently shape into a flattened small circle with no cracks. Chill in fridge for 30 mins wrapped in cling film. It helps stop shrinkage. Careful when you roll it out, not too much flour which will dry it out. If lining a quiche dish, do as your mum did and bake blind with paper and baking beans, prick the bottom first. A good idea to chill pastry case again before baking. Place on a metal baking tray. Bake at 190 fan oven until pastry just starting to brown. Remove paper and beans a little before to allow base to slightly brown. The eggy filling is then cooked slightly lower at 160 fan oven.

Thank you, very useful tips, just the sort of thing I need. I managed to make a "retro" trifle, a practice run for Christmas. Swiss roll base, tin of strawberries (no Sherry as husband tee total) strawberry jelly on top, then found a recipe for making jelly with evaporated milk, which is what my late Mum used to do. Turned out fine! I'm definitely feeling more confident in my cooking abilities.

I read the Delia Smith Complete Cookery Course book like a novel! You learn everything. It still sits in my kitchen now, 23 years later.

But I also Google food stuff a lot. I just searched "how much pastry for 8 inch tin" and found loads of resources, including this super useful pastry calculator:

www.thespruceeats.com/try-this-pastry-calculator-435330

Great thread, glad you got your books op.