Recipe book for someone who wants to improve cooking skills? (your favourite titles please)

[Marghe87]

I can cook and I like to cook but I am not great at it... I stick to my basics and rotate those main recipes during the week. I struggle to follow recipes, which is a problem when I want to cook something a bit different of more complex.
However, I'd like to change this and improve my cooking skills in 2023. Can you recommend an easy to follow recipe book (not a how to guide for beginners though) that will make me want to get in the kitchen and cook?
I have my eyes on the Ottolenghi's ones as the type of food and ingredients he uses are very much to my liking but am open to anything really (no Jamie Oliver or Nigella as I have a couple).

Thank you!

Don't think you can go wrong with Ottolenghi. I particularly like Plenty More.

Gordon Ramsay's Ultimate Cookery Course

If you like Asian food then I'd reccomend Ching-Hi Huang. We have Chinese food made easy which has some great recipes, but she has some newer books out too.

A classic - Delia Smith's complete cookery course.

Delia over complicates her recipes. I'd go for the Good Houseeeping Cookery Book. Covers everything, very classic.

Or if you're Scottish The Glasgow Cookery Book. If you know you know.

I have a little paperback called Slow Cooking.

It's great to get you to try out different dishes.

I also think the BBC good food website is great for everyday cooking.

If you like Ottolenghi type food try his book Simple - its a great introduction to his style with a bit less faff than most of his recipes. I'm a confident cook and have all of his books and it still took me over an hour to make his cheese crepes this week!
Another one that I absolutely recommended to anyone is Sabrina Gayhours Persiana Everyday - middle Eastern is style but easy enough for weeknight meals. Its by far my most used book this year.

If you like Asian inspired food Dominiques Kitchen is great.

All of this need a little more than basic skills but produce meals that look far more complex than they are.

I agree, there will be many more on the market since I got mine 30 years ago, but for basics I don’t think you can beat Delia

Delia smiths complete cookery course.

It's a huge book and I love it. I don't use it every day but it has all the basics you can use to yips your own meals as you need.

I learnt to cook, using "The Good Housekeeping Cookery Book"

Delia's How To Cook series

Good Housekeeping (great pictures of steps)

I think Jamie Oliver's books usually turn out as you'd expect, and Nigella's How To Eat also (but some of her other books I find can be hit and miss).

I've just bought Ottolenghi's Simple, and indeed it does look very accessible.

I've also got the Joy of Cooking which is like an encyclopaedia of recipes - my mum had one and she bought me a copy as she said it was so useful if you wanted to try something new (but was still a classic). American though if that's an issue for measurements.

Delia Smith 'How to Cheat at Cooking'.

I have many cookery books incl Delia, Nigella etc., and don't think you can go wrong with Jamie Oliver.

Sorry, didn't see the 'no JO'!

What an amazing coincidence !
I was about to recommend the same 3 books, & for the same reasons.

I'm not a fan of Delia, I've had a few disasters following her recipes.
And there was that fiasco with Waitrose a few years ago when she quite obviously had not tested her recipe.

Work colleague of mine loves the Pinch of Nom books.

DH was given Nigel Slater's Real Food when he was younger and we still love it - NS isn't a chef so his recipes don't have complicated cheffy procedures in them, but they still come out delicious.

@Georgyporky I love all of those books, they're perfect for someone wanting to expand their repertoire. I'm no fan of Delia either, I just don't get inspired at all reading ghee books.

I've loved Meera Sodha's East this year. The recipes are diverse and interesting, recipes are simple and healthy enough to work as midweek meals, not reliant on too many specialty ingredients or equipment, they all seem well tested so work reliably, and the food is delicious. It's a vegetarian cookbooks, but I know meat eaters who also love the book.

I love Diana Henry. She has adventurous recipes but not overly complicated or time consuming. Her books Simple and From Oven to Table are my favourites. Try some of her recipes from the BBC Good Food website to get an idea of her style, these are my favourites from the site which guests have lapped up:

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/spanish-lamb-sherry-honey-peppers

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/gong-bao-chicken

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/arroz-al-horno-baked-rice

Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook, the one with the pink spine.

It's definitely the book I use most, and I find her recipes usually work for me without any alterations.