a cooking from scratch book - recommendations pls.

[jellyjelly]

I need to start cooking from scratch. Can anyone reccomend a realy good one that encourages this.

i ahve all the usual delia, nigella and jamie book. Not so much 'nice/part/gathering' meals but everyday family food(very small), not complicated just easy.

Thanks.

I just bought Fay Ripley's book "Fay's Family Food". It seems ok, interesting ideas and nothing elaborate to prepare (and was on offer with Amazon the week before last!)

I'd have a look on www.bbcgoodfood.co.uk for ideas - they've got lots of basics to start you off on.

Have you got Jamie's ministry of food? He does everyday simple dinners, all from scratch and he doesn't list a whole load of ingredients. He also takes you through how to make everything.

Completely changed how I cook. I now make everything from scratch.

It looks to me like you have got enough books there! I think most modern cookery books are about dinner parties and "food porn", and I am not sure you will get the confidence to cook from any others if the ones you have have not inspired you.

IMHO:

1)First, have a look at the recipes on mumsnet - those are "real-life" ideas, and you can always ask questions to the posters if you need to.

2)Get a copy of Good Food Magazine - you will find a decent number of easy recipes, and in each issue they have sections where they teach specific skills with pictures (e.g. making pastry, making a stir fry...). I am a confident cook but I have learnt loads from them, and so far everything I have tried has worked (unlike some of the Jamies etc).

3)Ask loads of questions in the food section. Most of the time you will get help!

Finally, some confidence is all you need. Very few foods are actually "difficult" to cook - it is mostly trial and error. There was a time when I could hardly boil an egg, I have a few disasters under my belt, but now I will attempt anything (cake decorating is my current new fad!).

Another vote for Jamies Ministry of Food, I love it and we now have a huge selection of meals to choose from every week that we all enjoy rather than the same 5 dinners that we always used to eat.

The Dinner Lady by Jeanette Orrey is fab for traditional family recipes.