Which recipe book could you not live without?

[TheWorstWitch]

And why?
Looking for christmas present inspiration.
TIA

Has anyone got any views on Gordon Ramsey's books. I don't own one but I liked the look of some of the recipes which were in the Observer Food supplement yesterday. I've got a feeling that his meals might be quite tricky - I'm not an experienced cook and I have a 9 month old so don't have a lot of time. Would you recommend any of his books?

I like Delia - she always works.

Jamies Ministry of food - because it has so many recipies that I can cook everyday real family meals rather than dinner party/special occasion food.

Leiths Cookery Bible is fantastic and tells you where you went wrong if whatever you are cooking goes pear shaped.

Gordons Sunday Lunch book is pretty good and actually quite straight forward to follow - would recommend.

Also have loads of other books too;

Al of Nigellas - and do quite a bit from all of them (even have a Limited edition signed copy of Express - does that take the ?
Use most of them quite regulary - but a few in DG have pencil scriblings, often find too much toppings say for cakes, also check her website as there are some published erors (flapjack is wrong amount of syrup).

Quite a few Gary Rhodes too - but these are generally more involved but get good results if you follow through with care.

RiverCafe - got these, read them but not actually make that many - not sure why.

Jamie - generally good range, although a few recipes seem to appear in similar guises in later books (as does Nigella). Good day to day stuff but not that much special.

Delia - yep you can't beat a bit of Delia for precision can't go wrong stuff!

Moro - these are great books (3) and something a bit different for Morrocan / Spanish type stuff.

Curry books - have a few too - Madhur and a few others.

HFW - Riverside Cottage - done a few there too.

Looking at an old 1969 copy of Dairy Cook yesterday when thinking about buying a real tongue to cook up - opions divided amongst the DS' on the subject!

A few other odds and sods too when I see them cheap usually.

If I had to pick one.......no sorry can't decide but go ahead and flick through a few and why limited yourself to just one! Some are more gastro porn than others.

The Edmonds Cookbook because as a Kiwi it is embedded in my national psyche, and is the best basic cookery book I have ever come across. It's no frills, has very few pictures, assumes a basic knowledge of cooking techniques, and is tried and tested.

Every Kiwi home has one.

leiths cookery bible was given to me on my engagement by my future MIL.....great for those who dont know a cows arse from a pigs elbow. here

Delias summer and winter colection have nice safe recipies...nothing to outragous and complicated

Rose bakery: Breakfast Lunch and Tea.....just a lovely lovely book here

the river cottage family cookbook, good wholesome recipies with nice pictures and factual background stuff if your cooking with kids. here

For christmas try Sarah Ravens complete Christmas here lovely pictures and ideas

dear lord whats are recipies??? recipes of course

I would second the Leith 'Cookery Bible', definitely the most useful cookery book I own. The cover fell off mine a few years ago as I'd used it so much, but it's still going strong, despite being covered in stains.

I also like Heston Blumenthals' Cooking With Children - good family recipes (with a few mad things thrown in).

Has to be Nigel Slater, Simple Suppers

Another fan of Katie Stewart here. Also vote for the already mentioned Nigella's How to Eat - it's packed with traditional and new recipes, a kids section and lots more like store cupboard tips.

Am off to google/Amazon Heston's cooking with children book!

Love Leith's bible for things like pastry and biscuits. It's such a comforting thing to have in the kitchen!

How to Eat by Nigella is also nice and reassuring (and I really like the way it's arranged).

Any of the Jamie's are sure fire winners; his new American one looks good and I'm hoping someone'll give it to me for Christmas.

Real Food by Nigel Slater is my all time fave though. You cn always find something that you (a) have all the ingredients for and (b) really want to eat.

Ooh, just remembered Crazy Water Pickled Lemons if you want something exciting with lovely pics.

I am a big foodie and the book I currently couldn't do without is the Riverford cookbook but it may be less useful if you don't have a box scheme (actually, that's not true, it's just particularly good if you have a box scheme) and want to eat a lot of meat (it has lots and lots of delicious and unusual way to cook veg, though I've not met a meal yet that isn't improved with a bit of bacon and/or sausage on the side, so I guess lucky meat-eaters could just plonk some protein on the side). The recipes are fantastic and haven't failed me yet (except maybe the carrot cake) and keep me inspired when cooking random muddy veg for veggie DH gets a bit

Leith's bible is the one I rely on for the basics (Yorkshire pud etc).

I have loads of recipe books I bought because I liked the pictures, ditto recipes cut out of magazines - but I never actually get round to making the recipes.

The ones I actually use are Delia Smith (part 1 and 2 where she tells you to boil an egg etc) and Jamie's Ministry of Food as they deal with everyday cooking.

We have 3 whole cupboards of cookery books . I haven't read the whole thread but I use the Nigella ones quite a lot, Gordon Ramsey's Desserts is good, Hugh F-W and Nigel Slater annoy me because you have to wade through them pontificating to find the recipes. Mary Berry can't be beaten for cakes, and the Hummingbird Bakery one is amusing in it's eccentricity - the cupcake recipes make way less than they say, the frosting way more, and the rocky road which says it makes 12 'good' portions starts with 1.4kg of chocolate and goes on from there - it makes way too much enough for a large party with plenty left over to stuff yourself give away.

I covet the Levi Roots Caribbean Food Made Easy

Domestic Goddess absolutely,by far the most used book here.

Not keen on Nigella express, though.

Am coveting the Hummingbird Bakery book herefor Christmas but DH seems disinterested sadly.

We have a useful GF cookbook as well, but I also want this and also this for things to do with the boys

Demanding aren't I? LOL

Craig Claiborne's New York Times Cookbook, for everyday meals and nice baking -- needs US measuring cups and spoons. Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking is fabulous and indispensable. Lidia Bastianich recipes on the internet for gorgeous Italian recipes (she has a few books out too but I rely on the internet), Madhur Jaffrey for Indian, and Nigella's Domestic Goddess and Nigella Bites. I have an old American cookbook called The Joy of Cooking which has instructions on how to skin and cook a squirrel, and cooking instructions for other varmints too.

never cooked anything from silver spoon
delia
nigella

Mrs Beeton

Mrs Beeton

Mrs Beeton.

The rest are just derivatives.

I love Jamie Oliver's 'At home' cookbook.

Full of wonderful hearty recipes that are so simple to make and absolutely delicious. I use mine at least once a week. My absolute favourite.

My favourite cookbook for cakes is Gorgeous Cakes by Annie Bell

I really like Rachel Allen - especially her Favourite Food at Home book. Plus love Nigella's Feast and Nigella Bites books.

For basic ' how do I?' = Margeriote Patten / Delia

For inspiration - Nigel Slater

For challenging... Gary Rhodes or Rick Stein.

Not a fan of nigella or Jamie

Peachy - what are your favourites from Domestic Goddess?

Also you can't go wrong with the Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks. You can get them in places like Waterstones and Borders now and they are legend. The recipes ALWAYS work, they are contemporary and classic, well illustrated and cheap to buy. They are really good because they are basically non-fancy A4 sized glossy paperbacks divided up into categories or styles - eg Wok, or Italian, or Salads, or Favourite Cakes, or whatever.
I'm a big fan of these.