For the foodies

[iluv2xlr8]

If you were to suggest any cookbooks for someone looking to learn various cooking styles and techniques (and too poor to take classes, lol). What would you suggest?

P.S. I'm a complete novice at cooking.

 

[The Dragon]

Well there is Jamie Olivers cooking website which has very easy recipes and you need not have to buy a book at all.
He has a "Ministry of Food" that is all about teaching novices to cook interesting meals.
It's free to join which is also a huge bonus.

 

[luka82]

You should start by making recipes you like, the easy ones.
Call your mother, and I really mean it, for advice.
Or call someone whose cooking you have enjoyed. Give it some time, but don`t give up. In my opinion there is no such thing as a natural tallent for cooking, I love it, I`m good at it but i was taught how to do it.
In time you`ll start experimenting with herbs and spices and learn how to adjust recipes to your own taste.
The only advice I can give you is when you use different spices you should put them enough to taste but not make any of them dominant.

 

[Mem]

Go online and get some recipes. I don't cook much, but I baked my first Thanksgiving turkey this year from hints I read online and it was the best turkey I ever had.

 

[D_Rosalind Mussell]

Try Julia Child's A Way To Cook. It's supposed to be fantastic for those who don't have very little to no experience in the kitchen.

 

[MonsterUncut]

I just bought Art Smith's (Oprah's Chef for years) His book is called "Kitchen Life", Real food for real families-even yours. It's a great cookbook. Laid out in a fashion that someone just starting out can use, or a "foodie" can impress guests with. ($3.95) Found it at Safeway of all places a few weeks ago. Already used several dishes, easy to follow, and the food is great. Google it and check it out...Good luck!
Peace

 

[B_subgirrl]

Well there is Jamie Olivers cooking website which has very easy recipes and you need not have to buy a book at all.
He has a "Ministry of Food" that is all about teaching novices to cook interesting meals.
It's free to join which is also a huge bonus.

Great minds think alike - I was going to suggest this :smile:. I would also suggest watching Masterchef if you're in Australia or the US. The skill level required to cook their stuff is pretty high (at least in the Australian one - don't know about the US), but you can pick up a LOT of hints and tips along the way.

 

[nudeyorker]

My best advice is to start watching Food Network programing. Another good idea is signing up at Williams- Sonoma. com they will notify you when they have cooking demonstrations at stores near you.
If you know anyone who is a good cook ask if you can get together to see if he/she can offer you any tips and maybe make something that you might be reluctant to try on your own.
Peruse the cookbook section of your local bookstore, I think that Ina Garten, Nigella Lawson and the America's Test Kitchen books are not only very easy to follow but offer great recipes and step by step instruction.
To be a good cook all you have to do is know how to follow instructions to the letter, to be a great cook you need to be inspired on how to make recipes better.
Have fun!

 

[Industrialsize]

MUST HAVE cookbooks;
Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volumes 1+2 by Julia Child

She taught me everything I know about cooking. The techniques she teaches in these books are the foundation upon which you can cook anything. Now I rarely use a recipe. (Unless I'm baking which is more of a science than an art)

 

[IntoxicatingToxin]

Better Homes and Gardens cookbook! My mom got this for me for my 24th birthday, the last one she would be alive to see. It was her first cookbook when she married my father nearly 50 years ago. They update it regularly. It's healthy, easy, tasty, and has lots of good staple meals in it.

BHG New Cook Book 12th Edition - Ringbound

 

[nudeyorker]

Take a look at this thread too. It's given me quite a bit of inspiration. http://www.lpsg.org/174983-cooking-and-baking-tips.html

 

[D_Sherman Showwer]

i've learned a ton from just watching cooking shows like top chef/masterchef (tvshack.cc), as well as gleaning little recipes here and there from websites; i've bought several books, as i do enjoy cooking, but i'd recommend doing that once you have some skills built up. in my opinion, youtube has been a great educational system for watching gordon ramsay, jamie oliver, heston blumenthal or whomever cook the basics and the advanced, plus you can replay as many times necessary.

 

[helgaleena]

I think the public library is a great place to start. But I might be biased. Moi, I began to read my mother's Betty Crocker Cookbook front to back at an early age, chapter by chapter, and annoy her into letting me make things.

My own children I insist on making them learn how to prepare things they especially like, no matter their interest in cooking itself. Fx salad dressing is vinegar plus oil plus spices in the shaker-bottle with the fill lines on the side of it. Pasta cooks in a child size pan and then you put the grated cheese on when it is hot. Microwaves melt things nicely. Common sense will help. You do not need half as many gadgets as the gourmet outlets insinuate.

 

[ghb69]

Community Cookbooks are a good place to start also most of those are time tested easy family favorites.

 

[iluv2xlr8]

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I'm hosting a small dinner party in a few weeks (just to try something new), So I've got a lot of reading to do, lol.

 

[nudeyorker]

Oh you are having a dinner party? Then I will give you some advice that I got from one of the most important people who taught me to cook....
Never prepare something for guests that you have not prepared before...
And most importantly don't ever make anything for a dinner party that can't be repaired with either... butter, whipped cream, sour cream or chocolate.

 

[B_subgirrl]

Thanks a lot for the info guys. I'm hosting a small dinner party in a few weeks (just to try something new), So I've got a lot of reading to do, lol.

Gordon Ramsey's chocolate fondants (like chocolate cake, but with a runny middle) would be a GREAT dessert for this. Fondants are notoriously hard to cook BUT GR's seem to come out right EVERY time. They are dead easy to make - the only hard bit is deciding when to take them out of the oven. I've even tried overcooking them just to see what they'd be like, and even overcooked they are still a DELICIOUS chocolate cake (rather than a fondant). So don't tell your guest what you're making for dessert until it's cooked, and if you get it wrong, just tell them the dessert is chocolate CAKE.

 

[nudeyorker]

I have one more suggestion for you. Since you are having guests for dinner look through some back copies of Bon Appetite or Food & Wine as they offer sample menus. Part of the art of a great meal is knowing what foods work well with others and the magazines can help you take the guess work out of it if you are inexperienced.
Another important issue is knowing the tastes of your guests and/or if they have any food allergies or dietary restrictions.

 

[MagicJohnsonFan]

Better Homes and Gardens cookbook! My mom got this for me for my 24th birthday, the last one she would be alive to see. It was her first cookbook when she married my father nearly 50 years ago. They update it regularly. It's healthy, easy, tasty, and has lots of good staple meals in it.

BHG New Cook Book 12th Edition - Ringbound

I was going to suggest the same thing. Almost everyone I know who cooks has one of these, regardless of their age. I also agree with the person who suggested watching the Food Network - one of the best ways to get a grasp of technique.

 

[LaFemme]

I think the public library is a great place to start. But I might be biased. Moi, I began to read my mother's Betty Crocker Cookbook front to back at an early age, chapter by chapter, and annoy her into letting me make things.

My own children I insist on making them learn how to prepare things they especially like, no matter their interest in cooking itself. Fx salad dressing is vinegar plus oil plus spices in the shaker-bottle with the fill lines on the side of it. Pasta cooks in a child size pan and then you put the grated cheese on when it is hot. Microwaves melt things nicely. Common sense will help. You do not need half as many gadgets as the gourmet outlets insinuate.

I have to go with helgaleena here. Betty Crocker cookbooks show & tell you simple cooking techniques. Excellent for the novice and it's how I started my love affair with cooking and entertaining. And for your first dinner party - keep things super simple with things you can do ahead as much as possible. Nothing is worse than spending your whole party stressing in the kitchen trying to work out recipes you haven't tested before. The Barefoot Contessa specializes in great recipes for dinner parties!