Does anyone have recommendations for truly incredible cookbooks? Not just good cookbooks–great cookbooks.
Some other people and I met at my place to try making a few of the recipes from my new cookbook, 1000 Indian Recipes, by Neelam Batra.
We made palak paneer from scratch. I can’t recommend this cookbook enough. It explains what all the different spices are, what the different spice blends are and how to make them, how to make paneer (the Indian cheese that shows up in dishes like palak paneer), a zillion kinds of pickles, chutneys, lassis, curries, koftas, dosais, rasams, sweets, street vendor food, and tons and tons of other stuff. This tome–all, like, 700 pages of it–could be retitled The Compleat Indian Cooking, With Dishes and Techniques from Each Region of the Country Indicated, Including Some American- or European-Influenced Dishes. It’s The Joy of Cooking for Indian foods from all over that country.
Each recipe comes with very clearly spelled-out directions, notes on possible variations, the origins of the dish, and other miscellaneous stuff you might enjoy finding out.
We made paneer, and we found out that making the cheese was easy and quick, and that the result was absolutely delicious. I will never, ever buy ricotta at the grocery store again. Then we whipped up some saag (a veggie dish–in this case, spinach blended with a bunch of fried spices, simmered until it was completely luscious) and mixed it with the paneer. Heaven!
I have no stock in the book’s publisher, nor do I have any relationship whatsoever with the author. I just thought this was an absolutely incredible cookbook, and that everyone who wants to learn to cook Indian food should check it out.
I like cookbooks that describe ingredients and techniques rather than just listing recipes. Some of my favorites are:
The Pie and Pastry Bible by Rose Levy Berenbaum. This book tells how to make really good pie crusts. The fruit pie recipes are great, and are really different for each type of fruit (for example, it calls for boiling down the fruit juice for an apple pie and for baking a pumpkin pie directly on the floor of the oven). I also like Berenbaum’s book The Cake Bible but I don’t use it as often as The Pie and Pastry Bible. I just got The Bread Bible but haven’t had a chance to read it yet.
I like Diana Kennedy. The Art of Mexican Cooking is a great reference book, describing many different ingredients and techniques. There are several color plates with very good photos of different types of chiles, herbs, etc. I use the recipes from Mexican Regional Cooking more often because they are simpler.
The Woman’s Day Encyclopedia of Cooking is a tremendous resource. I got the full set years ago at a garage sale. The books have tons of information about ingredients and the recipes really work. One of the best parts of the encyclopedia is a section on American regional cooking.
I used to think I knew how to bake bread - then I read The Italian Baker by Carol Field and really learned how. This is another book that teaches a lot about ingredients and techniques. The cookie recipes are fantastic, too (although I had to adjust some of them - I use half the egg whites that the pinolate recipe calls for).
I think my favorite cookbook is the Betty Crocker cookbook. I use the 1950 version the most. My next favorite is the Africa News Cookbook. It has the best recipe for Jollof Rice (this one is from Gambia), and Kuku na Nazi (Chicken with Coconut Milk) from Kenya. It also has an extensive curry powder recipe section. Until I read this book, I did not know that you could curry fish. I also had heard of Ghurum Masala - but this book tells you how to make it.
How It All Vegan and The Garden of Vegan. Even if you’re not vegan or vegetarian, there are some really great recipes in these books. They’re also pretty handy if you find yourself cooking for vegan or vegetarian friends (if you have any, of course).
I’m actually not vegan myself, at least, not yet, but even if I never do go (completely) vegan, I’ll always keep these cookbooks around because I like so many of the recipes so much.
Queen Ida’s Cajun/Creole cookbook and memoirs Cookin’ with Queen Ida the only combined cookbook/autobiography I own. Kids love making the popcorn balls and the fishcakes have been popular for years now.
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold Mcgee
This isn’t a cookbook chock full of recipes, it is a book that goes into the science behind cooking. The why and how of what we eat. This will improve your cooking skills immensely, no matter what dish it is. You learn about ingrediants, cuts of meat, what aging does, how browning improves flavor, vegetables, funghi, etc.
Other than that, my Joy of Cooking is falling apart it gets used so much. Plus I own a similar Indian cookbook to the one mentioned, basics and explanations, great stuff.