Never fail?
Peg Bracken
Mark Bittman
Paula Dean, God I love that woman
I would have to say…“The Professional Chef” first and second editions. I have over 300 cook books so it was a hard choice but this book gives as much information about technique as any book I have…it was (is still??) the main text book for aspiring chefs at the CIA in Hyde Park NY.
tsfr
*Joy of Cooking * is a joy to read, but not so much to cook with.
I confess to using Cooking for the Rushed. And Xanax. Sometimes both at once! It helps. Trust me.
And because outdoor grilling for some reason means web recipes, Weber Recipes, and if you can’t find it on Weber, there’s always
BBQ University (shield your eyes before clicking link).
Joy of Cooking, but not the most recent edition. That one stinks.
I’d go for anything published by America’s Test Kitchen. After all, making no fail recipes is what they do.
Almost never fail. Her sloppy joes came out nasty and her pound cake I think had a misprint or something. Otherwise, most of her stuff is pretty great.