My Ten Favorite Cookbooks

Posted on 11 January 2007 under Cookbooks

Last week I posted a list of the ten strangest cookbooks in my collection. I guess it’s about time I bit the bullet and listed the ten faves out of what I have. Some you’ll have heard of, but others? If you want a copy, they’ll be seriously difficult to come by.

My Ten Favorite Cookbooks
10. Joy of Cooking (1997) — This is a must-have, containing so much information you’ll never use it all. If you want to give anyone, newlyweds, college students, etc., a basic cookbook, this is the one.

9. Mainstreet Ventures Distinctive Recipes (2005) — While this is a new addition to my collection, it’s apparent to me that once I start trying to make some of these dishes, I’ll want to make most of them. These are recipes from the fine folks at Real Seafood, Gratzi, the Chophouse, Ciao, and the like. The first dish I’ll make is on page 50 …

8. Anthony Bourdain’s Les Halles Cookbook (2004) — These dishes are fully explained, photos are included, and basic techniques filter through at an amazing rate. As I’ve written before, this is the one cookbook I’ve read cover-to-cover.

7. The Tabasco Brand Cookbook (1993) — Only recently have I become interested in using and cooking with hot sauces. For that purpose, this official Tabasco cookbook really does the trick.

6. Tested, Tried & True, Junior League of Flint (1980) — This fundraiser cookbook is, well, seriously damaged! I’m not sure how many pages have fallen out over the years, so who knows what’s missing? Fortunately, the Swedish meatball recipe is still in there, a real basic recipe for meatloaf, and countless other dishes I’ve tried.

5. The Professional Chef, 7th Edition (2002) — While great for explaining basic techniques, sometimes this one can get tedious. I use this one and the next one interchangeably. Oh, and the 8th edition just came out. I’ve seen it but haven’t looked at it yet.

4. Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cooking Techniques (1996) — If I’m trying to learn something new, I’ll grab this first. Not only is it highly informative regarding basic techniques, it also gives interesting variations on those techniques. On Monday I picked up the companion Le Cordon Bleu Dessert Techniques (1999) and hope to learn some good things from there, too.

3. Culinary Artistry (1996) — This is part cookbook, part textbook. One of its finer points is page-after-page of tables of what goes best with what. I use this thing constantly when I’m trying to figure something out.

2. Woman’s Home Companion Cookbook (1955) — There are three copies of this book in our family. This is the first cookbook I ever used, learning how to make omelets, five-bean-salad, and many other things the ‘old-fashioned’ way.

… and the number one cookbook in my collection … is …

1. Mom’s Three-Ring Binder — Typed by mom on her Brother word processor (a glorified typewriter), this is where I can find most of the recipes mom was using when I was growing up. Most of my favorite dishes are in here, like church window cookies, those amazing cinnamon rolls, Mulligan Stew, and cheesey tuna noodle casserole made with Ramen noodles.

Ok, I’m hungry all over again!

Read Comments

  1. 4 February 2007 @ 12:48 pm Posted by Carrie Gamble

    Your article about “My Ten Favorite Cookbooks” was interesting to me. I thought perhaps you could add ours to your list.

    I have published a cookbook, Grandmother’s Cookbook. My grandmother, Elizabeth Rose von Hohen, and I worked together to preserve all of the recipes she had accumulated over the years. Many were not written down. What we ended up with was a treasure, not only for our family, but for many other families to enjoy and share. Our book is a slice of “living life the old fashioned way” with comfort food recipes, memories, wildflower watercolors and feelings from the heart.

    We recently launched our website: http://www.grandmotherscookbook.com. Please visit it if you have a chance to learn more about our book. As a cookbook lover I think you will enjoy the site and our cookbook. I would be happy to send you a copy for review. With your permission, I would love to link our site to yours perhaps through a review of our cookbook.

    You may enjoy reading a recent review which was published on “The Burning Void” website. Here is the link: http://www.burningvoid.com/weblog/reviews/2007/01/

    I look forward to hearing from you soon,
    Carrie

  2. 4 February 2007 @ 1:11 pm Posted by Dave

    Hi Carrie! Your cookbook seems to be exactly the kind of book Mary and I seem to migrate to, similar to part of what I’m also trying to do in the area of Michigan Cuisine. Pennsylvania seems to have its own style of food anyway, in many ways Amish while having slightly broader concepts. As soon as Mary and I can do so, we’ll order a copy from you and go from there. Thanks for the link … it looks great, including the artwork!

  3. 11 February 2007 @ 12:11 pm Posted by Carrie Gamble

    Hi Dave,

    I’m glad you enjoyed our site! It is true that many different regions have their own cooking style. When our cookbook first came out we received thousand of individual orders from all over the US and Canada. Many Canadians wrote us saying they have some of the exact same recipes from their German/Hungarian ancestors. For one reason or another (many were not allowed into this country) European immigrants ended up in Canada! I found this fascinating that they shared the exact same family recipes. I’ll look forward to your review of our cookbook!
    Carrie

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