i'm not a person to ever follow a recipe...but i want to learn new things.
so...i'd like to learn some things by reading some cookbooks and see how other people cook.
so tell me your favourite cookbooks of all time.
i'm especially looking for morroccan, greek, and french
also jewish and scandanavian.
but i'm really interested in just about everything.
so hit me with your best cookbooks so i can go check them out :)
p.s. i like cookbooks where you make EVERYTHING from scratch and where real ingredients are used not things like margarine or boullion cubes, etc.
i'm not interested in adding a can of this and that together and then voila. i'm not afraid of things that are labour intensive.
thanks!
Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison has a ton of veggie recipes, and is organized by vegetable type, with tips on how to choose the best veggies and how to store them. From this book, I learned how to roast veggies, which can then be put into other dishes.
The Stinking Rose cookbook is all about garlic and has some yummy stuff.
Alice Waters just came out with a cookbook called The Art of Simple Food which would be a great place to learn the basics - she tells how to choose ingredients, how to make stocks, etc.
Also, I have to say I love my crock pot - throw in chili ingredients, give it a stir, and a few hours later you have chili without having to do much of anything (I know you said labor-intensive is ok but sometimes it's nice not to have to stand over a stove and still have home cooked food.) It's also great for making chicken stock.
Have fun! I love to cook, it's creative and nurturing and just plain awesome.
professional cooking
it covers all the basics of vegetables, meats, spices, broths and bases, and how they are all used. The book is full of recipes and good ideas for combining flavors and tastes. Only downside is that it bases the recipe measurements off weight and i dont have a kitchen scale.
(btw..its a REAL "make it from scratch" kind of book.)
It's huge but really, really good.
As you know, I am new to cooking, so I'm on expert - but this seems to be as basic / from scratch as you can get...
http://cgi.ebay.com/PRESERVING-COOKBOOK-Time-Life-GOOD-COOK-CANNING-Book_W0QQitemZ300085990121QQcmdZViewItem
i also loved all of m.f.k. fisher's books. she was just such a lover of life and appreciator of the senses, and food was one of the ways she expressed her life + views. some listed here: http://www.mfkfisher.com/
always from scratch :)
tassajara cooking is amazing. There are a list of books on amazon so I will send you the link and you can chose which looks most interesting.
I love many of the recipes and one of the gems I discovered in them was the tahini shortbread
here is the link to the books
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=blended&field-keywords=tassajara%20cooking&results-process=default&dispatch=search/ref=pd_sl_aw_tops-1_blended_14170704_2&results-process=default
Also I really like Molly Katzens cook books. She has a reasonable amount of every day type recipes and there is not a single one I have tried I haven't like
moosewood cookbook
enchanted broccoli forest
and her low fat recipes are good as well.
xo
And I high recommend Lidia's Family Table for all kinds of lovely basics for simple, delicious, nurishing meals.
Yay cooking! one of my favorite pastimes :))) Just wait until you're cooking with Lili. So much fun!
Best Greek Cookbook Ever!
Here's the church's website where you can download an order form.
http://www.greekorthodoxchs.org/index.php?n=Main.Cookbook
http://www.amazon.com/Cafe-Brenda-Cookbook-Seafood-Vegetarian/dp/081664439X
and a beautiful bowl of soup - i've made almost every soup in it & they are all delicious
http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Bowl-Soup-Vegetarian-Recipes/dp/0811835286
both minnesota cookbooks :)
And
http://www.amazon.com/Hot-Sour-Salty-Sweet-Southeast/dp/1579651143/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196652285&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Soups-Essential-Kitchen-Suzie/dp/9625939369/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196652363&sr=1-3
Other suggestions:
The Instant Ethnic Cook: An Herb and Spice Blend Cookbook
Eating Well is the Best Revenge: Everyday Strategies for Delicious, Healthful Food in 30 Minutes or Less
I second the Mollie Katzen & Bittman...
I also like Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson's Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland, as it shows a good understanding of the eating seasonally and locally.
I also like John Thorne's Simple Cooking, at www.outlawcook.com
And Miriam Ungerer is good for old school scratch cooking. My favorite of hers is called Good Cheap Food, very American in tradition but so old fashioned it's a revelation at times.
(I found you via kitchenwitch, btw!)