what's your favorite "for the whole family" cookbook?

[skohng]

hi all,

now that ds is over 1yr old i'd like to cook for everyone all at once and be done with it!

what are your favorite cookbooks? i was eyeing annabel karmel's "for the whole family"-type cookbook. I would like something with simple recipes, healthy (obviously) also something with a variety of ethnic foods in it.

thanks!

[boolady]

Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" is a great cookbook with simple recipes of all types, all tastes, etc. There is also a nice variety of ethnic recipes. Although I am not cooking for little ones yet, I have used many of his recipes when entertaining friends with kids, picky family members, etc.

[alleyoop]

I like "The Best Recipe" from the Cooks Illustrated crew. It seems to have all of the classic American staples: Cornbread, stews, BBQing, Chicken dishes, Cookies, etc. Not too much ethnic, but definately good for basics.

[linsei]

Another vote for "Best Recipe". It's my go-to cookbook. I really like that they explain the details of how and what ingredients they tested for each recipe. (My fav recipe is for the peanut butter cookies! YUM!)

Linda

http://b3.lilypie.com/64MSm4/.png[/img][/url]

[jgriffin]

How similar is the cookbook to Cooks Illustrated magazine? I've got quite a few issues of the magazine, but I find I never make anything from it because, well, it's a magazine and not a cookbook, so not as organized for me. In general I like their approach to testing different variables (and detailed explanations of what they tried), but I hate the way each recipe starts off so negatively (We all love XYZ, but every single version we've ever had or tried to make was wretched. All of them. Even Mom's secret recipe.)

Jen

Our very very very VERY favorite cook book is the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. (from cooks illustrated) We use it ALL the time. The recipes are awesome for the most part (but I don't care for their cupcake recipes...) and usually very easy. And most things Brighton can eat also.

I live in Iowa and some of our other cookbooks have ingredients that we can't find here unless we go to some remote tiny ethnic shops.

Anyway, I highly recommend this recipe book :) MAybe I'll look into the CI one too! :)

[linsei]

I haven't seen the magazine, but the cook book has a nice layout. Everything is divided in chapters. The chapter usually starts out with a description of their methodology and the recipes are after that. I didn't read their explanations as being that negative - just "here's the qualities we like in a cookie, we tried x and the result was y".

Linda

http://b3.lilypie.com/64MSm4/.png[/img][/url]

[miki]

This is my most used cookbook also.

[The Review Mommy]

I guess I’ll be the odd one here. :) I like Cooks Illustrated and even Cook’s Country ok as arm chair type reading. I have a nice classic library of books that I like to cook with rather then just one everything book. I have a weekly menu plan of dinners in Italian, French, Mexican, and American. It’s a fun way to introduce new foods and cuisine. DH is a picky eater and used to think all veggies were gross…so I have to keep everything pretty casual. I could never have gotten him to eat vegetables with out the help of Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. It’s all about how you cook it-what’s the best way, and if it’s fresh enough. There’s nothing yuckier then mushy over cooked veggies! What I suspect DH grew up on, along with wilted lettuce in his salads and such. We are not Vegetarians; I’m just trying to get more veggies into our diets and less meat. I liked it so much I tried another book of hers called Vegetarian Suppers from Deborah Madison's Kitchen. These two are great-must haves in my book!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/cus...views.start=21

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/076...lance&n=283155


For ethnic foods, here are my favorite picks:
Marcella Hazan-Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking
Julia Child- Mastering the Art of French Cooking
Diana Kennedy-The Essential Cuisines of Mexico and From My Mexican Kitchen (this one is like the Larousse Gastronomique but for Mexico)

If you’re learning how to cook:
Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques (vs or both) Essentials of Cooking by James Peterson (I like his book on sauces to)
Madeleine Kamman's The Making of a cook or Anne Willan’s The Good Cook

Entertaining:
Martha Stewart’s Entertaining and Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa

I’m not into books on convenience cooking but I do love simple everyday cook books by Nigel Slater. His *Appetite* book is so thought provoking. This is a family type book. He has the same view on cooking as Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...549630-5053524

[skohng]

wow!! thanks for these recs! I was looking for good ethnic books. ds seems to love guacamole and beans, so the Kennedy book sounds great.

I've checked out the Cooks one too, that looks good.

how about asian cookbooks?