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Favourite Cook Book/Recipe/Food-related Site?

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  • Registered Users Posts: 6 epicurist


    Alinea- grant achatz
    The Cliff House Hotel The Cookbook
    Essence - Le Champignon Sauvage
    Clatter of forks and Spoons
    River Cafe Green


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,300 ✭✭✭nice1franko


    Nigel Slaters Appetite is great.

    One I don't like is Rachel's Favourite Food at Home ... half the recipes are accompanied by pics of her and her family. wtf? It's a cookbook - I don't want to look at her family photo album.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    Old school secondary home economics book, very handy for basic recipes.

    I find Jaimes book (can't think of the name of it) very handy for recipes with some more flavour and spice.

    Nigella Express, great book easy to follow good photos of dishes (have to tear hubby away to her photos lol).

    Avoca 1 is brill. very tasty recipes love the banana bread one and the mustard pork is delicious.

    Georgina Campells Meals for all Seasons a must have but that's coz my da has a recipe in it lol. Waiting for him to retire he will take the time to write one of his own.

    Have a really nice Chocolate book, can't remember the proper name but the recipes are so yum and easy to follow.


  • Registered Users Posts: 52 ✭✭niall_belfast


    I really love Keith Floyd's stuff.. but my favourite would have to be "Made in Italy" by Giorgio Locatelli - great, authentic, traditional Italian recipes, and stories of his childhood and reasons for loving food interspersed..


  • Registered Users Posts: 543 ✭✭✭mrsberries


    thought id add my tuppence worth to this! Recently purchased the Sophie Dahl cookbook and absolutely love it! Was very sceptical when I first heard about it, but when I spotted a couple of her recipes in a sunday paper I decided to go ahead and get it. I have it just 3 weeks and made lots of yum stuff from it including banana bread, ginger and pear muffins and fish pie. Looking forward to her tv programme next week :)


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,897 ✭✭✭Kimia


    I am a huge fan of Gordan Ramsey's books - my favourite (so far) being the world kitchen F word book. What I also love is the fact that every recipe has a picture. I hate when cookbooks have pictures of a herb or their family (like Rachel Allen above) - Kevin Dundon is the same - loads of pictures of his kids. WTF! I want pictures of the FOOD!!!!

    In that vein then, what books are best for recipes and accompanying pictures?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,701 ✭✭✭Mr.David


    The book I've cooked most recipies from would be Jamie's Dinners, and Jamie's Italy. Also ministry of food.

    But my favourite book is without doubt Giorgio Locatelli's Made in Italy book - its beautiful and has a lovely philosophy on food and passionate descriptions of ingredients along with great photography. The type of cook book you read as opposed to use simply as a cooking reference.:)


  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 30,653 Mod ✭✭✭✭Faith


    I didn't really want to start a new thread, so I'm bumping this one for the moment. Having just watched "Julie & Julia", I've been inspired to undertake a similar project. I don't want to do one as challenging as Julia Child, so I'm looking for a recommendation of a fairly straight-forward cookbook that I can attempt to make every recipe out of. I'm thinking Jamie Oliver maybe? All suggestions appreciated!


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,150 ✭✭✭✭Malari


    Faith wrote: »
    I didn't really want to start a new thread, so I'm bumping this one for the moment. Having just watched "Julie & Julia", I've been inspired to undertake a similar project. I don't want to do one as challenging as Julia Child, so I'm looking for a recommendation of a fairly straight-forward cookbook that I can attempt to make every recipe out of. I'm thinking Jamie Oliver maybe? All suggestions appreciated!

    Had to look up a plot summary of that movie to see what it was about :)

    The cookbook I've made most recipes out of would be Rachel Allan's Favourite Food at Home. There are some crackers of recipes in there that I go back to a lot (Thai Pork!). But I've found one or two that seem to be lacking in herb/spices a bit (Macaroni cheese).

    She has a lot of quick biscuits, salads and pasta recipes that you could easily get through. And also I've made a couple of the "edible gifts" at xmas, which have gone down very well with the folks.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,358 ✭✭✭washiskin


    All time favourite:

    "Full & Plenty" by Maura Laverty.Irish through and through and covers a multitude - lovely stories at the start of each chapter -originally published in the 1950s.

    Any Delia. Very reassuring when attempting something new.

    Rhodes Around Britain. Some great basic sauces & recipies and GREAT Mac & Cheese.

    Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book - a bible for cakefiends!

    Food Wine & Friends - Robert Carrier 1970/80s kitch but great. Lots of Aspic though :rolleyes:

    I get Good Food every month but it's getting a bit thin on good recipes and a bit full of ads.

    I also follow "Jewels from The Roving Stove" blog by Julie Anne Rhodes.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 251 ✭✭krieture


    my faves

    gordon ramsay - makes it easy
    camellia punjabi - 50 great curries of india

    rgds

    four

    I got the camellia punjabi book aswell and have to say it is excellent. Great mix of curries with simple instructions


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,027 ✭✭✭flywheel


    gourmetnut.jpg
    http://www.gourmetnutrition.com/

    a great cookbook for anyone who is into health/nutrition... pity about the crazy international shipping costs though :(


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,774 ✭✭✭Minder


    Faith wrote: »
    I didn't really want to start a new thread, so I'm bumping this one for the moment. Having just watched "Julie & Julia", I've been inspired to undertake a similar project. I don't want to do one as challenging as Julia Child, so I'm looking for a recommendation of a fairly straight-forward cookbook that I can attempt to make every recipe out of. I'm thinking Jamie Oliver maybe? All suggestions appreciated!

    Supper for a Song, Tamasin Day-Lewis, ISBN-10: 184400743X

    Cook: Seasonal Recipes for Hungry People, Thomasina Miers, ISBN-10: 0007229372

    A Return to Real Cooking, Galton Blackiston, ISBN-10: 1903872197

    Both Supper for a Song and Cook are crammed full of great recipes, with a good mix of main courses and desserts. Galton Blackiston's book is a little more complicated with some hard to find ingredients. Also some of the recipes are for single dishes, but he does give suggestions for side dishes.

    As with any suggestion, have a flick through the books in a bookshop before buying. You might get a list of the recipes from www.eatyourbooks.com - they are an american site that has a indexing service for cookbooks. A subscription site, but there is a free 30 day trail available without creditcard details needed. Unfortunately my suggestions aren't listed there yet.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,774 ✭✭✭Minder


    Anyone out there own any of the El Bulli books? I've never seen any of them in the bookshops and the prices are ridiculously expensive from the online sellers - making them way beyond an impulse purchase. I'd like to know if they are useable in any way or are they just a coffee table decoration?


  • Registered Users Posts: 11,068 ✭✭✭✭duploelabs


    Minder wrote: »
    Anyone out there own any of the El Bulli books? I've never seen any of them in the bookshops and the prices are ridiculously expensive from the online sellers - making them way beyond an impulse purchase. I'd like to know if they are useable in any way or are they just a coffee table decoration?

    They are actually both. I borrow a day in El Builli from the library and it's amazing. Yes it is a coffee table book and the recipes in it are ridiculously complex (Monkfish liver fondue with ponzu and white seasame-flavoured kumquat anyone??), but like the Heston books, if you take elements from the dishes and incorporate them into your own it can really help.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 10 crazy.daisy


    Faith wrote: »
    I didn't really want to start a new thread, so I'm bumping this one for the moment. Having just watched "Julie & Julia", I've been inspired to undertake a similar project. I don't want to do one as challenging as Julia Child, so I'm looking for a recommendation of a fairly straight-forward cookbook that I can attempt to make every recipe out of. I'm thinking Jamie Oliver maybe? All suggestions appreciated!


    The Ballymaloe cookbooks are great, maybe the one that covers a whole year? Jamie Oliver's 'Cook Your Way to the Good Life' is also broken down seasonally. I had the same idea (Great Minds...) but I wanted something that would make me cook a bit outside my comfort zone. I chose Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen, I'm blogging on blogger, Id recommend it for novices like me:)

    http://worldkitchenchallenge.blogspot.com/


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,395 ✭✭✭danois


    hi hope it is ok to drag up an old thread didnt think this needed one of its own..

    Has anyone bought julie goodwins book "our family table" i love the idea of it thinking of gettin it for mum for xmas just not sure if the recipes are any good in it?? any reviews thanks


  • Registered Users Posts: 151 ✭✭jendafer1


    When I moved out of home a few years ago I went looking for a good cooking book that had all the basics in it - as I found many of the "modern" cooking books were a little over-complicated.
    I ended up buying "The Cooking Book" by Victoria Blashford Snell and I cannot recommend it enough to people who are new to cooking!

    Its layout is brilliant - and even has pages dedicated to making suggestions for "a light lunch" "dinner to impress" etc etc. It also includes a handy small shopping list book to take grocery shopping with you which lists all the ingredients for each recipe in the book. It also came with a technique DVD but I've never looked at it so cant comment!

    It has pretty much everything I've ever wanted to look up in it - from salads, sandwiches, making your own bread, meats, vegetarians, sides, fish, cakes, biscuits, pastries, desserts. And also has a good section on culinary techniques such as knife skills, making your own stock etc

    Honestly - it was a brilliant buy! Two of my friends borrowed it and ended up buying their own copy :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 82 ✭✭SuiteCheex


    Hope nobody minds me keeping this thread alive.:D

    I seem to be at that age where I've developed a cookery book fetish. Damn those book people flogging their wares in our office every month! Recent purchases include:

    Recipes That Work - Kevin Dundon
    I actually bought this so I could make his port & red wine jus.....goes great with his pork/beef wellingtion recipe. My fav book of the moment.

    The Billingsgate Market Cookbook
    For fish of all shapes and sizes. I might be blaspheming but I reckon it's even better than Rick's books.:eek:

    Forgotten Skills of Cooking - Darina Allen
    It's the New Testament to Delia's Old Testament.

    Jamie's 30-Minute Meals - Jamie Oliver
    Hungover Sunday marathon TV sessions inspired me to buy this. I must admit it's a complete pain in the @rse to read. Not as clear and concise as his other books.

    Bon Ap!


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,287 ✭✭✭SBWife


    I've a pretty large collection of cook books and always have one or two in the house on extended loan from the lovely library but here are some favorites:

    Cook in Boots - a solid 10 or 12 of these recipes have made it into my dinner rotation.

    Nigella's Kitchen - I'm working through this right now have made about 20 dishes and most will be repeated. Up there with her How to Eat.

    Silver Spoon - Italian classic fab for anyone with a vegetable garden or if you're into game.

    The first two Jamie Oliver Naked Chef books still get pulled out on a regular basis.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 65 ✭✭lovelymama


    hotshots85 wrote: »
    Hey ,

    Wondering if anyone can help, I am looking for a cook book but not for the recipes (if that's possible?) A good book that focuses on techniques , ingredients and understanding the mechanics of cooking as opposed to another book with tonnes of recipes

    Any suggestions or experience out there?

    I'd suggested the Larousse "Gastronomique Recipe Collection":it's in four volumes in a box set made up of: 'Meat, Poultry & Game', 'Fish & Seafood', 'Vegetables & Salads' & 'Desserts, Cakes and Pastries'


    It's fantastic and will give you no nonsense techniques - this isn't a pretty book (i.e. no photos or very styled images) but it is great if you really want to learn.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 65 ✭✭lovelymama


    My favourite books are:

    Nigella - How to be a domestic goddess - all of the recipes work
    Lorraine Pascal - her new (first) book - recipes are simple and they work
    Rachel Allen - Bake

    Mary Berry Fool Proof Cakes - none of the recipes in this book work. Really bad - I've had to adjust any I made.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,175 ✭✭✭angeldelight


    I shouldn't have clicked into this thread! I've now ordered the Silver Spoon (for £19, seemed like a bargain!) and a Nigel Slater book on amazon! Had no intentions of buying any cookery books before half an hour ago... oops. Could be worse though, got the two for £27 and free delivery!


  • Registered Users Posts: 544 ✭✭✭looperman1000


    that blog is not found Daisy :-(
    The Ballymaloe cookbooks are great, maybe the one that covers a whole year? Jamie Oliver's 'Cook Your Way to the Good Life' is also broken down seasonally. I had the same idea (Great Minds...) but I wanted something that would make me cook a bit outside my comfort zone. I chose Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen, I'm blogging on blogger, Id recommend it for novices like me:)

    http://worldkitchenchallenge.blogspot.com/


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,271 ✭✭✭annascott


    Has anyone tried 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Childs? It is about 50 years old. I saw the film Julie & Julia recently and was facinated. I want to buy the book but as it will cost about €65 and is in two volumes obviously don't want to risk it if it isn't practical. I know it is definitely not low fat and everything is laced with butter, but for a special occasion, or just when you want to show off, who doesn't like rich food?

    I know it was written for an American audience but I'm sure we can get the 'cup' measurement somewhere.

    I'd love to hear from anyone who has actually cooked from this book (apart from Julie Powell..)


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,976 ✭✭✭youcancallmeal


    lovelymama wrote: »
    I'd suggested the Larousse "Gastronomique Recipe Collection":it's in four volumes in a box set made up of: 'Meat, Poultry & Game', 'Fish & Seafood', 'Vegetables & Salads' & 'Desserts, Cakes and Pastries'


    It's fantastic and will give you no nonsense techniques - this isn't a pretty book (i.e. no photos or very styled images) but it is great if you really want to learn.

    I'm confused, is this the same book?? Seems a bit too cheap to be true after everyone saying it would cost 40/50euro?


  • Registered Users Posts: 82 ✭✭SuiteCheex


    I'm confused, is this the same book?? Seems a bit too cheap to be true after everyone saying it would cost 40/50euro?


    I think it might be this...http://www.thebookpeople.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10001&catalogId=10051&langId=100&productId=35535&searchTerm=larousse

    Bit of a coincidence that youu ask as I came to this thread to find out about this book. It's among the collection of books dropped into our office by The Book People this month.

    It's a hardback and an absolute tome to boot! But they're only looking for €25 for it, and it comes in a fancy presentation sleeve. Seems like a bargain, so I think I'll be investing in it! :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,441 ✭✭✭Slogger Jogger


    I've dozens of cookery books but the one getting most airplay at the moment is Nigella's kitchen. We had our 2nd son's communion recently and I served up a couple of different dishes from this book. Its a winner. The likes of the mexican lasagne and chicken & chorizo roast dishes. Yum.


  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 9,711 Mod ✭✭✭✭Twee.


    Here's an excellent cookbook, with some nice drawings! Winnie the Pooh's Tea Time Cookbook! Lovely bread and biscuit recipes.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭arknine


    Ottolenghis cook books are AMAZING... there are 2, first one is just called Ottolenghi, 2nd is called Plenty (veggie cookbook)

    Recipes are simple by ingredients can be a bit obscure but well worth tracking down


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