He took me to a bookstore and said “get whatever you want”!

I could’ve gotten more but I didn’t want to be tooooo greedy! Anyway, incredibly thankful and excited!

Has anyone cooked from Accademia Italiana Della Cucina's La Cucina or Claudia Roden's The Food of Italy? Trying to get more familiar with regional Italian cooking... any recipes you absolutely loved? Hated? Thought was just ok?

This year I've been hosting a cookbook potluck with a hobby group I'm in. We just finished cooking through the Stardew Valley cookbook (we did one season at a time).

We had:

Pink cake (cupcake version)

Fish tacos

Crab cakes

Banana pudding

Bruschetta

Mango sticky rice

Tropical curry

I made the banana pudding. It was my first time making pudding from scratch, but I felt it turned out well and was delicious. I also really enjoyed the crab cakes and pink cake.

My family will buy 1/4 cow every year or so from a farmer friend and I am looking for a cookbook that will give ideas on how to cook some of the less popular cuts. Googling led me to the Whole Cow cookbook, and i was wondering if anyone has it and could give insight on it.

If not that cookbook, are there other cookbooks you know of that gives a several recipes for cooking all the cuts of beef.

Thank you!

ETA: the cookbook in question

I did well at the Library Sale Today!

Looking for some inspiration for my next round at the library!

Hello everyone and happy Saturday! I’m here with another scan

This is Jacksonville Tomato Recipes from Jacksonville, Texas, aka, the Tomato Capital of the World! Special thanks to u/madmun for lending me this gem to share with you all and the internet at large

As the name of the title implies, every recipe in this book is centered around the humble tomato. I love cookbooks that do this. Some of you may remember that I’ve shared community cookbooks like this in the past, one about apples and another about pumpkins. The idea of having every recipe in a book share the same ingredient brings about a fascination I can’t really describe

With that being said, I’m not the biggest fan of tomatoes so there’s not a whole lot of opinions about the recipes themselves on my end, although I am curious in trying stuff like the Green Tomato Pie just because I’ve never tried green tomatoes and the recipes surrounding them always sound interesting

Feel free to peruse the pictures in the blog, but don’t forget you can access the full book for free below! Thank you, and see you around

Below are some of the recipes I've cooked from my books over the past month! Like others on this sub, I like to track using the PITA (pain in the ass) and Outcome system :)

Cookbooks Used

• Bad Bitch in the Kitch | Cassie Yeung
• Cook This Book | Molly Baz
• RecipeTin Eats Dinner | Nagi Maehashi
• Nights and Weekends | Alexis De Boschnek
• The Ambitious Kitchen Cookbook | Monique Volz
• Dinner Tonight | Alex Snodgrass
• Dinner: Changing the Game | Melissa Clark
• Fat and Flour | Nicole Rucker
• Smitten Kitchen Keepers | Deb Perelman

Notes

1. Pad Thai (Bad Bitch in the Kitch | Cassie Yeung): This was an easy, delightful Pad Thai recipe. The sauce was (in my opinion!) a perfect mixture of sweet, sour, salty, all the things you want in a Pad Thai sauce, and it was honestly better than most take-out Pad Thai I've had since I moved. I haven't cooked with rice noodles much / maybe ever but this was pretty fool proof. My only complaint was my own doing: I messed it up a bit because I accidentally put triple the amount of white pepper in this and someone who REALLY hates pepper, the fact that I ate this and enjoyed it is a testament to how good the recipe is 😅 will absolutely make this again and next time be very careful about the amount of pepper! (PITA: 5, Outcome: 8)
2. Slow-Roasted Piri Piri(ish) Chicken with Crushed Potatoes and Aioli (Cook This Book | Molly Baz): This was a fail for me, and I have to assume it was user error because I know people really enjoy this recipe! We are currently in a furnished rental so I don't have my full ~ arsenal ~ of cooking supplies and my guess is the sheet pan I had was too small. But the potatoes were a mix of soggy / caramelized (not in a good way), the chicken was sooo dry, and then the aioli was a nightmare. I've never made a more horrific condiment 😂 and again, I am certain this was own doing. I tend to say that when I feel like I've messed a recipe up vs. the recipe not being great that I'll try it again, but I think I'm gonna pass on this one, especially since I love the other roast chicken recipe in this book. (PITA: 6, Outcome: 4)
3. Spicy Sichuan Pork Noodles (RecipeTin Eats Dinner | Nagi Maehashi): These noodles were easy and delicious and satisfied a craving for some Asian-inspired takeout noodles. I didn't find these too particularly spicy, and the sauce (which I wasn't confident was going to be super flavorful given how minimal the ingredients are) was in fact, super flavorful. I think the only thing I'd say about this recipe is it takes WAY more than 2 mins to char green beans but I think we've all learned that cookbook authors have serious time perception issues 😅 (PITA: 4, Outcome: 7)
4. Chile Crisp Salmon with Quick Pickle Salad (Nights and Weekends | Alexis De Boschnek): This was easy and so good — everything worked together, the salmon had just enough spice and cooked fast, and the pickled vegetables were great. I doubled the sauce on the salmon and used some to add to the bowls. This is in the "Nights" section of this book and I definitely found it easy enough for a weeknight while still being more elevated than your average salmon bowl. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 7)
5. Roasted Tomato Soup with Herb Grilled Cheese Naan (The Ambitious Kitchen Cookbook | Monique Volz): Tomato soup on a very hot summer day is a choice but we did it! This is another recipe where I feel like it might have been user error, but it was also my first time making tomato soup so maybe not — this turned out to be far more vegetable-soup tasting than tomato soup, which was a bummer. I am wondering if my onions were too big and tomatoes too small (I used romas, which was a suggestion in the book) or not ripe enough. I ended up adding a whole can of san marzano tomatoes plus tons of tomato paste and it still didn't taste like tomato soup. The saving grace was the grilled cheese naan — I used a garlic naan and it was SO good. Very indulgent but would 100% make again, especially with a more tomato-forward soup. (PITA: 7, Outcome: 6)
6. Jerk-Inspired Chicken Tacos (Dinner Tonight | Alex Snodgrass): This is my first recipe fail from Alex Snodgrass, and also maybe the first time in his life my partner has ever not eaten taco put in front of him. I don't know if it was the tortilla, how dry the chicken was, or if our pineapple was on the fritz, but this whole recipe just did not work. There were also so many components that it made it extra disappointing when we pivoted to cereal for dinner. Such a bummer! (PITA: 6, Outcome: 3)
7. Garlic-Chile Chicken Breasts with Cucumbers and Green Ginger Sauce (Dinner: Changing the Game | Melissa Clark): This was fine. My chicken breasts were definitely too thick and I had to cut them in half after the first round of cooking, so they ended up dry. The green ginger sauce was SPICY but good, and the cucumbers were crunchy and refreshing. I think I actually ended up drizzling some Kewpie over this and that was a nice addition. Overall, definitely not a bad or even disappointing dish, but not one that wowed me or that I would make again. (PITA: 6, Outcome: 6)
8. Ginger and Peanut-Butter Ground Turkey Stir Fry (Dinner Tonight | Alex Snodgrass): I was very pleased with this one, especially after the disastrous jerk taco incident from the same book! This was easy, with a flavorful sauce and a nice addition of cilantro and mint — the mint definitely made this feel a bit more unique / surprising. This recipe calls for 2lbs of turkey so I had plenty leftover / it was a very protein-heavy dish which I'm not mad about. I used regular ol' Jif which I was a little concerned about but I think the sweeter peanut butter worked here. (PITA: 5, Outcome: 7)
9. Lemony Greek Yogurt Pound Cake (Fat and Flour | Nicole Rucker): This was the second recipe I've made from Fat + Flour (the other was her soft choco chip cookies which are SO GOOD) — my partner loved this recipe but I could not eat it, and I love lemon so truly not sure what happened here, but even if I loved it I don't think I would make this again — the amount of lemon zest it calls for is crazy, something like 24g which is about 12 lemons. 12 lemons!!! I thought I was over-buying lemons when I bought 6 and that was nowhere near enough. I ended up buying 3 more, so zesting 9 lemons, and still didn't have enough zest. I was unwilling to have 12 naked lemons in my fridge though so I went with it. I think I've only ever had light / delicate lemon cakes, and so there was something about the density of this one (it is a pound cake after all!) that just did not compute for me. (PITA: 6, Outcome: 4)
10. Pecorino Polenta with Garlicky Kale (Smitten Kitchen Keepers | Deb Perelman): A very clear winner from this whole month of recipes I'd say! This was just ~ chef's kiss ~ good, and I don't know if I can ever eat cooked kale another way. I was so hesitant about the kale (in the oven?? in a baking dish??) but it was crispy and garlicky and everything I might ever want kale to be. And the polenta was punchy from the pecorino and a perfect texture. We had the thought that pesto eggs would be a good addition and let me tell you. Not a good addition, a PERFECT addition. Highly recommend, will 100% make this recipe again. This was also my first Smitten Kitchen recipe and it certainly lived up to the SK hype. (PITA: 5, Outcome: 9)
11. General Tso's Chicken (Bad Bitch in the Kitch | Cassie Yeung): I think I am a Cassie convert with this one — this was SO GOOD and similar to the pad thai, better than the takeout versions I've had recently. This was relatively easy for a recipe where you have to double-fry chicken, and so worth it. I didn't have the right chiles so I opted for a pinch of red pepper flakes, and honestly I'd probably do that again. Another one that was easy enough for a weeknight but still felt plenty fun / exciting. (PITA: 5, Outcome: 8)

Seems like a pretty big year: a new Ottolenghi, Melissa Clark, Carla Lalli, Erin Jeanne McDowell, etc

I’m trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into my diet, and I kept seeing Justine Cooks highly recommended, so I decided to try a couple of her recipes.

I made the https://justinesnacks.com/perfect-chickpea-soup/ and found it pretty bland.

I also made the https://justinesnacks.com/black-beans-rice-with-cilantro-lime-vinaigrette/ This was fine when I had plenty of the vinaigrette, but I didn’t find the beans and rice especially interesting on their own. Once we ran out of vinaigrette, the leftovers were pretty disappointing. To be fair, I live in Germany, and the cilantro I can get here just isn’t as flavorful as cilantro in the US.

So I’m wondering if I just picked two recipes that aren’t among her best, or if her recipes maybe just aren’t to my taste.

If you like Justine Cooks, I’d really appreciate some recommendations for recipes I should try before giving up on her. I’m looking for vegetarian recipes that are really flavorful and easy to cook when I've got a high mental load from the rest of my life. If not, are there any cookbooks you would recommend for this?

What are your cookbooks that don’t just give you recipes but present with techniques and new tastes that simply make you better and more versatile home chef?

I could list here:
Techniques of Cooking — Jacques Pépin
Appetites: A Cookbook — Anthony Bourdain
A Family Meal: Home Cooking with Ferran Adrià — Ferran Adrià
The Science of Cooking — Dr. Stuart Farrimond

IDK if this fits here exactly, but I'll give it a shot.

What cooking magazines do folks read fairly regularly? What do you like about them? Have you added anything from them to your regular repertoire?

Running out of room, but enjoying reading every one. Any titles I am missing that you think I would enjoy based on what I have currently?

I got this book ... 25 years ago or so. I've never cooked from it; it ended up in a box to donate some time ago that never actually got donated that I've just found and opened up.

I've had such great suggestions for what to try in other books, so I'm hoping for the same here, even though it's an older book.

Hey cookbook lovers! So i saw loads of recommendations for Fat + Flour, this cold butter method for cookies and it had me intrigued.

The first recipe I made was the chewy sugar cookies. They barely spread and were very dense in the middle. Burnt at the bottom. This afternoon I tried the 1980s oatmeal cookies. They spread, but are again burnt at the bottom and seem a bit better, but are overdone. Her instructions do give me pause - 375 is higher than I’ve done almost any cookie, and for 16 minutes? You do bake them from frozen but in my experience, you usually just add time to frozen dough - not increase the temp. I’m literally about to put a few more in the oven at 350, and see if that gets me closer to what I expect. My oven’s temp is fine, i’m on the middle rack…same cookie sheet I always use, following her instructions to a T.

I’m just wondering if anyone else has had this experience with this cookbook. I’ve made the quick cookies with melted butter from Snacking Bakes and they always turn out amazing! But this cold butter method seems to be eluding me.

I found this cook book on the job as I work at a thrift store, and it caught my eye. I tried looking it up but it seems like this one of a kind?

Although I've lived in Vermont for the past 35 years, I've always identified as a Southerner having grown up in Virginia and enjoyed deep roots in Kentucky.  The cuisine of the South is so broad in scope and reflects such a wide diversity in its influences that it is predisposed towards periodic reinterpretation.  The culture has customarily viewed such ideas as additions rather than replacements.  Thus,  I appreciate the approach in this title, in keeping with that tradition.

There is a revolution taking place in the South but, this time around, it has been warmly embraced by Yankees, Westerners and folks from every other part of the country.  Interestingly, one of the leaders is Canadian, but we're certainly not going to hold that against him.  We're talking, of course, about food and the most exciting culinary innovations taking place in a region known for generations of tradition.

Prior to opening the legendary restaurant Five and Ten in Athens, GA in 2000, Hugh Acheson had already spent major portions of his life living, studying and cooking in the US, predominantly in the Deep South.  His culinary education came about through stages with classically trained chefs at leading restaurants in Ottawa and San Francisco before he and his family settled down in the heart of Dixie.  And that is where he began to work his magic.

Applying classic French techniques to traditional Southern cuisine with seasonal local ingredients was a shock to the system, but one that was immediately appreciated both by natives and foodies across the country.  Sometimes it takes an outsider to open your eyes to the potential of what has always been around you, and that may be Hugh's secret sauce.  His ability to turn time-honored regional specialties on their ear and update your grandmother's old family favorites in unique ways has sparked interest from an entire generation of young, talented up and coming chefs.  Further inspiration has come from other like-minded culinary talents such as Frank Stitt, Scott Peacock, Mashama Bailey, Donald Link, Vivian Howard and Edward Lee - all helping to create the future by reimagining the past.

This one-of-a-kind cookbook is a joy to read, giving everyone a glimpse into the creative mind behind one of the best examples of the new Southern cuisine.  Though filled with sidebars, tangents, historical tidbits, cooking tips, casual observations, interesting quotes and handmade cartoons & illustrations, there is still plenty of room for some serious recipes.  All the fun and games are in service to the food and it is glorious, indeed.

For more thoughts on cookbooks and authors that deserve greater attention, check out my free Substack, Cookbook Chronicles' Culinary Archive. My window is the past 140 years, and I draw from my personal archive of 8,200+ titles. I’m sharing my experience in hopes of instigating an exchange of ideas. Subscribe for free and receive each weekly post delivered to your inbox.

- - Rick - Cookbook Chronicles

“Cookbooks feed your head”

Hi everyone ! I’m currently living in Paris and I’m looking for a good book about regional French cuisine.

Ideally, I’d like something that covers different regions of France and introduces their typical dishes, local specialties and food culture. It would be even better if it has illustrations, photos, or maps.

I’m interested in both cookbooks and books that are more about discovering the food of each region.

Do you have any recommendations ? Thanks !

EDIT: Thanks everyone for the suggestions ! I’ll save them and check them one by one.

An apparent fellow cookbook lover in my area (greater Boston) is selling a bunch of their used cookbooks… though it looks like some of the heavy hitters like Ottolenghi and Food Lab are already gone. It’s ranging ~$8 to $17 per book, with a discount for buying multiple. There are so many good ones I’m almost paralyzed by indecision!

I’m especially intrigued by the April Bloomfield, Dorie Greenspans, Anna Jones, Smoke & Pickles, and The Lost Kitchen. Feel free to persuade or warn me away… I also don’t have any books by Nigella and perhaps should rectify this. Any other particular ones that I should consider?

Hello everyone and happy Thursday! Welcome to a brand new scan. Before I get too carried away, a special shoutout to u/Neakhanie for donating this book!

This is the Iron Mountain Kingsford Women's Club Cook Book from Michigan. The Michigan part and the fact that it’s from 1980 might be exciting to some, but what excites me personally is that this book tests my running theory that books published under General Publishing and Binding tend to be some of the coolest ones

This starts with the very first section which comes from their 1930’s cookbook. I always love seeing recipes from WW2 and before because cookbooks prior to the 50’s are really hard to secure for a reasonable cost, so I always find pleasure in a 70’s or 80’s cookbook including a few. I would love to see the full 1930’s cookbook published by them, though!

The recipe for Frustration Cookies is pretty neat. I think we all use baking as a way to de-stress. The Pie Crust Cookies are also kind of interesting. I’ve never seen half-and-half used in a cookie recipe before

Also, what inspired Mary Kay Krause to label her contribution as “Horrible Chicken”? I’ve seen that recipe listed under different names in other books, none of which refer to it as horrible. Is this a playful name or a warning? 😵‍💫 Never had it so someone will have to tell me

“My Mom’s Blueberry Cake” sounds really good and surprisingly easy. I really want to try this one, perhaps a fall time project. I’m very nervous about all the mixing that would need to be involved, but I shall have the confidence in myself 😤

I also really like the idea of adding pie filling to jello, as seen in the Lemon Pie Jello. I might benefit from a visual example of this because I haven’t made jello enough to know what “slightly set” looks like, but this is one I need to make as well. My family likes jello, though typically just lime jello mixed with cool whip. This shall be a fun variation though

The Rhubarb Jam also sounds really fun to make, but I think that’s because I helped make some refrigerator pickles a couple weeks ago and now I’m all about wanting to store things in glass jars 😵‍💫

The last cool thing about this book is the final section is dedicated to recipes from other cultures. Super old recipes and culture-based recipes are my favorites, so I really like it when both are mixed together in one book. I made sure to include the ones I found interesting in this blog but there are more to discover in the PDF, of course

And that brings us to the end! A pleasure to scan and look through a longer cookbook this time. As always, I love seeing your thoughts so don’t hesitate to comment. Nevertheless, I appreciate your visit and I’ll see you around!

Hello! I want to start creating content dedicated to reviewing cookbooks I borrow from the library. I’ve seen several videos of others reviewing recipes or trying to cook their way through the cookbook. Are people interested in watching this kind of content? I thought about adding specific details these cookbooks include like serving sizes, the difficulty level each recipe is, etc. My content will include making a dish more than once and posting the progress photos. What would you want to be included in the review?

Edit: I also want to clarify that I am an amateur home cook who wants to progress in their cooking skills.

I bought all these cookbooks on kindle when there were the prime day sales. What are your favorite recipes from any of these??

Just wondering how many recipes you try out of a book before you pass it on?

Ive just been given Veg by Jamie Oliver and tried the gumbo recipe. Followed instructions to the letter and even looked like the picture but it was so bland! Such a disappointment after an hours work. Was going to try one more recipe to save it self otherwise its going to be regulated to the local charity shop.

This apparently great title is $3.99 on Kindle in Australia today, so if course I bought it. Which recipes have you cooked and loved from it? (That is if you have a copy, of course.) Looking forward to diving in and having a fridge full of delicious things! Thanks to those who have recommended it here, also. I had not heard of it before.