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View Full Version : Your "Go To" cookbook, what is it?


Groundhog66
12-22-2010, 01:02 PM
I need to download some great cookbooks, what is your absolute favorite? I think the perfect book would have many classic recipes, as well as cutting edge original stuff.

ZILLA
12-22-2010, 01:12 PM
James Beards American Cookery and two editions of The Joy of Cooking, the original and the 2000 updated edition are the three general cookbooks that get the most use for classic American dishes. That being said we have over 150 cookbooks in our collection as well as a complete and growing set of Fine Cooking magazines. Our recipe resources cover most of our needs though occasionally I will look up a recipe on the Internet. If I could only have one cook book it would be the James Beard book, I absolutely love it!

thomasjurisd
12-22-2010, 01:13 PM
They all seem to have their own angle but I find myself reaching for the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for basics on measurements, cooktimes for random things and general knowledge. For BBQ specifics I often go for Steven Raichlen's BBQ Bible.

aquablue22
12-22-2010, 01:14 PM
Joy of Cooking, Better Homes and gardens New Cook Book (25 years old) and the internet

landarc
12-22-2010, 01:18 PM
Joy of Cooking, I only have the updated version, my sister got my mom's old copy. I own a load of other ones, but, almost never look to them except for the occasional inspiration.

Chris_R
12-22-2010, 01:19 PM
The internet

gtr
12-22-2010, 01:20 PM
If you're going to have one cookbook, it should be "Joy of Cooking". For bbq I like "Smoke & Spice". Cook's Illustrated makes a lot of really good cookbooks & you can check them out & see which one's best for you.

mmmmeat
12-22-2010, 01:20 PM
honestly,.... as it pertains to BBQ, HERE!!!! other than that my wife hits up cooks.com, or allrecipes.com

goro25
12-22-2010, 01:23 PM
Yes, internet. I use foodnetwork.com mostly. They have multiple recipes for each dish ranging from easy to hard with plenty of reviews and ratings for each. I read through all the reviews before I decide which recipe to use.

For BBQ my go to is the BBQ Bible or this site.

Groundhog66
12-22-2010, 01:26 PM
I am somewhat surprised that "The Joy of Cooking" is not available via Kindle.

caseydog
12-22-2010, 01:29 PM
I use cookbooks in an unusual way. I look through them for inspiration, but seldom cook the actual recipes.

Smoke and Spice is pretty good. I'm a Mario Batali fan, and get good inspiration from his cookbooks. Anything from Julia Child is going to have good, classic recipes.

I like church cookbooks. Lot's of churches sell them for fundraisers, and there is some good home-cooking recipes in them gathered from members. You can sometimes find them at garage sales for dirt cheap.

CD

JD McGee
12-22-2010, 01:30 PM
Dr.BBQ`s "Big Time BBQ" Cookbook...:0)

Ashmont
12-22-2010, 01:36 PM
My moms and Grandmothers...:becky:

chillcoolcold
12-22-2010, 01:57 PM
Smoke and Spice, Big Bob Gibson, Steve Rachlin (when I'm sober). Otherwise I will usually find something I scratched out on paper the next morning.

deguerre
12-22-2010, 01:58 PM
Betty Crocker's. Wish I had my Mom's copy though. And the internet.

caseydog
12-22-2010, 02:17 PM
Dr.BBQ`s "Big Time BBQ" Cookbook...:0)

I sooooo want that book.

BTW, Steve Rachlin is WAY too anal-retentive for me. I'd have to be drunk to cook with him, or I'd lose my patience and end up in jail.

CD

Redhot
12-22-2010, 02:18 PM
I use cookbooks in an unusual way. I look through them for inspiration, but seldom cook the actual recipes.
CD

That's what I do too. Guerry and I started a neat thing when we first got married and we still refer to it often. We would look up recipes on the internet, print them and put them in a binder. When we did the cooks we would write down any modifications we did to the recipe for future reference. We also cut out recipes from magazines and put them in the pockets of the binder. It comes in so handy!

Abelman
12-22-2010, 02:19 PM
Over the years, I have always taken notes on all my smokes, BBQ, etc., so I save all of them on the computer.

I get a lot of great stuff from forums as well. Lots of smart folks out there with great ideas. Plus, I'll track down different stuff like Alton Brown recipes, Bobby Flay, etc that I see on the Food Channel. Their website has a ton of recipes with feedback as well which I find helpful at times.

So, I save all the good stuff and store everything in files according to type of meat, misc., sides, appetizers, etc.

To take it one step further, we have a red 3 ring binder that is the house cook book. We store all the family favorites in it with any notes on how we may have tweaked the recipe.

Chris_R
12-22-2010, 02:21 PM
I sooooo want that book.

BTW, Steve Rachlin is WAY too anal-retentive for me. I'd have to be drunk to cook with him, or I'd lose my patience and end up in jail.

CD


Keep it hot, Keep it clean, Keep it lubricated :becky:

Although the last episode of Primal Grill I saw he did some ribs with some chocolate chipotle junk on them. I'd like to try that. Oh and he did say a pretty good quote, something to the effect of "With ribs, the meat shouldnt fall off the bone. They should have a little bite, thats why god gave you teeth"

chillcoolcold
12-22-2010, 02:37 PM
I sooooo want that book.

BTW, Steve Rachlin is WAY too anal-retentive for me. I'd have to be drunk to cook with him, or I'd lose my patience and end up in jail.

CD


I agree but did you see his collection of pits. That guy is raking it in with all of his barbaqanalia

barbefunkoramaque
12-22-2010, 02:48 PM
my autographed and upside down printed (accident in printing) JOY OF COOKING cookbook.

LMAJ
12-22-2010, 03:37 PM
For classic recipes and reference I go with The Southern Living Cookbook. For all things BBQ l come here.

MushCreek
12-22-2010, 03:50 PM
I have and use so many, it's hard to pick one. For general stuff, Joy of Cooking is a must-have. For Q, I use Paul Kirk's Championship BBQ. I have a number of books by Paul Prudhomme, and I hit those pretty hard, too.

FattyMac
12-22-2010, 04:39 PM
I, like many of the others, use cookbooks more for inspiration than actual recipes.

For BBQ stuff I really like Ted Reader's books. I have 'em all, mostly autographed. It was thanks to his books that I really got into 'Que.

I also find myself going to the Cook's Magazine book The New Best Recipes, when I want to try something new that's not 'Que related. Then I go to the web to see how others have played with the dish and then come up with my own.

h20loo
12-22-2010, 05:05 PM
Food that really Schmecks, Better Homes and Gardens, and my own accumulation of recipes that is creating quite a book of my own(lots of brethren ideas and recipes)

caseydog
12-22-2010, 06:06 PM
Keep it hot, Keep it clean, Keep it lubricated :becky:

Yeah, he'd start jacking with me about my "seasoned" cooking grates, and I'd put a set of perfect grill marks on his forehead -- and go to jail. :twisted:

BTW, Redhot, I have a binder full of stuff recipes from the internet, too.

CD

speedrcer1
12-22-2010, 07:38 PM
Smoke & Spice is my fav for BBQ. But HERE is where you can find out what happens in the real world. I never read a book that mentioned "The Plateau" when cooking a brisket.

LT72884
12-22-2010, 07:41 PM
GOOGLE!! Mans best friend

BBQ Grail
12-22-2010, 07:45 PM
I'm going to take a little different twist on this. (Go figure...)

Cookbooks are wonderful. I have close to 200 of them and like some others here I rarely actually cook a recipe direct from one. They are inspiration, pure and simple. Or as Smokin Aussie would say it's a Home Truth...

Anyway I would recommend the following three "cook" books...

Starting With Ingredients by Aliza Green
The Deluxe Food Lovers Companion by Ron Herbst
The Spice and Herb Bible by Ian Hemphill

bobaftt
12-22-2010, 08:09 PM
in my opinion one of the quintessential bbq books available.

Smokin Mike
12-22-2010, 08:27 PM
in my opinion one of the quintessential bbq books available.
<"peace love & BBQ" was in the title>

I totally agree with you, it is one of the only cookbooks I love to read over and over.

Gore
12-22-2010, 08:32 PM
Is it wrong to admit I don't read the articles and just look at the pictures? :becky:

Mister Bob
12-22-2010, 08:54 PM
The Joy of Sex.....I mean Cooking!

T-Man
12-22-2010, 09:08 PM
For inspiration I like : " Larousse Gastronomique " . Not really a cookbook , but a food encyclopedia with some recipes . Every foodie should have it. Also," Sauces :Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making " by Peterson . A book that will open your eyes and get you thinking .
Right now I am digging " Staff meals from the Chanterelle " A cookbook with varied recipes which are simple to prepare , and are meant to feed people..

JD McGee
12-22-2010, 09:10 PM
I sooooo want that book.

CD

Ray was kind enough to autograph it for me a few years back at our first annual Big Green Egg festival...:thumb:

Redhot
12-22-2010, 11:03 PM
GOOGLE!! Mans best friend

I keep trying to get deguerre to try this, you get way more results...go to www.dogpile.com (http://www.dogpile.com) to search; this get's you results from Google, Ask, Yahoo and several others. I've always liked using this way more than Google...just a suggestion! I love the recipes I get from Epicurious, Allrecipes, Cooks.com and Cooking for Engineers.:thumb:

NorthwestBBQ
12-23-2010, 12:01 AM
I call Brian. :-P

bigabyte
12-23-2010, 12:07 AM
I have loads of cookbooks, but I can't think of a single one that is a "go to" cookbook any more. I would say "The Brethren" site, because I do get a ton of inspiration from here, but like the cookbooks, I use it more for inspiration than recipes. Same with searching the internet.

So I guess there just isn't one for me any more. Sorry.

OneHump
12-23-2010, 12:42 AM
Wow, great thread. I just ordered three books from it.

rockyathabaska
12-23-2010, 02:44 AM
cookbooks?
who needs a stinking cookbook ?
It's all right here with you're brothers;I've learned so much about cooking
right here with you guys!
OK,OK, if you want a book, try Nigella Feasts.She has ample......recipes and a good
attitude towards cooking and eating.

RockyAthabaska
Weber 18”kettle
Weber 22.5”kettle
Performer green
Weber silver B gasser
UDS
A man never tells you anything until you contradict him.
George Bernard Shaw

qnbiker
12-23-2010, 09:28 AM
For general cooking, a 30 year-old copy of Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. For BBQ, Smoke & Spice. Individual recipes from the Internet.

peppasawce
12-23-2010, 09:47 AM
I'm at steady consensus with a few folks on here The Joy of Cooking, The Cake Bible, And Emeril Lagasse's Louisiana Real & Rustic is what gets us cooking at Peppa's Place!!!! And I am a member at numerous Online Cooking Sites also.... Peppasawce!!!