Cookbooks are the most important aspect of my kitchen. I don’t search the web for recipes and I rarely use recipes that have been handed down. I like how the recipes in cookbooks are organized and bound. We own close to 100 books dating as far back as the sixties, and I use most of them.
I’m only disciplined enough to add a few summaries per day, so my entire collection has yet to be listed.
Cookbooks alphabetized by authors
Bastianich, Lidia Matticchio. Lidia’s Family Table, More Than 200 Fabulous Recipes to Enjoy Every Day-With Wonderful Ideas for Variations and Improvisations. She’s on PBS. My little brother calls her man-hands because her fingers are like sausages, quite similar to my dad’s, and now that I think about it, my nonna’s too. It must be an Italian thing. She has well thought out techniques that can seem labor intensive, but once you’ve made the dish a few times, you get used to the technique. As stated in the title, her recipes offer variations and she explains things well. She also uses detailed pictures that demonstrate her technique, except for her homemade gnocchi where I could have used a picture or two when rolling the dough on the fork.
Batali, Mario. Molto Italiano, 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home Honestly, it’s been so long since I’ve used his book, I can’t remember how good his book is. If I’m turned off by even a single recipe, I typically end up ignoring the book. I remember his Eggplant Caponata was good, but that’s about it. He as a lot of meat I wouldn’t consider cooking with such as rabbit, goat, venison, calf’s liver, and oxtail. He includes a recipe for homemade sausage, which is always going to be better than anything store or butcher bought, a list of essential kitchen ingredients, and a few pages about wine. My husband seems to like him, but again, it’s been so long since I’ve used his book, I don’t feel qualified to accurately rate him.
Bayless, Rick. Mexican Everyday, Easy, Full-Flavored, Tradition Packed. He has two restaurants here in Chicago which have waiting lists of 6 weeks. Needless to say, I have yet to reserve a table. He’s also on PBS. The Mexican recipes he promotes are authentic, quick, and, of course, easy. He offers variations for recipes and advice on techniques. He uses a lot of tomatillo, which I feel is an acquired taste. I thoroughly enjoyed his Swiss chard tacos with carmelized onion, fresh cheese and red chile, as well as his Tomatillo-sauced enchiladas with spinach and mushrooms. The book is full of dressings, salads, main-dish salads, soups, grilled meals, salsas, tacos, enchiladas, tostadas, and tortas, seafood, poultry, and meat main dishes, and a few desserts.
Berkowitz, Roger and Jane Doerfer. Legal Sea Foods Cookbook, 200 Fresh, Simple, and Delicious Recipes from Appetizers to Desserts. This book accompanied me on the plane to Florida once, and while I didn’t actually use any of the recipes while I was on vacation, I found the introduction, background information and cooking techniques regarding seafood to be quite useful, even though I never use any of the recipes at home because I rarely buy fish, and when I do, it’s always frozen and never fresh. They pretty much use fish in everything but the vegetables and sauces. So if you’re a vegetarian, this book’s for you. And even if you’re not, the recipes are quite unique and easy to follow. And since it takes no time at all for fish to cook, you spend more time prepping than cooking.
Bitman, Mark. How to Cook Everything. This is one of two anthologies I own. An absolute must for every kitchen. It’s loaded with recipes, recipe variations, and background information for all types of fruits and vegetables. It is my go to book when I buy a vegetable on sale without anticipating how I’m going to cook it. Every home should have it.
Brown, Alton. I’m Just Here for the Food and I’m Just Here for More Food, Food x Mixing + Heat = Baking. While I love Alton for his explanations, background information of ingredients, and subsequently, his techniques, following a recipe can be arduous because it requires so much reading, not only on the page itself, but often I find myself flipping back to previous methods in order to use them when they’re required for the current recipe. Needless to say, his recipes turn out quite well, especially his Basic Pie Dough. Ilove his books and I love his show, “Good Eats” on Food Network.
Carpender, Dana. 500 Low-Carb Recipes, 500 Recipes, from Snacks to Dessert, that the whole family will love. I received this as a wedding shower gift years ago, but I can’t remember if it was something I actually registered for. I only recently began using it. I ignore the substitutions for sugar such as Splenda, and I avoid recipes that call for whey protein powder, but her chicken recipes are scrumptious. I especially enjoy the recipes that use heavy cream such as Skillet Chicken Florentine and Creamed Spinach, or even Chicken Paprikash, which uses sour cream. Her Spinach Artichoke Dip is always a success, except I replace the 2 cups mayonnaise with 1 cup mayo and 1 cup sour cream. It’s especially good on toasted pita bread chips. (Homemade, of course.) She has recipes for appetizers, eggs and dairy, breads and grains, veggies, salads, all types of meat, soups, sauces, and desserts.
The woman of the day seems to be Giada De Laurentiis and her buxom bosom. (My post about Giada’s cleavage seems to get the most hits to my blog, I wonder why that is?) Aside from that, Giada has 2 things going for her: 1) She must be a perfectionist because her recipes, with the exception of her latest book, always turn out perfectly. I have never had a dish of hers come out sub par. 2) Her flavors are not a hodgepodge of ingredients that are without rhyme or reason, much like Rachel Ray’s. There’s always a compliment or juxtaposition for each combination of ingredients, and there’s often distinct complexity of flavors within dishes. I’ll begin with her latest book first.
Giada’s Kitchen, New Italian Favorites. The first thing anyone will notice about this latest installment, much like the others, is the plethora of cleavage shots. And not just one shot on every other page or so. We’re talkin’ two-page spreads of her preparing food with roughly 6 inches of cleavage for every consumer to admire. Absolutely ridiculous. Usually, I’m able to look past the boobies, literally, and appreciate her recipes because everything always comes out perfectly, but with this book, the recipes don’t seem to have her usual accuracy. For instance, her Orecchiette with Meatballs was much more watery than the recipe had anticipated. So much so that I was able to completely omit the pasta water needed to make the sauce. Likewise, the Chicken Scaloppine with Cream Sauce was way too watery if given the time she alloted for reduction. Even if I’d reduced to my desired consistency, the addition of one half cup cream made it watery again. I was greatly disappointed.
This book clearly has a California flare, which Italian food doesn’t need, and seems to have more fish recipes. The addition of a kids’ section is nice, but the fare doesn’t seem to vary much from the rest of the book. However, since it is now part of my library, I will continue to consult it.
Everyday Pasta, Favorite Pasta Recipes for Every Occasion Her third book is just as good as her first two. The soups are easy; she’s got a fantastic Chicken Salad; the Hearty Pastas are creamy and cheesy; the Weeknight Pastas are lightning quick, and there are plenty of meatless dishes, which I thoroughly enjoy because I despise fondling raw meat. There’s a section on a few basic sauces, vinaigrettes, and a diddy about wine. No desserts, unless you consider the cleavage shots a “treat.” And even then, there aren’t too many.
Giada’s Family Dinners Also an excellent recipe book. I can’t find justification for intermingling her family photo album between recipes, but then again, I’m merely an aspiring author. Yes, cleavage shots abound. And why not? If she’s not bashful with the general public, why would she choose to be more reserved with her own family. Papa, nonna, brother, nieces and nephews, everyone…cleavage shots for all!
The recipes are great, always turn out accurately, some are more involved than others, usually those that include meat. There are several menus in the back; the desserts are great, especially the Biscotti and Chocolate Chip Hazelnut Cookies. Actually, those are the only two dessert recipes I’ve ever made from that book. Every single soup recipe comes out well, especially Tomato Soup with Pancetta, Winter Minestrone, and Italian Wedding Soup. I often serve her Italian Muffuletta for play dates and her Pizza Rustica is a satisfying meal in itself. My husband makes her Dirty Risotto and, quite honestly, I have yet to find an Italian restaurant that can compare. Mind you, I reside in Chicago.
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