by Anthony Bourdain
This cookbook is one of my favorites because it combines authentic French cuisine and technique with kitchen candor that only Mr. Bourdain can provide. There was clearly no ghost writer with this volume – his voice and personality are evident in the very helpful and instructional text. Okay, it's a bit colorful at times but he's a true New York guy speaking the truth. I wouldn't have this as my only or my first French cookbook but if you're looking to add perspective and an added take on some classic dishes, Mr. Bourdain is a good choice.
by Cook's Illustrated Magazine Editors
This is the cookbook I turn to when I'm making something for the first time whether it's a roast, Caesar salad, or a blueberry pie. If you have the patience to read all their research on why they recommend what they do, then you will learn a huge amount about cooking – knowledge that will make you a far better cook. If you just skip those parts and go directly to the recipes, you'll do just as well, benefiting from all their research. I love to bake pies and tarts and after countless experiments and several classes on how to make pastry dough, no one can convince me that there's a better way or a better result than Best Recipe's. Just ask my dinner guests.
by Culinary Institute of America
I wanted to learn how to make soups and had never had much success with the occasional recipe so I did a lot of research about soup cookbooks and this one really emerged as one of the best. It has a great selection and range of types of soups, instructions basics, and typical of the CIA's cookbooks, photographs to demonstrate technique. My husband is crazy about their Senate Bean Soup, made with a ham hock and garlic croutons. Recipes go from simple to fancy.
by Thomas Keller
I've included this here for two reasons: first, if you're getting more courage and confidence and want to try to make a masterpiece, Keller is the master to turn to. And second, after overcoming terror and intimidation I learned that if you go slow and read the recipe carefully enough to understand how he thinks and works, you can do this. Plus these are not all big deal, difficult recipes. For instance the Veal Roast on page 225 is actually simple. Simple with details. And simple like the Hope Diamond is simple.
by Marcella Hazan
I am very biased about Marcella Hazan's books because her Classic Italian Cookbook really taught me about Italian cuisine – and because I had the honor and privilege to take a master class with her about 10 years ago, a class that changed my cooking life. Ms. Hazan is a great teacher and there is no recipe of hers that is not a total success. Most of her other volumes are also excellent, especially Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, which includes some of the more popular recipes from her earlier volumes. Put yourself in her hands and you will be a triumphant cook of Italian food.
by Mark Bittman, Alan Witschonke (illustrator)
A modern replacement for Joy of Cooking and Betty Crocker. It's essential to have a book like this on your kitchen shelf (this, along with Best Recipe, are the only two cookbooks that are fixtures on my small kitchen counter). I can't always remember the details for making popcorn, meatloaf, or cocktail sauce and Mr. Bittman has them all. The recipes really work and the book is comprehensive and well written.
by Martha Stewart
This is a comprehensive guide to all types of baking, both sweet and savory. I'm not skilled on all types of baking but I trust that every recipe in this book has been vetted for method, technique and flavor. It's full of photographs of both technique and the finished result, which I like since how a baked food looks is so much of its appeal. It has great recipes for basics like biscuits and fancy things like eclairs.
by Martha Stewart
This book really works for several reasons: first and foremost, there is a photograph of every single hors d'oeuvre in the book – and isn't the presentation a huge part of what these little finger foods are all about? Second, the selection is huge, from classic little canapes to cheese boards to cocktails. Finally, the book is done in two sections: the front is all photo and the back is all recipes, with two book-bound ribbon bookmarks included so you can flip back and forth between what you're doing and what the result is supposed to look like.
by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, Simone Beck
This belongs in every home cook's cookbook library. Buy it in hardcover and write margin notes each time you make a recipe. Do not be afraid of Julia's rigor and meticulousness. If you're patient and just do what she tells you to do, anyone can make a perfect boeuf Bourguignon or crème caramel. Really.
by Donna Hay
I don't know why Donna Hay isn't a mega-star in the cookbook world. I discovered her wonderful series of cookbooks while trolling the cookbook department at Barnes & Noble, at first drawn to their graphic stylishness. Ms. Hay was originally a magazine editor in Australia and now has 8 or so cookbooks out. For city cooks who want easy and fabulous weekday cooking ideas (several levels up from those so-called 30-minute recipes), the Donna Hay books are a great solution. Oven roasted red snapper with cherry tomatoes, lemon risotto, Asian chicken vegetable soup, miso crusted salmon and other dishes with global influences are typical of what she offers. The books are large paperbacks with appetizing photography and clear, simple methods of cooking. If you make dinner most nights and want some variety, you will be glad to have some of her books in your kitchen library.
by Mario Batali
Well organized and edited, beautiful and helpful photographs, and accessible recipes that are a mix of simple and stylish dishes. I'd love this book just for the winter caprese salad and turkey cutlets Bologna-style which can easily become a favorite week-day dish. A good choice for the home cook and better written and more accessible than Batali's earlier Babbo book.
by Patricia Wells, Robert Freson (photographer)
My favorite "auteur" French cookbook author. Ms. Wells puts herself into her cookbooks and maybe because, like Julia, she was an adult American amateur who became a superb French chef, she writes cookbooks that let us in to this great cuisine. I also love her Bistro and Paris cookbooks but this one is more core to me. It includes very accessible recipes that don't dumb down great dishes like daubes and gratins and more than most French cookbooks, it conveys the French palate.
by Julee Rosso, Sheila Lukens
These two books have been around for over 20 years and they are still great resources. I love them for certain favorite recipes (a classic pumpkin pie, June's apple crisp which is my all-time worldwide favorite dessert, and a fruit-stuff pork loin) and also for their ideas and creativity when I'm entertaining. I sometimes will get an idea from one of these volumes and then second-guess the recipe with another source. But these are realistic and reliable cookbooks for realistic city cooks.
by Keith McNally, Riad Nasr, Lee Hanson
I am happy to have this on my cookbook shelf if only for their Brandade de Morue, which for me would be high on the short list for a last meal. Most of the recipes are in the bistro-classic category and some are a bit fancy to make. But in my experience the recipes are well crafted and really produce the same result as if you're in the restaurant (just with less noise!).
by Paula Wolfert
She is the master of Mediterranean and Moroccan cooking and recently issued an updated and revised version of this great cookbook. If you are interested in knowing how to cook duck there is no better volume to have. Wolfert writes well, is a good teacher, clearly loves this cuisine, and also provides lots of background about ingredients that will expand your kitchen.
by Lynne Rossetto Kasper
I first learned of this book one day when I was at the gym distracting myself from treadmill boredom by watching Mario Batali on TV. In the midst of his own program he reached for this volume and pronounced it the best Italian cookbook ever written. Many others agree (I love it but no one trumps Marcella for me). Her recipe for pork ribs is now in my regular repertoire and I also love this cookbook for antipasto and vegetables and of course, everything you want to know about Emilia-Romagna's famed ragu.
by Julia Child
I use this volume the way some other cooks use The Joy of Cooking – for the basics on meat, fish and vegetables. Here you'll find internal temperatures for roasting meats and great solutions for making gravy and mashed potatoes, plus lots of tips on technique, many with photographs. It takes Mastering the Art of French Cooking a step further into the amateur kitchen.
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