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Andrea Charroin, Food Goddess:
Favorite cookbook, anyone?
Hey good lookin’ - what’s cookin’?
OK, that is the most corn-ball greeting. But I find it truly endearing. Much to our teenage horror, our Uncle Randy used to greet us girls (there are three in my family) with, “Hey good lookin’, what’s cookin’?”
Secretly, if he forgot the greeting, we were all a little sad.
Occasionally someone will say this to me and I just have to chuckle.
I tell you this little family anecdote because I am not “cookin’” this week. The kitchen of the Food Goddess is closed until next week. I recently packed up my kitchen to move to a temporary home. It feels unbelievably odd to leave a kitchen in which I created so many memorable meals. It was the home base where I created recipes for my future bakery. It was central to our social lives.
As I was packing and attempting to purge my kitchen of useless fluff, it became abundantly clear that I can not toss out a cookbook. Well, yes, I did sell some at a yard sale a few weeks ago, but between us, those were dropped off at my house by a neighbor who heard I liked to cook. I had a few good discoveries in that pile, but more Jello cookbooks than I thought I needed.
I liked how well-rounded my collection was. I have books from just about every country and region. I have cookbooks by famous chefs and home cooks. I have church and school fundraiser cookbooks. You name it.
Looking at all these books got me thinking: What books do you - the Food For Thought reader -turn to? Do you still use cookbooks, or are you now doing research on Web sites such as epicurious.com (my favorite) or cooking.com?
Cookbooks to me are what a romance novel is to someone else. I can sit up late into the evening with a wonderful cookbook, stirring up images of fantastic dinner parties, intimate evenings at home, or even just a quick dinner with my guys.
I love them all, from celebrity chefs (which, in my opinion, there are far too many of these days), to some of the world’s best, and most quiet chefs. I love the old books
that give history, and perhaps a family story behind each dish. Some of the early James Beard books are written in such a format.
Lately I find myself turning to my collection of Ina Garten books (she is the Barefoot Contessa). Her books are simple to read, with lovely pictures. Just about everything I have made from her books turns out great. I can flip through one and find a quick idea or when I am feeling somewhat uninspired (hey, it happens), I can find something that can give me the kick in the pants that we all sometime need to get dinner on the table.
I also rely heavily on my old Greens cookbook from the San Francisco restaurant of the same name. I use this book so often that I really should invest in one with clean pages. I do love the splatters though; more memories.
I also write notes in my books. I like to write who I made the dish for, what changes I made or changes next time. I then feel like the cookbook author and I are in a project together. Sort of like us, here on Food For Thought.
So, please share, or even ask about cookbooks. Perhaps you have found a fantastic book that we could all learn from. Or maybe you’ll suggest a wonderful local cookbook.
This week when I’m not cooking, I’ll enjoy reading your answers.
Andrea Charroin was a trained baker and pastry chef in San Francisco before she, her husband Westley, and their two sons moved to Redding nine years ago. After falling in love with Redding’s downtown, Andrea and Westley opened a little pastry shop, Rene-Joule Patisserie, across from the Cascade Theatre. For the three years Rene-Joule was in business, it was renowned for making everything from scratch, using the best ingredients and keeping with a seasonal menu. To this day, Andrea is still asked about her Marathon Bars, Orange Twists and sourdough bread.
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I use Epicurious, yes (I love that you can write your own reviews and read how other users have tweaked the recipes), but I also like the Silver Palate series, the Open Hand cookbooks, the S.F. Chronicle compilations, and anything by Julia Child, Chris Schlesinger, and Lee Bailey.
For bread I rely on “Beard on Bread” by James Beard and “The Village Baker” by Joe Ortiz. “The Cake Bible” by Rose Levy Berenbaum is just that. And Lindsey Shere’s “Chez Panisse Desserts” is my go-to for basic pies, cookies, and simple cakes. My all-purpose choices are “The Joy of Cooking” and “The Doubleday Cookbook.”
And I have cookbooks that I seldom use but I keep around just because I like to look at them, or I get ideas from - Perla Meyers, an old Westinghouse cookbook, “The Beautiful” coffee table series of regional cookbooks, Anna Thomas, Julie Sahni, Irene Kuo, Nigella Lawson.
My all-time favorite cookbook - stained and sticky in the very best places - is The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook.
The most cherished items in my collection, though, are the handwritten recipes. I have been copying them into my word processor for the kids, but I can’t part with the originals - Craig’s grandmother’s matzo balls and kreplach recipes, my Grandma’s Fudge - which she used as frosting on her famous cupcakes.
I do turn to the Internet often to find recipes when I have an idea of what I’d like to prepare. But for the ideas, I turn to my large stack of Bon Appetit magazines that I have kept for years. I still like to look at pictures, I guess.
My go-to book is the Joy of Cooking; the Web has made it easier for me to try more exotic fare - African groundnut soup - but the Joy of cooking is that one resource I like getting out, just for the memories.
I love to read cookbooks. I have many but only use Barefoot Contessa cookbooks. If I want a recipe for something, I go to the computer and pull up
500 recipes for whatever I am looking for. You can skim them and get the best and most cretive in no time. Other than that, I am inspired by anything I read.
The Enchanted Broccoli forest is my favorite cookbook. I like Jamie Oliver too, but mostly because he’s a babe.
Well Suzanne, if we were rating cookbooks by the looks of the chef I would have to put my vote in for Todd English. Not quite a Clooney, but darn close.
Hey Thom…maybe you should share your African groundnut recipe. Sounds great.
Mostly, I improvise, bordering on raw food prep. But I still depend on Joy of Cooking: the old one, and the new one. My current favorite, though, is New Vegetarian Gourmet by Byron Ayanoglu, a gift from my sister-in-law. The author is Greek, raised in Turkey, so there are lots of Mediterranean style dishes, including the wonderful Spinach Feta Pie with an Olive oil crust. (The crust can, amazingly, be used for all kinds of other things—not just savories.)
My favorite throwback book is “Good Maine Food,” 1947, by Marjorie Mosser with notes by her uncle, historical novelist Kenneth Roberts, including this one: “‘Good Maine Food’ ignores cookery that is namby-pamby, twiddly, cloying, fussy, messy and immature, and emphasizes food that appeal to men and women whose tastes are sound and sturdy.” The book’s many basics include: “Beans Baked in Bean Hole,” “Cucumbers in Evaporated Milk,” and “Pickle for 100 Pounds of Ham, Roast, Bacon, Etc.” Roberts adds: “Old recipes, like old friends, are usually most dependable.”
I still cherish my very tattered copy of Better Homes and Garden New Cook Book. I purchased it when I was trying the theory “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” while dating your father…..I needed the cook book in order to cook a prime rib as a thank you for moving me…..as you know the theory worked and we had 31 happy years together….
Andrea, what a great topic. It’s so great to hear everyone’s favorite books and recipes. Jenny, Thom, would you guys share your recipes? They sound really interesting.
I have a huge cookbook collection, but most still look clean and new. The exceptions are the ones I couldn’t cook without, in order of preference: The Way to Cook, by Julia Child, the Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook and the Silver Palate Cookbook, both by Rosso & Lukins, Farm Journal’s Best Ever Recipes, The Greens Cookbook, Cafe Beaujolais, The Joy of Pizza, The Joy of Cooking and The Il Fornaio Baking Book.
Like Erin, I also keep all my Bon Appetits (I have some Thanksgiving issues that are more than 20 years old). And I love Cooks Illustrated, although it drives me crazy with its inconsistent mailings. Lately, I’m warming up to Cooking Light, and I’m really enjoying my new subscription to Gourmet magazine, something I resisted for years, because I thought it was just too, too. I find it has great, long stories that really delve into cooking.
Geez, what a great topic. Thank you, Andrea, and to everyone for sharing. Feel free to post your favorite recipes.
Throw everything into the compost except for Joy of Cooking. Seriously, we’ve had our 1997 All-New edition since we got married and I have never found it lacking. My favorite recipe from it is for Dutch Babies (big crepe-like pancake baked in an iron skillet)…buy the book and make some babies…
I adore Food & Wine magazine and get most of my new recipes from there. I also love my Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook and am just getting into my new cookbook, A Great American Cook by Jonathan Waxman. So far so good and the photos are beautiful. I was just given Supercookery! from 1976 (someone’s discard) that has a price tag of $5.75- anyone familiar with it?
I personally swear by my church cookbooks. Those ladies are super competitive and swear their life on their cooking. Never found a bad recipe in a good baptist or pentacostal cookbook
New favorites (the last 10 years): The Bread Baker’s Apprentice by Peter Reinhart, The Cook’s Bible by Christopher Kimball, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison and Pie, Pie, Pie by John Phillip Carroll (Butter Brickle Banana Cream Pie, pg 83…WOW!)
Old dog-eared favorites: The Silver Palate series by Lukins and Russo, Farm Journal’s Best Ever Recipes, The Joy of Cooking. The Moosewood collection.
Favorite web resources: Alton Brown on Food Network, Smitten Kitchen and of course, most frequently read, emailed and printed…Food for Thought!