Like me, there are probably a lot people on here that have a lot of cookbooks, but I find I keep coming back to the same 1 or 2 books to give me the basis of most of the stuff I cook.
For me, I find myself coming back to the Jamie At Home book and Jamies Italy but I'm interested to see what other cookbooks others have as their "go to" cookbooks?
Definitely the Joy of Cooking. It's not a convenience cookbook for people with busy schedules or low patience - the majority of recipes in there are geared toward flavour and not specialty diets or quick prep times - but at least 9 out of 10 recipes I try in there have near-perfect flavour and texture.
IMO, this should be in every cook's kitchen, even the ones that don't really use cookbooks. It has all the classic recipes, and you never know when somebody will ask you to make Chicken Kiev.
Alton Brown's I'm Just Here for the Food If I'm going to be using a technique I'm not 100% familiar with.
Bittman's "How to Cook Everything." It's really great - simple and easy - plus you can get the whole thing as an iphone app for $4.99.
I love working with dough and baking my own bread and pastry. So my bible is Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice. I use this book so often that I don't even bother to return it to my bookshelf anymore.
Not a book, but Google is the one I use by far the most. I typically have a rough idea what to cook, do a google search to find recipes for inspiration and then make something with bits and pieces from various sources.
The New Best Recipe from Cook's Illustrated.
Just the right balance between recipes and discussion of technique. I always consult this book before cooking a new cut of meat for the first time.
References I use:
Cookbooks I'm fond of:
I know it is a long list, but we cannot forget Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Full of techniques.
Madhur Jaffrey's "Indian Cookery" (a newer edition of this) and a Danish book called "Mad" (eng: Food) from 1939.
I also frequently use "Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Cookery" for all those techniques and methods that I only need once in a while, but when I need them, I need them desperately.
I usually recommend the more traditional Joy of Cooking. It was pretty much the american cookbook for about 50 years. It's decent, and it's got a recipe for pretty much everything.
A more modern choice would be Bittman's How to Cook Everything. Same principle, but a more modern take on it.
Both books have huge amounts of text dedicated to first principles. How to do this or that, what this or that meat is good for, what herbs go together, how to make the base sauces, etc, etc. If you're looking for reference rather than recipes, that's a good place to start.
I disagree with a lot of their activism, but their dietary facts are spot on. If you want to know how to eat healthy as a vegetarian, start here. (We're not vegetarians, but some of our friends are and we like to entertain with full meals.)
When my spouse was young, their family couldn't afford meat very often. This and Joy of Cooking were my mother-in-law's bibles for how to feed the family healthily during some rough spots.
Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health and Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers by the Moosewood Collective
I recently purchased The Professional Chef (Culinary Institute of America) as both a cookbook and a reference guide. Despite what the title suggests, it is filled with basic information about: identifying different vegetables, herbs, and fruits; explaining the cuts of meat, their purpose and origin; chapters on different basic cooking techniques such as grilling, roasting, baking, etc.
It has a wide variety of recipes and some excellent resources for someone learning to cook. The best part is that the book will continue to serve you well through more professional culinary endeavors such as starting a catering business, opening a restaurant, or just cooking a meal for family and friends.
Seconding the recommendations for How to Cook Everything and The New Best Recipe, and I have to add How to Cook by the writer and TV presenter who taught millions of Brits: Delia Smith. It's the third hefty, indispensable volume on my cookbook shelf.
But if I had to keep only one, it'd be How to Cook Everything — it's ridiculously exhaustive. Not just a recipe book (though it's certainly that, and in a big way), but an encyclopedia of practical cookery. It's been invaluable as I learn my way around the kitchen and the grocery aisles.
1080 Recipes, by Simone Ortega.
This is a classic of Spanish cooking that almost every mother gives to their children when they leave home ;-)
http://www.amazon.com/1080-Recipes-In%C3%83%C2%A9s-Ortega/dp/0714848360
Slightly off topic as they don't really have many recipes in but I find the following three reference books really valuable...
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen - by Harold McGee
Really useful reference book about cooking processes and ingredients. Want to know why something is working or not working the way it is, or how to cook that mystery ingredient. McGee is your man.
The Oxford Companion to Food - Alan Davidson
An encyclopedia of food knowledge, ingredients and gastronomical history. Very down to earth and well written too.
If you want to learn about classic European cooking this is the book to have. All of those classic techniques and gastronomy in one book. Lots of recipes as well.
Michael Ruhlman's Ratio is an excellent book detailing not just some recipes, but why recipes have what they have (and in the quantities they do). I found it's great to help free your mind from following recipes blindly and move to making your own (or improvising more).
Plus, some of the recipes in the book are quite good on their own. They also tend to be either simple enough to easily modify or have the simplified ratio detailed so that you know what's optional and what's mandatory.
His blog is also quite good a highlighting certain ratios and encouraging me to try new dishes.
My favorites are:
The Good Housekeeping cook book is a classic. Has all the basics such as how to make sauces to roasting beef.
The copy I have is my aunties which was published in 1953 and it lives in my kitchen.
Alton Brown's "I'm just here for the food" is a great go-to if you need to look up a technique.
As far as recipes go, I've loved everything I've cooked out of two Jamie Oliver books. "The Naked Chef" and "Food Revolution". Both contain simple recipes that use fresh ingredients.
You also can't really go wrong with any book authored by Julia Child.
I have found many great ideas and cooking techniques in these books:
I always end up referring back to the Larousse Gastronimique (I have several different editions), The Professional Chef (which is the Culinary Institute of America textbook), and Jacque Pepin's Complete Techniques. Harold McGee's On Food and Cooking is a fantastic book, but I don't find myself referring to it much when I'm actually cooking something.
If I could have only one cookbook I'd choose The Cooking Book, by Victoria Blashford-Snell. It's an extremely well elaborate illustrated hardcover guide for everyday cooks. It doesn't only contain delicious and accessible recipes greatly categorized but step-by-step guidance for techniques and, last but not least, suggestions for serving and what to do with left-overs.
From appetizers to desserts, from lunch box to elaborated party dinners. A superb book!
My favorite reference cookbook is the unfortunately out-of-print The Settlement Cookbook. It's old fashioned and many of the recipes are under-spiced, but it's my go-to book for basics like how long to cook baked potatoes.
Along the lines of The Joy of Cooking - you must have I Know How to Cook. It's originally in French, recently released in English.
If you can, get the older French editions before they've messed with all the recipes.
The Cook's Companion by Stephanie Alexander is considered the Australian cookbook bible.
The Classic Italian Cookbook by Marcella Hazan (and her other books) are my bibles when I'm cooking Italian food.
Favorite? Probably not, but if I had to limit it to one cookbook, I'd use The Best Recipe. It's a 1000 page tome with most everything you want to know how to cook. The reason I love the book though, is their approach. For each recipe, they gather a bunch of different recipes and then make them all, figure out what they like and don't, change the recipes, make them again, etc. until they find the "best" recipe. The fascinating thing about the book is that they document all this along with the recipe, so you can figure out not just how to make a dish, but why you're doing it a certain way. That knowledge, gleaned mostly from this book, is what allowed me to step beyond following a recipe and actually start to cook and be creative in the kitchen.
Also, I would NOT get The French Laundry book. That is not a Tuesday night, throw something together kind of a book. If you want a Keller book, get Ad Hoc at Home. It is by far his most accessible book. But even that wouldn't qualify as a bible for your kitchen. Note: I'm not saying The French Laundry book isn't good, just that it doesn't meet the standard of the question.
My preference is On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee. Understanding the basics behind how things cook helps with making substitutions or alterations in recipes.
Naming those published in English:
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
and
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle and Julia Child
I can't believe no one has mentioned either of these: (my kids and I are suckers for pictures)
I inherited a Betty Crocker preference from a really old book given to me by my grandma, bless her soul. And, Better is a great little variety book, perhaps targeted more for beginners; the kids love looking through this one in the afternoon now and again, to help decide that great age-old question: "What's for dinner?"
Real Fast Food by Nigel Slater.
It has a great section on building a pantry of items that will let you make a variety of quick, delicious meals. Then, of course, it goes on to give you recipes for some such things. I've given this one as a present multiple times.
Penguin Cordon Bleu Cookery is the one cookbook I would take with me to a desert island. Ok, maybe a desert island with a good organic greengrocer and butchers...
Perfect to find out exactly how to cook whatever classically; I seldom follow it to the letter, but always check it to find out the important basics.
Out of all the cook books, the one I keep coming back to is the book my mum bought me when I got married 20 years ago.
The book is Leith's Cookery Bible, and I like it because it covers a good sampling of different cuisines, recipes and cooking styles. There are a ton of basic recipes that you will make time and time again.
A cheaper version exists here and here (if you are in the UK).
The Williams-Sonoma Cookbook: The Essential Recipe Collection for Today's Home Cook
Seriously one of the best cookbooks I've ever used. I almost always turn to it when I'm hosting a dinner party. The recipes are amazing and cover a very broad base - from cooking the "Perfect fried eggs" to "Beef bourguignon".
We bought it a two-pack with:
The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book: Essential Recipes for Today's Home Baker
Which is also the best baking book I've ever used - hands down.
The best vegetarian cookbook my wife and I have ever seen. We've made over 40 recipes from this book and are impressed every single time.
From Three-Sisters Burritos (filled with butternut squish, pinto beans & cilantro) to Audrey's deluxe Mac & Cheese (with pine nut crust) this book is a winner!
i'm a pesco-ovo-vegetarian (no dairy; eggs and fish are okay)
I keep turning to isa chandra moskowitz's cookbooks:
vegan with a vengeance
veganomicon
vegan brunch
plus:
vegetarian cooking for everyone: by deborah madison
how to cook everything : by mark bittman
Essentials of Cooking By J. Peterson
I have the french version, named 'L'ABC de l'art Culinaire'
It explains all the basic stuff, as how to cut vegetables, clean fish, poultry and the different cooking techniques, goes quite advanced sometimes as how to smoke your salmon etc...
It's not a recipe book, there are some, but it learns you so much more!
Joy of Cooking has almost everything in it, at least my edition from the early 70s does, pickles, smoking, spices, canning, freezing, oh yeah, and cooking, lots of cooking. Mine is now held together with a large rubber band, love it!
I know not everyone grills, but I love How to Grill by Steve Raichlen. It has lots of recipes each showing a different technique.
I also like Mexican Every Day by Rick Bayless. It has several simple and flavorful recipes.
If you are just looking for a good source for recipies then Leith's Cookery Bible is probably one of the best sources. It covers almost every cuisine type, has over 1400 recipies and is simply written as a cook book. Well recommended.
Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone is my Bible for all things non-meat related. For meat-related stuff, I don't have any one go to book.
The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook, aka. The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, but about the only time I check a cookbook is for baking, so this one comes out each year for christmas cookies, and when I feel like making bread.
Years ago I read How to Cook Without a Book, and I tend to be like @Fredrik, and check Google pretty often, although I also have a collection well over 100 cookbooks that I've gotten over the years. (I volunteer at my library processing donated books for sale, so I get the opportunity to snag anything interesting for $1; plus my grandmother's collection from when she moved into a nursing home, and I browse used book stores when I travel)
Best Recipes: From the backs of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Jars. It's just what it sounds like -- recipes from packaging.
The Guardian just put out a list of the "top 50 best cookbooks of all time". They'll soon add the final 10, but the first 40 are there now.
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I use this book so often, the pages are coming loose from the binding. (What ever happened to lay-flat bindings, anyway?)
I agree with a number of the suggestions here, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Starting With Ingredients yet - it's a wonderful book for folks like me who find something particularly interesting at market, take it home, and then try and decide what to do with it. And while it's not a cookbook, I'm a big fan of The Flavor Bible as both sanity check and inspiration for various bits of improvisation ('hmmm, I'm going to be doing something with this. What are the core flavors to go with? Oooh, that'll work...')
The cookbook I use more than any other is The Cook's Companion, which is a distinctly Australian book (covers ingredients found and grown here, etc) but there's no reason why it wouldn't be useful elsewhere in the world.
As far as baking biscuits and cakes goes, there's no way I can go past the Country Women's Association (CWA) cookbook. Again an Australian creation, and it can't be found on Amazon, but it's the tome of English-style baking in Australia.
The "ginger tea series" by James Barber:
These are three tiny cookbooks of simple, throw-it-together with what you have, recipes. Each recipe is illustrated in a one-page hand-drawn comic and they include entertaining and helpful tips (like which parts of the recipe you can go take a bath during). They consistently make yummy, fuss-free meals.
My favorite cookbook of all time and the one I've been returning to for a decade is Extending The Table.
Have to agree with @Fredrik about Google. I would add YouTube for technique, especially when you are trying something totally new. Seeing a video of someone doing it is worth 1000 recipes.
Now for books, aside from the already mentioned reference books like Joy of Cooking, The Art of French Cooking, The Silver Spoon (I use the Italian version!), and Boston Cooking-School Cookbook I would throw in a couple of non-reference books that continually draw me back.
The The Greens Cookbook, really way ahead of it's time and a perfect balance of complimentary flavors in every recipe. Deborah Madison is a true master who understands food on a very deep level. Many of my favorite recipes come from this book and I have been using it for over 20 years.
Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant because it's like travelling around the world from your kitchen. Recipes from the heritage of many of the cooks at Moosewoods Restaurant. Actually learned to cook several new cuisines from this gem. Even wowed my Ethiopian friends. Another heavily bookmarked recipe book.
Ignore the fact that they are both vegetarian cookbooks. They are great cookbooks in their own right.
For Italian food my Italian copy of Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well is my first port of call; the Granddaddy of Italian cuisine.
I have found that my new favorite "Go to" cookbook is"
The Complete Book of Gluten-Free Cooking.
We are not gluten intolerant, but it has some of the tastiest recipes in it that I have made in a long time!
I always seem to come back to the cookbooks written by Giada de Laurentiis. Giada's Family Dinners has a lot of my family's favorite recipes.
At one point I owned about fifteen or eighteen feet of bookshelves filled with cookbooks, plus a couple of crates of Gourmet and Bon Appetit magazines. When I found SOAR (searchable online archive of recipes), I got rid of all of it except for seven books:
Bruce Cost's Book of Chinese Ingredients Chinese Gastronomy by Hsiang Ju Lin and Tsui Feng Lin Taste of the East, by Deh-Ta Hsiang, Rafi Fernandez, and Steven Wheeler Diana Kennedy's Cuisine of Mexico Joy of Cooking and two spiral bound "fundraiser cookbooks, one on Sonoran cooking and one by a Colorado church on pioneer recipes.
The one we always come back to is a (german) baking book:
It's a hardback issue from 1976, has been out of print for a long time, and by now it's so worn-out that we've got to get another one.
Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is my go-to all-purpose cookbook. The spine is now falling apart, though. It's quite amazing how many cuisines he covers. And there's now an iPhone version of the book, for extra convenience.
Mine is the Conran Cookbook - I must have/have had over 100 cookbooks, but this is the one that I've used most over the years, and has the most flour and sauce on it's pages.
Only maybe half the book is recipes, the rest covers things like equipment, basic techniques, identifying good ingredients, cuts of meat, etc.
In terms of recipes, it's not a book I look at for inspiration or adventure, but it's the book that I think taught me most about cookery. The recipes work, and don't seem to gloss over things - I suspect because the book dates from a time when most British cookbooks were pedagogic.
Recently, the one that has had the most use - Snowflakes & Schnapps - a book of Northern European cookery (Scandinavia, Germany, Baltic states and Bohemia).
this is a huge and amazing book that is really like an encyclopedia CIA's Professional Chef
The compilation books by Books for Cooks. Books for Cooks is a London based cook book store, with test kitchen. Every so often they publish a book with the best recipes to date, and they are all amazing.
Bittman's How to Cook Everything. What's cool is that I know I can pick anything up from the market and know that he'll have a good, simple recipe for it with ingredients I already have.
For vegetarians, Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian is an excellent all-around book I always come back to
Since I've just started to learn how to cook I've found Cooking Simply Everything pretty useful. The main focus of the book is to teach you the best way to cook individual pieces e.g the different ways to cook carrots. There's a couple of recipes thrown in there too.
Molto Italiano by Mario Batali is the one I keep coming back to. It's recipes are easy to follow and are relatively basic, but if you find decent to good ingredients, the food turns out great. I have loved just about every recipe I have tried in the book, although the baked ziti and the fettuccine Alfredo were probably the best tasting.
For South-East Asian food, Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland, is best book out there. It has a description of all the non-traditional ingredients, including tips on how to find them in the US. He even includes the Thai name for Pandan leaves, since they tend to be easier to find frozen, from a Thai manufacturer. The beef rendang recipe is amazingly close the versions I've had in Jakarta.
Due to my roots I keep coming back to the Cape Malay Cookery Book. It was at one point the most shoplifted book in South Africa. It contains most of the dishes my mother used to make for me when I was young and now I want to create them for myself.
White Heat (Marco Pierre White) is half autobiography and half recipie book which keeps me coming back.
Gorgeous Desserts by Annie Bell is my goto book for when Im entertaining and need a dessert - the pictures alone are wonderful.
These books will convince anyone that cooking without meat, dairy, or eggs can be incredibly delicious!
I have many favorites, but the Victory Garden Cookbook is among those I use most often. It has chapters for each of the most commonly grown vegetables, with tips on storage and preparation, and a variety of recipes.
I'm showing my roots here, but the cookbook I refer to the most is Az Ínyesmester Nagy Szakacskönyve by Magyar Elek. Horváth Ilona: Szakácskönyv is a close second.
Like other folks have mentioned multiple times, I'm partial to The Joy of Cooking.
I've also had good success using cookbooks from the Silver Palate:
Bill Granger's series of books are great, in my opinion. His recipes are easy, fresh and tasty.
I love Antonio Carluccio's Italian cookbooks. By my opinion, he is the best source for genuine Italian recipes.
The Way to Cook by Julia Child is a great basic reference, and I use it all the time for that "how do I make a..." question. I don't use it much for recipes anymore, but when I can't remember the proportions for flour and fat in a roux, I go here first.
