What cookbook would you want to cook your way through?

David Hammond wrote:Eating my way through an entire menu is much more appealing than cooking my way through an entire book (pace Julie).

Some helpful links:
Julie and Julia Project
French Laundry at Home
Alinea at Home (same woman as FLaH)
Ad Hoc at Home (kind of redundant, since the book is titled "at home")
Momofuku for 2
Big Fat Undertaking (Big Fat Duck)

What cookbook would you want to cook through? I have a major problem attempting that, since my beloved spouse won't eat fin-fish. At all. (Except when she doesn't notice like a bacalao fritter or a piece of sushi she thought had krab)

I'm entranced by Momofuku -- the flavors I've encountered so far are amazing, but it's just a bit more pork fat than I should keep in my diet. It's the one I'm most likely to accomplish. Alinea would be next to impossible without a lot more time on my hands. French Laundry isn't impossible, just annoying in its fussiness. There's some really good stuff in there (and some curious omissions, like they tell how to truss a chicken to roast... but not the roast chicken recipe, which is thankfully posted all over the web). Babbo? Nah. I've done a lot from Nicole Routhier's "Cooking Under Wraps" -- that's probably the most-covered cookbook in my collection.

But aha! I remember there's one I've completed: "The Elements of Cooking" by Michael Ruhlmann.
It's only got one recipe (veal stock).

Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking
The Joy of Cooking
Bernard Clayton's Book on Bread
Any Maida Heatter dessert cook book
The Foods of the World series by time life. I don't have enough life to work through that one.

larousse gastronomique, fannie farmer boston cooking school cookbook and elizabeth david french provincial cooking.
oh yes, and agreed on the time life foods of the world series, i am always elated to find those at thrift stores.

I've got 2 new ones I am going to do my best to cook through(starting today):

1) New Orleans Classic Gumbos & Soups - recipes from Chefs Landry,Murphy,Vizard, Link, Besh, Folse,DiGiovanni, Spicer, as well as the turtle soup recipe from Commanders, & an oyster gumbo recipe from the folks @ P & J, Antoine's alligator soup.

2) Galatoire's Cookbook - magnificent recipes and pictures from this institution.

I got Around My French Table by Dorie Greenspan right before Christmas ~ it's a wonderful cookbook and each recipe has a story. I think I could be happy eating each and every thing in the book But then again, I love French food.

Stir Frying to the Sky's Edge, Grace Young
The Simple Art of Perfect Baking, Flo Braker
Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts, Maida Heatter

Soon after Julia Child's "The Way To Cook" came out I tried cooking my way through that. I definitely hit all the master recipes (many multiple times), and have probably cooked about 90-95% of the recipes in it. I would highly recommend that everyone take a stab at doing that, it really changed the way I look at cooking. After that I cooked about 90% of the recipes in The Balthazar Cookbook, Steven Raichlin's How To Grill, and White Heat.

It's been a long time since I focused on a single cookbook, but I would love to have the time to try to work through all of Takashi's Noodles or Ruhlman's Charcuterie. Over the last year or so both books have provided me with the best new recipes I've found.

I picked up The Essential NYT Cook Book a few weeks ago -- and I'm pretty enamoured of it. I'm still in the read and scan mode but almost every other page has something I'm really dying to try. It's been awhile since I picked up a cookbook that caused me to make so many yummy noises.

I've cooked quite a bit of The Way To Cook -- but i've owned it since I was in college (trust me..that was a long time ago). I'd like to pick up the Dorie book as well.

Thanks for all the suggestion folks -- the Time-Life cookbooks are quite the curiosity: they manage to pack a lot of background into their recipes and subjects, the recipes are obviously well-tested for success (I haven't cooked that many but they work and are easy to follow).

Another cookbook that's been wildly successful every time I open it is the Gourmet cookbook (and to a lesser extent, Gourmet Today -- it's just not quite as useful).
Cooking through those are impossible -- there's 1000 recipes in each!

I'd like to cook through my copy of Jacques Pepin's Complete Techniques. It combines La Méthode and La Technique, and teaches you how to do everything. However, since there are more than a thousand recipes, I don't know if I'll make it all the way through, ever.

I'm currently working my way through The Ultimate Soup Bible, which has over 400 recipes. I got this two years ago this March so I've been at it for quite awhile.

I just had Ad Hoc at Home delivered via Amazon yesterday. After reading through it last night, I think it's possible for even a pretty middle-of-the-road chef like me to cook through it!

I was bumped to see the Ad Hoc at Home @ Home blog stopped a year ago after a few posts.

I’d love to blast through Thompson’s Thai Food because it’s not a cuisine I’m all that familiar with cooking and everything I’ve made from it has tasted great and broadened my horizons. That said it would be a massive undertaking and just isn’t happening.

Thread bump!

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi is the first cookbook where I've wanted to try every single dish.

It has been an eye opener.

It has become the cookbook I gift to those who love food. The photography is breathtaking and so far not a single dud.

I'm also giving Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice a whirl. I'm not the biggest lover of bread, primarily due to too many lackluster tastes I've had, but this book has been a delight.

pairs4life wrote:Thread bump!

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi is the first cookbook where I've wanted to try every single dish.

It has been an eye opener.

It has become the cookbook I gift to those who love food. The photography is breathtaking and so far not a single dud.

I'm also giving Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice a whirl. I'm not the biggest lover of bread, primarily due to too many lackluster tastes I've had, but this book has been a delight.

Hi,

My cookbook club is working through Jerusalem and Plenty. I selected Jerusalem, which has a number of recipes I want to try.

I agree the photography is very good. I hope the recipes work as well. Plus it is food that will lend itself well for summer.

Regards,

For the last couple years I've been obsessed with Mallmann's Seven Fires cookbook. I've made it through all the recipes except one - Una Vaca Entera (a whole cow). The book has really added to the way I view cooking, now I tend to opt for the most rustic options for prep and presentation.

Attrill wrote:now I tend to opt for the most rustic options for prep and presentation.

I'd say so, at least according to this post, which makes me both smile and feel a pang of hunger.

Cathy2 wrote:...My cookbook club is working through Jerusalem and Plenty. I selected Jerusalem, which has a number of recipes I want to try...

I just acquired Jerusalem and Plenty-- tonight we are trying the mejedra. I'm looking forward to trying out more, once the summer produce rolls in. Would you be interested in starting or contributing to a thread on cooking from these two cookbooks?

Edited to add that I hope so, because I have created such a thread here.

Jen

Cathy2 wrote:

pairs4life wrote:Thread bump!

Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi is the first cookbook where I've wanted to try every single dish.

It has been an eye opener.

It has become the cookbook I gift to those who love food. The photography is breathtaking and so far not a single dud.

I'm also giving Peter Reinhart's The Bread Baker's Apprentice a whirl. I'm not the biggest lover of bread, primarily due to too many lackluster tastes I've had, but this book has been a delight.

Hi,

My cookbook club is working through Jerusalem and Plenty. I selected Jerusalem, which has a number of recipes I want to try.

I agree the photography is very good. I hope the recipes work as well. Plus it is food that will lend itself well for summer.

Regards,

The Royal Potato Salad in Plenty is delicious.

G Wiv wrote:

Attrill wrote:now I tend to opt for the most rustic options for prep and presentation.

I'd say so, at least according to this post, which makes me both smile and feel a pang of hunger.

Haha! Yeah, that's definitely a Malmann inspired meal.

For some reason with all of the cookbooks in the house, I keep flipping through the New York Cookbook by Molly O'neill. That would probably be my choice.

When the wife and I had more time on our hands, what was being cooked for the next day used to be chosen by gaming dice. One throw for the room, one throw for the bookcase, one throw for the shelf, then the cookbook, then page and if need be, what recipe on the page. More fun than just picking one cookbook IMHO. I never would have had peanut butter calamari stew if we didn't do this.

Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking
Bread Baker's Apprentice
Stir-frying to the Sky's Edge
Baked Explorations
Mary Berry's Baking Bible
Simply Great Breads
Barefoot Contessa books
Martha Stewart books

So many to list