The Executioner's Cleaver: Cookbooks on Trial

I have a narrow bookcase facing my kitchen which is my cookbook shelf. And I do mean my cookbook shelf; I have a strict rule that I can only keep as many cookbooks as I actually use. If a book hasn't been used within a year or two, it goes. That way I only keep books handy that I actually find handy, and don't compel myself to search through books I've never found useful to begin with. Which I must say, I have a lot of, since a few years back I belonged to the Good Cook, a cookbook book club, and acquired a lot of restaurant cookbooks which I've never found very useful. (The ONLY restaurant cookbooks I actually cook out of are Charlie Trotter Cooks at Home and The Balthasar Cookbook. The rest, feh.)

Well, I've bought a lot of new cookbooks lately. Charcuterie, The New Spanish Table, etc.. And it's time for some to go. Here are the books I find myself not only not using but actually avoiding because hunting through them has been frustrating and unproductive. These are the ones that are on the chopping block. Does anyone make anything out of these that would make me want to save them?

The Tribeca Grill Cookbook

Second Helpings From Union Square Cafe

The California Cookbook (I do make one lemon tart with blueberry out of this that's excellent, but keeping a book for one recipe seems silly)

Patricia Wells' Trattoria (stick to France, Pat)

Simple to Spectacular (Vongerichten and Bittman)

The Minimalist Cooks at Home (I like the idea of Mark Bittman but somehow the dishes never appeal to me)

Terrific Pacific Cookbook

In the Kitchen With Rosie by Oprah (hey, it was a gift)

I go regularly to "Simple to Spectacular" for their spaetzle recipes - the butternut squash and chestnut versions have been consistent winners. And I have used them as a source for basic buckwheat crèpe recipes - even though I must have a dozen cookbooks with similar versions, they're the only source I seem to remember at the time. There are a handful of other recipes that I want to try - rabbit confit, chicken breats foil, etc. But in general, I'm glad I bought it at a bargain table and that I don't have your space issues...

Fillay

It's mental, not just physical space. I only want cookbooks which offer a reasonably high chance of yielding a recipe I actually enjoy once I've made it.

Bittman's "Minimalist" books are on my go-to list, in an odd way: I make very few recipes exactly as the book has them, but use the book frequently for inspiration and ideas. His many alternatives and variations for each recipe make adaptations pretty easy. Because of the fresh produce he uses, though, it does tend to be a little more seasonal than my other cookbooks.

Acckk! Wait, am I too late?!?
Don't get rid of the Trattoria cookbook...

I was searching old posts to see if I can justify buying Charcuterie to add to my cookbook shelf and I found this post.
Well, maybe I should keep my nose out of this. I am a terrible example as my cookbook shelf is cram-packed with about 100 cookbooks, many of which are just there to look pretty.
But, I have to say, my Trattoria cookbook is tattered, stained, coming apart at the seams. It's a great cookbook for ideas--many of the recipes are pretty simple and don't need a, well, recipe. But she has great salad and antipasti ideas. I love the yellow pepper soup. I have probably made every single one of the dried pasta recipes (I especially like the gemelli with eggplant, and she does a nice version of vodka pasta). I have found that she has a heavy hand with the olive oil--I love the stuff but she goes a little overboard.
If you are getting rid of Terrific Pacific, copy the recipes for the following first: pasta with lime-peanut vinaigrette, tuna tartare, linguini with spinach and grilled chicken, best-ever broiled chicken (not quite the best ever, but very good). I can see getting rid of that one because some of the recipes are quite labor intensive when they don't really need to be. Her mee-krob recipe took a lot longer than a pretty simple one in one of my Thai cookbooks which tastes just as good. Many of the recipes seem to have some unnecessary steps.
How 'bout Charcuterie? Is it amazing? I really want to get a smoker and try making some BACON!

Charcuterie is excellent, as much for understanding what it is you're eating as for whether or not you ever make some of the more complex (and risky) things in it.

The bacon is pretty easy, though, IF you already have some experience on the smoker. I wouldn't make trying to build a teeny fire in your smoker the first thing you did in it, though. Go through the 5-step program first, of course! ( www.wiviott.com )

As luck has it, Trattoria is still around, only a couple of books went to my sister (including Terrific Pacific). I'll look through it again although I can't say I exactly have Italian cuisine underrepresented, either.

As evidenced otherwise on the board(search is yr fiend)...Charcuterie is worth the purchase.

I own about a dozen charcuterie books, in 3 languages. Except for the professional manual, Ruhlman & Polcyn is the best available in English.

[I should be more careful how I say this. R&P are by far and away the most informative: you really are brought to understand why things are done *this* way, and not that. Plus their techniques are generally possible at home. Kinsella & Harvey, on the other hand, are more direct, to the point, and have as a goal the production of familiar commercial product. Sometimes one wants the latter more than the former; otherwise, not.]

Probably, if you're committed, you should own both.

Geo

HI,

If you want an appreciative home for your no longer desired cookbooks, then donate them to:

Washburne Culinary School
of the Kennedy-King College

Located at:
South Shore Cultural Center
7059 S South Shore Drive
Chicago IL 60649

I am one of several who are collecting books on behalf of Washburne on the North Shore. If you have books you want to donate, then either contact me or contact 773.602.5487 asking for the office of Provost Bill Reynolds.

Washburne is building their culinary library with these donations.

Best regards,

I have to say...while I was enthusiastic at first about Bittman's HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING...i have a less rah rah attitude down the road. I've never found his recipes to be that exciting. I like his FISH book though. And I will say that I go to his yellow cake recipe often. It's always light and fluffy and tasty. But that's one reason why I've avoided his Minimalist books.

Last year someone gave me the ginormous Gourmet cookbook and everything I've made out of it has been really great. Haven't had a problem with anything and I"ve used it pretty extensively.

i agree on the restaurant cookbooks though -- the worst are Emeril's. Jeez...you have to have prep cooks working for you all day to do any of his recipes and all of them are annoying.

In the end...the best I've ever found are Julia Child's. My mom always taught me that Julia was the key...and I've found the same to be true.

I also love Bernard Clayton's Book of Small Breads. I highly recommend it.

Oh...i can't advocate dumping any book though. It's against my religion and desire to die with the most books ever.

Oh, Mike, don't send away Jean-Georges!

Admittedly, he's my hero and I'm more than a little biased, but I adore that book, both conceptually and for the recipes involved. I don't remember the exact name of the dish, but I'm especially fond of the roast salmon with buttery, toasted herbed panko and the coconut-lime sauce. Awesome awesome awesome.

Another worthy home for cookbooks:

Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans-needs cookbook donations
Call Out for Cookbooks

BY REBECCA REGO BARRY

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum (SoFAB) located in New Orleans lost roughly 900 cookbooks from its collection during Hurricane Katrina. It's now looking to replenish and improve its collection of cookbooks and menus by asking people to dust off their bookshelves and send their cookbooks to NOLA. Hardcover, softcover, spiral-bound cookbooks of any taste or region are needed and will become a fully accessible collection as part of the New Orleans Public Library. SoFAB also hopes to create an archive of Southern menus; this collection is housed at the University of New Orleans, where students catalog them. Chris Smith, director of collections at SoFAB said, "We treat cookbooks and menus as artifacts."

So if you have cookbooks or Southern menus that are under-used in your house, consider donating them to this good cause. Send them directly to Chris Smith at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, One Poydras Street, #169, New Orleans, LA 70130-1657.