Help! ISO recipe books with recipes that actually work

[Anonymous]

I'm fairly new to the USA and do not watch TV, so I'm not familiar with American chefs and cookbook writers. I've discovered America's Test Kitchen books, which are great, but I'm looking for cookbooks with recipes that are fairly simple but still work. I like to cook French and Italian dishes, soups, and at the moment I'm going through a bit of a potato phase. I also like baking. I don't like to use too many processed ingredients, so recipes that use cans of condensed soup etc are out. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Anonymous]

not a cookbook but I love allrecipes.com. The best part is you can see feedback on the recipes.

[Anonymous]

I have great luck with Barefoot Contessa recipe books. BC Back to Basics and BC At Home are my favorites.

[Anonymous]

For an all purpose cookbook: Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything.

Simplyrecipes.com

Personally I think websites like allrecipes.com are crap--I'm sure there is some good stuff on there but it's a lot of shortcut cooking and not a lot of instructions or reliability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:not a cookbook but I love allrecipes.com. The best part is you can see feedback on the recipes.

I love allrecipes. Definitely read the reviews before you make the recipe. People often post how they've improved the base recipe. And you can upload your personal recipes to your private recipe box.

And it's free.

[Anonymous]

Ditto on allrecipes.com . You can search by ingredients that you do (and don't) want to use. I usually search by my main ingredient (i.e., ground chicken), and then sort by top rated. I haven't had a clunker recipe yet that is rated above 4 stars.

[Anonymous]

www.foodnetwork.com is great -- particularly if you have an ingredient you want to use and need a recipe that works with it.

Definitely read the comments. They typically correct any errors in the recipe and/or suggest substitutions.

[Anonymous]

Good Housekeeping is actually really good and I am extremely picky about cookbooks. I can't stand Mark Bittman except for his breads and pie fillings. Everything else is bland and pointless. I also like Barefoot Contessa but she relies far too heavily on high fat content for flavor.

[Anonymous]

A second for Bittman.

[Anonymous]

Saveur.com

[Anonymous]

Bittman! Genius.

[Anonymous]

The Joy of Cooking.

[Anonymous]

Southern Living Annual Recipes
I got one book on a yard sale.
Love it. Try not to cook 1 dish more than once as I want to 'experiment'

[Anonymous]

I love Six O'Clock scramble - our family does, too. We've been cooking favorites from her cookbooks for years now. And their easy, and they "work" and they use simple ingredients, but not processed ones.

[Anonymous]

I love allrecipes.com, as others have said, and also wholeheartedly recommend anything by Elie Krieger.