Reccommend a cookbook to start cooking

bills

Hi everyone,
moving into a new house soon & will have my very own kitchen so have decided I am going to start making an effort & start cooking. I am looking for suggestions for a book with easy & simple recipes with no obscure ingredients! I had a look at jamie oliver's ministry of food today & that looked quite good but not sure as i have never really cooked that much!
Thanks

rocknchef

dont buy straight away. join your local libary and borrow different books and get to feel for what you like and that chef, then go and buy what you like.

Carawaystick

what rocknchef said.
or if that's not a option, the Jamie Oliver ones show simple stuff but are a bit vague. mrs Carrawaystick doesn't like the vagueness of it but she wants a precise method where I just wing it a bit more....

have a search of recipes here that you think you'ld like, there's a thread on easy peasy cheap recipes, that way if you ruin it' you're not hit too hard...

BBC's website have some ok food sections,

and Darina Allen has a big book that goes through real basic steps, before going on to the more experienced stuff - dear and about 5cm thick but good.

Dizzyblonde

For a complete novice I'd recommend Delia Smith's complete Cookery Course or How To Cook. She also has a website Delia Online

As rocknchef said, get them from the library first though to see if they're what you're looking for.

emc2

We could do with a cookbook sticky at this stage cause every few months this comes up.

I have loads of cookbooks and they really depend on what you like to eat and what style of cooking you have, there are a few that cover all the basics etc,
The ballymaloe cookery book (Darina Allen) is a great starter (has everything in it) but it can be a bit daunting.
A friend of mine who isn't mad into cooking got "apples for Jam" and he loves it and uses it alot.

"How to boil an egg and 184 other simple recipes for one" is a good starting point.

bills

Thanks, some great ideas there.

chupi

I think most starter cookbooks can be rather dull! Best place to start is: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/ It's full of amazing recipes, there is a pic per recipe and you can see what other people thought of it.

happy cooking!

Redpunto

i think the jamie oliver one is quite good and the bbc receipe finder is a good place as well

Dockfive

Rather appropriately given OP's name I would recommend Bills Food by Bill Grainger. It was my first cook book many years ago and I have never looked back since. His breakfast dishes are superb.


Happy cooking

poindexter

jamie oliver ministry of food, actually makes cooking easy

Kenny_D

+1 for Ministry of Food. Nice, simple recipes.

Another great one is Nigel Slater: Real Food

Both can be picked up pretty cheap on amazon.co.uk

anigheh

you cant go wrong online go to uktv food you will find thousands of recipes from every chef you have ever heard of.

fourmations

+1 on bbc foods' recipe finder

search by cuisine, ingredients, etc etc
and you will often get variants of the same dish
so you can pick what version suits you best

cooking proper fast omelettes is a great way
to hone your cooking and tasty too

the humble spag bol is a great base for trying things too,
i make it regularly and it is never the same and usually excellent,
make a basic one and all the following things will change its flavour...
pesto, sun-dried tomato, salamis, capers, anchovies, roasted veg, red wine,
etc etc

rgds

4

dlambirl

Why dont you go online and print off recipes and put them in a big ring binder folder?? You have recipes you like and you can add or take away from the folder when you tried it

Keith in cork

The first book anyone should buy, is marco pierre whites WHITE HEAT, followed by his CANTEEN. Be it a student moving out into the big world for the first time, a housewife, a young couple, a commis chef or someone with an interest in cooking.

Jamies stuff is good, easy to follow, but sometimes his choice of ingredients isn't, from the point of view that you'll be buying from the supermarket. Unless like me, you spend half your life in the english market it gets expensive.

Ramsays just desserts, fantastic for anyone with a sweet tooth and a basic knowledge of terminology and practice of pastry.

Darina allen and delia are both the same, legends in their own right so either books by the author will be the same.

The biggest gem i've found to date is by darina's husband, tim allen. simply put, the best bread book available....ANYWHERE. I've had it in my knife wallet since i started cooking. never leaves me, and never will.
I just do variations and adjust his recipes to my needs/wants. my best investment.

For general recipies, use chanel4.com, bbc and for books visit amazon.

Stay away from the likes of ainsley and anthony worrel thompson or any of those on daytime tv, bar JAMES MARTIN (desserts) and the seafood legend that is rick stein.

the beer revolu

dlambirl wrote: »

Why dont you go online and print off recipes and put them in a big ring binder folder?? You have recipes you like and you can add or take away from the folder when you tried it

Be very careful with recipes on line.
Many of them are just rubbish - you'd need to sort of know what you're at to filter out the good from the bad.
Best off with a good book imo.
Lots of suggestions above!

Keith in cork

the beer revolu wrote: »

Be very careful with recipes on line.
Many of them are just rubbish - you'd need to sort of know what you're at to filter out the good from the bad.
Best off with a good book imo.
Lots of suggestions above!

This is true, i forgot to mention, just aswell you did.

Its kind of easier to filter them out if you use recipies either by a chef you've heard about or one thats verified.;)

TurkeyBurger

I got a present of this one and think it is one of the easiest to follow:
http://www.samstern.co.uk/books_1.html

Some sample recipes here:
http://www.samstern.co.uk/

With some recipe books, they might be straight forward enough to follow but they list mountains of ingredients, a lot of which don't keep. So if you are only cooking for 1-2 people you can end up throwing out a lot.

koconno4

bbc.co.uk/food has lots of great recipes from a number of good chefs. Its a good place to start for recipes and of course you don't have to buy a book.

One book I would reccommend if you are a beginner cook is the River Cottage Family Cookbook. It is aimed at beginner cooks and teenagers, but as a person who cooks alot i find it brilliant. It tells you how to do everything from making bread and pasta to more complicated recipes, but the nice thing about it is tat it tells you about each ingredient in detail and everything is made from scratch. I absolutely love it and would definitely reccomend

MattKane

In my opinion, Neven Maguire's books are best because they are easy to follow, ingredients are easy to find and the recipes are absolutely delicious. Ramsey's books can have recipes that are a little more complicated.