Good Cook Book for Beginner

K09

Hi,

I want to get more into cooking this year. I want to be able to make a good soup from scratch, cook traditional dishes such as shepherds pie, and cook chicken stir fry, italian dishes, etc...

Can anyone recommend a good cook book to suit me or any very good websites?

Thanks!!

foodaholic

jamie olivers ministry of food is aimed at beginners

smallgarden

hiya,a very good basic cookbook is smart cooking 1,its a book aimed at
secondary school students but has all the basic recipes for cooking,baking,starters,mains,microwaving etc.the instructions are simple and it has pictures of most dishes so you see what the dish should look like
also smart cooking 2 is aimed at older secondary students and has sligtly more advanced dishes

BarbieBellex

Ainsley harriots "meals in minutes" is very good and simple

RobAMerc

foodaholic wrote: »

jamie olivers ministry of food is aimed at beginners

+1

I have recommended this to a couple of friends and they have all come back to thank me for it.
Its simple, step by step, skips the BS and produces delicious results.

It's encouraged some of my friends to become real foodies and built their confidence to try some very adventurous stuff !

Tree

Id recommend browsing the student cookbooks in your local bookshop. They're always simple and failproof, and generally cheap and in low quanitities.

superficies

Economy Gastronomy
On sale atm: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Economy-Gastronomy-Better-Spend-Less/dp/0718155726

jpt77

foodaholic wrote: »

jamie olivers ministry of food is aimed at beginners

I love cooking and am pretty expeienced now.This book is great. Just cooked the lamb stew with dumplings. So easy but beautiful. It is aimed at beginners but includes ways of developing basic recipies into more complicted creations. The curries are amazing.

LimeFruitGum

I'd be lost without http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

Recipes always come with pics and they're generally very easy to make and healthy, so happy days.

blueirishangel

I have to agree Jamies Ministry of Food is great. I love the asian chicken broth, sizzling beef and pork sweet and sour.

It has recipes for the standard dishes that the OP is looking for - spag bol, curries, shep pie, stew, soups, salads, omelettes - he even included HOW TO BOIL AN EGG!!!

smallgarden

if looking for basic cookbook id repeat my recommendation for smart cooking,not many people will have heard of it or used it before,im home ec teacher and use it for recipes all the time

Scoobydoobydoo

Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Berrys-Complete-Cookbook-Berry/dp/0751364401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262876919&sr=8-1

It has all the classic dishes in there. I have a very large cook book collection but this is the overall best, hands down.

smallgarden

Scoobydoobydoo wrote: »

Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mary-Berrys-Complete-Cookbook-Berry/dp/0751364401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262876919&sr=8-1

It has all the classic dishes in there. I have a very large cook book collection but this is the overall best, hands down.

mary berrys book is great,it also comes with pics,times and calories for each dish and modifications and hints,its really good cook book too

shanagarry

Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course book is fantastic. It goes from the very basics through to some quite complicated dishes. I've had it a few years now and go back to it again and again.

muckety

Delia's books are very reliable - 'how to cook' is a good beginner's book. Recipes are very well tested (unlike a lot of other well known writers' recipes) and clearly explained.

tman

LimeFruitGum wrote: »

I'd be lost without http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

Recipes always come with pics and they're generally very easy to make and healthy, so happy days.

I've got their 101 fish recipes book, but find some of the instuctions on that to be a bit on the vague side.
I feel sorry for any inexperienced cook who tries to follow the roux sauce instructions for the fish pie in that!

Does ministry of food have many veggie/pescetarian friendly recipes?

barbiegirl

The bible is Delia Smith "How to Cook", she takes you through the basics and then how to expand upon them.
I also use Fast Food published by Murdoch Books and The Ultimate 30 minute cookbook, published by Ted Smart.
The above three have everything you need. Best of luck and enjoy the cooking.