Cook’s Library

For recipes from the cookbooks, see the Cook the Book category. For recipes from magazines and newspapers, see the Clipped category.

Magazines

• Bon Appetit
• Cook’s Illustrated
• Eating Well
• Fine Cooking
  

Top-shelf Cookbooks

These are the cookbooks I reach for most often. They are compendiums of cooking techniques and common recipes, and so make great everyday references.

• The Best Recipes in the World, Mark Bittman
• How to Cook Everything, Mark Bittman
• The Minimalist Cooks Dinner, Mark Bittman
• I’m Just Here for the Food, Alton Brown
• Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child
• Think Like a Chef, Tom Colicchio
• American Classics, editors of Cook’s Illustrated
• The Best 30-Minute Recipe, editors of Cook’s Illustrated
• Italian Classics, editors of Cook’s Illustrated
• The New Best Recipe, editors of Cook’s Illustrated
• Fresh Every Day, Sara Foster
• Sara Foster’s Casual Cooking, Sara Foster
• The Essentials of Cooking, James Peterson

Middle-shelf Cookbooks

These cookbooks are more specialized. They include cookbooks focusing on a particular region or theme. I reach for them when I want a special recipe or a new idea.

• Authentic Mexican, Rick Bayless
• Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen, Rick Bayless
• Salsas That Cook, Rick Bayless
• Fish, Mark Bittman
• Simple to Spectacular, Mark Bittman and Jean-Georges Vongerichten
• Nantucket Open-House Cookbook, Sarah Leah Chase
• The Feast of Santa Fe, Huntley Dent
• Marcella Cucina, Marcella Hazan
• Intercourses, Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge
• The Perfect Scoop, David Lebovitz
• Italian Farmhouse Cookbook, Susan Herrmann Loomis
• The Essential Cuisines of Mexico, Diana Kennedy
• Healthy Latin Cooking, Stephen Rachlan
• Mrs. Restino’s Country Kitchen, Susan Restino
• The Good Egg, Marie Simmons
• A Spoonful of Ginger, Nina Simonds
• The Sustainable Kitchen, Sue Stein, Mary Hinds and Judith H. Dern
• Bistro Cooking, Patricia Wells
• Cooking New Orleans Style, the Women of All Saints’ Episcopal Church

Books I’m Still Evaluating

Recent cookbooks I picked up but haven’t decided how useful they are yet.

• The Gourmet Slow Cooker: Regional Comfort Food Classics, Lynn Alley

Reference Books

Books that are good for looking stuff up.

• The Busy Person’s Guide to Preserving Food, Janet Chadwick
• Cookwise, Shirley O. Corriher
• Spices and Herbs Lore and Cookery, Elizabeth S. Hayes
• The Cook’s Essential Kitchen Dictionary, Jacques L. Rolland
• The Elements of Cooking, Michael Ruhlman

Books About Food and Cooking

Not cookbooks per se, but many do contain recipes.

• Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings, Edward Espe Brown
• Blue Jelly, Debby Bull
• The Tao of Food, Richard Craze and Roni Jay
• An Omelette and a Glass of Wine, Elizabeth David
• French Women Don’t Get Fat, Mireille Guiliano
• The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan
• The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
• Julie and Julia, Julie Powell
• The Soul of a Chef, Michael Ruhlman
• Zen and the Art of Cooking, Jon Sandifer
• First You Take a Leek, Maxine J. Saltonstall
• It Must’ve Been Something I Ate, Jeffrey Steingarten
• Pot on the Fire, John Thorne
• The Tummy Trilogy, Calvin Trillin
• How I Learned to Cook, Kimberly Witherspoon and Peter Meehan, editors