I am often asked about the food I post, be it for recipes, or how I know what to do, or just tips for certain techniques. In case you didn’t know, I don’t have any formal culinary training. However, I’ve always loved to cook and experiment in the kitchen. I used to go to my Nanni’s house early to help with cooking for the holidays. And, over the years, I’ve tried A LOT of different dietary practices which required me to get creative in the kitchen based on what I would or wouldn’t eat at any given time. Along with that came a reading habit:
I read cookbooks.
Yes, you read that right, I read cookbooks. I LOVE to collect them — old ones, new ones, general culinary guides and cookbooks on specific or unusual topics. You can find me reading one over breakfast or lunch at the kitchen table. I often will have a stack of them out looking up different methods or recipes for this or that thing I’m thinking I want to try to make next. My housemate has gotten used to finding cookbooks all over; I leave a trail of them. As a kid, I loved to look through the “Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook” which had photos in the front of every single recipe so I could see what looked yummy and then go find the recipe for it in the book.
Running a busy farm, building a business and cooking all my own meals from scratch means I don’t have a ton of time to answer each of your culinary questions personally. So, I have put together this list of my top 5 cookbook references. These are the ones I usually go to first when I’m hunting for an idea. They are a range but together as a group they cover all the basics and are the first places I go when I’m hunting for something to make.
Often, when I’m looking for a recipe, I’m starting with one or two main things and then researching from there:
An ingredient that I’d like to get ideas on what to do with (Like, what the heck do I do with all these beans I just bought during the Pandemic?!)
A cooking method that I want to use for example, the Christmas my oven was broken and I had to learn to make everything on my grill in the garage!
A specific dish/cuisine that I tasted at a restaurant, or is a friend’s favorite food, or I saw a picture of somewhere and sounded yummy
So, the Christmas without an oven, I was searching how to bake cinnamon rolls on a grill. Or, a friend was going to Paris and wanted to eat typical French fare, so I looked up how to make a souffle. Or, that time I had some sausage and kale in my fridge and found a great recipe which is now a dinner that regularly appears in my rotation. These three starting points can help you seek fun and creative meals that you may not have made before. Get curious and explore!
So, without further ado, here are my Top 5 Favorite Cookbooks (and perhaps a couple of bonus ones)
“Julia’s Kitchen Wisdom”, by Julia Child: I don’t think I could cook without referencing Julia. She’s one of my favorites, be it her “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, or the old episodes of her TV show “The French Chef”. What I love the most is her outright passion and verve for food. Watching her show you can just tell how much she loves to eat AND to cook. In addition, she has a natural gift for translating fancy cuisine into easy techniques for the home cook. This book is a baseline reference — in it she gives cooking times, Master Recipes, troubleshooting tips and more. I turn to this book most often for my Hollandaise and Blender Mayo, but will often look up basic technique methods in this little book as well.
“Einkorn”, by Carla Bortolucci: This is my main baking reference. I bake exclusively with Einkorn flour for a number of reasons. If you are wondering, “What the heck is Einkorn?!” let me tell you. Einkorn is an original form of wheat originating in the Fertile Crescent. It has a different gluten structure and many folks who have gluten intolerances can eat Einkorn just fine (not everyone). It is also richer in most of the nutrients than modern wheat varieties and the small number of farmers who grow it, do so organically without added pesticides or chemicals. Einkorn is kind of fussy and not necessarily a direct replacement for a regular baking recipe, although that depends on the type of baking. Because of that, “Einkorn” is my go to reference for pizzas, pastas, breads, pancakes, treats and more.
“The Joy of Cooking”, by Rombauer, Becker & Becker: This cookbook is encyclopedic with a very thorough index. It’s what I turn to for unusual ingredients or even just ideas on what to do with an ingredient I’ve used hundreds of times but want something different. It is also my first point of reference when I see a dish I want to try to create but don’t know the methodology or ingredients. Extremely rarely will I not be able to find something in this book, but as you can tell, it’s HUGE!
“The Enchanted Broccoli Forest”, by Mollie Katzen: and, I’ll add the Original “Moosewood Cookbook” as well. Mollie’s cooking is vegetarian, at least in these two books. So when I get bored with vegetables or am looking for new ways to make a vegetable, her books are my first place to go. The first thing I love about these cookbooks are their charm — all the recipes are printed to look handwritten with sweet doodles and drawings throughout. In addition, her recipes are usually very easy and draw on all kinds of cultures and cuisines. Her soups are especially my favorites and these books are often out during the winter (soup season) or in the summer when I want to batch cook soups with a fresh harvest of something to then freeze for the winter. She also gives ideas on how to get creative or improvise for some of her recipes. One of my favs is her Hungarian Mushroom Soup.
“Cooks Illustrated”, from America’s Test Kitchen: This is less a book, but a magazine subscription. You may have seen these at the grocery store checkout area with magazines. Its my favorite for a host of reasons. First of all, they actually illustrate with drawings all the techniques and recipes they share. Each recipe reads like a story where the writer sets out on an adventure to figure out the “perfect” way to make the item. They take a scientific approach, breaking each ingredient and technique of the recipe down and experimenting to find the most ideal method. Then at the end, you get the final recipe. There are also product reviews, quick tips & tricks, and gorgeous back cover art. I’ve got YEARS of these and I also subscribe online (which means you can search their recipes). For me, reading these stories teaches me foundational concepts on techniques or ingredients that I can then use to make other things later on. Some of my recent favorites are: Deviled Pork Chops, Buttery Spring Vegetables, Creamy Crispy Roasted Potatoes, homemade Gravlax, and more.
Bonus Picks: a few that I LOVE but didn’t make the initial cut are: “Pure Beef”, by Lynne Currey, “Jamie’s Food Revolution”, by Jamie Oliver, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, by Julia Child, “Practical Paleo”, by Diane Sanfilippo, and “The New Yiddish Kitchen”, by Miller & Robins
EXTRA BONUS: there is always the VAST reference of the internet. Going back to my three points to start: an ingredient, a method or a dish, you can then pick one or two and google from there. Some guidelines for recipe googling— use the word “recipe” in your search and/or words like “easy” and “simple”. This will keep you from getting strange stuff or complicated recipes. When I get a recipe, the first thing I do is check the ingredients list to make sure I have all the items, there are no strange hard-to-find ingredients, or allergens and ingredients that I choose not to eat (like soy). The next thing I do is read through the instructions slowly a couple of times to make sure I have the right equipment and it is a method I want to use. Then BOOKMARK IT so you don’t lose track of it. I have a folder on my computer for recipe websites. Once I’ve made something and loved it, the recipe gets to stay in the folder. Otherwise, I delete it out.
By the Way… If you are looking to purchase any of my cookbook suggestions, or other books, I HIGHLY suggest going through Bookshop.org which is a B-Corp business dedicated for the public good. They do this with an interesting model where your purchases are supporting local, independent bookstores. If you choose to use their site for your book purchases, you can look for your local shop so your dollars go directly to them. Because I believe in their mission, I’ve signed up as an affiliate. To that end, your purchases from my site (with my own custom book lists) supports me as well as the local bookshops that participate. THANK YOU.
Happy Cooking!!