The lovely Kate from Kate Takes Five has a new list challenge this week of your five favourite cookbooks. I do love to cook and it was nice to think of my favourites from the past and ones I return to again and again today.
In no particular order here are my five favourites:
1. The Moosewood Cookbook by Mollie Katzen
I was a vegetarian for quite a while and this book has some amazing recipes that make sure you are actually getting all the nutrients needed. Love it.
2. How to Be a Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
I know a lot of people do not like Nigella but there are some fantastic recipes in this book and they are generally very easy, straight forward and no fail. All things I love in a cookbook.
3. Ladies, A Plate : Traditional Home Baking by Alexa Johnston
This is a gem of a book. Not only is it a cookbook but Alexa Johnstone has undertaken some meticulous research into the origins and recipe developments of New Zealand home baking favourites. The recipes are marvellous but more than that, they give a real insight into the way tastes change and develop and what influences those changes. I also love the second volume - ' A Second Helping'.
4. Happy Days with the Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver
I still regularly cook recipes from this book. The fish pie is to die for. It also reminds me of a very happy few months I spent living with friends in Auckland. We cooked from this book all the time. I have other titles by him but I do love this book. I actually pulled a sicky to go and get my books autographed by him back in 2000. So my copy has his signature too!
5. Australian Womens' Weekly Stir-fry Cookbook
I could have named any number of the AWW book as I have bought several over the years. Sadly I have lost my copy of this one but it has some great ideas for good basic stir fries as well as more exotic offerings. We still eat a lot of stir fries so I may have to buy another copy soon.
I hope you have enjoyed my little list. If you wish to take part in this week's list click here.
I would love to see the books you cannot live without.
I love the international flavour to your collection of cookbooks and it's good to see some new ones on this list - that vegarian one is particularly striking, unusual name too :)
ReplyDeleteI love Moosewood which my American frinds all had in the 1990s. And then they all got the sequal - The Enchanted Brockley Forest, which was better as the original Moosewood was very cheese-heavy. They originally, so I've read, tried to compensate for no meat by smothering everything in cheese but remedided this mistake later. In the UK the equivalent forerunner of vegetarian dining was Cranks and the Cranks Cookbook. Interesting collection.
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of Moosewood but it looks interesting. Love Jamie O too. And completely agree about his fish pie. It's delicious! We eat stir fry alot but always the same ones so I'm very tempted by the AWW stirfry book.
ReplyDeleteok I'm starving now lol! I adore cookbooks... i should probably use them more ;) lol
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I've nearly bought the Nigella book for the picture on the cover alone. And of course the title, I'd love to be a domestic goddess.
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