Country Life Experiment

Simple Country Living

Recipe Books I Use All The Time

I have a lot of cook books. Some I’m not sure how I acquired, while others I bought on a whim, or they were given to me as a gift. Some get used a lot, while others I peruse through occasionally for inspiration. Today though, I’m sharing the recipe books I use all the time. You know, the recipe books you open up whenever you need advice. Here are my favourites:

1. The Cooks Companion – Stephanie Alexander
I had been eyeing this book off for several years when I was at uni, but being a student, there was no way I could afford it. On my 21st birthday, one of my lovely (employed) friends, gave it to me. Several (OK, more than several) years later, rarely a week goes by with out us consulting it.
I love that it is arranged alphabetically by product, and that it gives lots of information about how to prepare and store each product. I also really appreciate how there is a list of other ingredients that go well with each product. When ever I come across an ingredient and I’m not sure what to do with it, Stephanie is always my first port of call! The beautiful illustrations and photos are a bonus.

2. Cook – Jamie Oliver
Where as Stephanie works through ingredients, Jamie (yes we call all our recipe books by their authors first name – like they are friends) goes through lots of basic meal types (salads, pasta, rice, meat, fish etc) and teaches you how to make a variety of dishes. I’ve used this recipe book a lot with my students because it really shows them how to cook. Also we love the recipes.
3. Preserving Through The Year – Oded Schwartz
It’s no secret that we do a lot of preserving around here. Whenever I’m not sure about the best way to preserve something, or I’m not sure what flavour combinations will work, I start here!
4 Fish – Pete Evans

Country Boy and I are both fans of fish and seafood fans. Unfortunately out here, there isn’t a lot of fresh seafood to be found. There is perch in the dam though. When ever we can get our hands on some fresh seafood, this is the book we consult to work out the best way to cook it. I even take it to Magic Beach each year!

5. The Commonsense Cook Book

My mother had this when I was little, and I can still remember the mint sauce recipe by heart all these years later – it was one of the first recipes I was put in charge of. You won’t find fancy recipes or beautiful pictures in here, but if you want a simple recipe for almost anything, this is THE place to start. I have one copy at home, and another at work. I use it all the time to calculate times and temperatures for roasting different meats. Can’t say I’ve used the offal chapter at all, but it’s all there!

So tell me dear friends, what are your favourite cook books, and do you call the chefs by their first name??

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alisa : Ink Caravan says

    Hi Jo, Im visiting in from Brons linkup. I was sure I'd have one of your choices since I cant resist a shiny new cookbook but truth is I don't have any. I'd be curious to know which is your absolute fav though. Over at ours we use 'Apples for Jam', Jamies 'Dinners' and Nigellas 'Domestic Goddess' for sweets. Yep, first name basis for sure! 🙂

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  2. stonefruit season says

    Stephanie is a big favourite here too! Recently, I've had a small cull of my cook books so I could fit them all in the cupboard next to my oven. They were books that had recipes duplicated in my main books, so I op shopped them for someone else to use. One of my main go-tos is one my mum used when I was little, the Nursing Mothers of Australia Association cookbook, otherwise known as NMAA. It has lots of basics in it and treats my kids love too.

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  5. Carla says

    I seem to use my Bill Granger recipe books a lot. I've never actually seen Cook by Jamie before, will have to check it out as I love Jamie Oliver. He's so good for food!

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  7. Fashionista says

    I too have loads of cookbooks collected over the years. The most used are: Womens Weekly Original Cookbook (circa 1983), daggy but dependable, great dinner party ideas and best chocolate cake recipe ever; The Bundaberg CWA Cookbook (circa 1980), fantastic basic baking and jam/chutney/pickles recipes, best patty cake recipe ever; The Isolated Childrens Parents Association (ICPA) Cookbook (circa 1985), absolutely practical no fail recipes with no fancy ingredients, best banana cake recipe ever; Day to Day Cookery (circa 1979) that has the most excellent roasting guide. The CWA and ICPA cookbooks have no pictures, no step-by-step instructions and assume a level of cookery knowledge, i.e. "bake until cooked", it is assumed you will know that is golden brown in a moderate oven on the middle shelf. Out of the "modern selection"; Karen Martini is well used, she has great recipes for cooking for crowds; two giant Marie Claire books, no idea what they are called. And then of course there is the Plastic Box (actually boxes as I have one for mains, one for baking, one for desserts) with all the recipes I've torn out of magazines/newspapers, printed off the internet, cut off packets, photocopied from someone else's books. So no shortage of recipes, you would think I could manage more new dishes…………

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  8. Seona says

    My Damm I can not remember how to do that go to cook book is the one I had when I did pre voc cooking at tafe 35 years age Practical Professional Cookery. It is very batted after years of kitchens or as it is known round he as Crack and Kaoff. I have many many others that I use as well.

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  10. CountryMouse says

    I use the common sense cookbook as well. I also love my small collection of localised cook books from schools and organisations that are filled with recipes that real people use.

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  11. lisa@MummyManifesto says

    Hi Jo, I am a cookbook junkie too. My favourite is a 3 book series by Janelle Bloom "Fab Food for family and friends" (the blonde chef who was on Ready Steady Cook) beautiful, easy to make recipes…but the CWA book is the best of all

    Reply

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