Cookbooks

Kristin Bergen writes: Hey: can we start a favorite cookbooks thread? I'm getting bored with the cookbooks I own, and would love some new suggestions.

One of Howard's friends from his Seattle days -- who also happens to be the single best non-professional cook I have ever met in my entire life; Howard felt the same -- told me once that the way to decide whether or not to buy a cookbook is to open it at random pages about ten times. If on seven or eight of those times the particular dish you happen upon looks 1) appealing, and 2) like something you could pull off, then buy the book.

I find myself using the Bugialli books most often, perhaps because they're gorgeous to look at, and he always includes these educational bits on cooking history and regional traditions and so on. Also, Marcella Hazan I use quite a bit.

I adore the Bugialli I have (Techniques of Italian Cooking and the Tuscan book you told me about), and Hazan is quite something too, although I think Hazan underseasons everything. I will double every spice and usually triple the garlic in a Hazan recipe. But her recipe for bolognese sauce is absolutely fantastic, her lasagna recipe (the one that calls for the aforementioned bolognese and for balsamella) is extraordinary, and that antipasto of roasted peppers and anchovies with garlic and olive oil is superb. I really haven't ever come across a dud -- provided I perk up the seasonings.

So, basically, I'd love love love some cookbook recommendations.

Oh, my. Where to start? Well, I learned how to cook -- really cook -- with Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman's Cucina Fresca. I was/am terrified and not very good at getting everything ready at the same time, so this book was a godsend since it's a collection of recipes for Italian food meant to be served cold or at room temperature. Although I've gone far in the intervening three years since I bought the book, I still go back to it all the time and I have yet to have had a disaster. Particular favorites are Shrimp in Spicy Lime Marinade, Salmon Scallops with Black Peppercorn Vinaigrette (it was the first thing I cooked that I thought was absolutely sublime), Pollo Tonnato, and the peculiar but addictive Gelo di Melone (a Sicilian watermelon pudding with chocolate chips and pistachios). This cookbook is available in paper for $14.00.

Then there's Viana La Place and Evan Kleiman's Cucina Rustica. It's from the recipes in that book that my craze for risotti began. (The recipe for Risotto con Gorgonzola e Spinaci is particularly good.) A particular favorite recipe is the one for Pollo alla Romana (chicken with tomatoes, basil, red and yellow peppers, and balsamic vinegar). The cookbook costs $23.00.

My first non-Italian cookbook was Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking ($25.00). At one point or other I've probably prepared more than half of the recipes in this book and they've all been fantastic. Well, with one exception -- Mint-Scented Broiled Leg of Lamb -- but Howard swore up and down that it was wonderful. There's no end to great recipes here, from Hyderabad Lime Soup (an intensely spiced [it's got garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, black peppercorns, onions, turmeric, cilantro, coconut milk, cream, lime juice] potato soup), to Meat-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Ginger Lemon Sauce to Lamb in Fragrant Garlic Cream Sauce, to all the chicken recipes, and don't forget Chick-peas in Tangy Tamarind Sauce [swoon!] and Chick-peas in Ginger Sauce and Broccoli Smothered in Garlic Oil and Lucknow Sour Lentils...I could go on for days.

What else? Oh, I couldn't live without Patricia Wells' Bistro Cooking ($12.95). I have yet to prepare anything from this cookbook that hasn't been at least tasty and interesting. A staple chez nous is the Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet, but then so many of these recipes are old favorites here. Where to start? The recipe for Salade Nicoise la Mere Besson is fabulous, as is the Salade de Roquefort, Noix, et Endives Chardenoux. I once got Howard to eat -- and even enjoy -- Fenouil a la Grecque. (Howard was not a fan of fennel.) The Gateau de Pommes de Terre L'Ami Louis is wonderful as are the Galette Lyonnaise and Pommes Paillasson. All of the fish and shellfish recipes are winners, and then there's stuff like chicken with tarragon vinegar, chicken sauteed with 60 shallots [fabulous!], chicken sauteed with 40 large garlic cloves [faaaaaabulous!], chicken stew with fennel and saffron, duck stew in Sauternes, rabbit in mustard sauce (one of my all-time favorite recipes), Ambassade d'Auvergne's Seven-Hour Leg of Lamb (you roast a leg of lamb in two bottles of white wine for seven hours), Marie-Claude Gracia's Chocolate Cake -- Ken, will you vouch for how great this chocolate cake is? -- a great lemon cake, an even better Tarte Tatin aux Poires, and a great lemon tart. Oh! And a great recipe for home-made creme fraiche. All in all, one of the best cookbooks I've ever seen.

Still in a French mood, there's also Alexandra Leaf's The Impressionist's Table, which is nineteenth-century French cuisine adapted for twentieth-century kitchens. I've made lots from this cookbook (Pear Tart with Frangipane Cream, Steak with Anchovy Butter (yum!), Chocolate Mousse (did you like that mousse, Ken?), Steak Bordelaise, Poulet a la Marengo (to die for), Riz a l'Indienne, Caramel Custard, Leeks in Red Wine, and so on. Definitely recommended.

Oh, dear, I am running on, aren't I?

OK, there's also the stunning Roger Verge's Vegetables in the French Style ($35.00 and Howard's birthday present to me last year). This is jam-packed with fantastic recipes, but none is better -- so far -- than Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes with Basil.

Rounding out French cookbooks are Paula Wolfert's magnificent The Cooking of South-West France ($10.95) and Richard Olney's sublime Simple French Food ($13.00). The Wolfert book paid for itself with the recipe for Scallops in Tangerine Sauce (Ken? Ellen?). Labor intensive, yes. Time intensive -- you've got to make or have on hand both demi-glace and fish glaze -- yes. But that is one dish that's absolutely worth it. A bonus is that each recipe tells you up front how much time you'll be spending in active work, partially attended simmering, cooking time, etc. As for Olney, what can I say? I worship at his shrine.

OK, two more and then I'll shut up. Penelope Casas' Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain ($18.00) is the source of those olives I made for the party at Mike's place. Everything I've made from that cookbook has been just as good as those olives. The last book I'll mention -- although I should probably point out here that Larousse Gastronomique is a book I couldn't possibly live without -- is Keith Floyd's Floyd on Spain ($22.50). In some ways I think it's the single best cookbook I've ever come across. Absolutely everything I've ever made from it has been great. Also, my take on food and wine and cooking seems to mesh perfectly with Floyd's, so the recipes are almost like crib notes to me rather than blueprints. I absolutely could not praise Floyd on Spain highly enough.