Conference turris::cooks

I think I'd go for a two-book method.  The Joy of Cooking has a zillion
little sections labeled "About <thing>" where <thing> might be turkeys
or beans or measuring, you name it.  They tell you everything about
everthing it seems.  However, the recipies are usually complex and
geared to the stay-at-home cook who already knows what everything looks
like at each stage of preparation.  So after reading the "About"
sections, you should then skip to some other cookbook for recipies. 

For a real beginner, something like the McCall's Cooking School or Time-
Life Good Cook series of books are good because they have photos of the
intermediate steps. It can be kind of confusing when a book says to mix
something to a "mealy" consistancy, if you don't know what that is. 

For instant gratification, Pierre Frannie's (sp?)"60 minute gourmet"
recipies (Wednesdays in the New York Times food section or in little
cards sold through the mail, and no doubt collected into a book by now)
are great. You can knock the meal together in no time, and they're all
tasty and hard to screw up. (You'd better like cooking with wine,
though, and find a source for shallots in your area.) 

					>>>==>PStJTT

    I also recommend the "Joy of Cooking" as a fine cooking textbook;
    as a cookbook, it's good, but conservative.
    
    Pierre Franey's "60 Minute Gourmet" recipes have been collected
    into two volumes; they're sold as a boxed set.

I also recommend the "Joy of Cooking"...

and I'd let him play with the "FRUGAL GOURMET" cookbook.  Written by
a man, lots of good food, and not really too tricky for most recipes.

    I recommend "FRUGAL GOURMET" whole-heartedly for Jeff Smiths recipes.
    Every one I tried was delicious and relatively easy.
    
    However, I found his measurementrs to be a little on the skimpy
    side. 
    e.g. If he makes 1 cup of sauce, 2 sometimes makes more sense.
    	 I've made his chicken in tarragon but had to double everything
	 that went on top of the chicken. There just wasn't enough liquid.

    That's where a little experience helps out. But he is excellent
    at providing little hints and explaining things.
    
    
    "Joy of Cooking" has diagrams and pictures. Probably the most useful
    of everything, but their recipes tend to be harder than "Frugal Gourmet".

    I find watching TV is the best teacher, if you get the right show.
    
    /Jeff.

    I'll add another recommendation for "Joy..." as an all around
    reference.  I rarely use the recipes, but it's the first place I
    look for information.  
    
    I'll also add a vote for the 60 Minute Gourmet books.  The recipes
    are tasty and easy.
    
    What's probably my favorite no-nonsense cookbook, however, is "Keep
    it Simple" by Marian Burros.  The subtitle is 30-minute meals from
    scratch.  She takes you through the whole process, from shopping
    for the meal to serving it and includes an ordered list of tasks
    so you can get the timing right.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure how
    the timing works out since I usually mix and match with other recipes
    of my own.  I can vouch for the simplicity of the recipes and the
    flavor of the food.
    
    Susie

        I guess I must be one of the few cooks around who
        hasn't got much good to say about the Joy
        of Cooking...  
        
        For a beginning cook, I recommend two other books:
        The Good Housekeeping Cookbook, Zoe Coulson, ed.
        Hearst Books, 1980; and The New McCall's
        Cookbook, Mary Eckley, ed. Random House/McCall's
        1973 (1st ed). 
        
        The Good Housekeeping Cookbook has sections in
        the front of the book on equipment, equivalents,
        illustrations of the correct way to measure
        ingredients, and color pictures of the dishes
        created with the recipes.  The recipes are
        presented in step-by-step fashion with
        accompanying how-to illustrations.  This is
        the book I would get for someone who "doesn't
        know how to boil water."  
        
        The McCall's cookbook also is a good, solid,
        everyday cookbook.  It has the McCall's
        Illustrated Cooking School (with those wonderful
        photographs by George Ratkai) which gives
        step-by-step instruction for several dishes.  It
        also has the following sections in the beginning
        of the book: 
        
        How to Tackle a Recipe
        How to Measure Correctly
        Common Food Weights and Measures
        About Oven Temperatures
        Basic Top-of-the-Range Cooking Terminology
        Other Cooking Terminology
        Cutting Terminology
        Basic Cooking Utensils
        The Right Way to Carve 
        
        This is another good starter cookbook.  However,
        you will probably have to look for this book in a
        second-hand or consignment bookstore:  The
        McCall's cookbook currently on bookstore shelves
        has been revised and is not the one I refer to
        here. 
                     
        
        -mrs o 
        

    According to my wife, who is an expert in these matters since she
    has over 300 cokbooks, "The Joy of Cooking" is too complex for a
    beginner.  She recommends: "Snset, Easy Basics for Good Cooking"
    and "The Settlement Cook Book" published by Simon and Schuster.

    Well, I'm no beginner, but recently I have been depending heavily
    on a magazine called GOOD FOOD for quick and easy things that I
    can make after work and still satisfy my desire to try new and
    different things.
    
    Of course, some issues are better than others, but there were a
    number of real hits in both September and November.  And they have
    a section of recipes that are complete meals in an hour or less.
    They start with the shopping list and give you step by step directions
    along the lines of first start the dessert by doing this, put that
    aside and work on this now, etc.  Great for a beginner who has trouble
    getting everything to come out at the sametime.
    
    I'm going to subscribe when I get around to it, but in the meantime,
    I've been picking it up in the supermarket.  It is about the size
    of a Reader's Digest and usually on the rack right next to the cash
    register with the TV Guides.
    
    Susan

If you want to turn anyone into a bread baker par excellence, then find
the "Tassajara Bread Book" and open up a wonderful world of baking bread
from scratch.  It has step by step instructions, and a method that is
guarenteed to produce a wonderful first loaf of bread.  I taught myself
to create bread by using that book, and my first attempt was really
edible.  Mind you, I had never even seen anyone make bread before this.

The two men I've taught from that book now work without recipes and
create amazing multi-grain loaves....it brings out the creativity
in anyone to know what needs to be done to get a loaf of bread, and
then to receive encouragement to try your own combinations of flours.
Kneading dough is really a physical exercise when done properly which
makes the result "worth the effort".

    I recently looked through a cookbook catalog and the following 2
    cookbooks were recommended specifically for beginners:
    
    1.  Craig Claiborne's Kitchen Primer - a basic cookbook with pictures
        to show the correct techniques and equipment to use. 
    
    2.  How to Cook by Raymond Sokolov - This cookbook explains basic
        cooking processes in ordinary language and assumes no previous
        information or special skills.  They describe it as a fun book
        to read, full of amusing stories and helpful information.
    
    
    Hope this information is helpful to you!!
    

    I have purchased two cookbooks in my life, and inherited another
    written in 1931.  They are:
       "The Betty Crocker Cookbook" - in paperback, covers everything
    for the novice, including discussions of deglazing, saute'ing, how
    many teaspoons are in a tablespoon, etc.  All the basics are in
    here - soups, stews, bread, cake (of course), and entree's. The
    Bible, as far as I'm concerned.
      "The Complete Escofflier's Guide to Cooking" - 1700 pages, $75.00,
    I looked at it for a week and couldn't find anything I even wanted
    to attempt. Way too complex.
       "Your Community Cookbook" - this one was written in 1931, and
    includes instructions for butchering your own chickens and cleaning
    them.  An unintentionally humorous and very educational look at
    the past - full of specialized directions for wood-burning stoves.
    Cooking was not easy back then. Actually contains many useful recipes
    for stews, soups, breads and casserole's - and a great dessert section.
    I recommend this book, or other antique cookbooks, as an educational
    experience. It will make you appreciate your gas or electric stove,
    and kiss your frigidaire. I use this book a lot, although I still
    don't pluck my own chickens.

    
    
    The James Beard Cookbook 
    
    His original, basic cookbook.  I go back to this all the time for
    timing for steaming vegetables, broiling fish, etc.  It's available
    in paperback for about $4.  No fancy concoctions, but it does explain
    in detail how to boil and egg.
    
    
    Craig Claibourne's Kitchen Primer
    
    Another good book for basic cooking techniques.  I have >200 cookbooks
    and this is the one I always use for roasting my holiday turkey.
    
    
    The Fanny Farmer Cookbook
    
    NOT the original!  Marion Cunningham rewrote this recently, and
    did an excellent job.  The Fanny Farmer Baking Book is also a winner.
    
    

    Does anyone know of any SPICE cookbooks? I guess I'm looking for
    something that will list what to substitute for X spice, which spice is
    good with what, or mixed with other spices, etc...
    
    I asked at Walden Books this weekend (Searstown) and they didn't know
    of any. Said I should try GNC (which I promptly forgot as I walked
    out...)
    
    any ideas?
    beth

The Jessica's Biscuit Catalog has quite a few books on spices. Of
course, I can't remember any titles. Many of them are encyclopias of
spices that describe different spices and what they "go" with. I've
often considered buying one or two of them, but haven't gotten around
to it.

I know I've seen the address for Jessica's Biscuit in this file, try a
search on "Jessica" or "catalog".

-Patti

I don't know of any that explicitly says what you want.  However, Pickity Place
in Mason, NH. has several herb books that talk LOTS about herbs and what they 
can be used for.  It includes some recipies, too.  It also has lots of home 
remedies for colds, sore feet, headaches, tension, etc.  As well as ides for
keeping bugs away.

I think that to really get the info you want, you need a variety of cookbooks.
Like the Time-Life Good Cook series, or maybe JC's The Way to Cook.

    I have a wonderful book about herbs and spices.  It doesn't go deeply
    into the cooking aspects but has all kinds of information.  The name 
    of the book is WORLD OF HERBS & SPICES (ISBN 0-917102-72-X).  I also
    recommend Jessica's Biscuit.  It is the mail order side (for cookbooks)
    of New England Mobile Book Fair in Newton.
    
    

    
    NOTE: To beginner cooks.  Many of the questions I've seen posed in the
    notes file would be answered by referring to a basic book.
    
    I learned to cook using James Beard's basic book.  He is so explicit
    about everything.  His recipes are sure-fire.  The ingredients are easy
    to find.  He includes lists of utensils, for shopping, etc.
    
    One nit - he wrote this before low-fat came in vogue.   He actually
    advises asking the butcher to add extra fat to the burgers, and
    "barding" the roast by wrapping fat around it.  I just make adjustments
    by reducing the fat content, and happily proceed.
    
    Another nit - he doesn't have a recipe for pancakes.  Only waffles. 
    This mystifies me.  Too late to ask him why.
    
    I also like the McCalls book.  And it includes several recipes for
    pancakes!   It also has a strong 1950's flavor, advising the wife to
    make cakes often to please her husband and children.  :-)
    
    Both books are a bit old-fashioned but very solid.  I think there's a
    market niche for a 1990's basic cookbook.  Anyone?
    
    Laura

I have to recommend the new Julia Child's (sp?) "How to Cook" Cookbook.  At a 
regular bookstore it sells for $50.  You can buy it at BJ's for about $29.  I
bought it a few months ago and absolutely LOVE it!  

I make alot of bread, but none ever came out as good as the loaf I made going
by Julia's instructions.  She gives you step by step instructions.  Also 
instructions if you're using a food processor or by hand.  There are many 
pictures that go along with one recipe showing the different stages and what
it should look like.  I think that's great, they are taken from an angle just
like you would be looking at your ingredients from.  Also, for some recipes 
there are notes, for example, telling you if you can freeze something before
it's cooked.  One that stands out is Julia saying that she freezes her yeast.
I had no idea that I could do that.  I usually buy the jars and by the time I'm
at the end of the jar the yeast doesn't proof very well.

Another thing that's nice about the cookbook is a basic pasterie recipe, for 
example, may be given, but then the book tells you all the things you can make
from this.

Anyway, it's worth taking a look through next time you go to the store.  The 
only thing negative is alot of "standard" recipes aren't in the cookbook.  But,
I already have cookbooks for those anyway.

Debbi

    
    The New Basics cookbook from the Silver-Palate people tries to be this
    kind of book. It's a little short on method, but the recipes are
    up-to-date and those I've tried have turned out very well. 
    
    Mike  

    
    What I like about _Joy_ is that there is a recipe in there for
    anything and everything.  I've never gone to _Joy_ looking for
    a recipe and not found what I was looking for.
    

    I vote for _Joy_ as well...especially since we are talking
    about basic beginner cookbooks.  This one is a particular
    favorite of mine to give at weddings and showers.
    
    Judy