Okay I have an extensive cookbook collection, but I know there are some great ones out there I don't have and my birthday is coming up... What is your FAVORITE cookbook or baking book to COOK FROM? honorable mentions for ones that inspire you are welcome too, but if you don't cook from it please specify ;) Extra special bonus if they are from small publishers, self published, or from lesser known chefs!

Question

Vicky · Answer

Eating at Home is a great one!: Every recipe is practical, nourishing and delicious.

Thaïs Gimenez · Answer

Essentials of Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan. Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking by Michael Ruhlman. Salt Fat Acid Heat by  Samin Nosrat. You can use all pages on that!

Louise · Answer

Super natural simple by Heidi Swanson: It truly is all in the name - I visit this one like an old friend. Simple and healthy weeknight cooking. And vegetarian. Finally got around to dabbling in the baking section - raspberry rye cookies were so good! The photography is lovely too.

Sam · Answer

Simply Julia: This book and many others by Julia Turshen are just so practical and satisfying. Green chile braised chicken thighs with pinto beans is in the regular rotation at my house. I think one thing I respond to is that all the recipes are riffable, and in fact riffs are offered in the book. another thing I love is that our pantries are spiritually aligned so I usually have the ingredients for a Julia recipe already in my pantry.

Spines, Flicks, and Wax · Answer

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book: This 17th edition of this book is full of modern recipes while still paying homage to some classics.

They have a Texas Sheet Cake and Pumpkin Bread recipe I swear by! Lots of comfort food recipes to get you cozy this fall.

Sandy Caribou · Answer

“health nut” by Jess Damuck: I was drawn to this book because of the 1970s socal surfer vibe, but honestly, I just love it. I mainly make the smoothies and juices, but have really good feelings about the rest of the book. It’s sort of like if Erewhon was a cookbook and not cultish. The author worked for Martha Stewart and made her green juice every day, and having made it for myself many many times, I can vouch. Also, her partner is Ben Sinclair, the man behind / star of “High Maintenance” one of my all time favorite shows!!

Ona · Answer

Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman: The crunchy tofu, the chicken ramen, the falafel, ALL OF IT. Truly lives up to the name, many of these recipes in our weekly rotation.

Rachel Sundstrom · Answer

Milk Street: Cook What You Have: We cook from this book multiple times a week and we always already have most of the ingredients. Easy and delicious recipes with lots of different flavors and influences.

Aya C · Answer

Salt Fat Acid Heat: Seems obvious to rec this classic and awks since she’s on RL, but this book changed how I think about food, troubleshoot/amend what I’m cooking and many recipes have become go-tos in our family. We have the slaw all the time and the buttermilk roasted chicken taught me that I can roast a chicken!

Ruby Claire Johnson · Answer

Back Pocket Pasta Colu Henry: Seriously easy, quick on the fly pasta recipes that deliver!

Ruby Claire Johnson · Answer

Susan Spungen Open Kitchen: You can cook anything out of here and it’s so inspired and beautiful. Dinner party worthy every time. I gift this one to my friends. VEG OUT is very good too.

Ruby Claire Johnson · Answer

The Farm Table: I cook from this like all the time! Julius's recipes are gorgeous like him! But seriously, so understated and just lovely. The zucchini marscapone cavatelli is a forever keeper.

Ruby Claire Johnson · Answer

Kitchen Arts & Letters: Books on food and drink. Incredible resource for all kinds of cookery books. I too, have an extensive collection and I love snooping on here.

Jill · Answer

The Defined Dish Recipes: HUGE fan of Alex Snodgrass.  All of her cookbooks are great!

Abby · Answer

Anything by Donna Hay.: The photography in her books is amazing, but 90% of her recipes are easy to execute and delicious to eat.

Lulu Lefferts · Answer

CookShelf - Organize & Discover Recipes: I haven’t tried it yet but this is so interesting to me. It’s a way of finding recipes across all the cookbooks one already owns.

I also love getting cookbooks from the library to try out new ones before I buy.

Jes · Answer

Made in India (Meera Sodha): Fully sauce stained and annotated as a favorite cookbook should be. I have all of her books but this first one remains my favorite.

Josie · Answer

Cook This Book by Molly Baz: this is a #basic recommendation and honesty i’m not a big fan of her writing style. HOWEVER it’s my favorite cookbook to actually cook from because she lists the ingredient measurements in the instructions (as well as in the ingredient list, which is split up into categories like pantry, produce, dairy, etc)!! maybe it’s my ADHD but this is huge for me so i’m not flipping between pages or even looking between the ingredient list and the recipe instructions for the measurements. the recipes are good too LOL.

Jeannette · Answer

Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook (Audrey Alsterberg, Wanda Urbanowicz): A vegetarian cookbook from a restaurant in Victoria, BC. I've been cooking from it for close to 20 years and it's filled with interesting, manageable recipes which are easy to adapt based on what you've got in your fridge or cupboard. I have the African Yam & Peanut soup memorized.

Karen Fischer · Answer

Southern Girl Meets Vegetarian Boy by Damaris Phillips: I worked in a library a few years ago and when I saw this book I thought it was so cute, so I checked it out and brought it home. I made a handful of recipes that were SO GOOD that I obviously still remember the book! I really loved the pecan meatballs, for example. I should honestly buy it myself.

Martha Tesema · Answer

Soomaaliya: Ifrah is brilliant and I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy her cooking at various pop-ups. Malawax recipe here goes hard.

Emily · Answer

The Canal House Series: Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton began these serialized cookbooks in the early aughts as a way to capture their magical cooking style from The Canal House restaurant in Milford, NJ — ingredient forward, with a bit of high-payoff technique. I turn to these for inspiration and I actually cook from them frequently. Like many books from this time period, they are organized loosely by season and celebrations, and pack an incredible punch for their diminutive size. Buy one or buy them all!!

Emily W · Answer

Australian Food: Fresh, flavorful and fairly quick to cook recipes by the late beloved chef Bill Granger. I’ve made the the kale, lemon & piston pasta and the summer chopped salad with citrus sesame dressing on repeat, and they are always a hit with my family.

Sophie Consults · Answer

Now Serving: The best cookbook store in the nation! And the best resource for finding new and old cookbooks. You can reach out (if you’re not able to visit their store in LA) and ask for specific book recs. I got a cookbook rec for recipes to take on a beach picnic today (it was I’ll Bring the Apps)!

Wine Guy · Answer

Estela Hardcover – January 1, 2014: From one of my all time favorite restaurants in NYC. The recipes are on the advanced side but worth the effort. Endive salad, summer squash and steak with taleggio are some of my go-to recipes.

Wine Guy · Answer

The Four Horsemen: Food and Wine: Simple but elevated dishes from the chef of four horsemen. The book also has insights on natural wine, the restaurant's history, and advice for home cooks.

Allyson · Answer

A Modern Way to Eat by Anna Jones: Anna Jones has a knack for creating contemporary, flavorful vegetarian food that tastes like a celebration. The black bean tacos and kale and cherry tomato pasta are on regular rotation in my home.

Stacie D · Answer

Dinner by Meera Sodha: Multiple of her books are great but this one has been a huge winner!

Sophie · Answer

Maximum Flavour: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Cook: I once drove 256 miles to try the donuts at Aki Kamozawa and Alex Talbot‘s donut shop, Curiosity Donuts. They wrote Ideas in Food which is their more well known book, but this is the one I go back to. I can’t say I’ve cooked much lately but when I do, I return to the techniques from this book time and again.

JV · Answer

Honey & Co, At Home (A Culinary Rec): Honey & Co at Home is a London gem. This Middle Eastern-inspired cookbook is a comfort to me, with dishes like “hedgehog meatballs” (rice and beef rolled up and cooked in simmering turmeric broth) and the most elegant lamb and saffron rice dish I’ve ever cooked and served. This is one of a couple of books this restaurant team and deli-shop have published in the past decade and a half since opening. When I stumbled on this place, I felt like I was getting a great, home-cooked, hug.

Coofandy · Answer

an everlasting meal

Adam · Answer

Chez Panisse: Only one you need.

amy · Answer

Start Here: A Cookbook (Sohla El-Waylly): This is great for both new and longtime cooks because it helps understand some flavor and technique building blocks to make all your food better AND it’s filled with delicious and unique recipes.

Tim Sondrup · Answer

Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook: This has the very best homemade pancake recipe I’ve ever made (the secret is whipped egg whites). My wife and I stopped in during a layover in NYC in 2012, and breakfast there was incredible. We got married shortly after, and this cookbook was one of the first we ever owned.

Amy · Answer

Around Our Table: Wholesome Recipes to Feed Your Family and Friends: I love the lentil soup, sweet potato boats and sloppy janes, garlic knots, anywhere slaw, and more!

Sam · Answer

The Flavor Thesaurus (Niki Segnit): This is so helpful when I need some inspiration in the kitchen or need a substitute.