Me: "Hi Joy. I wish to make potato salad today."

Joy: "Hi Sourmilk! Certainly. Which kind would you like to make? French or American?"

Me: "Well...which one uses less vinegar?"

Joy: "Well...American calls for 7 tablespoons and the French calls for 3."

Me: "Thank the fuck Christ. Let's go with the French."

Joy: "Well...it's 3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons of white wine."

Me: "Fuck me...hmm...still gotta go with the French. Can I put some scallions in there all cut thin on a mandolin?"

Joy: "Whoa! Sounds like someone's been reading another book!"

Everything I've made from this one has been superb:

When I was a fishmonger in NYC, we used to keep a copy of Mark Bittman's book "Fish" handy. It was an excellent resource to grab in case someone needed a recipe for skate (poach in sake) or cod (butter & potatoes). Also, there were several options for each fish so you were free to be as simple or as complicated as you wanted.

These days I keep track of Mark Bittman by reading his blog, Bitten, every day.
http://bitten.blogs.nytimes.com/
So many great articles here. I sometimes find it vexing that I don't have enough time to try the new recipes in here. He calls his blog the Minimalist so presumably these are easy recipes.

But for true minimalist vegetarian cooking I turn to "Three Bowls" which comes from a California Buddhist monastary.
http://www.amazon.com/Bowls-Vegetarian-American-Buddhist-Monastery/dp/039597707X

Here you will find some of the simplest recipes I have ever seen and they are delicious!!! You absolutely can't so wrong with these recipes. With this book I have created some of the most tasty dishes ever. And most dishes use the same basic ingredients, like sesame oil, so you will find yourself using the same ingredients over and over again. Makes for easy cooking.

Ty Webb wrote:

Sourmilk wrote:The "Joy of Cooking" is indeed a good place to start but Jesus after about of year of cooking from it that book gets tired. It's like every recipe in that book calls for some kind of vinegar...and a lot of it.

That's just crazy. That book has the best, most wide-ranging variety of basic, staple recipes in English. The whole point of a book like that, in contrast to 99% of all other cookbooks, is that every recipe is a starting point and it arms you with what you need to know to eventually add variations of your own and, ultimately, not need recipes at all. That's what differentiates cooks from people who just think they like to cook.

I'm still getting there.

Exactly. Joy of Cooking is great to start out with because you can say "I feel like making Beef Stroanoff, but I'm not really sure how much sour cream I should add" so you go to the book and it tells you. But you can also add in Worcestershire sauce if that is your deal, or omit mushrooms and add tons of onions, or whatever your tastes are. They are just the basic recipes for tons of dishes.

Another thing that I like to do is use the "ingredient Search" function on allrecipes.com. With this you can put in ingredients you want to use and find dishes that use them. Also read the reviews on recipes because people often times give great suggestions for alternative ingredients- like using peanut butter in Kung Pao Chicken instead of peanuts- which are great to know if you are just starting out cooking and you are not sure how Sherry Cooking Wine will change a recipe that calls for dry white wine or something.

If you are looking for a bit fancier recipes online, check out epicurious.com.

noise&light, you rule. Thanks for the tips on the book and the blog.

Although his first entry makes me chuckle. Those "ingenious" spice cans with the magnetic backs from Ikea? Alton Brown has been doing the same thing with cheap velcro for years.

And, of course, I'm the asshole, because the third comment on the page points out this very thing. Der.

Run of the mill food:
http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Living-C ... 0848714717

Must own / mind blower:
All Madhur Jaffrey

My staples:





Newest edition:

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Ty Webb wrote:

Sourmilk wrote:The "Joy of Cooking" is indeed a good place to start but Jesus after about of year of cooking from it that book gets tired. It's like every recipe in that book calls for some kind of vinegar...and a lot of it.

That's just crazy. That book has the best, most wide-ranging variety of basic, staple recipes in English. The whole point of a book like that, in contrast to 99% of all other cookbooks, is that every recipe is a starting point and it arms you with what you need to know to eventually add variations of your own and, ultimately, not need recipes at all. That's what differentiates cooks from people who just think they like to cook.

I'm still getting there.

I used to drive my ex crazy because I used to insist on following every new recipe to the letter the very first time I made it.

You meet a lot of these "oh I don't cook from recipes" people. If we had to rely on them for our culinary development we would still be sitting in caves gnawing on charred bones and chewing turnips.

It’s asparagus season out here. Made this for 6 folks tonight as an appetizer:

Boil asparagus.
Strain, immediately put in ice bath.
Remove, and place asparagus in olive oiled pan, sauté.
Add salt.
Off heat, add lemon juice.
Wrap each spear in provolone.
Wrap each provolone spear in prosciutto.
Serve.
Eat.

madmanmunt wrote:

Ty Webb wrote:

Sourmilk wrote:The "Joy of Cooking" is indeed a good place to start but Jesus after about of year of cooking from it that book gets tired. It's like every recipe in that book calls for some kind of vinegar...and a lot of it.

That's just crazy. That book has the best, most wide-ranging variety of basic, staple recipes in English. The whole point of a book like that, in contrast to 99% of all other cookbooks, is that every recipe is a starting point and it arms you with what you need to know to eventually add variations of your own and, ultimately, not need recipes at all. That's what differentiates cooks from people who just think they like to cook.

I'm still getting there.

I used to drive my ex crazy because I used to insist on following every new recipe to the letter the very first time I made it.

A good practice. You don't abandon the recipe until you have it down cold. At least, not if you really are interested in being a good cook.