Who likes to cook here? I'm always somewhat interested in working on expanding my skills in the kitchen. Any recommendations for interesting cookbooks or some good recipes out there?

P.S. Years back, I remember Steve told our band about a book called 'Unmentionable Cuisine' -- Go to the 'look inside this book' option and scroll a few pages over to the index. Beef lung anyone?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 7?v=glance

After a quick glance thru the index, I must say I am particularly anxious to read about:

-- Beetle grubs in cockchafer soup (p. 371)
-- Beef tripe in son-of-a-bitch stew (p. 56)
-- Silkworm pupae soup (p. 374)
-- Chicken testicles, in small bits stew (p. 233)
-- Congo meat (p. 383)
-- Boiled cockle (p. 323)

Troubling to see, however, are:

-- Coconut-cream-marinated dog, on skewers (p. 174)
-- Cyanide (p. 9)
-- Faggots (p. 113) (??)
-- "Limeys" (p. 73)

Now, I don't have any problem confronting my culturally-inherited food predjudices, but I think advocating the consumption of lethal poisons, the family pet, English folks and homosexuals is taking things a weeee bit too far. Ought to make for an interesting read though, and the next cocktail party I throw is going to have some interesting hors d'oeuvres, I dare say.

And yes, that first recipe title did say "cockchafer." As in, the soup apparently chafes one's tallywhacker, like a too-tight marital aid or a crusty handkerchief.

Fascinating stuff! As soon as this thing comes in from Amazon it's off to the pound! Or under the nearest rock! Whichever!

I hear Steve makes a mean pork roast.
dB-

I've never made a pork roast before (and I've never cooked up some faggots for dinner for that matter). Anyway, I kind of thought there was a bit of a correlation between desire to make music and the desire to cook.

I spent many years in a fine-dining kitchen and have acquired quite a love of cooking. there is a certain point where you know what herbs and spices and techniques go well together and you can create some good stuff out of the air. learn the basics of meat preparation and a few sauces and you are well on the way. roasts are always good because you can throw a bunch of stuff in a crockpot and let fly for a few hours with little effort.
food is something everyone needs and enjoys. my fiancee would rather me make her favorite meal at home than go to a high dollar steakhouse. this saves me a lot of cash.
cooking= not crap

Yeah, that's always cool when you can just throw a bunch of stuff together on the fly and make something delicious happen. I can really only do that with pastas so far. Here's one I made up that's pretty good (and it's cheap to make as well):

4 cloves sliced garlic
5 plum tomatoes
5 or so mushrooms, sliced
2 med. size zucchini, chopped
1/2 of an onion (finely chopped)
Red pepper
Black pepper
1/3 cup tomato sauce
Pasta of your choice

Toss the plum tomatoes in boiling water for 3 or 4 minutes to get the skin off, then put them in a bowl full of cool water for a minute. Peel and chop. it's messy, but turns out good. The key to this dish is to keep stirring stuff up during cooking. Saute the garlic and onion in some olive oil (not too much, not too little... maybe 3 or 4 tablespoons?) -- a minute or so after they start to sweat, throw in the zucchini, let it cook until it gets moist, add a few pinches of red and black pepper. Throw in the mushrooms and cook them down a bit. Then throw in the tomatoes. Cook every thing up for a few minutes, stirring and letting it bubble. Toss in the tomato sauce, turn down the heat to low and let it all simmer for 5 minutes or so. Pour it on your favorite pasta, sit down and eat it. Serve w/ buttered parmesan toast and some good red wine.

-The Joy of Cooking

-Any of the Cook's Illustrated or America's Test Kitchen stuff (also nice for the ratings of different products and the explanations of why certain techniques worked better for them than others)

-ERawk: By pickling, do you mean canning, preserving-- that sort of thing? My mother has a terrific book on that though it's quite old and I only recognize it by the cover, which I'm sure is different in newer editions. I'll ask her the title when I talk to my parents next time. It also has tips for freezing, which is something I would do more of if I had a chest freezer here. It's too bad I can't keep one in the garage.

-I've been looking for a decent Eastern European cookbook for a long time. I've not seen something that encapsulated the cuisine of the whole of Eastern Europe very well, without excluding certain regions. I have better luck looking up "Eastern European recipes" online, it seems.

-Speaking of online sources, apart from the Food Network website, [url=www.tastespotting.com[/url]Tastespotting[/url] is worth checking out.

-For all things produce-related: The Victory Garden Cookbook. This is probably one of my favourite cookbooks of all time, with the chapters separated by types of produce.

-Anything by Steven Raichlen, especially ]How to Grill and Sauces, Rubs, and Marinades. Great instructive photos in the first book teaching you how to cut/truss/etc. various meats.

-Simply Ming:Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals. A recipe for one sauce or pesto or whatnot is presented and then 3-4 simple recipes that include that preparation follow. Awesome book with tasty, easy-to-cook foods.

-Soup and bread: Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread, The Tassajara Bread Book, An Exaltation of Soups, The Culinary Institute of America's Book of Soups. I'm a soup and bread addict so I have a tough time choosing favourites.

As much as I love to own cookbooks, I am usually unable to afford or have the space for as many of them as I would like. Thus, I've taken to using the library's collection for trial tests before deciding if it's something worth owning. If there are three amazing recipes in the entire book, I'll just copy them down or scan the relevant pages. The book section of T.J. Maxx or Marshall's is also a surprisingly good source for inexpensive recipe books, as are used book shops, rummage sales, and thrift stores.

man, this is my kinda thread!

*goes off to get favourite recipes from computer*

btw, The Moosewood Cookbook is pretty good.

Moosewood! That's a classic that I forgot. They have some nice spin-off books also, like desserts and low-fat recipes.

Also for vegetarian food, I cannot recommend Fields of Greens: New Vegetarian Recipes From The Celebrated Greens Restaurant enough. Although I am an omnivore, I love vegetarian food and everything I've made from this book is delicious. The Mushroom-Leek Filo with Gruyere Cheese and Thyme, the sourdough starter recipe, the soups--all worth the investment.

I also forgot to mention Once Upon a Tart. Everything out of that book is gold.

Alfred Portale has 3 books. They are at the right level of fussiness for me. Not everyday cooking, but when I want to do something special these are the books I reach for.

EVERY SINGLE recipe I have cooked from ANY of these books has been outstanding. Literally, the best dish of that type that I have ever cooked.