Favorite Cookbooks // Alice

my bookshelf at home! 

I have a thing for cookbooks. It is a real treat for me to be able to spend time reading a new (or borrowed) cookbook. Once for my birthday, my husband gave me an entire Sunday afternoon to spend as I pleased (i.e. not on mom duty).  I had just received Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi for Christmas, so I spent my free afternoon planning, shopping for, and executing a meal from that cookbook (the sunchoke chicken, the couscous with tomato paste, and the fried onions in case you were curious).  My family room shelves are almost exclusively cookbooks!  The only books I check out of the library for myself are cookbooks. Given that many cookbooks have cycled in and out over the years, I thought I’d share a few of my enduring favorites.

It’s All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow

I really didn’t set out to love this book, but after making dozens of the recipes, it really is one of the best cookbooks for my family.  We have made so many of the recipes and they turn out great!  Our favorite recipes:

• Salt Baked Fish – always a huge hit!  We’ve made this several times.  SO fun to do with others.
• Sriracha Salmon – I even made the homemade sriracha – it was incredible! (although my hands and lips burned for a few days making the homemade sriracha, I now just buy it).
• The salad dressings are all incredible – the carrot ginger and the dressing for the mango avocado salad are my favorites
• Black bean and sweet potato chili is amazing.

The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

This cookbook is one of those classic cookbooks that you can always turn to when you need to review technique, or find a really basic delicious, well tested recipe.  I always turn to it to find a good basic recipe that I can then doctor up as I see fit.  Things I like:

• Classic cheese quiche (I then change is up and add lots of things)
• Basic techniques regarding pie crust

Joy the Baker – the food blog run by Joy Wilson

Joy is my go-to source for amazing sweets and desserts.  She and I must be taste bud twins, because everything is always amazing! I

• Every marshmallow recipe she’s written (honey vanilla, gingerbread, mint chocolate chip – in her first cookbook).  For a few years now I give all the kid’s teachers homemade marshmallows and hot chocolate for their holiday gifts.
• Strawberry cookies and cream cake (the cake base is vegan!) and it was SO good
• Vegan chocolate cake – seriously SO good!  I don’t make the green frosting, I just use regular chocolate frosting.  The cake itself is so delicious!
• Chocolate orange cream cheese pound cake – it is SO good!  I used to make this for my friends who had just had babies.  It was perfect when you needed a little snack at 2am after feeding or rocking a sleeping baby – so easy to just cut yourself a little slice on the way back to bed.
• Chicken pot pie with cream cheese and chive biscuits – I made this for my son’s second birthday party (fall birthday) and it was a huge hit.  I’ve since made it many times.  Chicken pot pie from scratch without using a canned soup is such a treat.

Jambalaya by the Junior League of New Orleans

This book is a New Orleans classic.  We get our gumbo recipe from here.

My New Orleans by John Besh

Everything we’ve made from this book we’ve loved.  The caveat is that it is often time consuming AND not low cal in the least.  However, on special occasions, it is a go to source of inspiration.

• Our method for a quick roux comes from this book
• The Spinach Madeleine
• Jambalaya

Barefoot Contessa books – Ina Garten

I must confess that I have all of her books!  I’m a big Ina fan.  There are several favorite recipes:

•  I make this asian salmon once a week in the oven (rather than the grill) and the kids LOVE it!
•  40 clove chicken – perfect for the garlic lovers in Northern Cali
• Lentil sausage soup – the kids love this (and so do the adults)

Weelicious by Catherine McCord

I first discovered this blog a few years ago when my first was still a baby.  The meals are perfect for that in between phase where you need food that appeals to both babies and adults, but don’t want to make multiple meals. My kids love the cottage cheese pancakes (protein packed!) and the spinach ricotta bites (we always double the recipe and freeze).
 

I just bought the new Mark Bittman book Kitchen Matrix and the new Gwyneth Paltro book It’s All Easy.  I can’t wait to cook my way through these books!  If I’m missing any favorites, please let me know!

Xo Alice