What books are out there that can give me the basics in learning how to cook?
March 26th, 2009 | 
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BlueGuitar68 asked:
My wife and I recently separated and she used to do all the cooking. Now that I’m alone, I need to learn to cook for myself. I am looking for a resource that will give me grounding in cooking fundamentals, like how to prepare certain types of meats (poultry vs. beef), create certain types of sauces, and how to develop into a gourmet. Help!
My wife and I recently separated and she used to do all the cooking. Now that I’m alone, I need to learn to cook for myself. I am looking for a resource that will give me grounding in cooking fundamentals, like how to prepare certain types of meats (poultry vs. beef), create certain types of sauces, and how to develop into a gourmet. Help!
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I’m in culinary school, and I think that our textbook for our Intro class is just what you need. It’s called “On Cooking: A Textbook of Culinary Fundamentals”.
It is very comprehensive. It has chapters on everything – every kind of meat imaginable, poultry, fish and shellfish, vegetables, fruit, soups, sauces, appetizers, desserts… anything you could ever want! Each chapter has instruction and recipes. There are also chapters on cooking fundamentals and techniques.
Newer editions of the book also come with Master Cook Deluxe software. This program has all of the recipes found in the book and several hundred more.
I worked at a restaurant where we used a bread pudding recipe from this book and customers always raved about it!
If you’re serious about learning to cook and becoming a gourmet, a book like this would be most helpful! A brand new copy would be fairly expensive, but you can probably find a used copy on Half.com or at Half Price Books for a lot less.
Good luck! Cooking is so much fun, and women love a man who can whip them up a gourmet meal!!
I use the Lobel Brother’s complete guide to MEAT. Its been a great resource for me
Some quick ideas:
Beef eye of round is on sale a lot – brown it on all sides in a little olive oil and fill with some water, enough to cover. Add a package of onion soup mix and let that simmer for a while – a couples hours, but I do it longer and sometimes in a crock pot…the longer, the more tender. You can thicken the liquid later using some corn starch (in a cup put a couple tablespoons and mix with COLD water and add to liquid in small amounts – watch it thicken and make sure you stir constantly wile adding)
Beer Can Chicken!
Use a beer can filled with 2/3s of the beer in it. Impale the bird (where you would stuff it) with the can and rest it in a pan (upright using the legs for support) and put it in the oven @ 350 for an hour or so – its the best thing you ever had!
Finally, ASK shoppers (women) at the meat counter…most are more than willing to help out
Betty Crocker cookbook is a good start. I have that and the recipes are very good. It also shows you how to prepare everything.
No kitchen would be complete without the Joy of Cooking. This book teaches you everything from cooking steaks to roasting poultry to making sauces. I use this book almost once a week and I’ve been cooking for years. It’s great for a beginner and you’ll always have it to refer to even after you become more proficient. This is the book I would pick if I could only have one cookbook.
the joy of cooking is a must
get a pre 1990 version at a used book store the newest
one isnt so great
On Cooking and The Joy of Cooking are great resources (I own both), but if you have little working knowledge to start with they may be a bit overwhelming. Start with the original Betty Crocker cookbook. The original printing was sometime in the early 1900s I think, but has been reprinted with the original recipes in recent years. It has everything from cuts of meat to definitions of basic cooking terms and tried and true recipes. I make all my cream pies, pancakes, and more with this cookbook. Check it out.
my first and favorite cook book is “Betty Crocker cookbook ”
It has a whole bunch of easy recipes that you will want to make over and over again..I speak from experience..
Good luck!
I do NOT recommend the Joy of Cooking, it is way too involved with things you will never do, seems a bit snobby.
I recommend watching Rachael Ray on TV a few times, or check out her magazine or her cookbooks. She is not only an incredible cook, but also a great teacher.
She is down to earth on her show, you may not be able to cook the food in half hour but close. The quickness is often in her quick prep…she can chop an onion like nobody’s business. But she also chooses some store bought things to kick start the recipe, such as yellow cake mix for desserts and canned tomatoes, and then there are quick cook cuts of meat, and prepared produce either frozen, that she bought that way, or that she prepared ahead of time.
Every recipe that RR gives is crawling with variations. You can use a different meat, a different veggie combo, leave something out or add something else, use what you have on hand, etc. As well as letting you know what to do with HER leftovers. Her cooking ideas are about learning how to string the tasks together, teaching about ingredients along the way so you can do your own version and it will be great.
Plus her work habits are so neat to watch. She brings everything she needs to a small small area, so she doesn’t have to run around the whole kitchen a lot. She uses a cutting board large enough to hold EVERYTHING she chops up, then she just scoots over the little piles of ingredients.
She is a goldmine of ideas. Watching her, I don’t know how you could lose. I know you asked for books but you will learn so much from RR it is worth it.
OK books, Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks are great basic ring-binder cookbooks. You can also check out recipe booklets or websites from Bisquick (those are on the box) and Campbell’s cream soups, Kraft cheeses including Velveeta. You can also research methods of cooking. You can’t ***** up crockpot food, I don’t think. You can also look into a Foreman Grill and there are millions of recipes online, plus it comes with a book. You can find recipes for the wok and the outdoor grill, you can find healthy recipes for every possible diet. And then there are the basic skills. How to cook noodles. How to make a grilled cheese. How to choose and prepare meats and how to clean and prepare veggies, how to cook rice. It is all very basic skills and easy to master, then you have an endless variety of things to combine as you like.
Oh yeah, and reconcile with your wife if you can. Maybe your new kitchen skills will give you brownie points.
I like the cookbooks by Cooks Illustrated, exceptionially instructive and informative. You can find them at the following link: