Since I collect cookbooks and have hundreds that will be a bit hard but what I decided to do was try to get the top 10 that appeal to me. Some of these books have several in a series that I collect all or almost all of . So what I decided to do was put the top book as my favorite for you then list the books in the series after with a lil bit about each too. This blog tho will count as one in a series of 10 blogs on cookbooks.
The Silver Palate Series
What I love about this series of cookbooks is that theres something here for everyone. Each one of these books covers a need. If you have them all your all set for anything. Theres lots of ideas for entertaining in them, tons of recipes and lots of creative uses of new ingredients. Even with every day cooking they put a lil twist on it and make it new. Anyone who cooks alot for parties and friends will appreciate the ideas in here and will get tons of praise for whatever you make from them. When I'm stuck for ideas for a dinner or party, these books are where I start looking.
The first one is "The Silver Palate Cookbook". I bought this one years ago when I first started cooking in a restaurant. I was looking for new ideas. This book is one Ive come to love over the years when I need to plan a class or plan a party. Its a good classic book for those who can cook but look for different things that are not over the top impossible to do but still will impress. Ive never made anything bad from it. Over the years they have put out a few more books too and I had to have them all. This series is a good basic series for those who just want a few books nothing more. There are thousands of great recipes and ideas in them all. I have the original but now there's a new 25th anniversary volume out.
SILVER PALATE COOKBOOK
First published in 1982, The Silver Palate Cookbook was an instant smash. It offered 350 stylish but easy recipes that reflected and helped cement America's burgeoning interest in quality cooking. It acquainted cooks with "gourmet" ingredients, just beginning to appear in our markets. And it helped many a host to shine.
The collection, whose recipes range from hors d'oeuvres to sweets, now arrives in a 25th-anniversary edition, which reproduces the original text and adds color photos throughout, often dropped into the text pages. All the old favorites, including Marinated Eggplant Livia, Chicken Marbella, Blanquette de Vaeu, and Blackberry Mousse are present, along with information about ingredients, menus, quotes, and other asides--all the things that help make the book such a pleasure. It's hard to imagine a cook--and especially one who entertains--not owning Silver Palate. This printing, which includes a retrospective foreword, offers more satisfaction still while reiterating the reasons for the book's enduring appeal.
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THE NEW BASICS
While it won't tell you how to boil an egg, Lukins and Rosso's The New Basics has proved itself a modern classic, fit to reside on your shelves next to The Joy of Cooking and The Fannie Farmer Cookbook. Aspiring chefs can use this 850-page tome to plan their next cocktail party (try the Raspberry Dip with Crudites), make brunch for the in-laws (how about Smoked Salmon and Leek Frittata and a Chicory and Bacon Salad?), or even bake up a batch of Pinwheel Cookies for the office. The "basics" include tips for entertaining, a glossary of cooking and wine terms, suggestions for a well- stocked pantry, and instructions on how to pick the best seasonal ingredients. Menus and delightful culinary quotes are sprinkled throughout the book, and the chatty tone will inspire confidence in every kitchen.
Since they have sold the store, Rosso and Lukins could hardly call their new book The New Silver Palate Cookbook , but that, in essence, is what this is. It's a huge cookbook/reference work, filled with information on new ingredients and styles of cooking, practical advice on such subjects as entertaining and choosing wine, and more than 900 recipes. There are all sorts of dishes here, family favorites as well as company food, recipes that seem fresh and new but not, in general, overly trendy.
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GREAT GOOD FOOD
Julee Rosso, the co-author of The Silver Palate Cookbook brings us the cookbook for the '90s, focusing on today's number-one food-health concern: reducing fat. Rosso offers a broad collection of more than 800 delicious and easy, new recipes and a treasure trove of nutritional information, gardening and shopping tips, seasonal and international menus, and food history and lore.
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From the authors of The Silver Palate Cookbook (2.2 million copies in print), here is The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook. This time the authors focus on entertaining company and making any occasion special with the right ingredients and imagination.With the same spirit and culinary daring that catapulted the first Silver Palate Cookbook into over 700,000 homes, the Good Times Cookbook, brings to each season a sense of the memorable. Dinner a deux becomes a fireside clambake. Spring is heralded with early cherves, curry bread, glasses of Chablis. Summer sizzles with swordfish barbecue, while autumn refreshes with wild mushroom forays and the crunch of favorite nuts. And to round out the year, there's the splendid formality of Broiled Oysters with Arugula Purse and an elegant Dacquoise.
Throughout, Sheila Lukins's charming illustrations highlight the more than 450 recipes, menus, and unexpected pairings. Sidebars and marginalia resolve the dilemmas of modern entertaining-whether Beaujolais is lusty enough for lamb, which cheeses start a meal and which end it with a flourish, how to make the presentation of food as lush as the taste.
This is a great accompaniment to the original Silver Palette Cookbook. The emphasis here is on entertaining, so the recipes are frequently more formal and serve larger quantities. The book is arranged seasonally with proposed menus (i.e. a Kentucky Derby party, mid-winter skiing holiday). You'll get great ideas for parties just looking through the book. Plus, there are lots of great tips on planning a party and cooking for a crowd.
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CELEBRATE!
This book by veteran cookbook author Sheila Lukins is an excellent cookbook for the home cook who likes to cook and to entertain, but who is not a foodie who does not want to spend a lot of time pulling recipes from books by celebrity authors or the `Joy of Cooking'.
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SHELIA LUKINS ALL AROUND THE WORLD COOKBOOK
Turn the more than 500 pages of this latest cookbook by Lukins ( The Silver Palate Cookbook ), and one grows almost giddy. From Argentinian barbecue to Mexican zarzuela, she includes nearly every incarnation of the international and edible. True, many cookbook writers are well-traveled, but few set out, as Lukins did, to create a cookbook with the feel of a travel album: illustrations and sidebars along make the volume a fascinating jaunt. Through conversations with home cooks and professional chefs in 33 countries, Lukins researched the ways that people cook and eat abroad, adapting cross-cultural recipes to American kitchens with flair. The table of contents clues us in to the breezy, chatty style of its author: breakfast foods are clustered under "Room Service," while appetizers and aperitifs fall under "Wish You Were Here." No attempt is made to cluster all the recipes from a region together, which helps to give the text its considerable charms. Chicken soup, for example, is presented in a chart, tabulating 22 countries' versions of this classic.
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USA COOKBOOK
Sheila Lukins's USA Cookbook celebrates American cooking as seen through the enthusiastic eyes of one of the nation's most popular cooks and successful cookbook authors. The 600-plus recipes in this hefty book include exuberant versions of American classics like tomato soup and chocolate pudding, and updated takes on classics, inspired by dishes Lukins sampled at food festivals, restaurants, and in homes she visited all over the country. Lukins also shares recipes gathered from eateries whose specialties are the gold standard, including Sonny Bryan's Onion Rings from Kansas City, Missouri, Goode's BBQ Mop from Houston, and Blue Wally Pancakes from Al's Breakfast in Minneapolis, to name a few. Shaker Cranberry Brisket, Chili Chicken Salad, and Low Country Bread Pudding are more examples of Lukins in top form, adding her own creative yet comfortable and crowd-pleasing twists to classic regional dishes.Use this book when cooking for company and to add a lift to family meals. Without leaving you buried in the kitchen, whatever you make will add a soupcon of sophistication--and gain compliments for the cook.
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