Cookbook Suggestions for Novice Cook

[PollyG]

My son is installed in his new college apartment with a far better stocked kitchen than I had throughout college.  He has a microwave, oven, electric stove, blender, stand mixer, crockpot, rice cooker and electric griddle.  He is part of the generation who believes that he doesn't need any lessons from Mom because everything is available on the internet.  (You'd think all those Pinterest fail photos might have clued him in, but not yet.)   I've offered, he's passed. 

He has a copy of my much loved Chinese Menu Cookbook, which teaches classic techniques bit by bit.  He also has Carol Field's Italian Baker; loves to make bread but usually goes with recipes he finds on the internet, with mixed results.  

I'm looking for another cookbook for him with simple recipes and meticulously edited technique descriptions.  I'm thinking Maida Heatter level detail, but for savory dishes.  Does anyone have suggestions?  

[ktmoomau]

Hmmm, what about a basic book like Better Homes and Gardens?  I also think Charles Phan does a really good job making Vietnamese food very easy and approachable with very detailed instruction.  I also have a cookbook called frame by frame Chinese which I like as it is really visual, which can be helpful in that type of situation. Feran Adria's family meals is really detailed and specific, also with lots of pictures, but not super hard meals.

BUT I will also say I find a lot of great recipes on Pinterest/Food52, and I love the Bon Appetit You Tube Channel and often look up recipes they are making. I tend to turn to Pinterest for easy things before I look up anything in a cookbook. You could see if you could find some of the recipes from your favorite chefs online and make them into a Pinterest board?

[astrid]

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is good for covering the basics.  It's unfussy and recipes have few ingredients, so it's easy for a new cook to follow.  If he is scientifically minded, Kenji Lopez Alt's book and Cook's Illustrated Cookbook are good at explaining why in a rigorous way.

[DonRocks]

I don't have a suggestion, so much as a historical anecdote about myself. I was a 20-something bachelor; yet even then, I was obsessed with quality of ingredients.

I had a - get ready to gag - *Microwave Cookbook*, and one of the recipes was for a microwaved meatloaf that the author swore was fantastic.

I followed the recipe to the letter, but instead of ground beef, I went out and spend $40 on filet mignon, had the butcher grind it for me, and used that instead. Other ingredients I purchased were of similar quality - the meatloaf turned out to be *fantastic*, and nobody ever knew that I'd made it in the microwave. I served it with a good bottle of Red Rhone Wine, and the meal was perfect.

We all have to start somewhere; I emphasized my strengths, and exploited my weaknesses (absolute lack of any cooking skill).

The first time I ever made steak tartare, I used Julia Child's recipe, also substituting filet mignon, and it was *perfect* - it took me two hours to hand-chop the meat. You have to be a little obsessed (okay, a *lot* obsessed) to eventually achieve greatness.

Note: I moved this thread into the News and Media Forum, since that's where most Cookbook threads are (see the Index). I'm happy to rearrange this however people wish, including splitting cookbooks out into individual works.

[lion]

Ferran Adriá's The Family Meal is a really good cookbook for novice cooks. When it first came out gave a copy to my niece who at the time was in junior high school, and several copies to friends as presents. 

The last cookbook that I bought and liked was "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking" by Samin Nosrat. 

I would also recommend  the Bon Appetit You Tube Channel; particularly Carla Music's keeping up with a professional chef. The recipes are quick and show the differences between not knowing what to do and have years of experience. That helps with learning what to aim for. 

In terms of internet recipes, I like the solid body of work from The Kitchn, they also some cooking videos. 

[Tweaked]

Serious Eats has many good recipes and the directions are easy to follow.  Kenji's cookbook might also be a good one for your son.

David Tanis and Melissa Clark also produce good recipes via the NY Times (most of their stuff is behind the NYT pay wall). 

[weezy]

Julia Child's "How to Cook."  Gives master recipes with detailed photos of techniques also laid out in writing, then with follow-on recipes for ways to tweak the master recipe.  Broken into sections for the type of cooking -- roasting, sauteeing, baking, etc.  

[Marty L.]

On 9/5/2019 at 9:42 PM, astrid said:

Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything is good for covering the basics.  It's unfussy and recipes have few ingredients, so it's easy for a new cook to follow.  If he is scientifically minded, Kenji Lopez Alt's book and Cook's Illustrated Cookbook are good at explaining why in a rigorous way.

I've used the Bittman and Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking more than all other cookbooks combined.  They could easily get him through many years of good cooking.

[ol_ironstomach]

I second the recc for Family Meal.  When I started cooking for myself, I would pick a thing or two out of Claiborne or Beard, and would promptly lose *hours* to shopping, preparing, and cooking one dinner.  No college student should have time for that.  Family Meal has a very limited number of recipes, but it’s at the top of the heap for flavor vs prep time and number of ingredients.  Between that, a knife skills class, and cultivating regular housekeeping skills, he would be miles ahead of most students (and no-longer-students) IMHO.

Since he has the benefits of YouTube, lately I’ve been digging the recipes on Pailin’s Kitchen.  Her presentation is clear and the dishes come together quickly, if you like mainly Thai food.  It does require access to an Asian grocery, though.