First of all, I love cooking. I’m definitely not a professional chef but at this point I feel pretty confident in the kitchen–especially after I roasted a whole chicken for the first time, something I was definitely intimidated by. Part of me learning to enjoy cooking was that I started with cookbooks. Having a recipe to follow automatically makes me feel more confident when I’m making something for the first time. And once I’ve made it once I can adjust the recipe to make it fit my tastes more or use the ideas and techniques to cook similar dishes without using a recipe.
So here are some of my favorite cookbooks that I always reach for when I’m deciding what to make for the week or what to make for a dinner party. I’m linking them to make it easy for you to see what I’m talking about, as well as sharing some of the recipes I love from each one.
- BTI (Better than Ina’s) Roast Chicken and Vegetables
- A good recipe that made me feel so accomplished and tastes amazing. I don’t like parsnips so I don’t use them.
- Lemony Arugula Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe
- Bacon, cheese, pasta, and red peppers. Basically all my favorite things in one place.
- Bacony Clam Chowder
- The first soup I ever made and bonus that it uses canned clams so you don’t have to spend time actually shelling or shucking or whatever. This is delicious and a great comfort food.
- (that’s it for now, I got this cookbook right before the midterms so I haven’t explored it much but I’ll come back and add more as I use this cookbook)
- Sausage & Kale Soup
- The perfect soup for a snowy day. I used hot Italian sausage instead of the basic sausage she suggests because it felt a bit bland following the recipe to a T.
- JoJo’s Biscuits
- These are amazing and surprisingly easy (for some reason I thought biscuits would be harder?). Definitely a hit to bring to brunch or serve with a soup or chili.
- Moroccan Lamb Meatballs with Spiced Tomato Sauce
- These meatballs were so tender and delicious and, as the cookbook title suggests, quick and easy to make.
- Balsamic-Red Onion, Chard & Gorgonzola Tart
- I meal prep this recipe for weekday lunches since it keeps really well and tastes good hot or cold. Sometimes the store doesn’t have chard so I substitute kale and honestly it tastes the same to me so *shrug emoji*
I have a much larger collection of cookbooks but figured I’d start you all with a sampling. If you follow me on Instagram you’ve seen me make most of these recipes (maybe more than once) and I’m sure I’ll be back here to post more details about things that I cook, with or without cookbooks or recipes.
I’ll have to get that Williams Sonoma cookbook! I remember you talking about it and how good it is, and my mouth is watering a little at the Moroccan lamb meatballs.
They are very good meatballs.
Reese Witherspoon's booked "Whiskey in a Tea Cup" has some pretty good recipes too!