Hi,

Can anyone suggest some good cookbooks for everyday meals and lunches. No fancy nonsense, just some ideas for meals.

thanks

if you are not fussed about uber healthy stuff particularly i would say anything by ainslee harriot. simple, sensible, easy to make and tasty. we have a few of his from way back when he was on the tv and they really are excellent.

jamie oliver’s books also.

THIS will be my next book though. excellent reviews on amazon and if you look on her site there are some sample recipes that look amazing.

Good Housekeeping do a really good general book. I assume you have a Mrs B already?

We have one simply called The Cook’s Book – covers everything really.

Delia Smith, complete cookery course, it really is the only cookbook you’ll need…

epicurious app for that smart phone

Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall – Everyday
Nigel Slater – Kitchen Diaries

All full of simple but interesting meals.

River Cafe Easy 1 & 2 are good too.

Like bigG, Delia’s all you’ll ever need,my copy’s 25+yrs old and used frequently still. Others come, others go….

Jamie Olivers new book, meals in 30 minutes is very good for quick, easy stuff, Nigel slaters first book, real cooking is good.

From what I have (very quickly) read of the new JO book, I doubt much of it is really 30 minutes.

MF, i agree, if you get it all set up in advance (which will take about 10 minutes) and you’re confident in the kitchen you might do it, but it won’t be a very pleasant experience. I’ve done 4 or 5 of them in about 40 / 45 minutes, much more enjoyable, and still not bad

Jamie oliver tend to be simple and pretty good.

+1 for Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries, it’s one we turn to pretty often. Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food is quite good too, but of course, Delia’s early stuff is spot on. Agree (above) on the Jamie Oliver ’30 minutes’ thing – we did one meal (that took an hour) and put it on eBay! It’s a weird way of working that we weren’t sure we could get used to.

Don’t know if its of any interest, but I’ve still not got round to taking these to the charity shop – prices are really just a few quid and postage.

Have to say Jamie Oliver. Raging bell end though he be, he does an excellent job describing simple, tasty cooking IMHO. His fish pie recipe is a superb case in point – couldn’t be simpler yet kicks the erse of more sophisticated pies.

Lots of slating on the internet that Jamie Oliver’s 30 minute cook book is a lie and in fact it takes 60-90 minutes but I don’t know as I refuse to buy his book!

I have recently got a MAMMOTH Good housekeeping one which has EVERYTHING in it, including sauces, preserves etc, looks ace. Will have to look at the Delia one too.

EDIT: Just returned from buying the Delia book on play.com! Looks ace and her yorkshire pudding recipe sounds top.

Got the Jamie Oliver book (pressie to myself for xmas), although I haven’t used it yet there’s no way you can cook the recipes in 30min. As has been pointed out, the time taken to prepare the ingredients apparently doesn’t count 😕

Still, the recipes look pretty good, as soon as I get New Year out of the way I plan to try a fair number of them out.

Another suggestion: Nigella Express.

Thanks everyone,

I’ve read good things about JO 30min meals..might pick that up.

I find most cookbooks only have a few useful meals in, I’m not going to cook a whole rack of ribs for dinner every night for example or stuff a pork tenderloin.

I’ll check out Nigella also.

If you haven’t got the Jamie Oliver book yet, this might help you decide:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/8231543/Jamie-Olivers-30-Minute-Meals-recipes-criticised-for-taking-an-hour-to-make.html

Pretty much what the rest of us have been saying – no way you can cook them in 30min!

My mum, I mean my wife recommends Hugh Fearnly-Whittingstall – Everyday and good old Delia online.

I am not a veggy, but I love Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi. Has lots of great dishes
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plenty-Yotam-Ottolenghi/dp/0091933684/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293834375&sr=1-2

I also quite like the Leon cook book,uses lots of fresh ingriedients.

good housekeeping for sure – had one for years and never let me down.

Jamies 30 minute meals – oh are those that take about 90 minutes and no way can ever be done in 30 by normal people

Also, and of course I never buy it but the current Mrs does – good housekeeping do wonderful recipies

Meals from the Leon, Moro and Movida Rustica books seem to emerge from my pots and pans more often than any others.

Whether the jamie oliver meals can be actually be turned out in 30 mins or not a fairly spurious criticism, and the angle of the book is to create meals (as in 2 – 3 courses) rather than dishes in 30 mins, and its that juggling of having a few things on the go at once that extends the time it takes if you try them, unrehearsed, for the first time. The reality is you’ll probably just cook individual dishes from the meals on most occasions and non of them on their own is arduous to do.So if you put aside the clock watching then what matters if whether the meals are enjoyable to cook and eat, and in general his recipes are. I also appreciate them not relying on ingredients that only urban middle class aesthetes can buy from a charming deli. Generally there are key ingredients that recur through out each of his books, so once you’ve shopped for one dish you’ve got a lot of what you’ll need to try another. His magazines are pretty handy too if you don’t want to splash out too much cash on a book

Nigel Slater did a 30 minute cook book a few years back – much simpler stuff – usually all in one pot, many take 5 to 10 minutes. Its a good book for learning to cook yourself rather than to habitually follow recipes with scales and timers, its a good book to reach for if you’ve got stuff in the fridge and can’t decide what to do with it. His books are much, much better than his dreadful tv programmes

I know he’s had a bit of stick on here for his “anti-cyclist” stance but James Martin has a book that does sort of basic very popular stuff and they are simple and nice to do too.

For everyday cookery Nigel Slater’s books are great.

The early Nigella ones are also good.

I’ve also got a few of Jamie’s which have reliable recipes for chilli etc.

The best would be Simon Hopkinson. A Michelin starred chef who knows how to cook in the home. Try his ‘Prawn Cocktail years’ for lots of reliable recipes for standards.

Forget Oliver’s 30 Minutes book, his Ministry of food one is by far and away the best cook book we have ever owned. Importantly, it contains simnple meals that we constantly return to. It’s a book written for blokes like us: Ministry Of Food book

The internet works fine for me.

The Ballymaloe (sp) Cookery Course by Davina Allen is my reference cookbook – will tell you recipes for most things from bread to puddings, with basic versions and a few variations also. Full of good ideas for dinners etc.

Over the years I’ve had it I’ve actually bought copies for all my siblings and they’re as big a fans as I am.

Nigel Slater’s Real Food, Real Cooking and Appetite are the others most used in our household (though Madhur Jafferys Curry Easy is slowly being worked through too).

Second the ministry of food book. It will give a good grounding in what works and how to achieve tastes that you like simply. The curries are great, I’ve fed them to trekking types who know a good curry, with no complaints (his heat levels are quite low though).

ministry of food 2nded

Delia’s complete cookery course.
Jamie’s dinners.
Nigel is rated in our house too.

If you fancy setting your sights a bit higher there’s always Larousse Gastronomique. An amazing source of information (and recipes) for anyone interested in food.