10th edition, published in 2005
In a previous blog, I shared a list of 20 cookbooks that every cook should have. The list is a good one but one omission on the list in my opinion, is the Betty Crocker (big red) cookbook. And, that’s not just because I work in the Betty Crocker Kitchens. My mother had a copy of the first edition (1950) and she and I have been cooking from it since I was a child. It’s my “go-to” book, for example, when I host Thanksgiving for our family. Every year, I check out how long to roast a turkey, how much stuffing to make and the amount of thickening to put into the gravy.
1st edition, published in 1950 (now available in a facsimile edition)
Since you asked, here are just a couple of my favorite cookbooks—I have many more. But what I don't have, is just ONE favorite cookbook.
There is a recipe I make from the Julia Child & Company cookbook by Julia Child, published in 1979 by Alfred A. Knopf that has brought more than one of my French teachers to her knees. It is a semi-complicated recipe titled, "Chicken Melon". This is a boned and stuffed chicken (capon actually) formed in its own skin, into a pâté the shape of a melon. OK—see what I mean? This book isn’t for everyone but I really love making this recipe because I always get so many compliments when I do. It’s all about the compliments for me!
Here’s another one. New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij, published by Mage Publishers in 1992. It’s a Persian (Iranian) cookbook that I’ve used for recipes for a neighbor’s Persian New Year’s Party. One year when I made the "Halva" (Saffron Brownies) and "Sholeh Zard" (Saffron Pudding). I had several very handsome Persian men making marriage proposals to me one night because I had made a favorite recipe from their childhood. OK, I didn’t really get marriage proposals—I was already married.
I’ve made a very delicious Boeuf Bourguignon (Beef Burgundy Stew) from Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris, published by Clarkson Potter in 2004. Jack loved this one and that’s enough for me because he doesn’t love (or even like) all of the recipes I make. Have you ever heard this from a loved one, “You don’t have to make that one again”?
Another favorite in my collection is the Foods of the World series. This series of 27 cookbooks, covering the world’s major cuisines, was published by Time-Life, beginning in 1968 through the early 1970s. It is currently out of print but according to Wikipedia, "the individual volumes remain collector's items and are widely available on the seconhand market."
Now it's your turn. What are your favorite cookbooks? Please share your faves with me in the comments box and I'll share some of our Betty Crocker staff favorites next week.