Instructional Cookbooks To Cook Like a Pro!

Also See Books For Cooks: Fun Reads By Chefs

Any of these instructional cookbooks books and many, many more can be found at Amazon.

The bookshelves at the bookstores are loaded with instructional cookbooks written by anyone from real professional chefs to some lady whose uncle was a a book editor and cut her a deal on her book of casserole recipes. How do you know which ones to choose? I have read and picked my way through hundreds of cookbooks over the years and found that these ones stood the test of time. I have used them both at work and at home, and I keep a copy of each in every kitchen, just in case. These books will walk you through simple steps to create complex food.

Julia and Jacques Cooking At Home By Julia Child and Jacques Pepin

This instructional cookbook is at the top of my list for many reasons. It shows you that French food is classic for a good reason. I think the main reasons being that it saved me in the kitchen numerous times when I was just a novice and too scared to ask the chef how to do something. I would sneak this book into the walk in refrigerator, look up how to filet a fish, cut up poultry, meat, etc., and get to work! It worked like a charm every time.
Julia and Jacques were an absolute powerhouse of cooking knowledge. They describe any technique that you will need in your kitchen simply and compliment the instructions with easy to follow photos. I love this book!
They include a huge list of appetizers, soups, egg preparations, salads, sandwiches, potatoes, vegetable preparations, fish, poultry and meat preparations, as well as desserts. Yes, YOU will be able to make a souffle! AFTER your own, home-made 4 course dinner!


Jacques Pepin's Simple and Healthy Cooking Written and Illustrated by Jacques Pepin

As you can see, I'm a fan of Mr. Pepin. This instructional cookbook shows you that French food can be healthy too! He takes you through the basic staples that you should have in your kitchen for healthy eating - Jacques style. He offers a wide variety of first courses from hot and cold soups to salads and stuffed crepe purses. For main courses he has recipes for salmon cooked 3 different ways, saffron fish stew, scallops, shrimp, chicken, turkey, lamb, veal, pasta, pizza... You name it and he's got something for you! And it gets even better... Dessert! Yes, dessert on a diet! Angel food cake, orange souffle poached pears and crepes - you can't go wrong with these healthy treats in disguise! Also included is the nutritional information for each dish. Wow! It's a dieter's dream!
Jacques Pepin also has a delightful website which includes short video demonstrations of how to cook simple, tasty, healthy foods in seconds. Take a look for yourself at:




I'm Just In It For The Food By Alton Brown

The host of the Food Network's Good Eats Alton Brown presents readers with fantastic information on cooking methods and explains the science behind it all in this instructional cookbook. I found this information to be very useful in gaining a complete understanding of how food is actually cooked and what happens during the cooking process. When you understand the process you can figure out how to improve on your cooking abilities, AKA, don't dry out chicken and stuff like that.
You can see more about Alton Brown at:
Alton Brown at FoodNetwork.com - Instructional cookbooks



Everyday Italian By Giada De Laurentiis

Another Food Network Star who has stood the test of time on television, Giada gives us simple and delightful Italian- American dishes. In this instructional cookbook she starts out by telling you what to keep in the pantry to assure that a quick and easy meal is possible anytime your hunger strikes. She explains in simple terms and directions how to make things like pesto, pasta dishes, sauces, fish, meat and poultry dishes, and a few desserts that I make quite frequently. The tiramisu recipe is THE BEST I have ever had! She cheats a little bit on the ingredients as they devite from the traditional tiramisu, but I don't care! It's amazing! Also, 2 thumbs up on the amaretti cookie cake. Thanks Giada!
You can also check out Giada at:

www.foodnetwork.com/chefs/giada-de-laurentiis/index.html

Larousse Gastronomique The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia

This is by far the most complete guide to food in general including the definitions of dishes from around the globe and throughout history, as well as the origin and recipes of the dishes. This is the Mother of instructional cookbooks, but I must war you, once you pick up this beast it's like reading the dictionary. Learning one new word leads to another and before you know it, you just spent an hour learning about food you might never eat. But how interesting it is just the same! This book is in every professional kitchen that I have ever worked in. Keep it in your kitchen too, because the least that it will do is make you look extremely food-savvy.





The Everything Wine Book By Danny May and Andy Sharpe

This book is like Wine For Dummies with out looing...well...dumb. It gives a brief history of wine, an introduction to wine making and gives a quality spectrum of wines and prices. It also covers a brief description of grape varieties, champagne and dessert wines, regional wine info, food and wine pairing, and how to store and serve your wine.
This book is necessary in the kitchen because when you have made your way through the rest of the books above, surely you will need to pair that fatigue and full belly with an educational glass of wine!



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