Best professional high quality cooking books according to redditors

Check out a book called "Modern Batch Cookery" put out by CIA. It has professionally scaled recipes for about 50pax, scaled by weight. It would put you in the right direction for a lot of your menu planning and ordering.

I seem to have misplaced my own copy, so I can't confirm that is has alfredo for 50, but it likely did. It's a really solid base for what you're going for.

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-Cookery-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/047029048X/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=Batch+Cooking&qid=1569694919&sr=8-6

Fix It and Forget It seems to be the usual go-to for most slow cooker enthusiasts. They've been around for possibly 20 years or more. I bought a smaller paperback copy back in 2002 or 2003.


Another good one would have to be the America's Test Kitchen's Slow Cooker Revolution. America's Test Kitchen, produced by the publishers of Cooks Illustrated, tests hundreds or even thousands of recipes for a particular dish and then creates a recipe that is usually 100% foolproof. Not only does it work, but it will taste good. And if it doesn't, it's easy to see where you might have gone wrong, or where the recipe might have gone wrong. In some cases, it's even to tell if the recipe would be good before even trying to cook it. They list the ingredients in the order you'll use them, based on the instructions.

I definitely recommend a crock pot if you don't have one. Recipes can range from very healthy to very decadent, it all depends on what you toss in the pot! It's great because you can throw it all in before leaving for work and then BAM dinner is ready when you get home. I have this cookbook: Fix-It and Forget-It.

Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

All of the recipes you could ever want in 1 book. I have a copy in a storage building I could send you but I really don't want to go digging for it since the majority is furniture.

http://www.amazon.com/Fix-It-Forget-It-Big-Cookbook-Recipes/dp/156148640X

For meal planning, I've got Knock Knock's EAT pad, and it makes my life way easier when I actually use it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1601061536/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502483254&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=eat+knock+knock&dpPl=1&dpID=41-z02dnMLL&ref=plSrch

So I'd get this, show it to your mother, and suggest you guys just try it for a week. Since I try to use it regularly, I use the previous week to make a grocery list while I fill out the rest of it. In this case, I'd grin and bear fish sticks if that gets written in as the plan (get the planning down first, then work on improving the planned meals).

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find.


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

For what it’s worth my wife and I have been following a recipe book called Cook Once Eat All Week by Cassy Joy Garcia which involves creating a few different meals out of the same ingredients prepped over the weekend.

I’ve got friends who meal prep chicken and chicken with chicken and some chicken. By the end of the week I would hate that so much.

Anyway, it could be a resource worth looking into if you decide at some point to make a meal prep episode.

There’s still opportunities to enjoy you food when you do meal prep!

The New Professional Chef

There is a newer version called The Professional Chef that Paul Bocuse calls "The bible for all chefs".

I agree with u/mirepoixmatt, I like the older versions a bit better. You can get an older version of the New Professional Chef for 75 cents

It's not crockpot meals but I have been using this cookbook and it has been a lifesaver. I do my meal prepping early Sunday morning when I am not usually triggered to drink and then am set for the week. As we move I to more fall like weather I'm sure the crock pot will be getting its use but for now this works well for my family.

Cook Once, Eat All Week: 26 Weeks of Gluten-Free, Affordable Meal Prep to Preserve Your Time & Sanity https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628603437/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_aMONDbZP9GK0M

Could not agree with you more!!

If you are just starting out I personally recommend purchasing the textbook used by many culinary institutes.

When I first became interested in preparing my own food, a friend lent me his copy. It contained a large amount of unnecessary information that was geared more towards running a professional kitchen (who would have guessed from its title?) but it also contained a vast amount of information regarding food preparation and most importantly, technique.

Damn, I feel like I just spammed your comment with an advertisement...Oh well, happy cooking!

It's almost Christmas... I know it's not Halloween yet. But I think she needs some things to help her in the upcoming rush.

Wilton Cupcake Caddy For safe and secure holiday treat transportation. CDN 19.99

A Christmas Movie I love Christmas movies and this is a super cute one. CDN 15.00

Canadian Baking It goes with the cupcake carrier. CDN 21.91

Make- Ahead and Freeze Cookbook Because the weeks will be getting more hectic soon. CDN 14.41

Christmas Present for Her Brother $11.01

Christmas OR Halloween Present for her Mom CDN 9.98

That's my suggestion of gift selection! Everything was on Dani's Most Wanted or Gifts for others lists.

Edited to add the price of one item.

And, baked mac and cheese. America's Test Kitchen has a make ahead mac and cheese recipe in their book that is amazing. 2 square pans are perfect for making one for now and freezing one for later.

A lot of the recipes are a bit old-fashioned but this does exactly that

yeah I probably should write on the line, I like the look of it off the line, and I knew someone who could do that and it would look like she was writing on a nice straight line a little above the actual line. it was beautiful and meant that the descenders from her letters didn't interfere with the ascenders on the next line.

As for my meal planning notepad :) It's the Knock Knock What to Eat notepad, it's got a magnet on the back so you can mount it to the fridge, I also have their All out of one on my fridge so I can quickly mark things off when I run out of them and use that when creating my grocery list the next week

If you want to build your knowledge as you go, why not buy one of the textbooks used by a culinary school and work your way through it? This is the Culinary Institute of America's textbook:

https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0471382574/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1481746531&sr=8-3&keywords=professional+chef

Also, don't worry about buying the newest one: the basics haven't changed much in the last...well...couple of hundred years.

So I am in a similar place. I am overweight and come from an obese family. I have lost the weight a few times but it came back because I never really addressed my relationship with food. After getting pregnant and gaining a bunch of weight I really started to think about and have been slowly getting better about it. Some books that really helped me change my way of thinking were:
The Power of Habit
French Kids Eat Everything
An Everlasting Meal by Tamar Adler

The French kids eat everything book was mostly anecdotal but the overarching idea that I got out of it was that in the US (and Canada it seems) food is used as a reward for children and that builds bad habits. When I was growing up my family was pretty poor so it was cheaper I think to get a reward that was food (vs a toy) cause I needed to eat anyway, and that has definitely carried over into my adult life. It's a struggle every time I feel down to remind myself that no, a cookie isn't going to fix my problems.

For cooking I would highly recommend an everlasting meal. The author has some recipes in the book but mostly, her whole idea is that good, healthy cooking doesn't need to be complicated. Very often in today's world you'll see magazines with super complicated recipes and a laundry list of ingredients that you have no idea where to even buy and that discourages so many people from cooking because it looks hard.

My baby is all about being independent so I usually don't have trouble whipping up dinner now. When I go back to work next month though, I plan to ease into it by preparing a bunch of freezer meals and stockpiling our chest freezer. For everyday cooking I really like the blog budgetbytes and to help with meal planning I use this what to eat notepad to organize our family meals. I still have a bit of a problem with portion control though so I use my fitness pal to make sure I don't go over calories when I eat.

/r/slowcooking?

here are some of the top voted recipes

Keep in mind that reddit works pretty much the same way as pinterest, and a poor recipe that either looks good in pictures or is presented well will receive more votes than a quality recipe with crappy pics and write up.

Or buy this book! Remember cookbooks?

Buy this book: Herbs & Spices, The Cooks Reference.

It has huge pictures of all the herbs and spices you're likely to find in the spice section, a description of their flavors, and foods they can be paired with.

(While you're at it, pick up a used copy of The Professional Chef.
(and a calculator, because all of those recipes will be like "serves 20"))

Read through those, then go to a Penzey's store (if there's one nearby) and snort all their samples. Go hungry. Buy something that your nose says "this would taste good with [whatever]", and then pick up some [whatever] on your way home.

And don't forget that often, salt and/or sugar enhance spice flavors.

Get this

Get this

Get this

This is a pretty cool book.

https://www.amazon.com/Weeknight-Meals-Cookbook-Two-delicious-ebook/dp/B07KFPTKDZ/ref=sr_1_14?

Maybe?

This is the best idea because it allows you to have food in your freezer on nights when you don't want to cook.

Once a Month Cooking has a lot of recipes that are suitable for freezing. It also has grocery lists and work schedules for making 1 month worth of food over a single weekend. You don't necessarily have to make a full month of dishes of course, just pick one or two meals.

If you're looking for more inspiration, I'm currently rereading "The Pleasures of Cooking for One" by Judith Jones. I love it because the recipes are all scaled to one serving and the book has a lot of information on cooking in small portions. I borrow a copy from my library every now and then, but I think I'll buy one soon.

I am a SAHP and I am terrible at budgeting. I've been trying to be better but it's just so damn hard! So here's what I've been doing:

All the grocery stores I frequent usually have an app for coupons and savings. I use whatever is on sale and try to incorporate that into my meal planning.
I use this meal planning pad mostly because it's cute but now it's out of habit.
We don't eat out as much anymore because not only is it expensive but my second child is A PAIN IN THE ASS to go out with cause she can't sit still. We've learned to make our favorite dishes at home.

When I first started to stay home we were really on a tight budget so all of my kid's activities were free classes at the library or play groups. Check your local Macaroni Kid calendar if you're in the US!

We also did a lot of hand me downs for clothes and toys because guess what! Baby don't care if they get new clothes or not, and they mess it up anyways.

ps Per my husband, out of housework/childcare, we need to focus on things that have a time limit. So hanging out and enriching the kid is a priority over getting the laundry done everyday. Because laundry is never going to end but baby is only going to learn how to roll over once in a lifetime! It's what I tell myself when the house is in shambles... like today... sob

In my experience, encyclopaedic cookbooks like The Joy of Cooking and How to Cook Everything are generally quite mediocre - "jack of all trades, master of none." Frankly, Joy is hopelessly outdated in the age of the internet.


Of the ones on your list, I think The French Laundry and Ad Hoc books aren't very practical, as /u/cheery_cherry says.


Julia Child's book is probably your best bet. It was written with the American home cook circa 1961 in mind - not too many obscure ingredients or equipment, well-explained techniques, straightforward. It also helps that many of her recipes really stand the test of time (boef bourguignon in particular!)


One other suggestion is The Professional Chef, which serves as the Culinary Institute of America's textbook. It provides reliable recipes with detailed instructions and plenty of photos. Unlike Joy, it strives to teach you the fundamentals, in order to become a better chef over-all.


Edit: Forgot to add that any cookbook by America's Test Kitchen will be excellent, reliable, and well-written!

I taught myself from this book:https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Chef-Culinary-Institute-America/dp/0442219822/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498865504&sr=1-8&keywords=culinary+institute+of+america

Dunno if this is the latest edition (there are several), but I think it would be an excellent reference for anyone who wants to learn good technique.

There's a book I use, Not Your Mother's Make Ahead and Freeze Cookbook. It has some problems. Like, the author lives in a coastal town and has a ton of recipes for fresh fish that aren't available in the Midwest; quite a few recipes are for marinades and once you get the idea, you got the idea and; the types of quantities aren't standardized so one recipe will call for a whole onion and the next will call for a cup and the next will call for three ounces (annoying). So check out the book from your library.

But, it teaches you how to design recipes that are freezable; which foods freeze well and which to avoid, how to blanch vegetables, how to properly cook and freeze your food so that it cooks well, etc.

So, it has some great pluses, but I wouldn't buy it.

'The Professional Chef' is a great textbook for not only plating, but all basics of cooking. I would highly recommend for any novice like myself.

New hardcovers are a little pricey, but you can get a great deal on used copies.

Professional Cooking is on par with the Pro Chef.

Be sure to distinguish the difference between French "cooking" and French food.

The techniques catalogued by Escoffier are still the same. The Pro Chef and Pro Cooking only rearrange them in a more modern and sometimes cohesive manner.

French food is a different thing entirely.

I'm a big fan of Fix-It and Forget-It, but it has no pictures. Most of the recipes are easy enough you wouldn't need them how. I tend to just find recipes online, honestly. Let us know what you end up going with! =)

I (male college student here) recently got my own crock pot and posted a similar thread, which you can view here and I also got this amazing book for Christmas.

Cook several meal at once. More efficient use of time as well.

It's my favorite kitchen appliance, bar none! When you do get one (and after-Christmas sales are right around the corner), chow.com and (believe it or not) the food network website have some amazing slow cooker recipes. My go-to cookbooks are

Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes!

and

Slow Cooker Revolution for when I'm feeling fancier (some of the recipes require more prep and ingredients but are usually worth the effort)

Brompton folding bike

Culinary Institute Textbook

*netbook



And giving the non-vego's: Candied Bacon Fudge

New favorite recipe book is ‘cook once eat all week’ by Cassie Joy Garcia. Three recipes are paired together each week with similar ingredients to help make the cost and prep time as minimal as possible. There are options for paleo, dairy free, gluten free if that’s your jam. The recipes are just so darn good and you don’t get to the end of the week dreading eating the same thing again. I’m not typically one who buys recipe books, but I would buy this again in a heartbeat.

Cook Once, Eat All Week: 26 Weeks of Gluten-Free, Affordable Meal Prep to Preserve Your Time & Sanity https://www.amazon.com/dp/1628603437/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_MxPUDb2HZYY3H

Wayne Gisslen's Professional Cooking 7th Ed. is probably what you're after.

Non-mobile: http://www.amazon.com/dp/156148640X/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1427475991&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=slow+cooker+recipes&dpPl=1&dpID=61bMVF7QluL&ref=plSrch

^That's ^why ^I'm ^here, ^I ^don't ^judge ^you. ^PM ^/u/xl0 ^if ^I'm ^causing ^any ^trouble. ^WUT?

Well if your username is accurate, there's always [The Pleasures of Cooking for One] (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004WY3CDW/ref=aw_ss_kndl_dp/) by Judith Jones (Julia Child's editor).

Buy this book and a slow cooker.http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/156148640X/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?qid=1427475991&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&keywords=slow+cooker+recipes&dpPl=1&dpID=61bMVF7QluL&ref=plSrch

Throw stuff into a pot, go to sleep and you have meals for 4 days when you wake up.

Meal planning is so awesome! Good luck maintaining it - we use this to keep track of ours. I like to write things down and when last weeks is done, I use the back to write this weeks grocery list to take with me to the store.

It's an entire chicken leg, if they want it. No white meat, because the people throwing this event didn't want any.

The 1/2 rack of ribs average out to be a 5.5".

The entire corn cob average length is 10", and the half cob is to help manage on the plate.

I can up the salad amounts easily, as everything is coming off my farm: red/green lettuces, spinach and arugala.

Dessert is being taken care of by somebody else, and the booze is supplied by the event hosts.

I pulled most of my weights/serving sizes from Modern Batch Cookery.

Once A Month Cooking had meal plans and a grocery list if I remember correctly, I couldn't tell from the Amazon preview.

http://www.amazon.com/Once-A-Month-Cooking-Spending-Enjoying-Delicious/dp/0312366256/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0PH0PENBFGCRM1W3DXYM

I got a lot out of:
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Cooking-7th-Wayne-Gisslen/dp/0470197528

I just did a bunch using this book and really liked it.

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Cooking-Edition-Wayne-Gisslen/dp/0470197528/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404631685&sr=8-1&keywords=gisslen+professional+cooking I used this one when i was in school, really helpful information.

Cook's Illustrated has a make ahead cookbook with an excellent gravy recipe. My daughter thinks it's the best food I make.

You might be able to find it online. The site has a paywall or I'd link the recipe. Fwiw, the pecan pie in that book is great, too.

Edit to fix the link

I picked up this cookbook at the dollarstore on impulse but honestly the recipes have been really good:

https://www.amazon.com/Betty-Crocker-Calorie-Comfort-Food-ebook/dp/B00E78IB20

I'm not sure if this is a book you can find outside of Canada but many many years ago (like the 90's) two 'diet' cookbooks came out that were insanely popular; Looney Spoons was the first, followed by Crazy Plates. The recipes are pretty good and have the nutritional information for each one. Also because they were so popular they are pretty easy to find at thrift stores.

OK found it on Amazon.com for under $20:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/096806311X/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_hdyACb8C87SR7

If you can find a copy of "The Professional Chef", snatch it up! It's the textbook used by the Culinary Institute of America. It has a ton of recipes, but also explains the different methods of cooking in detail. It's broken down into chapters like dairy, seafood, meat, grains and legumes, etc. I found an older edition at a garage sale for $1. It's a great resource to have. The only thing is that recipes are sometimes made for large-scale batches, so you'd have to do a little math to break it down into a reasonable amount. Nobody needs 40 poached eggs in their home at a time.

I have this one and this one. I like the first better, it's the one I used in my culinary school. The second is the one I got at the garage sale.

Is this the book? If so, it seems to be no longer free.

https://www.amazon.com/Tasty-Backyard-Party-Delicious-Barbecuing-ebook/dp/B01LKBOAPI

When I go to the store I try to shop in the bulk section so I can buy exactly how much I need for a recipe instead of a box of something. Also, I am really good at eating leftovers.

I use One Pan, Two Plates by Carla Snyder for my husband and I. I think the recipes are really delicious and easy and (mostly) healthy. You could prepare one of the recipes and then have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day.
http://www.amazon.com/One-Pan-Two-Plates-Weeknight/dp/1452106703/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418833179&sr=8-1&keywords=one+pan+two+plates

I have not used this book, but I've heard it's good (Cooking for One by Judith Jones): http://www.amazon.com/Pleasures-Cooking-One-Judith-Jones/dp/0307270726/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418833055&sr=8-1&keywords=cooking+for+one

I suggest you start with the simplest way to cook a complete meal and imo that is a crockpot. Buy a basic version for about $25 and a good crockpot cookbook (links below) for about $15.

Cooking in them amounts to dumping in ingredients, turning it on and walking away. Your one-pot meal or main dish is done in 4-8 hours.

https://www.amazon.com/Crock-Pot-SCR200-B-Manual-Cooker-Quart/dp/B004P2LEE0/ref=sr_1_18?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1496058705&sr=1-18&keywords=crockpot

https://www.amazon.com/Fix-Forget-Big-Cookbook-Recipes/dp/156148640X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1496059170&sr=1-1&keywords=crockpot+cookbooks

First of all, I'm so sorry for your loss. I had no idea you'd lost someone so tragically. That's got to be hard. But it seems like your family member was a really amazing person, just like you. <3

I'd say my lists are pretty well prioritized. I'm sure I could waste days changing my mind and moving things around, but oh well. Since I have so many different things on there, I'm gonna link a couple different items that would enhance my life it very different ways.

This yoga mat would greatly improve my yoga sessions. Currently, I practice on hardwood floors with no mat, and my knees feel it quite a bit. Some padding would be so nice.

This book would be a major help when it comes to meals. I'm not a gifted cook by any stretch. I mean, I follow a recipe well, but I'm terrible at coming up with things on my own.

This gorgeous ocarina would be such a great addition to my life. Honestly any of them would probably make me happy enough to cry. This one is just so pretty. And it comes with a song book, so I could learn something new as well. ^Don't ^buy ^this ^ocarina ^it's ^way ^too ^expensive...

Thank you so much for such an interesting contest! And because I couldn't think of a clever way to squeeze this in, sort my priorities. Heh.

http://smile.amazon.com/Pleasures-Cooking-One-Judith-Jones/dp/0307270726

I love love LOVE this book.

This is true, for home cooking you have to convert recipes using the New/Old, and a lot of the time since they are designed for large batches, even with appropriate recipe conversion, they come out a little off.

I have new copy of Professional Cooking 7th edition, that I would let go of for cheap.
http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Cooking-Wayne-Gisslen/dp/0470197528/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1345406315&sr=1-1&keywords=9780470197523

My SO needs a new audiobook

Or this because I just got a crock pot last week and I'm still learning new recipes! :)

Ps. Thanks for this super awesome contest!

OK, I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but i would also suggest purchasing the book Professional Cooking. It's an professional-level culinary school textbook in which the bulk of the content are recipes that well put together, and I can personally vouch that they come out REALLY tasty! The advantage for you, in this case, is that you wouldn't have to carry this tome with you everywhere you go... it comes with something called the CulinarE-companion. This is a pice of software that you can download from the publisher's site when you purchase the book, and contains all the recipes from the book, which you can browse and search through, and other things, like change the number of servings of the recipe, or look at nutritional information.

I NID DIS because when I don't plan my meals and I end up eating out much more than I want to and spending a ton of money buying lunch.

Holga 120N Medium Format Fixed Focus Camera with Lens

The Professional Chef [Hardcover]

KitchenAid Artisan 5-Quart Stand Mixer

The Many Varieties of Beer Poster

Dr. Steve Brule T-Shirt

If I got any of these things I would be happy as fuck.

EDIT: Forgot about the Volvo prancing Moose magnet I'd put on my 740.

This could be the greatest cinematic epic of all time.