Resources
Everything has to start somewhere, and my home chef cooking adventures began with the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. This was the first cookbook I ever owned, from when I first learned to cook in high school, and I still have that same cookbook today. As a home chef with no initial skills, the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook offered a variety of both basic recipes and more advanced preparations. Just as important, it contains sections on basic ingredients, measurement conversions, cooking techniques and basic nutrition information. For someone just learning to cook, I can’t think of a better place to start.
Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook
I don’t remember why I starting my subscription to Bon Appetit, but it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Forget the fact that every issue is loaded with recipes, they’re also full of cooking tips and whole recipe techniques, equipment reviews and tons of useful information. Throw in the annual Holiday edition and the summary of ‘What America Eats’ and you have a complete synopsis of everything you want to know about cooking. Although my wife thinks it’s very nerdy, I keep track of my favorite Boon Appetit recipes (or more accurately the ones I want to prepare) by marking the pages with post-its and indexing them in a binder, noting the Issue (month/year) and recipe type (appetizer, pasta, dessert, etc). This way when I want to find a recipe I only need to look it up in my index, which is much faster than flipping through endless magazine pages. So why not start your own collection of recipes and subscribe to Bon Appetit today.
Bon Appetit Magazine
The Professional Chef, 8th Edition
Williams-Sonoma Tools & Techniques
