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The New Best Recipe?
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One of the best books I've found for people getting a bit more serious about cooking is "The New Best Recipe". Pricey and big, but available used/Kindle/etc.
It's basically every recipe familiar to a USA-based human, including some Asian, Italian, etc. Pot roast, chicken parm, thanksgiving turkey dinner, those sorts of things, tons of soups and desserts. BUT - many of the recipes start with their testing procedures, what they felt works and doesn't work for many of the standards of family cooking. You can skip that stuff, but you'll learn a tremendous amount of cooking know-how, how to "think" like a cook.
It also covers some basics, like making your own stocks for cooking, how to make things like pie crusts properly, basic techniques like searing and braising.
I'd say the one thing I dislike about it is that they'll combine steps "to make one less pot to clean up", but simplifying things that might be worth it for more flavor - it's kinda geared to working people or busy moms, though they do note "special occasion" recipes vs. easy and quick dinners.
My wife and I are pretty "advanced" home cooks, but we'll refer to it when we want to try a recipe - they really have explored the things that can make home cooking kinda sub-standard, and there's a lot of "eureka" moments where they find the key to making the best version of a recipe.
This cookbook is pretty good. It goes into a lot of detail, and explains what adjusting some recipe components affect the final meal.
The New Best Recipes, published by America's Test Kitchen. It covers the basics of darn near every American recipe, and explains why they landed on a particular version. For example, I wanted to make a chicken pot pie. They had a two page intro describing the characteristics of a pot pie, how the experimented with different proportions and types of milk, and what makes their recipe stand out. It was followed by options for the crust- both a drop biscuit style and a more traditional pie crust. I followed the recipe exactly as written and made the best damn pot pie my husband has ever had. Simple.
It's also full of basic cooking info like how to butcher a chicken, how to choose kitchen equipment, and comparing different cuts of meat and their best uses. It's 1,000+ pages of cooking knowledge gold. Any question you have or skill you want to learn, this cookbook has the answer.
My only complaint is that it takes a bit of reading to see if a recipe is easy or not. The sections are broken down by style/main ingredient, not by time commitment or skill level.
The New Best Recipe by Cook's Illustrated is similar in it goes into detail about why a recipe works. Cook's Illustrated is where Kenji was an editor before he branched out on his own.
I bought their book. Definitely worth the $10 price used many times over. It's a great reference along with Bittman's How to Cook Anything. I've perused a few issues of the magazines while at friend's houses and don't think that I would get more value if I had subscribed.
Roasted lemony chicken thighs with a lemon and white wine sauce, potatoes roasted under the chicken, and steamed broccoli. That was fantastic but the Light And Fluffy Pancakes from The New Best Recipe were pretty awesome too.
My most prized cookbook is The New Best Recipe. Preceding every recipe (or group of recipes), they tell you about all the variations they tried, and why different choices lead to different results. They say how they arrived at the recipe they ended up with. I've learned a ton and been able to intelligently do my own variations because of that.
Cook's Illustrated: New Best Recipe
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/0936184744/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
The people who wrote this book not only give very detailed instructions, but they also tell you what they have tried and what didn't work. That way, you not only have better knowledge of the recipe, but it helps you learn how to better improvise.
Also, the recipes are amazing. A+++++++, would buy again and again.
These goals are cool! You are going to get a lot of advice on the losing weight stuff, but cooking is my jam. Its hard to get over the hump from making recipes to just cooking what's in the fridge. So in the meantime, you will do well to try a variety of things that from cookbooks that you think sound good.
My favorite cookbook right now is: http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Recipe-Cooks-Illustrated/dp/0936184744. It is full of all the staples you will need, and each recipe comes with a long explanation which gives insight about why they cooked it the way they did. It is huge, but very accessible.
I also occasionally bust out my 1953 Better Home and Gardens cookbook, but that is pretty rare and only when I just need to feel like a housewife.
Cooking for yourself will help your other goals - cooking is its own craft project, and knowing exactly what you are putting into your body will help you understand what needs to change in order to lose weight.
Then you'd like the The New Best Recipe (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0936184744/ref=oss_product). I like their recipes, but they also have about a page before every recipe that talks about the different methods they tried to make the best possible food, and why different techniques worked best.
The New Best Recipe is by far the most useful book I use in the kitchen. It's big, over 1000 pages, but the recipes are simple, everyday food, meaning you will pull this book out everyday. It's done by the people who put out Cook's Illustrated magazine and everything I have made from the book has been flawless.
I swear by Cook's Illustrated's book The Best Recipe for the reasons listed above. The illustrations are beautiful and helpful, and there are detailed expiations of the science of cooking.
For a little bit of everything done perfectly: Cook's Illustrated Best Recipe
For fancy Instant Pot things: Melissa Clark's Dinner in an Instant
When I'm craving Indian food: 660 Curries
When we're trying to be healthy (like in 2 days): America's Test Kitchen Complete Mediterranean Cookbook
The New Best Recipe is a standout, mostly because each recipe is prefaced with a section where the cooks describe all the variations they tried and explain why they ended up with what they did.
Knife Skills In the Kitchen isn't a cookbook, but it's been more helpful to me than any cookbook I've read. Similarly, Ruhlman's Twenty is incredibly helpful for learning basic skills. The best recipes in the world won't help you if you can't manage the techniques they require.
I don't have a subscription either but it's also in my favorite cookbook:
Pan Seared, Oven Roasted, Thick Cut Pork Chops
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar 1/4 cup salt 4 bone in rib chops 1/1/12 inch thick 1/2/ teaspoon pepper 1 tbsp oil
dissolve the brown sugar and salt in 6 cups cold water in a gallon size zipper lock plastic bag. Add the pork chops and seal the bag, pressing out as much air as possible. Refrigerate until fully seasoned about 1 hour. Remove the chops from the brine, rinse, and pat thoroughly dry with paper towels. Season the chops with the pepper.
Adjust an oven rack to the lower middle position, place a shallow roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 450 degrees. When the oven reaches 450 degrees, heat the oil in a heavy bottomed 12 inch skillet over high heat until shimmering. Lay the chops in the skillet and cook until well browned and a nice crust has formed on the surface, about 3 minutes. Turn the chops over with tongs and cook until well browned and a nice crust has formed on the second side, 2 to 3 minutes longer.
Using the tongs, transfer the chops to the preheated pan in the oven. Roast until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a chop registers 125 to 127 degrees 8 to 10 minutes turning the chops over once halfway through the cooking time. Transfer the chops to a platter, tent loosely with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Check the internal temperature; it should register 145 degrees. Serve immediately.
Sweet and Sour Pan Sauce and Bacon
5 ounces bacon 2 shallots 1 garlic clove 4 plum tomatoes 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 1 cup dry Marsala 4 tbsp butter Salt and pepper
Pour off the fat in the skillet used to brown the chops. Place the skillet over medium high heat and cook the bacon until crisp about 6 minutes. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel lined plate; pour off all but 1 tbsp of the bacon fat. Reduce the heat to low, add the shallots and sugar, and cook until the shallots are softened, about 1 minute. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Increase the heat to medium high, stir in the tomatoes and vinegar, and scrape the pan bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen the browned bits. Add the Marsala and simmer until reduced by half about 5 minutes. Whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, until melted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
If you don't already have it, buy The New Best Recipe. Great fukken cookbook.
I started out with The New Best Recipe. Cooks Illustrated is a pretty good magazine in general.
Ooh ooh
Get the whole damned Cook's Illustrated book series (Start with The Best Recipe) and get "On Food and Cooking"
Read both, cover to cover, especially that second one. Now cook!
The New Best Recipe does reviews of cooking utensils, cookware, and taste-tests. You can get it from amazon.com, and it is the best fucking cookbook EVAR.
Boiling the potatoes whole is the only way to make mashed potatoes. It traps in all the flavor and prevents the potatoes from getting all water logged. I read in The New Best Recipe cookbook (which I totally recommend cause they have experimented with foods and found the absolutely best way to cook most standard dishes), I've never peeled a raw potato since!
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