Ditching cook books

DancingLady

DancingLady

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I'm finding its actually been years since I have used a cook book for anything. It's pretty rare that I actually look at a recipe when I'm cooking. Usually I look at recipes online now and then for ideas but then cook based on what I remember and whatever I feel like, usually with way less ingredients. I'm giving away all but two of my cookbooks this week because they are useless to me, just taking up space collecting dust.
 
I use online recipes as well. I still have cook books, but rarely use them. It's much easier and takes up far less space as you say.
 
There seem to have been a number of threads about this. I still find cook books useful. I just sit and read them! And quite often they will spark off ideas or remind me of something I haven't cooked in a while. I find that happens rather less when I search on-line. For example, I was reading a Two Fat Ladies cookbook the other day and came across a salted brisket recipe where the meat is left to mature for several days. I wasn't searching for a brisket recipe, so I doubt I'd have found this recipe by chance on-line. I now have a nice piece of brisket maturing in the fridge,,,
 
morning glory said:
There seem to have been a number of threads about this. I still find cook books useful. I just sit and read them! And quite often they will spark off ideas or remind me of something I haven't cooked in a while. I find that happens rather less when I search on-line. For example, I was reading a Two Fat Ladies cookbook the other day and came across a salted brisket recipe where the meat is left to mature for several days. I wasn't searching for a brisket recipe, so I doubt I'd have found this recipe by chance on-line. I now have a nice piece of brisket maturing in the fridge,,,
Click to expand...
This one?
MOM'S BEEF BRISKET
2 1/2 lb. boneless beef brisket, fat side up in heavy casserole

SAUCE:
1/2 c. catsup(ketchup)
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. instant minced onion

Method:
  • Combine above ingredients for sauce and pour over beef.
  • Cover with heavy aluminum foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 1/2 hours.
  • Refrigerate beef and sauce separately.
  • Next day slice beef thin and arrange in oblong 2 quart baking dish.
  • Remove hardened fat from sauce and pour sauce over beef.
  • Cover with heavy foil and reheat at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.
Optional, saute one pound mushrooms in butter and add to beef before reheating or use a large can of mushrooms and pieces. Double the sauce recipe if you want a lot of sauce. Serve with rice.
 
Some of them, I regretted getting rid of, but thanks to Amazon.com, I was able to repurchased the ones that are so near & dear to me!! :wink:
 
Cook books are a reference to recipes to some ,cooking and ideas come from ingredients the heart and what's in season you can use about to help you achieve
 
I used to use cook books for reference, but now I look online when I want to know how to cook something or find a recipe using a certain ingredient. As a book lover I can still appreciate the pleasure of looking through a good cook book, but I don't own any myself and I only have recipes that I've copied from the Internet (I don't even have a printer). It is not the same as having a nice book but it is more of a personal collection.
 
I used to look at them over 10 years ago in high school, but in more recent years, every time I have looked at them for inspiration, I just get annoyed by all the ingredients I have to buy and make the same old same old because it's cheap.
 
classic33 said:
This one?
MOM'S BEEF BRISKET
2 1/2 lb. boneless beef brisket, fat side up in heavy casserole

SAUCE:
1/2 c. catsup(ketchup)
1/2 c. water
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. mustard
1 1/2 tbsp. instant minced onion

Method:
  • Combine above ingredients for sauce and pour over beef.
  • Cover with heavy aluminum foil and bake at 300 degrees for 3 1/2 hours.
  • Refrigerate beef and sauce separately.
  • Next day slice beef thin and arrange in oblong 2 quart baking dish.
  • Remove hardened fat from sauce and pour sauce over beef.
  • Cover with heavy foil and reheat at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.
Optional, saute one pound mushrooms in butter and add to beef before reheating or use a large can of mushrooms and pieces. Double the sauce recipe if you want a lot of sauce. Serve with rice.
Click to expand...
Tut, @classic33! You're not concentrating. The recipe I found left the brisket to marinade for several days. And it was for salted brisket. The recipe you found does neither although it does sound an interesting idea. And I didn't mean that such a recipe couldn't be found on-line somewhere, just that I'd be unlikely to find it unless I was searching for brisket recipes on-line. When I read cookbooks I'm not searching for anything but reading through them like a novel (almost). So I will stumble on a recipe which I wouldn't have searched for on-line.
 
DancingLady said:
I'm finding its actually been years since I have used a cook book for anything. It's pretty rare that I actually look at a recipe when I'm cooking. Usually I look at recipes online now and then for ideas but then cook based on what I remember and whatever I feel like, usually with way less ingredients. I'm giving away all but two of my cookbooks this week because they are useless to me, just taking up space collecting dust.
Click to expand...

Like you I have not looked at a cookbook in years. I get all my recipes online. Still I am not about to give away the few cookbooks I have. Even though I don't use them, I still like having them around. I want that I have them there in the event I just want to sit and have a look at them one day even if it's years apart.
 
I have a few cookbooks - mainly ones that are near and dear to me and that are used regularly. For the rest of my recipes though it's usually online bookmarks/searches. It just keeps clutter to a minimum that way!
 
I rarely use cookbooks. I cook from taste. If I have a vague idea of what the main ingredients of a dish are, then I just guess until it tastes nice. Occasionally, I look up a recipe online. I never actually follow it through, I simply use it as a guide. I do have a few cookbooks. The one I actually use the most is one for Indian dishes. When I say I use it the most, this is probably about twice a year! The one time I stick to recipes is for baking. However, I have these memorised in my head, so never have to actually use a cookbook for them.
 
Both my husband and I will turn to our cookbooks every Saturday. We cook one old recipe, one new recipe and then a 'whatever we want' recipe each week and Saturday is shopping day and the day of choice. We did go without our cookbooks for over a year whilst we were travelling. We were both exceptionally glad that I had scanned in our favourite recipes so that we could cook something different when we had the opportunity. When we got home, the cookbooks we had sold/given away were replaced and the ones we kept were welcomed back into our lives like old friends. Since then we have purchased new ones, the latest only last month and they are a wonderful source of new recipes in our lives.
 
Some of my favourite recipe books are rather ancient and the recipes in them can't be found on-line. The other issue with on-line is that its quite overwhelming. If you search a dish you can be deluged with different versions and I sometimes waste a lot of time looking through recipes and realising they are 'not the real deal' but some short-cut method using pre-prepared bought sauces etc.
 
I still have to learn how to cook using only what is available in the kitchen. I guess that is the big challenge to come up with a decent dish despite the limited resources. I am a person who follows the recipe by the book because I do not want to fail. I do know though that this should not always be the case I need to put some creativity and resourcefulness to be able to pull off any given recipe
 
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