My Favorite Cookbook Right Now
With cookbooks (and cooking, to be honest), my enthusiasm definitely comes (and goes!) in waves. A couple years ago (at the beginning of the pandemic) like most people, I got really into Alison Roman. And then it was Julia Turshen. Right now, Molly Baz is my girl, and I cannot get enough of Cook This Book. It’s easy to follow, she talks to you like a regular person, and the recipes are always creative and delicious. Creative, but uncomplicated, which is the real key for me.
The first thing I ever made from it is the Golden Get Well Soup. This is a decadently thick soup with chicken, lime, and turmeric that will indeed, truly help you get over whatever ailment you are nursing. I’ve now made it several times and nothing is better when you are sick. My other favorite is the Tomato Toast. Super easy to make when having friends over, super impressive looking (and tasting!). That combination of cheddar and smoky paprika is just to die for.
On Friday night my boyfriend had to work late so I thought it would be nice to cook for us.
This is probably the norm for most people but I’m more of a takeout kind of girl. I didn’t just make dinner, I made dessert too! I made the One-Pot Chicken & Schmaltzy Rice with Lemony Yog. And I chose it because one pot dishes are generally pretty easy (and the flavors and textures sounded so good!). It was a lot more time-consuming than I envisioned (also: so much chopping) but wound up being one of my favorite things I’ve ever cooked.
It’s truly a perfect dish, especially the rice which soaks up the chicken flavor but also has lemon, pistachios, cilantro, and sugar snap peas (loved this texture!!!). And the lemony yog sauce is just epic. For dessert, we had the Blueberry Cornflake Crisp which is heavenly and suuuuuuper easy/simple to make. Barely any prep work. More my speed. 😉
Next up on my list are the Grapefruit olive oil cake, the Hot ‘n’ crispy Chicken Cutlets with Kimchi Ranch, the Orzo al Limone, the Winter Greek Salad, and the Big Italian Salad. DROOL.
PS – more amazing cookbooks in this blog post! The comments section is the best part.
PPS – Tell me YOUR current favorite cookbook in the comments!
Cook This Book is hands down my favorite cookbook! Everything I’ve made has been delicious – some favs have been the pastrami roast chicken, grilled and swaddled chicken thighs, both the steak with chimichurri & steak au poivre, the tomato soup… the list goes on. I love how she breaks down recipes and makes it super accessible. I found the one pot chicken with schmaltzy rice to be the most labor intensive recipe so far so if you made that one, the rest of them will seem like a breeze!
I also recommend to anyone who is a Molly Baz fan to check out her recipe club on her website. Tons of great recipes there and I love supporting content creators if I can!
OK that is really good to know! I’ve done the hardest one! 😉
I bought this book for my brother and his girlfriend for Christmas — they’re really liking it so far!
Oh good I am glad!
I highly recommend the slow-roasted piri-piri chicken from the book – very easy and great flavor.
Noted, thank you!!!
Thank you Grace, this cookbook arrived today thanks to your earlier recommendation and I can’t wait to devour it (ha!). I love all of Gaby Dalkin’s cookbooks and my family are obsessed with her basil and cilantro vinaigrette. We drizzle it on anything and everything!
OOh I have a couple of Gaby’s cookbooks, that dressing sounds incredible.
This was my most used cookbook this year! I haven’t had a bad recipe out of it.
It’s such a good one!
My favorite cookbooks are “Kitchen Revelry” by Ali Larter and “From The Oven to The Table” by Diana Henry. I found “Kitchen Revelry” in a used bookstore a few years ago and flipped it open to the perfect creamy carrot soup I was looking for. I’ve made that soup consistently since then – and every recipe I’ve tried from “Kitchen Revelry” has been so good. Same for “From The Oven to The Table” – haven’t made anything bad yet!
Thank you for the recs!!!!
No – thank you for this post and now all the cookbook recs in the comments! Putting all of them on my library holds list
Love love love Diana Henry!
I LOVE this book! I made the flank steak with red chimichurri and smashed potatoes the other night and it was the best meal I’ve ever made! I’ve also made the peanut Noodles with celery and it was delicious!!
Oh the flank steak sounds amazing!!!!
the grapefruit olive oil cake is the BEST!! i bring it as hostess gifts all the time – it gets better with time too 🙂 obsessed fully with Cook This Book so enjoy – also sneaky highlight is the leeks with walnut bagna cauda
Ah that is so good to know, it looks delicious. Must try the leeks too!
Heavily relate to being a takeout kind of girl, lol. These recipes look delicious!
Takeout girls unite 😉
The Hot ‘n’ crispy Chicken Cutlets with Kimchi Ranch is to die for!!!! I cannot stop making it. Even if you don’t always fry the chicken the kimchi ranch is clutch to have around for something simple like grilled/baked chicken. Also – if you’re a fan of popcorn her recipe has totally made it my go-to snack.
Ah thank you so much for telling me. It just sounds SO good!!!
Do not sleep on the crispy chicken cutlets! They are so, so good and the kimchi ranch…O. M. G.
Top of my list!!!
LOVE this cookbook too!! I’ve got Golden Get-Well Soup leftovers in my fridge right now The K-Bos and Cabbage soup is good also. I made the spicy dill and jalapeño creamed greens for Christmas and they were amazing.
I love the golden get well soup so much that I haven’t tried any of the other soups. Must try the cabbage one next!
I made the One-Pot Chicken & Schmaltzy Rice with Lemony Yog last night after being inspired by your insta-story and it did not disappoint! The Steak au Poivre is also one of my favs in the book.
Truly so delicious!!!!!
Do not sleep on the lentil salad. Sounds like a weird thing to obsess over but it is SO GOOD. Tastes even better the next few days out of the fridge.
If you love Cook this Book – I highly rec Carla Lalli Music’s new cookbook “That Sounds So Good” – very similar vibe – creative, simple and delicious! Which makes sense because they are friends and Bon Ap test kitchen alums.
OK I am sold (on the lentils and Carla’s book!) Thank you!!!!
I feel like cookbooks are such a personal choice, lots of opinions 🙂 My favorite technique book is Cooking by James Peterson if you want to make waffles, bread, and other yummy things from scratch it is the BEST IMHO! Against all Grain by Danelle Walker is my other fav and one I consult weekly. All of my cookbooks have post it’s sticking out and huge red “x’s” on other pages for “do not repeat” 🙂
Oh yum! Thanks for the recommendations!
The sausage with lentils in this cookbook is one of my favorite things. If you make it, make extra celery salad. It is ridiculously good
Based on the comments on this post it seems Molly really excels at lentils!!! Thank you.
I’m a big fan of the skinny taste cookbooks. Her recipes are delicious and pretty simple. I’m definitely purchasing some cook books based on your recs and some of the other commenter recs. Happy cooking!
I keep hearing good things about her books! I have a real block around the word “skinny” but it sounds like her cookbooks are great.
Lately, I often come up with an idea for a dish and then scour the internet to see if anyone has made it (or something like it), or if there are ideas I can use in my creation – so no favorite cookbooks at the moment. However, if you have a collection of cookbooks and want to get more use out of them, I highly recommend the Eat Your Books app. You input all your cookbooks by Name/Author and then can search them easily online. The folks who run it have cataloged thousands of cookbooks, so you can see which book has a recipe for say, chicken, that you might want to cook. I have no affiliation, just have found it to be useful. Also, the subscription is a great gift idea for friends or family who have tons of cookbooks. https://www.eatyourbooks.com
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing.
I loooove MollyB! Current fabs include: 1) Isa Cooks It (specifically the “chicky” tuna salad, I love making a batch of the vegan chickpea salad and munching on it for lunches during th week) and 2) The Defined Dish’s newest book (allll of it is so SO good!)
Yum, thank you for the recs!!!
Yum! The lemony yog sauce sounds delicious. I’m excited for Half Baked Harvest’s new cookbook this year.
Me too – I love her!
I’m sold. Just ordered my copy of the cookbook. Can’t wait to try out some of these recipes!
I hope you love it!!!
Love this book!! Her cold green bean salad with pistachios, lemon and parm, and the orzo al limone are recipes I’ve made soo many times! So easy and delish!
The orzo looks so good!
This dish looks amazing. I’m so inspired to get this book and get my old cook books out and starting cooking more interesting meals.
It’s so much fun!
Reading this post as I eat her bacon snap pea orecchiette recipe from this book! Love.
Love it!
I do love this cookbook. Have you listened to “The Sandwich Universe” podcast she hosts? It’s so simple and makes you want to eat all the sandwiches!!! The orzo con limone is delicious and can be paired with just about anything.
I haven’t!!! Thanks for the rec!
Highly, highly recommend Oh She Glows For Dinner or Oh She Glows Everyday. They are plant-based, but they have really expanded my cooking skills and the variety of food (veggies, grains, beans, nuts) that I eat. My husband, who is not plant-based and is usually a meat and three person, also really enjoys these meals, so I think that is good endorsement!
I agree!!!! Her vegan cream of tomato soup is just… chef’s kiss.
I really want this book! My current obsession is The Comfortable Kitchen by Alex Snodgrass (The Defined Dish) It’s incredible! Don’t be deterred by the Whole30 affiliation. Her recipes are incredible.
I love Alex! I don’t have that one (and I was deterred!) but sounds like I need to give it a try!
I’ve definitely had this book on my radar! I’ll have to add it to my buy list! My newest fave find is Cookie & Kate’s Love Real Food cookbook. It’s a vegetarian cookbook that my sister got me into. Always looking to add more vegetarian recipes into our meals. I love her salads/dressings. Her blog also has really good recipes. My other go to is the Run Fast, Eat Slow cookbook by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky. They have 3 cookbooks and I like all of them! Great muffin recipes!
Oh yum, thank you for sharing!!!!
Everything I make (that isn’t Hello Fresh) is Cook This Book – I just love the way it is written, so easy to follow!!
Haha I am the same way with Blue Apron and this!
Golden Get Well Soup is literally the elixir of life. I went through a phase where I was making it WEEKLY!!
If you like Molly Baz, you will love Carla Lalli Music. She’s one of Molly’s ex Bon Appetit counterparts/pals. “That Sounds So Good” is her new cookbook and it is also phenom.
Truly! Nothing is better!!!!
I actually just ordered That Sounds So Good! Very excited for it.