Need suggestions for ABSOLUTE beginner's cookbook

Question

I have a friend who is 24 and can barely make mac and cheese from a box. She lives with her grandparents due to some tough financial situations, so she survives, but she is always very impressed with the things I (and others) make. Just yesterday she was floored by the fact that brownies can be made from scratch.

Anyway, long story short I was going to give her some "cooking lessons" and a beginner cookbook for Christmas. Do y'all have any recommendations as to what would be a good cookbook for someone who truly knows nothing about cooking/baking?

• The book should start at the beginning and not make assumptions about cooking knowledge
• The instructions should be comprehensive
• An overview of ingredients would be helpful
• Obviously I need something without a lot of fancy techniques and ingredients

• Some fancier simple dishes that she could "show off" with would be great too

  I was thinking Betty Crocker, but don't know if that gets into the true basics.

Please let me know why your suggestion would be a good choice.

Asked by dani

Answer

The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook or it's lighter (calorie-wise) cousin The America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook are ideal for cooks of all skill levels. The recipes are documented in detail. There are product reviews, equipment guides, and insets on why a given technique produces a good result. All of the detail provided adds up to confidence in the kitchen.

Best of all with the America's Test Kitchen/Cook's Illustrated family of publications, almost all of the recipes "just work" as written. Too many times I have scrounged up a recipe from somewhere, including my 1950s Betty Crocker, and messed up some step somehow or just picked a bad recipe, producing a poor result. I've done that all of 2 times in the 3 years I've been cooking from ATK.

All of the recipes have an ATK-style "Americanization" to them that tends to lean towards fairly standard ingredients in United States super markets, so they might not be as common outside of the States but are excellent here.

Either of these books are not only an ideal place to start but provide solid recipes for years to come.

Answered by justkt

Check more discussion of this question.