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Hello!

For the past, oh 16+ years or so I have cooked/baked almost exclusively from Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen/Cook’s Country recipes and have been very happy.  I discovered them when my husband and I were young married college students and I needed to learn how to cook to save money, and boy have I received a good cooking education which grew into a cooking/baking passion!  I love the meticulous/specific/scientific nature of their recipes and I love the "learning" aspect from their shows and the articles that accompany their recipes.  I also LOVE that they test, test, test their recipes before they publish them.  However, lately I have been feeling a little restless and wanting to branch out and try new authors but I have no idea where to start!!  Over the years I have occasionally tried a recipe from a food blog here and there, but they have always left me feeling disappointed.  I do love to both cook and bake, and based on my cookbook collection, baking is definitely more of my passion (2/3 - 3/4 of my collection are baking books) and it has been easier for me to branch out.  Perhaps this is why I am feeling restless for different authors for cooking....I have branched out and found many baking authors that I really enjoy (Rose Levy Beranbaum, Dori Greenspan, Joanne Change, Maida Heatter, etc.) and I wonder if I could also find that with my cooking as well.  But where to begin??

I have been wondering about Ina Garten.  I've seen her books mentioned in many different places lately, with glowing reviews, and her books seem to be quite popular here as well.  I know of her, but I've never seen her show.  Would she be a good place to start?  If so, does anyone here have a favorite book of hers to recommend (she has so many!)?  I read somewhere that she tests her recipes and uses her own recipes which is a big plus for me.  I did go online to view a few of her recipes and noticed that many of the recipes that I looked at contain alcohol...is this consistent with her entire repertoire?  We are a dry home, and I don’t mind substituting, but it can get tedious if it is all the time.  Also, I saw a couple of recipes that use XL eggs..seriously?!?!

Aside from my musings about Ina, are there any other authors you all would recommend I check out?  I will say that I do have all three Smitten Kitchen books, but I don’t really reach for them (the 3rd one was a gift and I haven’t even opened it yet!).  I think that is because I tried a couple of recipes a while ago that didn’t wow me…perhaps I need to try a few more?  I also get emails from Milk Street and, sadly,  none of their recipes really appeal to me.  If you have read to this point, thank you, and I’m looking forward to any suggestions that you may have!!

First off, I love Ina, though I haven't cooked a ton of her recipes. To my memory, all that I have cooked have been great and her initial Barefoot Contessa Cookbook's a good place to start. As far as her XL egg preference, as far as I remember, she recommends them because they're apparently cheaper... at least per ounce, I guess.

Other authors I recommend would be Stella Parks (great, well tested baking recipes, many found for free on Seriouseats.com), David Lebovitz, and, of course, Julia Child. I also find myself reaching for The Joy of Cooking, more and more lately. Their recipes sometimes seem pared down, but normally have been successful.

I love Ina too, I have all her books and she hasn't failed me yet. I agree her first book Barefoot Contessa is where to start but I also often use Cooking for Jeffrey.

I'm Canadian and Ricardo Larrivee is my go to guy. He publishes in French first but most of his books are available in English and he has an excellent website ricardocuisine.com.

American Jenn Segal at onceuponachef.com is also top of my list. I have both her books, well used, and a list of favourites on her website.

For vegetable forward (but not just vegetarian) recipes I reach for Susie Middleton's books. She was an editor at Fine Cooking and now you can find her at cookthevineyard.com.

Good question! I'll be watching to see who other members recommend.

OK, KarenGlad, you just persuaded me to buy 2 Susie Middleton cookbooks.

I was also going to suggest Smitten Kitchen, as I know she's definitely a tester of her recipes. Another of my discoveries in the last year or so is Julia Turshen. She has been a collaborator/contributor/co-author on books by some big names, but she also has her own books, which are the ones I would recommend. I trust her recipes to work. 

Have fun exploring!

Since no one else has mentioned Diana Henry I thought I should.  I have a number of her books and love them all. Many of our favorite recipes come from her books.

If you are looking for more vegetable or vegetarian recipes I also highly recommend the Moosewood cookbooks.  I have enjoyed everything I've made from their books.  Our favorite cream of tomato soup recipe comes from one of their books.

What kind of food are you seeking to cook? Serious Eats, as others have said, is just as excellent as the ATK family. I’d be willing to try any cookbook author who was a guest on Julia Child: Cooking With Master Chefs. Of course she partnered with Jacques Pepin for their own show. I’m also a long-term diehard ATK fan (as my bookshelf proves 😆), but it can be nice to try other sources. I’ve always wanted to try Ming Tsai. He has a lot of interesting guests on his PBS show. What about Sara Moulton? Her credentials are impressive, and her food seems manageable. Hope you have fun!

Oh my goodness...thank you all so much for all of your replies!  I am new to this site/community and you all have come through with some awesome suggestions and have shown me what a kind and caring community this is!!  Rather than quote everyone I am just going to write out my thoughts for the recommended author since a few were recommended more than once.

Ina Garten - I am convinced to give her stuff a try!!  I was at the library today looking for The Silver Palate cookbook (a review of the chocolate chip cookie recipes got me interested) and as I was walking down the stacks one of Ina's books, Modern Comfort Food, was at the end of a row facing my direction as I walked by, so I quickly grabbed it and put it in my bag.  I'm looking forward to reading it and trying a few recipes!  I just did a quick search of my library and they have all of her books, so I put her first book on hold.  I am trying her Creamy Tomato Bisque recipe next week.

Stella Parks and Serious Eats - I already own BraveTart (so those who recommended it are spot on with that recommendation!!) but I haven't really perused Serious Eats that much, so you’ve convinced me to do so!  I’ve mainly come across their site/recipes when I’ve done a google search for something specific and their site has a recipe.  I will admit that a couple of her BT recipes didn’t really work for me (except the McDonald’s apple turnovers…delicious) but I made her SE Oatmeal Cooking Ice cream a couple of years ago and I still think about it regularly.  

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt - a funny story about The Food Lab.  A couple of years ago, when I was about 7-8 months pregnant with my daughter, I came across an article on SE (found from a google search) written by J. Kenji that talked about his history with CI/ATK and it mentioned his book.  I was intrigued so I decided to look for it during my next library visit.  Well, my son and I had packed the library bag so full of picture books that I could barely carry it when I remembered that I wanted to look for The Food Lab.  So I located the book and when I finally got to the location I took one look at the book and said out loud, “nope!”  There was no way I was going to be able to heft that mammoth book out with me!  My daughter was born a few weeks later and I completely forgot about wanting to check it out…until now!!  Thank you so much for reminding me about his book!  Bonus, my daughter still rides in the stroller when we go to the library, so this time I can wheel the book out!!  I also prefer to cook from physical books rather than my tablet, but I can definitely see how the ebook version of this book would be preferred.

Smitten Kitchen - I just placed her first book on my nightstand so I can read through it more thoroughly and find some things to try.  I have also bookmarked the recommended blog recipes…they all sound delicious!  

Julia Child - Creative.Juices thank you so much for the Julia Child Cooking with Master Chefs recommendation!  I spent this past year re-watching and researching all the bakers that were on her show Baking with Julia and have loved reading through and baking from some of their books (Nancy Silverton, Alice Medrich, and Nick Malgieri being favorites).  The idea of watching CWMC, which I’ve never seen before, and doing the same thing just excites me to no end!  My library even has the book that went with that series…yay!

Speaking of my library, they have an incredibly well stocked cookbook section…they have books from EVERY cookbook author suggested in this thread except Ricardo Larrivee (but I can recommend they get one).  I plan to try a book or two from each person recommended, but I am especially excited to look into Jenn Segal, Susie Middleton and Julia Turshen!!  

Hillsboroks would you mind letting me know which Moosewood book has your favorite cream of tomato soup recipe?  My family loves creamy tomato soups and I am always game for trying new ones…and my library has 12 of the Moosewood cookbooks!!

Thank you all again so much for the thoughtful recommendations!  I can’t wait to get researching and reading and cooking! 

I should also add, since it was asked, I'm not really looking for any specific types of cuisines.  I do love to read about other cultures and their food traditions, and I love to try new things, but at this season of my life I am just trying to find "family favorites" that my young kids will enjoy.  I try to strike a balance between making things that I know they will like and trying the new things that I'm interested in.  For example, last night I made ATK's Murgh Makhani and my husband and I loved it, but the kids didn't want to eat it.  They are young (6 and 2) so I knew it was a gamble.  I'm pretty sure I will keep making it and I will encourage them to try it, all the while I will also keep making meatballs of all kinds because, for some reason, protein is much preferred by my kids when it is shaped like a sphere!

Much of my baking suffers a similar problem. I'm stuck following recipes/formulae by a few prominent bakers/cooks. Paul Hollywood, judge on the Great British Bake Off and occasionally Great American Baking Show, being the one I turn to by habit. Hollywood's recipes may not be the most exciting but they are reliable and repeatable which as I bake (bread) for lunches rather than exxcitement there is no shame in me doing so. Although I have branched out to bake from Peter Reinhart's books Bread Baker's Apprentice and Artisan Breads Every Day. I have added a Sour Cream Sandwich Loaf by Dan Lepard — I prefer his original version not the Nigella Lawson copy, Pane Integrale by Jim Lahey, and Miracle Overnight White Loaf by Kitty and Al Tait ti my regular repetoire. (I whole-heartedly recommend the Tait's book Breadsong for the authors honest approach to teenage mental health issues and how baking helps Kitty.) I have baked through a number of books such as Jim Lahey's my breads and halfway through Peter Reinhardt's Bread Baker's Apprentice. Not that I make New Year resolutions — other than the one of not making New Year resolution — have set myself the goal of widening my baking horizons by more regular use of the books on my bookshelves.

Cooking is a different. I do not like having the same meal too often. To that end I have set myself an informal and irregular challenge of "Around the World in 80 Cuisines". To that end I recently made Sweet and Sour Pork Cantonese Style from Kwowlyn Wan's Chinese Takeaway Cookbook and a number of curries from The Hairy Bikers' Great Curries. The 80 cuisines and baking intersected when I made Olia Hercules's version of a Ukrainian bread Pampushsky and her friend's Bread for Eating (Japanese tangzhong) from her Home Food book. And there are so many regional delicacies here in the United Kingdom that I really no excuse or opportunity for getting in a rut.

For me the way to get out and keep out of ruts is setting goals like those and sticking to them. If I find that a cookbook author's style doesn't chime with me them no problem I can simply move onto the next.

I have a small collection - currently 187 books on my shelves and have been thinking about where I would want to start expannding if I was you - interesting exercise!

I also love Ina and have her 13 titles - her 1st book + Parties are my favourites but the others are close behind! She really puts thought into turning simple things into something special.   Also, I will repeat the recommendations for Julia Turshen (I have 3 - Small Victories + Simply Julia get LOTS of use in this house) and Once Upon a Chef (I have both of Jenn's books and love them).  I also really like Half Baked Harvest (Tieghan Gerard) with Every Day being the favourite of the 3 I have.

For baking, I like Dorie and Stella but I really have a soft spot for Canadian Anna Olson - Baking Day with Anna Olson is currently getting good use.

I love the Food Lab and Salt, Fat Acid Heat and have some favourites from both.  I read through them a lot, have gained lots of knowledge but I find I don't reach for them to cook from as often as I probably should. 

Good luck ! So many good choices including lots I didn't include here :)

The Creamy Tomato Soup recipe we love is from the "Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special" cookbook.  It is based on tomato juice and has the lovely tomato soup flavor I remember from many years ago before Campbell's soups changed their recipe to the insipid sweet pale pink stuff they put out now.  The Moosewood version is easy to make and is full of flavor.

Keep in mind, if you're looking into the Silver Palate books, that the late Sheila Lukins was the cook and Julee Rosso was the businesswoman.