Cooking an Entire Cookbook

[kutsu]

I've just had an idea to refresh my cooking skills (going through a lull at the moment) - take a book I know to be good, and try and cook all the recipies out of it.

Now, I'm not sure how long this would actually take (it's Roast Chicken & Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson) given it has over 200 of them, but it's certainly something to do and I think it would be refreshing to force myself to cook things I would normally overlook.

Has anyone attempted something similar before?

[Smithy]

There was the Julia/Julia project a few years ago, in which Julie (?last name?) set herself to cook her way through Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking - all of it - in a year. She blogged about the experience. I think the blog has become a book. I understand the project has led to a different, presumably more satisfying, career for Julie than her previous career.

As for myself: I've thought about cooking through an entire cookbook but never attempted it. Such a project would take more discipline than I have about cooking, but that isn't the only issue. I'm not sure I've ever seen a cookbook in which I'd like to taste, much less make, every single recipe.

[crouching tyler]

I've toyed with the idea of cooking my way through Cradle of Flavor ... by James Oseland, as a way of learning more about the cuisine. I don't think I would adhere to any given timeline, perhaps just one a week, so it might take me a couple years.

Summer vegetable season will be upon us soon enough, and since we belong to a CSA, it is a matter of effort to just cook our way through our box of vegetables every week. Maybe I could console myself about the end of summer vegetable season by commencing the Cradle of Flavor project this fall.

[maftoul]

I have cooked nearly 99% of the China Moon cookbook, by the late Barbara Tropp. It has taken me a number of years to do it. I plan to finish the final 1% in the next year or two.

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook and Sunday Suppers at Lucques are next.

[Fat Guy]

That's right, Smithy, Julie Powell's "Julie/Julia Project" was a great blogger success story and led to the book "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen."

We actually have an eG Forums topic of this nature happening right now. Our beloved "eje" has been making every cocktail in "The Savoy Cocktail Book" in alphabetical order. He's up to the Cs.

It's a huge undertaking to do something like this. I hope anybody who starts such a project in the future will keep a topic running about it and post photos. It's also possible to do this sort of thing collaboratively, if enough people are interested and can coordinate and divide.

[srhcb]

If I had to pick any one book I own and cook every dish, I choose Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home, but only if I had somebody like Julia or Jacques to cook with.

Otherwise I'll take Aunt Bee's Mayberry Cookbook.

SB (I can handle all those recipes myself )

[Chris Amirault]

Crouching Tyler, I can't commit to the entirety of Cradle of Flavor, but I'd sure happily participate in a topic devoted to working through the book.

[artisan02]

I have cooked nearly 99% of the China Moon cookbook, by the late Barbara Tropp. It has taken me a number of years to do it. I plan to finish the final 1% in the next year or two.

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook and Sunday Suppers at Lucques are next.

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I just got Sunday Suppers at Lucques, and I would be interested in cooking my way through it. It looks very good.

I also just got Cradle of Flavor, and would be interested in cooking from that one as well.

Christine

[Fat Guy]

One nice thing about "Cradle of Flavor" is that Jim Oseland is an eGullet Society member and could probably, his schedule permitting, be persuaded to contribute occasionally to a cooking-through-Cradle topic.

[mcohen]

I've just had an idea to refresh my cooking skills (going through a lull at the moment) - take a book I know to be good, and try and cook all the recipies out of it.

Now, I'm not sure how long this would actually take (it's Roast Chicken & Other Stories by Simon Hopkinson) given it has over 200 of them, but it's certainly something to do and I think it would be refreshing to force myself to cook things I would normally overlook.

Has anyone attempted something similar before?

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that's a very interesting question, and something i was thinking about too although not necessairly about cooking all the dishes in the cookbook. instead, i was looking more for a source where if i picked out any recipe, it would work. i want a cookbook, where if you exactly follow the recipes, the dishes turn out great. but, the dirty little secret of cookbooks is how often those dishes don't work. some will, but just as often, they don't. for example, in many of those celebrity-driven cookbooks by famous chefs, the recipe will not give you the same dish as you'd find in their restaurant.

[CRoz]

Cooking through a complete cookbook sounds very ambitious. For variety, I think I may try to make one recipe from each of the cookbook from my collection of around 50. A cookbook may not be used again until I have gone through the whole collection. This will make me to actually use all the cookbooks I have, instead of going to the same ones all the time.

[C. sapidus]

Crouching Tyler, I can't commit to the entirety of Cradle of Flavor, but I'd sure happily participate in a topic devoted to working through the book.

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Great idea, count me in (I already have a pretty good start).

[hummingbirdkiss]

I went on a curry cooking binge a few years ago and cooked my way through the The Hamlyn Curry Cookbook by Meera Taneja now if you want a solid curry cookbook that has a taste of various curries from around the world, is easy to follow with good results...I just looked on Amazon and they have it for $4.95 used! It was my first real curry book with recipes! I had grown up cooking curries but never used a book and I sure used this one I cooked every single recipe in it front to back and made so many notes I wonder what someone will think when they inherit it!!!

I have almost cooked my way through quite a few books including some of the Moosewood books years ago ...a couple of the Frugal Gourmet (Jeff Smith) books Three Ancient Cuisines and nearly made it through cooking each recipe in his Our Immigrant Ancestors my friend and I did accomplish this book together but I can not take credit for making all the recipes myself...of course I tried a couple of Julia books and some Jaques Pepin...Even thought I would attempt The Joy of Cooking....I am still working on that

never quite made it though them to be able to say I cooked my way through every recipe ..but I sure did with that Curry book ..I have since purchased or been given many curry books (I am a curry whore no doubt about it I will curry anything anytime!!!) but none quite did it like this one ..it was the right book at the right time for the right cooking binge!

Edited June 1, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Fat Guy]

Cooking through a complete cookbook sounds very ambitious.

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I confess it's not my style either, primarily because I almost never cook anything from a cookbook in the first place (the main exceptions being classic sauces and most baking/pastry formulas). I use cookbooks for ideas, inspiration and entertainment. On the rare occasion I'm cooking something intricate enough to require a recipe, I almost always compare several cookbook and online sources and come up with a version that makes sense to me. Still, I'd be up for taking on a couple of "Cradle of Flavor" recipes.

[ruthcooks]

Cooking through a complete cookbook sounds very ambitious.  For variety, I think I may try to make one recipe from each of the cookbook from my collection of around 50.  A cookbook may not be used again until I have gone through the whole collection.  This will make me to actually use all the cookbooks I have, instead of going to the same ones all the time.

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I think this is a great idea, and more useful than the "cooking everything in a book" approach. One advantage is that you can choose a recipe that sounds good to you, rather than Aardvark and Abalone, or whichever recipe comes first in the book. Another advantage is that you won't have to endure 27 recipes for broccoli if you hate broccoli.

For those of you who are looking for a reliable cookbook, you might choose and prepare five or six recipes from a single book. This ought to give you a good idea as to the accuracy of the recipes. Some authors give you clues as to their favorite recipes. If you choose some of these, you are more likely to figure out if your tastes are similar.

[crouching tyler]

Here I go... Cradle of Flavor, One Recipe at a Time.

I imagine I'll get started sometime next week, after a weekend of recipe browsing, and perhaps a trip to Uwajimaya. Hmmmm, I wonder if this project will provide an excuse to buy some new kitchen toys?

[kutsu]

I think I'm going to start cooking from Simon Hopkinson's Roast Chicken and Other stories tonight.

I'm pretty sure it's available from somewhere in the US, but here in England, it was voted "the best cookbook in the world".

The advantage of this book (besides being a damn good cookbook) is that there are something like 149 recipes, but a maximum of about 5 with one type of ingrediant. There isn't 48 recipes with broccoli or anchovies or anthying, so the variety is a big boon to my attempt.

[CalumC]

If you want some ideas, theres always www.frenchlaundryathome.com which is excellent. Using that kind of idea, you could try out something like the Essence book by DEM

[Keith Orr]

I love the www.frenchlaundryathome.com

That woman's got chops, a sense of humor and I like the wine and music accompaniments.

I like the idea of cooking a recipe from each cookbook in my collection. I'd probably decide to get rid of many of them rather than bother them.

[KristiB50]

I just started cooking my way through Hot Sour Salty Sweet.

I want to do Cradle of Flavor and Rick Bayless, Authentic Mexican too.

I thought about starting a blog...my photography skills aren't so hot though.

[dockhl]

I just started cooking my way through Hot Sour Salty Sweet. 

I want to do Cradle of Flavor and Rick Bayless, Authentic Mexican too.

I thought about starting a blog...my photography skills aren't so hot though.

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Kristi~

I think Rick Bayless could be fun. Why don't you jump into the Cooking with 'Cradle of Flavor', One Recipe at a Time thread?

That way you could blog along with the rest !

[C. sapidus]

I just started cooking my way through Hot Sour Salty Sweet. 

I want to do Cradle of Flavor and Rick Bayless, Authentic Mexican too.

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Ooh, I have and adore all of those books. Why not start participatory threads on cooking from Authentic Mexican and from Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet?

Why don't you jump into the Cooking with 'Cradle of Flavor', One Recipe at a Time thread?

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Yes, please come wallow in coconut milk and shrimp paste with the rest of us.

[KristiB50]

Ok!

[ROWDY]

Dear Chef Anthony "Tony" Bourdain,

With all due respect, I have figuratively kicked your ass! What? I might not be the first, but that is right, I have kicked your ass. As of 8:30PM July, 17, 2007, I have cooked every freakin' dish in your Les Halles Cookbook! Man, it has been a fun (nearly) 2 years. You bastard! You couldn't cut out a couple of steps, huh? Wow! What a ride. Thanks to you man! You have managed to teach my pathetic ass how to be somewhat passable in a home kitchen, simply through your book. You literally were cussing me with every dish, but I held in there. Yes, I did your freakin' tripes "les halles" with pig ears. Yes, I did your coeur de porc a l'armagnac (pigs heart), rognons de veau a la moutarde (veal kidneys), veal tongue with madeira, foie de veau lyonnaise, and all others. Oh, yes, I even did boudin noir aux pommes!! And you know what, a friend and I made our own boudin noir with pig's blood! We even made a video of us playing with the blood and casings. It was something!

You must know, I am not a cook, a chef, or anything respectable in a culinary sense. Honestly, I got your book before you were "Mr. Popular" on the Travel Channel. Damn best few bucks I have ever spent. Honestly, I did not start into the cookbook thinking every damn recipe was going to be conquered. No, I just decided to cook the skate grenobloise, tasted it, and said "freakin' craparoni!" One thing lead to another and I was cooking the best food I have ever eaten outside of my Mamaw and Papaw's kitchen. So, I thought, I am going to cook every single recipe in that Les Halles Cookbook! The absolute best part about this project was cooking the dishes I would otherwise never consider entertaining with just a perusal through a cookbook. Incredible, the beauty behind veal tongue! Like my redneck ass would ever consider tasting something that could possibly taste me back! Yea, I am a huge hanger steak fan now. I never ate steak in the past. Funny as well are my friends who would come over for some grub. Well, admittedly, my friends are not so sophisticated. So, the dishes at our house typically consisted of pathetic hamburgers, potato chips, and freaking veal kidney, bitch! Yea, it might not seem crazy to you but here in ATLanta, Georgia, a kidney's only purposes are to produce urine and stones.

I actually had to start posting pictures of the dishes on a local site, just to feel less like a freak. Funny, I go to a site of freaks to feel less like a freak. In fact, I was one of the biggest fuel freak idiots of them all, and definitely the least talented and least knowledgeable. Now, I am the "French guy." Whoa! The French would really be pissed off at this one. You know what though, I sure as heck respect the French now. More importantly, I just understand. I better understand you, the culinary world, food, and really French food. Ultimately, I have learned the difference, or at least, I now see the huge difference.

Tony,

Thanks a ton man! You have made a huge impact on me.

Cheers,

Matt

Many pictures of my attempted dishes from Les Halles Cookbook are under the "Fuel" and "Fuel II" headings at ROWDYfood

Edited July 18, 2007 by ROWDY (log)

[shellfishfiend]

Rowdy,

Congratulations!!

That is an amazing accomplishment. Your pics are terrific and I just wish I could tastw through the computer.

I got the cookbook last year for Christmas and have only cooked a few things so far. You have inspired me to cook more of the recipes (and soon).