This is such a good question, and in fact this post serves as a reference point for what the best cookbooks are... Like many of the respondents here, I too have a shelf-full of cookbooks, some of which have been mentioned here. In fact as I type I'm preparing a beef/venison stock based on the recipe in Thomas Keller's 'The French Laundry' cookbook. Nonetheless, there is ONE book that I do keep coming back to: Leith's Cookery Bible. This is for me a standard reference book. If there's a recipe that I need, I can almost guarantee that it will be in there. Leith's is probably more more well known in Britain than it is the States, but this shouldn't stop anyone checking it out. I really couldn't do without it! I'd be interested to hear other opinions about this book...
