I found this one several years ago, and how I wish I'd found something like it when I first started out on my own. It's called Cooking: a common sense guide. It's published by Bay Books. The ISBN on mine is 0681331976 and here is a link to it on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-Commonsens鈥?/a>
The great thing about that book is that the first couple of chapters gives you the basics of pretty much EVERYTHING, pictures included. And explains all or most of the terms like the ones you mentioned... braising, blanching etc.
2nd choices are:
Joy of Cooking
New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne (this is like my cookbook bible)Can you recommend some good cook or recipe books?
I'm a fan of the old Betty Crocker cookbook... it has everything you need to learn about cooking, the terms, measurements, etc...
this is the book I started out with when I knew nothing....
Ask friends and family for some of their tried and true recipes until you find recipes you like.....
Good Luck!!
PS.. I also like to check ebay and pick up cookbooks from churches, women's forums, county cookbooks...the recipes in these are from people in the community..... you can usually buy them for about 2.50 and under....
Company's Coming
They have a whole series everything from desserts to casseroles, slow cooker, grilling, and my all time Fave
The Rookie Cook
www.companyscoming.com
The Rookie Cook also has an index that tells you what braiseing is what a chaffing dish is and so on. I am in the same boat you are, I hate to cook and am not the best at it. The Rookie Cook has so many fabulously easy meals and stuff, even I can't mess it up.
Not a cook book but, foodnetwork.com
if you're not a friend of the kitchen, type in sandra lee. she has a semi homemade show. she starts with store bought items and doctors them up with fresh ingredients. she has several cook books out, if you want a physical book. start there, and move up to the harder stuff.
cooking is easy, you don't have to measure as accurately as baking.
';The new settlement cook book ';not only gives you recipes...but,explains terms ..Tells you the difference between different creams,and cheeses,has a diagram of different cuts of meat,and has recipes for all levels of experience.from the novice to the pro.
It is available via amazon
The following cookbooks are great for basic techniques and cooking knowledge:
The Joy of Cooking - http://www.borders.com/online/store/Titl鈥?/a>
Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook - http://www.borders.com/online/store/Titl鈥?/a>
Betty Crocker Cookbook - http://www.borders.com/online/store/Titl鈥?/a>
the southern living cookbook is great. the whole front of it explains what each type of cooking entails, how to stock your pantry, make the basic sauces and measurements. its great.
for online recipes: allrecipes.com
sparkrecipes.com
and foodnetwork.com has a lot of demo videos to help you
These are great beginner cookbooks:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Teens-C鈥?/a>
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Clueles鈥?/a>
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Teens-C鈥?/a>
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Cooking鈥?/a>
Good Housekeeping, Betty Crocker, all of the Company's Coming series, all great cookbooks to help you on your way.
The gold standard is Joy of Cooking. It has a glossary that can help with the terminology. A cheaper way is to use the Food Network's web site.
I agree totally with you,i love books and especially books with pictures so i can see the end product.Also i can see it over and over again and get inspired by the person that took the time and energy to make it easier for me to create delicious recipes for my family.
If you have the passion and don't let people confuse you with complicated procedures and difficult to find ingredients you will be incredible in no time and your family will love you for it.
Easy delicious recipes with ingredients from your kitchen get this book
Take the Taste of Greece with you.
http://hummingbirdpublications.com The taste of Greece
I am a very good cook and have been cooking for a long time. I am often surprised when I taste a dish at a covered dish supper, or in a friends kitchen, or even at a restaurant; what surprises me is ';how can it taste so good and have so few ingredients in it? How can it be so simple and taste that good.'; Of course it takes time to build up your repertoire. So, be sure to start a collection of cookbooks with the title, ';Five Ingredients Or Less'; c/b. I even found one that is a ';Two Ingredient'; C/B. So, when you go to the book store, be sure to take a look at these c/b's too. You'll be delightfully surprised.
Get a basic Betty Crocker or Better Homes %26amp; Gardens cookbook. They'll each have tons of recipes, but also photos showing techniques; and will have conversion %26amp; substitution charts in them ... plus ideas for menus. ... Woman's Day and Family Circle magazines are good too, and you can pick one up every few weeks at the grocery store. Woman's Day even has a monthly menu chart in it, with recipes.... For desserts, get ';The Cake Doctor';, which has tons of great recipes, which all use cake mixes! There are thumbnail sketches of each recipe in the front, so you can choose what you want to make by the photo. .... These are all available at Amazon.com, or even eBay
I think the food network has a perfect cook book for you it is called:
How to Boil Water - life beyond takeout.
Easy step-by-step instructions, great pictures and covers all the topics you discussed. They outline how to set up your kitchen and tools needed to learn how to cook.
I also recommend that you concentrate on easy things to start with. Chicken is a good place to start when it comes to cooking. For example, an easy recipe is to roast a chicken. Serve with a salad and roasted potatoes and the family will be impressed.
My recipes for the roasted potatoes and chicken at:
http://www.cooking-is-easy-and-fun.com/R鈥?/a>
Casseroles are equally easy to create. How about a spaghetti pizza, I bet you could make this tonight with some garlic bread and a salad and they will love it. There is only 6 ingredients!
http://www.cooking-is-easy-and-fun.com/S鈥?/a>
Good luck as you learn to cook, easier then you think.
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