The Must-Haves for a Good Cookbook Collection

by Laura Donnelly — September 17, 2007

There is such a glut of celebrity cookbooks nowadays; it's hard to know which ones are worth buying. Food Network stars crank out books as if they were monthly magazines. Paula, Sandra, Emeril, Rachel, Giada. Some of these stars have very little actual food or cooking experience and it shows in their books. Measuring mistakes, recipe errors, and just plain yucky-sounding dishes are more common than they should be.

If you could own only five great classic cookbooks, what would they be?

Here are some suggestions for tried-and-true books, and a recipe from each. Our first recipe is from Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa. I happen to know this recipe works because I gave it to her for her book Barefoot Contessa Family Style. For simple entertaining, her recipes and cookbooks are foolproof and delicious.

Lemon Angel Food Cake

2 cups sifted superfine sugar
1 and 1/3 cups cake flour
1 and 1/2 cups egg whites
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 and 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine 1/2 cup of sugar with flour. Sift together 4 times.

2. Beat egg whites, salt, and cream of tartar on medium speed until medium peaks form. Then add rest of sugar slowly, beating in between additions.

3. Whisk in vanilla and lemon zest, beat until very thick, about another minute.

4. Very gently, fold flour/sugar mixture into egg white mixture with a rubber spatula. Do this 1/4 at a time. Fold only until combined; you don't want to deflate egg whites too much.

5. Pour into ungreased tube pan. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, then invert pan to cool. Serve with peach or mango sorbet!