My personal cookbook bible is the Good Housekeeping Cookery Book.  I think my version is a 1970’s edition.  The original paper dust cover has long gone and the hardcover has been covered and recovered with sticky back plastic to preserve it.  Every single recipe works brilliantly and the book has been going, with various revisions, for nearly 70 years.  On looking it up to provide the link, I discovered there was a new version out in 2014 – so writing this page has just set me back £10!  As soon as I receive the new one, I’ll find something I haven’t made before and report back on how it turns out!

If I had to choose the best recipe from this book it would be the beef wellington – it was the first “fancy” meal I cooked for a dinner party in my early 20’s and was so good I have made it again and again since.

The great thing about this is that it isn’t just one person’s style of cooking – it is a truly comprehensive book with all sorts of traditional and more modern recipes to chose from, all explained in simple detail so that even the non-cook, following the recipes carefully can produce great things!

If you only have one cook book in your kitchen – make it this one!