How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition

How to Cook Everything, Revised Edition by Mark Bittman

How to Cook Everything has been on my shelf for many years (so many that I can’t remember when I bought it), and I’ve made a few recipes from it. Not, actually, that many relative to the number of recipes it contains but being as I’ve made more than one recipe from it, it’s infinitely more recipes than some cookbooks we own.

Mark Bittman taught me how to make roast chicken via this book. And, as anyone who’s had my roast chicken can attest, I’m full of awesome at it. Now, anyway. I did used to attempt to make roast chickens prior to using this book. Bill can tell you about the disastrous attempt about six years ago, long before we were dating, to make a roast chicken while he was visiting. Let’s just say I’ve learned a lot since then, and the majority of my improvements are Bittman’s fault.

I should point out, however, that this photo and link are to the revised edition of the book, which is only a couple of years old. Obviously, that has not been on my shelf for “so many years that I can’t remember when I bought it”. And I didn’t make a mistake in linking to this book. So what happened?

Well, I now own the revised edition and not the original. I gave my copy of the original to one of my dearest friends and her new husband for their wedding. She and I had discussed what a wonderful book it was, and I’d coached her on how to roast a chicken right out of the book. Of course, when I gave it to her, I also marked the roast chicken recipe. (Jen, if you’re reading this, make the mashed potatoes too! They’re also fabulous!)

Anyway, I didn’t want to be without the book myself, so I bought this one. The roasted chicken recipe has changed (and for the better, I’d say – so call me, Jen, if you want to discuss and debate), but it’s still a comfort to have around.

Number of recipes in the book: 2000 (so says the front cover)
Number we’ve cooked: 13 (Man, we need to get a jump on that number, eh?)

Click on the “How to Cook Everything” tag below to see everything we’ve cooked from this book.