Pepins Complete Technique is amazing. It isn’t the only book you wanna have, as it is a technique book first and a recipe book second. I can’t even begin to contemplate how long it took to write. Everything is photographed, on each step. And it is all pepins hands in every photo.
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Julia I and II are essential, as well as Joy of Cooking and Larousse or Petit Larousse. Don’t get me started on ethnic cookbooks, because I have a zillion. But for basic technique, these few are essential. One of my other faves is Basic Butchering of Livestock and Game.
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I know this will make me uncool, but the book that has the most stains, burns, dog ears, and warped pages? (I.e. the most used)
Betty Fucking Crocker.
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That was probably the most used in my house when I was a youngun. It is a good book.
I have been very fond of this somewhat recent new book in the house The New Family Cookbook.
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NY Times no-knead? That’s so 2006. All the cool kitchen nerds are down with Serious Eats.
Kidding. It’s all great. 
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Ok, the other way around, not early, it has been a busy day, but late.
Lentil stew. I use green lentils, they keep longer and more whole than the gray or orange in a stew.
Preheat the oven and the pan. (needed for browning some)
In order to add:
(olive) oil/butter or and/and
Union(s) (at your liking)
Carrot (small cubes)
Laurel leaves, and some other herb you like and deemed appropriate.
Garlic (or not, we are garlic eaters, but if not, use some more from below)
Some red pepper, or red curry paste.
After some ‘browning’
Tomato (not to much, whole in small cubes, or a reasonable tin of peeled whole)
Lentils.
Water. (not to much, but depends if you have soaked the lentils before or not) and lentils do use some.
Salt / pepper
After done, you can add dome finely chopped parsley. Or coriander/cilantro if you like it. (but both not really necessary)
Fish stew.
Preheat the oven and the pan. (needed for browning some)
In order to add:
(olive) oil/butter or and/and
Union(s) (at your liking)
Carrot (small cubes)
Laurel leaves, and some other herb you like and deemed appropriate.
Garlic (or not, we are garlic eaters, but if not, use some more from below)
After some ‘browning’
Tomato (not to much, whole in small cubes, or a reasonable tin of peeled whole)
Some whole cream, or other fatty dairy you like to use in kooking.
A bit water, not to much/or even better some dry white whine.
Ad Various kind of fish and shrimps, moules, whatever, but keep in mind the time it need to be done. In small parts.
If your oven has a grill, when nearly done. Top the fish stew of with some finely grind cheese and grill till melted before serving. (also a good tip when making union soup, which you also can do very well in the oven 
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Excellent, thanks very much! Those both sound yummy and seem pretty easy to prepare. Just what I’m looking for! 
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Some day I’ll take the baking world by storm with the only original idea I’ve ever had.
Take all the water for your loaf and half the flour. Combine, and ‘mash’ at 145F for an hour. Cool the slurry down, add the rest of the ingredients, and proceed as normal. You will get the tastiest bread ever without a multi day ferment.
Oh, and another original idea. Substitute a quarter of your liquid with ‘live’ kombucha. This kick starts acetic acid formation from the bacterial colonies in the tea, along with a nice tang from the already sour beverage.
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Your welcome. Some easy, fast to prepare and then OK while left alone when doing other things. Is essential in a busy live where you also want to eat reasonable good.
There is more, tomorrow.
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2006? Pshaw! I still use my grandfather’s grandmother’s recipes, and HE was born in 1895.
/oldschool for the win!
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So you know: we call them French lentils over here, whether they are actually Le Puy or not.
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A cast iron skillet is good for making deep dish pizza though.
(Commence flamewar over what forms of pizza are legitimate vs. heretical)
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We don’t do that here. It’s gauche. We have discussions. “Discussions.”
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It’s not discussions, it’s discourse, thank you very much.
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Stargazy pie OBVS
There are creepier variations involving crawdads, but this here takes the cake pie:
That’s blueberries but it could just as easily be some sort of roe.
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We have a Wagner 8 and a Wagner 5, but we don’t use them as much as we might because they are so heavy. We recently bought a Turk forged iron pan, which is around midway in weight between cast iron and carbon steel, and it is practically the only pan we use. (The All-Clad still comes out for acidic foods, not because it will ruin the seasoning but because it does remove a little of the seasoning and I don’t want that in my food, just like cooking tomatoes in an aluminum pot doesn’t remove much aluminum, but more than I want to eat. Also for low-heat cooking, since it distributes low heat better than iron.)
The initial seasoning instructions for the Turk involved frying heaps of potatoes. We did this - much to our dog’s eventual pleasure - and it worked great. There is a French carbon steel pan company whose initial seasoning instructions involve boiling potatoes. I’ve never been able to figure out whether there is some special property potatoes have that make them uniquely qualified for this role, or whether someone once fried/boiled potatoes in a pan 100 years ago, it worked, and so that has been the directive ever since.
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2nd on the lasagna. I used to eat at a restaurant where they cooked/served the lasagna in small cast iron skillets. That seems like a lot of trouble for >2 but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work in a larger pan.
I’ve also baked apple turnover (more like a giant pancake with lots of eggs) in cast iron (as per the recipe). Just don’t do like I did and grab the handle with your bare hand. Or at least keep a quart of aloe nearby.
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