This is the simplest, basic, and easiest book that I have ever used which helps you create the most delicious and perfect food you will ever make. I use it more as a reference guide for types of ingredients as opposed to a basic cookbook - her tips and cooking methods are things you can apply to any dish from any cook or chef.
I can truly say that no kitchen would be complete without this book. Then again, people have said that about Julia Child's book, but I don't have it (yet). But everyone loves to hate Alice Waters for some reason; regardless of popular consensus, she's been the purveyor of buying locally, sustainable food - things you hear (and see) everywhere now. Only she's been preaching this for the past 30 years. But trust me, she's not on her soap box when she pushes these food agendas - you really truly experience a difference in flavor when buying locally-conscious ingredients. Especially your meats - beef, pork, and poultry (including eggs), in my opinion, benefit the most in flavor from being grass fed and raised humanely. The meat yields a greater richness and depth that you would never find from a supermarket chain.
Bon Appétit Magazine
I'm a sucker for this magazine. Thank god it didn't reach the same demise as poor Gourmet. The recipes in every issue continually read like an amazing menu at a gourmet restaurant - only with instructions. Plus the photography is stellar. Their regular monthly features include highlighting seasonal fruits and vegetables, cocktails, and kitchen gadgets.
COOK'S Illustrated Magazine
Such a classic journal of really useful cooking techniques. There are recipes here and there, but it mostly covers the finer points of grilling the perfect pork chop or finding the best kind of food processor. Plus the pencil illustrations are so old school that it adds a charming touch.
The French Laundry Cookbook
by Thomas Keller
[Artisan, 2nd. ed., 2009]
The recipes in this book are incredibly high-brow. Definitely not for the amateur cook. Frankly, I haven't even attempted at trying one of the recipes in here. Instead, I get inspiration in observing the kinds of ingredients he chooses to pair together - lobsters w/ red beet essence and leeks, pine nut tart w/ lemon sabayon, figs and fennel - the creativity of his dishes is truly incredible. The photography, most of all, in some of the best I've ever seen in food photography. A great coffee table book.
by Ina Garten
[Clarkson/Potter Publishers, 2004]
I think Ina Garten is doing really great things with cooking, crafting her recipes so that they are very accessible to the home cook but integrating incredibly sophisticated and gourmet flavors. Her recipes always come out tasting very complex and rich, but always feel very effortless and fast. I recommend any of her cookbooks. Her show on the Food Network is a little too nauseating for me though...
by Giada De Laurentiis
[Clarkson/Potter, 2005]
Think basic when it comes to Giada. But basic in a good way - she uses very very minimal ingredients to make very well-rounded dishes and recipes and with an Italian twist. It's definitely a Southern Californian influence of Italian cooking, so look elsewhere if you're wanting something rustic. Her food is always fresh-tasting and never leaves you feeling heavy.
by Richard Olney
[Harper Collins Publishers, 1993]
I found this gorgeous book in the bargain bin at Borders years ago. Truly a gem - I've never found a cookbook that captured the home-cooked meals of Provence like this one. I was convinced I couldn't replicate the incredible Southern France dishes I had while I was living there, but these recipes help transport you directly to a truly provençale backyard in a flash.
by Diane Rossen Worthington
[Free Press, 2004]
This book surprised me - has a really great recipe for Soupe à l'Oignon au Fromage and also Steak au Poivre.
by Jane Bowring, ed.
[bay/Murdoch Australia, 2008]
Probably the most comprehensive cookbook that covers every possible Asian cuisine possible: from Sri Lanka to Indonesia to China and Laos. There is also a really cool spice breakdown guide and dictionary to help you with each cuisine's array of spices - photographs in this one are incredible too.
by Ferran Adria
[Phaidon Press, Inc., 2008]
I regret to say this is not on my bookshelf (yet). But flipping through this book at a food market one day left such an impression on me that I wanted to include this on my credits page. Also known as the grandfather and founder of what is now considered molecular gastronomy, he has turned the craft of cooking and recipe building into a surrealist art form. I only wish I was one of the lucky ones to book a reservation at el Bulli - which I hear gets full one year in advance. Located in the small town of Roses, Spain (two hours north of Barcelona), I'm sure the dining experience here is truly magical. So since we all aren't so lucky enough to fly to Europe and pay hundreds of Euros for one meal, this book will suffice.
by Eric Ripert
[Wiley, 2010]
Eric Ripert is a critically acclaimed culinary master and chef, whose restaurant, Le Bernardin, continues to top all the Michelin, Zagat, and fancy restaurant and dining guides all over the world - you'd think he'd be one big snob, but this book makes his recipes and cooking very accessible for the home cook. Ripert's travels and experiences serve to structure the way he presents his recipes. They are divided into broad, theoretical chapters like "Big Flavor", "Catch and Cook", or "Craftsmanship"; he then creates a "menu" based on these ideas, the people he meets on his travels, or particular ingredients that serve to inspire him.