Hands-on cookbooks

What kitchen standbys do you turn to over and over? I asked Ann Martin Rolke, the author of the new cookbook Hands-Off Cooking—which she’ll be signing at the new Avid Reader on Sunday, June 10, at 11 a.m.—about the most well-worn cookbooks in her kitchen.

1. “Joy of Cooking, for basics.”

2. “Lately, I’ve been using Enchanted Broccoli Forest a lot again—I’ve always loved that one. I always use the Apple and Cheddar Souffle, though lately I’ve been putting blue cheese in it, because it’s my favorite cheese in the world. I reworked the recipe to make Apple-Cheddar Quiche for my cookbook, with attribution.”

3. “What else? Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking. We make the Red Split Lentils with Cumin Seed and Spicy Green Beans at least once every two weeks. That book is how I started learning to cook Indian food.”

4. “Rick Bayless, Mexico One Plate at a Time. I make [his] mole sauce by the double batch, to put some of it in the freezer.”