Cook Books

So my first official post will be about cookbooks. I never thought that I would be one of those people that devoted a major section of my kitchen counter-top to cookbooks but in-fact I have. I started out my collection with Thomas Keller's The French Laundry Cookbook, which is a beautiful book that I merely stare at because the recipes are beyond my grasp at this point. From there I had to get Keller's Ad Hoc at Home following a successful run with his fried chicken. This cookbook is amazing, filled with complex, sophisticated recipes that are written in such a way that they are approachable at the same time. I learn some thing new every time I read this book. Now a book that I consider a must-have in every kitchen is James Paterson's What's a Cook to Do? which is more than just a collection of recipes, its the bible when it comes to questions in the kitchen whether it be "what knife should I use to to de-bone a chicken?" or "what the heck is the difference between a quiche and a souffle?" Next I have The Balthazar Cookbook which is from Balthazar in New York City, I have never been but have heard nothing but great things, one of which is the Pom Frites which there is a recipe for and for which I can attest is so good. The last two cookbooks I have here are vegetarian ones which I think every cook should have because meats are easy to season, most are perfect with just salt and pepper, but vegetables on the other hand don't taste like very much to begin with and learning to season them is the true test of a cook.
All of these cookbooks can be found at your local bookstore but I always check amazon.com first for the best deals and with that said, I'm off to amazon to add Thomas Keller's Bouchon, Julia Child's The Art of French Cooking I and II and David Chang's Momofuku to my collection.