5 More Great Cookbooks on Kindle

In Cookbooks for Kindle, I recommended 8 good cookbooks to begin your Kindle library.  Here are 5 more to build your collection — since they take up no additional space or weight, Kindle books make it easy to have several “niche” cookbooks aboard.

NOTE:  You can also download a free app from Amazon so that you can read Kindle books on your PC or Mac.  Once you’re purchased a title, you can read it on any device that you’ve loaded the app on without an additional charge (there are some items, like newspaper subscriptions, that can only be read on the Kindle itself, so be sure to check individual products before buying).  If you’re particularly interested in illustrations in reference books — including these cookbooks — they are usually easier to see on the larger screen of a computer.  I use the Kindle for PC app a lot and really like it.

The Best Recipes in the World

The Best Recipes in the World is a pretty ambitious title for a cookbook.  Nonetheless, the recipes are great, generally simple and made with ingredients that can actually be found.

This is a collection of recipes from around the world, but isn’t arranged by country or region but by course.  And while the author has kept the authentic tastes of the various cuisines, he has simplified the cooking techniques to ones we are all familiar with (no cooking over a wood fire, for example).  None of the recipes are made more complicated than they need to be, a fact that I really appreciate when cooking in a galley.

Not only is this a great cookbook wherever you may be, but if you’re cruising outside the US, the 1,000+ recipes will teach you a lot about the food of areas you may be visiting.  And, once you’ve left an area, they’ll help you re-create tastes you may be missing.

I particularly like the fact that most of the recipes are “from scratch” — that is, they start from basic ingredients that you’d reasonably either have aboard or could find in local stores (although the ingredients for some are likely to be available only in large cities or the countries where that recipe is popular), rather than using prepared foods.

Mod Mex

Whether you’re cruising in Mexican waters or just love Mexican food, Mod Mex will help you create great Mexican dishes, well beyond the “standard” tacos, burritos and enchiladas to the true Mexican food that you get once you’re away from the tourist spots.

Admittedly, he sometimes assumes you have cooking tools that aren’t likely to make their way on board a cruising boat, but it’s pretty easy to figure out alternate methods for achieving the same results — and sometimes Linquist even give you ideas for more boat-friendly ways.  For example, his salsa recipe calls for using a blender, but it’s not hard to figure out that you can finely chop the ingredients.

The flavors and ingredients are all authentic and delicious.  But a word of warning — they’re spicy!  You may want to start with half the quantity of chiles called for in any given recipe, then add more to taste.

Simply Salads

I love salads, and Simply Salads is a great salad cookbook.  There are over 100 salad recipes, all with homemade dressings — perfect for a boat where it can be hard to store a selection of dressings.  Not only do I not want to give up much of my limited refrigerator space, but often there are none available in remote locations.

The reality is, though, that I also really like to make my own dressings.  And the collection here will provide lots of alternatives.  While Chandler likes to base her salads on pre-packaged bags of various types of greens, this isn’t always practical on a boat.  Still, it’s easy to substitute the fresh greens you do have access to for the ones suggested in the recipes.  She also has several cabbage-based salads for those times when you just don’t have — or can’t store — fresh greens.

While the “full salad” recipes have great ideas of things to put together, the dressings alone are well worth the price of the book.

Soup Makes the Meal: 150 Soul-Satisfying Recipes for Soups, Salads, and Breads

On a chilly day — or in the middle of the night on an overnight passage — nothing beats a bowl of hot soup.  Soup Makes the Meal will give you plenty of great soups to enjoy!

The ingredients are easy to find in most cruising locales and the soups tasty and generally simple to prepare — and thus possible to make on a boat.   The bread and salad recipes are also good — tasty and different, without being weird.

No matter where you are — yes, even in the tropics — there are days that just call for soup.  The 150 recipes in this book will give you lots of options!  And don’t just take my word that it’s a good cookbook — there are currently 13 reviews of it on Amazon, and EVERY single one of them gives it 5 stars, the top ranking!

No-Bake Cookies

I love no-bake cookies anywhere, but they are particularly suited to making on a boat — or with kids.  No-Bake Cookies has over 150 recipes that have lots of advantages aboard:

• Quick to make — generally 15 minutes or less, start to finish

• Easy to find ingredients — even in the tiniest villages, you’ll be able to find the ingredients for at least a few of the recipes

• Recipes that are designed to be mixed by hand, without electrical appliances

• No oven heat when you’re in hot climates

• Fun to make with kids — or the kids can make the recipes by themselves

I began making no-bake cookies years ago on tent camping trips, and still make them today living ashore.  This cookbook is really a must-have!