What is your favorite cookbook?

The Cook's Illustrated 2000 Best Recipes is pretty awesome. (it's a compiliation from their excellent magazine, Cook's Illustrated. They also have an excellent eponymous website, I've also just discovered, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, but that's veggie, obviously. I like The New Basics for some things, and I occasionally check out Joy of Cooking, but I think Cook's can replace that.

Epicurious.com is really great! You can also see how other people rated each recipe and what percentage of them said they would make it again...and there are comments that people post to show how they modified the recipes.

Also, I love the Moosewood restaurant Soup & Salad cookbook...they have lots of yummy soup recipes.

rick bayless' mexican cooking is really good. anything that jaime oliver has done, too. (most of my cookbooks are veg - check out the vegetarian epicure, part 2, published in the 70s.)

the Moosewood cookbooks are wonderful. Original combinations that always taste delicious.

How to Cook Everything, by Mark Bittman.

Google

do you want a good cookbook (that you can read and will inspire you) or a good source for some recipes? these are different.

I love any cookbook by Tyler Florence or Rachel Ray (for quick stuff). I also use foodtv.com all the time.

A few years ago my brother gave me a subscription to Cooks Illustrated and in every issue I find recipes that are well researched, easy to follow, and absolutely delicious. The magazine is like a constantly changing cookbook that inspires me to try new things.

You gotta love Rachel Ray.

I refer you to the Holy Trinity of American cookbooks: Theory & Practice of Good Cooking, American Cookery, and The James Beard Cookbook, all by James Beard. Great recipes (many of which are very straightforward) of both gourmet and home cooking, great cooking technique tips, and information regarding ingredients, tools, etc. Considering THE award for new cookbooks each year is the James Beard Award, why not go back to the master himself?

random, but the whole foods cookbook had lots of good (gourmet-ish) recipes - and i second moosewood and google.

I've been cooking out of Moosewood, and so far I can't find a bad recipe. It's my top recommendation. But it is vegetarian, I believe.

Everyday Greens. Epicurious.com.

I'm a big fan of Nigella Lawson. Her book 'Nigella Bites' has recipies for all occasions, simple and more difficult ones. You should have a look.

Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers

Heston Blumenthal’s ‘In Search of Perfection’. The recipes are long, fiddly and pedantic, but the results are great. Also, it serves as inspiration for when you can’t be bothered to go the whole hog.

I’ve got a little River Cafe fish book which is wicked. It does tend to require fish that my local supermarket doesn’t stock, but it’s worth it.

Alternatively, anything by Ziggy Zen.