[Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients: A Cookbook]-(Ina Garten)

Why it's worth it

This is the book for cooking in front of other people. The recipes lean on a handful of good ingredients and few steps, so there's less to go wrong, and the food looks like you meant it — which is most of the battle when you're new.

Short ingredient lists are a beginner's best friend. Fewer items means fewer things to buy, fewer things to prep and fewer places to lose the thread. Garten's approach is to spend your attention on good butter, lemons and salt rather than on technique you don't have yet. You get food that tastes finished, and that builds the nerve to try something harder next weekend.

Picture the first time you cook for someone's parents. You don't want a sauce that can break and a side that needs the same burner at the same moment. The recipes here are built to be made without a second pair of hands, and plenty of them hold fine if dinner slips half an hour because nobody's drink is empty.

From our review of 5 cookbooks for beginner home cooks, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +Short ingredient lists are a beginner's best friend
• +Picture the first time you cook for someone's parents
• +It's narrower than our top pick, and that's part of the appeal

What to know

• –This isn't a reference
• –This listing comes from a third-party seller rather than the publisher, and there's very little owner feedback attached to it