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If you can find videos of Julia Child's early shows, I really like her teaching style.

This might be lame, but my own obsession with cooking developed one lazy summer during high school that I spent watching Food Network all day every day, and while the shows are obviously specific, they're a great way to see how basic stuff is done.

Also, Laura and I must have the same boyfriend because I am in this exact situation!

I agree with the tip to find out what type of cooking your boyfriend is most interested in and pursue that route. My husband does most of his cooking from a Korean cookbook.

Cook's Illustrated could be a good midpoint between geeky-science cooking and more technique-driven approaches.

Also, I know many people loathe Rachel Ray, but her cookbooks are pretty easy to follow and might be a good starting point for your boyfriend. They're straightforward and not intimidating.

I received the Mark Bittman book as a gift a few years ago. I refer to it constantly. I would definitely recommend it to any novice cook.

I recommend Pam Anderson's How To Cook Without A Book. It teaches basic techniques, and how to riff on them.

A friend recommended Mark Bittman's "How to Cook Everything" when I had the same question a few years ago. I use it all the time. It's a great resource especially since he defines a lot of cooking terms that I wasn't quite sure of, and even has menus in the back of the book that you can use for different occasions (i.e. picnic, dinner party, etc.)

Joy of Cooking is a necessity.

I almost always recommend The American's Test Kitchen Cookbooks. Chances are, you can find one that piques your boyfriend's interest, and for almost every recipe, they go through and talk about how they arrived at the recipe they use, what did or did not work, and most importantly, why.

They have a one-hour book that's a good general purpose book, but they also have an international book, and cover-and-bake book, the list goes on and one. They're not cheap, around $35 each, but they are sturdy.

The one thing that may or may not be a deal breaker is that there aren't a lot of color illustrations. A lot of text, some line-drawings, and usually a small section of color plates in the center. Whether or not that's a fatal flaw depends on his/your learning styles, and preferences.

I've never used (or even seen ) any of Alton Brown's cookbooks, but if they are anything like his show, I would think they would be helpful. Maybe a bit too science-nerdy though. Kinda fun, kinda cheesy?

I'll throw in a plug for Alton Brown here. Not as many recipes in his books as some others, but the discussions on cookware, techniques, etc. might make it useful.

Personally, I found HTCE a bit overwhelming as a novice. It's good for offering different things to do with certain ingredients, but I think you have to already have a good sense of some techniques to get the most out of it. The menu ideas are really helpful, though.

I go back and forth between How to Cook Everything and Joy of Cooking for all of my reference needs. I love having both because of course neither is perfect (and sometimes I like the answer I find in one better than the answer in the other!). I've given copies of both as gifts to people who were building kitchens/learning to cook.

Joy Of Cooking is indispensable for basic, quality recipes. I think Alice Water's The Art Of Simple Food is a good tool for learning how little food needs to taste good.

MS's book is great if you need visual direction.

It's definitely old school, but I learned out of Julia Childs' The Way to Cook. It's irreverent, and focuses on technique over recipes. And it's a beautiful book.

I second the suggestion for Julia's early shows! They're on Netflix.

I prefer Joy of Cooking to Bittman's How to Cook Everything. I personally have found JoC to have better tested recipes that perform as they are written. The descriptions are very accurate. Bittman's has some good recipes but many of the baked items cooking times and temperatures are just not accurate, taking double or triple the time to cook correctly. His appetizers are excellent and soups tasty. Both are used in my house, but I know enough about baking to understand what recipes will work & what ones will need adjustments. Joy has never steered me wrong.

I think Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food is a great book for learning technique and how to make the most out of simple, fresh, seasonal ingredients. There are not a lot of pictures, just simple, clear, insightful writing.

I highly recommend the America's Test Kitchen cookbooks.
My husband really got into cooking a couple of years ago. I got him a subscrption to cooks illustrated and then we found the books. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/bookstore/detail.asp?PID=336
They give excellent step by step instructions, explain alot of the why and how of a recipe and the tools used to make it.

The magazine is fun to receive, especially the parts that review the best brands or utensils (my husbands favorite parts), but the book provides all of the basic recipes in an organized format from simple to more complex.

"Clueless in the Kitchen" is a good beginner's cookbook. I think of books like the Joy or HTCE more as reference books, than teach-you-to-cook books.

I love the BH&G cookbook, the one in the red plaid cover. It's got lots of simple stuff with plenty of technique and tips on how to choose a cut of meat, etc. My most valuble resource has always been my mom, though. I think she's resigned to 8:30 PM phone calls about what kind of meat she uses for her pot roast or 9 AM calls about where is that coffee cake recipe she likes again?

Really, I cooked from recipes for years before I started winging it (voluntarily, accidents have caused some improv before). Give him time to get comfortable. I bet he'll start winging it when he's ready. Or he might not. Some people like recipes.

If all else fails, Food Network is inspiring. Alton Brown is awsome for the techniques and the "why?"s and (although I find him annoying) Emeril's recipes are amazing and generally not that complex.

Craig Claiborne's Kitchen Primer. I picked it up at a used book sale years ago and read it cover-to-cover, and I go back to it when I have questions about just about anything. I can never remember the proper way to boil eggs, even, but that's where I always go to find out!

http://www.amazon.com/Craig-Claibornes-Kitchen-Primer-Claiborne/dp/0517189895/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239727702&sr=8-1

I'd also like to add that James Peterson's book on cooking is very comprehensive, and it also has tons of step-by-step pictures for the novice cook (or not so novice who doesn't have experience with pastry, for example).

http://www.amazon.com/Cooking-James-Peterson/dp/1580087892/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239728410&sr=8-1

Thanks for everyone's input! Now I'm having hard time narrowing it down!! They all look great! He is a fan of Alton, so I'm thinking about getting his I'm Here for the Food along with one of your suggestions.

-Laura

I also go between How to Cook Everything and the Joy of Cooking as they are the workhorses in my cookbook arsenal.

I'll second How to Cook without a Book--I picked it up for my brother a few years ago and was so annoyed that I hadn't found it when I was learning how to cook.

Also, next gift-giving occasion, enroll your honey in a knife skills class at a local cooking school. It's so basic, but a HUGE source of confidence (and speed) in the kitchen.

I recommend Tom Colicchio's How to Think Like a Chef, especially if your boyfriend has a man-crush on Colicchio like mine does. I bought my boyfriend How to Cook Everything several years ago and I don't know if he's ever opened it, but he's been devouring How to Think Like a Chef. It breaks the recipes down by cooking technique and also shows how to prepare a base dish (like roasted tomatoes) and use that base in a number of different recipes. The book is all about understanding your ingredients and mastering cooking techniques so you can eventually work without recipes. It's a great book for novice cooks!

The Joy of Cooking has never failed to bring me an answer to my cooking questions. And it covers just about anything basic that you would like to make.

Another key thing when picking a cookbook is to pick the kind that suits your cooking style. It's easy to get sucked in by glossy pictures to books that have recipes that you'll never actually cook. I favour the simple throw-together-with-what-you-have attitude espoused by James Barber (the Urban Peasant). I also like Jamie Oliver and Nigel Slater cookbooks.

How to Cook Everything--hands-down. I have gifted it several times since I received my own copy for Christmas... there's an answer for almost everything in there. And I refer to it daily.... need proof? http://www.sustainablediet.blogspot.com! :)

Deborah Madison's "Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone." It is a fantastic book. There is a section on vegetables that goes through and one by one talks about each vegetable, how to buy them, and how to do the simplest prep. Also she has one, easy-going example for just about every class of dish you can imagine: a dal, a paella, a stir fry, a vegetable soup, a souffle, an enchilada, a risotto, a pasta salad...I can't rave enough about it.

I'm a huge fan of Nigella Lawson's How to Eat. I've give it out several times. It not only teaches the basics, but is just plain a good read.

The new Splendid Table book ("How to Eat Supper") and "The Art Of Simple Food" are two of my favorite books for people who want to get more comfortable in the kitchen.

If he's a total beginner, there's a cheesily-titled book called "Help! My Apartment Has a Kitchen" that was my first cookbook as a college student. It answers basic questions about shopping as well as cooking (e.g. what kinds of frozen shrimp you're likely to see at the grocery store, and what to do with the shrimp if it's not pre-cooked).

I have Bittman's book, and I don't like it. (Though I do like his NYT articles.) It is exactly like an encyclopedia -- nice to own, but you'll never use it.

I love the America's Test Kitchen books too as well as their magazines. I was always a pretty good cook but now I feel that I'm even better.

I use Bittman's book all the time. He was the one to get me to make things I'd never made before, like salad dressing, guacamole, and cocktail sauce for shrimp. Now I never buy those things.

Without being facetious, there's always Cooking For Dummies. I worked on that book years ago. It's not gorgeous and inspiring, but it is completely unintimidating. That book made me unafraid to make souffle on a regular basis.

If your BF's interest really is in 'winging it' in the kitchen, CFD is good for that because, if I remember correctly, it is organized by techniques rather than recipes and he would wind up with a pretty comprehensive toolbox of skills with which to experiment. And of course each section shows some things you can make with it so there's ongoing gratification.

Whether or not you use that book, it seems like a sensible way to structure teaching someone how to cook.

I guess it all depends on whether he's really into learning how to cook or just humoring you. And as someone said, some people simply prefer working from recipes.

I'm trying to tread these waters with my own boyfriend. He is willing, but not eager, to cook. I think it would be a little much for me to ask him to 'study up' with a book or even watch Food Network.

Also, maybe it's because he's an engineer, but he is happy to work with recipes because they offer precision - measurements, steps. Maybe I should just leave it at that.

But it might be fun to show him some techniques in a structured way. Great food for thought, Laura.

Cooks Illustrated......and America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country.

I LOVE these magazines and books.....they read like novels.

The recipes turn out too perfect, though, lol

I second the vote for the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book, the one with the red plaid cover. Any time a recipe has made me go "huh?" BH&G has had the answer.