re: What is your go to cookbook?

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can pretty much wing any cajun dish and have it come out good, things such as stews, gumbo, jambalaya, etoufee, sauce picaunt..... omit I need a reference for a technique or something

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Me too--I don't really need a LA style cookbook. If I'm looking up a technique or base recipe for something I don't cook very often, I reach for:
--Joy of Cooking (a little bit of everything, including basics like meringue and puddings/custards)
--Bittman's How to Cook Everything, for inspiration & random recipes when I have no real ideas for the stuff on hand
--the Essential NY Times Cookbook, by Amanda Hesser; more modern in flavors than Joy or Better Homes

Most used books in my house are all baking-specific; Robertson's Tartine, Forkish's Flour Water Salt Yeast; Reinhart's BBA; Hamelman's Bread; Modernist Bread, etc.

I also have a slew of ethnic/regional cookbooks I don't really use regularly, but I enjoy looking at & occasionally do "project cooking" out of.