Ow do i make food look to good to eat but also amazing to eat?

My wife and I love the show hells kitchen. We think the food they make looks absolutely wonderful.



My question is where can we find cook books or websites that illustrate how to make dishes look so good. I want people to see our food and can't wait to try it.



I've looked up Gordon Ramsay's cookbooks, and to me they seem like they are very, very complicated and have too much fish(my wife and i don't eat much fish). We are not good cooks. I just want to make amazing simple food and learn the basics of gourmet cooking. Oh and I need it to have lots of pictures! Most of the time I'll have no clue what a dish will taste like without seeing it.



I know I'm asking for a lot, help!Ow do i make food look to good to eat but also amazing to eat?
There are two really good culinary text books with great pictures: "The Professional Chef" - Culinary Institute of America and "On Cooking" - Labensky and Hause.



Also, try this website: http://www.acfchefs.org This website lists a lot of great books, although you'll have to dig through the website's menus to find them. There are some great books out there on plate presentation. I just don't know the titles right off hand.



As for making food that tastes great, its just a matter of trial and error. The great chef Georges Auguste Escoffier once said that you had to prepare a dish 100 times before you could fully understand and appreciate it. In other words, practice, practice, practice.