ENGLISH MUM

Fabulous new cookery books for Spring: epic tomes and fresh flavours

There’s a real sea-change in my cooking at this time of year.  I want brighter, fresher meals and newer, interesting flavours.  And while the weather over Easter left a lot to be desired, it also left me a bit of time, while waiting for my slow-cooked lamb, to wade through the enormous pile of new books I’ve received recently, to find the best ones just for you (you’re welcome).

First up, then is Bill Cooks for Kids.  I love Bill Granger’s food, and he certainly fits the ‘brighter, fresher’ theme very well.  His new book is jammed full of really great, interesting recipes to cook with children and I love that there are some more complex flavours in amongst the more simple cakes and biscuits: spaghetti with cherry tomatoes, ricotta, spinach and Pecorino is easy to cook, but Bill makes it much more interesting (and appealing to adults to) by roasting the cherry tomatoes with garlic and red onion first.  If you’re looking for simple, fresh suppers and rainy-day baking, look no further.  A great book with Bill Granger’s easy style and bright, stylish photography.  Loved it.

Bill Cooks for Kids is out 10th May, currently priced £6.79 on Amazon.

Claudia Roden’s new book, The Food of Spain, is nothing short of a magnum opus.  This absolute feast for the eyes took, apparently over five years of research, and it shows.  Roden travelled extensively around Spain to bring us delicious, traditional dishes from every region, plus interesting commentary and fascinating notes on ingredients.    This book is a MONSTER.  I’m only about a third of the way through but so far I’ve marked so many pages of incredible food – I’ll be working through it for a while.  The papas arrugadas y mojos canarios reminded of my Disreputable Dad, who adores the salty Canarian potatoes, while the almond ice cream takes me straight back to the Majorcan holidays of my youth.  I can’t wait to dive into a proper paella and the Catalonian chocolate and almond cake looks utterly sumptuous.  With gorgeous photography and Roden’s trademark attention to detail, I reckon this is a must-buy for anyone who adores food.

The Food of Spain by Claudia Roden is out now, hardback priced £15.00 on Amazon.

Donna Hay is another writer who consistently produces beautiful, inspiring cookery books and her new offering, Seasons, doesn’t disappoint.  The photography is gorgeous and the recipes, while being garnered mainly from her eponymous magazine, will be new to most of us here.  As it’s (obviously) split into seasons, this is the book to grab NOW for inspiration for fresh new dishes for spring.  The coconut bread (made with buttermilk and ground almonds) is an absolute delight and the pan-fried salmon with fennel salad has already been bookmarked for one of this week’s suppers.  My one complaint is that the book is so massive, it’s difficult to perch somewhere in the kitchen while you’re cooking!  It’s actually quite magazine-like in its feel (if not its weight!) and I love Hay’s choices of recipes – from easy midweek suppers to gorgeous dinner party blowouts.

Seasons by Donna Hay is out now, priced £14.48 on Amazon.

Last, but my no means least, and actually quite Claudia Roden-like in its delivery, is my surprise of the season: Cooking from the Heart: A Jewish Journey Through Food, by Hayley Smorgon and Gaye Weeden.  This is another epic tome, but if you’re a bit of a food buff, like me, you’ll adore reading the stories of the Jewish people in the book (who all ultimately ended up in Australia) and sharing in their stories and family recipes.  You know me: I love a bedside book with proper food stories, and this is one to get lost in.  There are plenty of what you would consider classic Jewish dishes, but lots of fabulous fusion too.  Utterly adorable and addictive: buy it for someone you love.

Cooking from the Heart is available now, priced £22.63 on Amazon.

Review: Bread Revolution by Duncan Glendinning and Patrick Ryan

There’s an awful lot of hype surrounding bread at the moment, what with the ‘Fabulous Baker Brothers’, Henry and Tom Herbert’s recent TV show (and the shock news that one of their loaves sells for over twelve quid – I kid you not – over £20 if you want it couriered), and lots of people reverting to the more traditional kitchen skills of baking their own bread, making butter, etc.

I do make my own bread, but it tends to be a batch of sticky iced buns if I’m feeling like a baking session, or an easy Irish soda bread on a Sunday morning, so when I was asked to review Bread Revolution I was really interested.

Duncan and Patrick own The Thoughtful Bread Company in Bath and really want to encourage us all to bake (or at least buy) proper bread.  There are all sorts of wonderful recipes (don’t miss the Cider and Apple Bread), and great step-by-step guides to mixing, kneading, shaping, etc, plus loads of interesting stuff about ingredients.  The one that fascinated me, though, was the sourdough.  Basically, you make a sourdough ‘starter’, which ferments and becomes your very own living, breathing yeasty friend who lives in the fridge.

Ours was called Fluffy (someone on Twitter told me to give it a name – apparently this helps you ‘bond’).  It’s relatively easy to make (a mix of live yogurt, skimmed milk and bread flour), but you do have to remember to feed it, otherwise it dies.  We had a little wobble when I opened up mine to find mould all up the side of the tub, but I managed to rescue it, and with a new, sterilised pot, Fluffy thrived.  The boys (find them on Twitter @thoughtfulbread) were really helpful, and shared my immense pleasure and pride when my very first sourdough loaf came out of the oven.

Seriously, I don’t think there are many things quite as satisfying as baking your own bread, and having Fluffy in the fridge ready to go whenever I want to bake makes me more determined than ever to keep going.  That, and the chewy-crusted, soft-doughed gorgeousness that is a fresh-from-the-oven sourdough loaf.

What a wonderful book.

Bread Revolution is out 1st March priced £10.59 on Amazon.  Here’s a vid of the boys in action:

My top ten gorgeous books for under the tree

I think cookbooks are sometimes overlooked as Christmas presents.  Maybe it’s the ‘domestic’ element of it?  I’m not sure.  I remember when the brevren were small, English Dad bought me a breadmaker for Christmas.  At the time I was devastated and offended and saw it as insulting that he’d bought me something so ‘homey’ and boring.  I don’t know what was the matter with me – I’d love it if he got me one now!!  Anyway, if you’ve got a food lover in your life, here’s my top ten of some of the more recent books that have been released.  I’ve reviewed some of them before, and have provided links to my reviews.  I’ve also given you links for books on the WHSmith website where I can.

Allegra McEvedy’s Bought Borrowed and Stolen has become one of my absolute favourite cookbooks.  I’ve reviewed it here so you can read all about it.  A beautiful travel/cookery book written in a no nonsense style that is truly unique.

Dan Lepard’s Short and Sweet - a perfect pressie for anyone who loves to bake.  Dan’s friendly nature (he’s lovely on Twitter – look him up) comes across really well in this chunky book full of sweet treats.  I know I’m probably silly, but how a book looks and feels is important to me and this one is gorgeous – I love to be able to flick through photos and pick something that takes my fancy.  If you’re like me, you’ll adore Dan Lepard.

Jamie’s Great Britain - I’ve LOVED the series on the TV and this book is a really great accompaniment.  Not only are there all the recipes from the series but tons more besides.  I know Jamie has his critics but I absolutely adore his food – big flavours, creative combinations and no fiddly twiddly bits.  The book is split up into nice easy sections – my fave being breakfasts (I’ve had a go at the Yemeni pancakes – they’re delicious) and mmmmm bubble and squeak with a runny egg on top.  Heaven.

Donna Hay’s Fast Fresh Simple - Aussie Donna Hay’s book is absolutely gorgeous to look at and the recipes don’t disappoint either.  I really like Donna Hay’s no nonsense approach to cooking, and her books reflect it really well.  There are some fab shortcuts and inventive ways to get classic recipes on the table in half the time too.  I love it.

One Sweet Cookie - Another really lovely looking book (making it perfect to be given as a gift, in my opinion) full of all sorts of yummy baking.  The author, Tracey Zabar, herself famous as a jewellery designer, and stylist on Sex and the City, approached some of the most famous chefs in America (which is why you may not recognise some of the names) and asked them for their favourite baking recipes.  The result is a treasure trove of amazing recipes.

Silver Spoon - Phaidon have recently published a new edition of this absolute monster of a classic cookbook.  It’s got loads of new photographs and a really luscious red cover.  Any foodie would be delighted to discover this one under the tree – everything you could possibly need to know about cooking Italian food.

Leith’s Cookery Bible - I was lucky enough to be given one of these after my recent trip to Leith’s.  It’s another real weighty tome but it’s got absolutely everything in it – every recipe you can ever imagine co0king is laid out here, clearly and succinctly – I love the wine tasting section too.  Really interesting.  This would be a great pressie for a serious amateur cook.  It really is a bible.

The Great American Cookbook - this one is quirky and fabulous.  I adore it as much for the story behind it as for the actual recipes.  Back in 1948, Clementine Paddleford set out on an epic journey to travel across the United States seeking out regional recipes, bringing them together in one enormous tome which was published in the 1960s.  This reprint has all the spirit of the original and every truly great American recipe will be found nestling in its pages, from Creole cooking to New York cheesecake and Southern fried chicken.  A fantastic read and a really great reference for any keen cook.

Next up will be my top ten Christmas books.  Happy shopping!

Roast figs with brown sugar and cinnamon, inspired by Diana Henry

I absolutely love Diana Henry.  Her book ‘Food from Plenty’ is one of my absolute favourites, so I was delighted to be offered a copy of her ‘Roast Figs, Sugar Snow’.

This book is just gorgeous.  It’s all about Autumn and Winter, and the ingredients: figs, pumpkins, maple syrup, chestnuts, cranberries, quinces, are so evocative of the seasons.  It’s like a massive warm hug in a book (with an optional hot chocolate).

Some of the recipes I’ve already got bookmarked include Danish Christmas Rice Pudding, snow biscuits, a steamed apple and marmalade pudding and roast figs and plums in vodka with a cardamom cream.  You’re drooling already, right?  It’s the perfect book to curl up with in front of the fire – not just recipes, but a lovely, seasonal read that will get you in the mood to get in the kitchen and rustle up some comforting winter food.

Inspired by this gorgeous book, and by the beautiful soft, dusky orbs in my local farm shop, I thought I’d have a go at roasting some figs.  The result was utterly delicious.  And so easy:

Roast figs with brown sugar and cinnamon

6 figs

50g butter

50g soft brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to gas 5/190 degrees.  In a non-stick baking tin, place the figs, cutting a deep cross into the top of every one.

Melt the butter and brown sugar gently in a pan on the stove, add in the cinnamon, then pour the whole lot over the figs.

Roast for about 15 minutes.  Serve with some thick double cream (Henry adds crushed cardamom seeds and a little icing sugar to hers) – a sprinkling of crushed pistachios would be gorgeous too.

Roast Figs, Sugar Snow: Food to Warm the Soul is available now, published by Octopus.

Review: Allegra McEvedy’s ‘Bought, Borrowed & Stolen’

There are some cookery books that I definitely class as bedside books.  Some are just a plain old list of recipes, and that’s fine, I like those ones as well, but others tell amazing stories and warrant bedside-table space along with the handcream and glass of wine (everyone does that, right?).

Take Sophie Dahl’s beautiful Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights.  It’s one of my favourite books – I thinkSophie Dahl writes amazingly well, and her gorgeous prose interlinked with anecdotes, rememberings from her childhood and other snippets enhance the lovely recipes and really make the book what it is, a classic to be treasured.

Allegra McEvedy’s new book, ‘Bought, Borrowed & Stolen. Recipes & Knives from a Travelling Chef’ is definitely a bedside book.  Part recipe book, part travel tome, it’s a wonderful mixture.  McEvedy has travelled extensively and started to pick up knives here and there on her travels.  Along the way, she lists the knives she purchased in different places, then goes on to give local recipes in a friendly, matey way that I absolutely love.  She starts one Mexican recipe with ‘My Spanish is crap’.  I love that.

In my usual, destructive way I’ve turned down loads of pages to mark recipes that I really, really want to cook.  They are miriad: Clafoutis aux Abricots, Szechuan Crispy Pork Ribs and Caldo Verde, temptingly subtitled: ‘A Soup of Greens, Spuds and a bit of Pig’.  What’s not to love about that?

If you count a food lover amongst your nearest and dearest, especially one who loves to travel, lovingly wrap this book for them for Christmas.  Like me, they will absolutely adore it.

Bought, Borrowed & Stolen is available now, published by Octopus.  Click below to take you straight to Amazon.

Review: Pieminister – a pie for all seasons by Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon

We’re huge pie fans here at English Towers.  I think I’ve missed out because I’ve never actually had a Pieminister pie, but they’ve come to the rescue and brought out a weighty tome of their wonderful pie recipes so we can all have their lush creations at home.

I love this book, not only for its creative ideas (canapies, anyone?) and wonderful sense of humour (try saying “‘Jamaica, me love you’ patties” without attempting a Caribbean lilt) but also for the sheer breadth of ingredients they manage to stuff into a pie!  There’s rabbit, chipotle chilli, jerk chicken, pear and chocolate, rhubarb and custard….

*Takes a breath*

Highlights include the Christingle Pie (no more boring nut roast for the veggies amongst us on Christmas day), the frankly ridiculous Hedonist pie: a stunning chocolate pie with a touch of clementine and a shot of rum (drooool) and the Spring Chicken Pot Pie, proving that pies aren’t just for chill winter evenings.  Oh no.

I just had to make their classic moo pie (although they don’t give away their closely guarded secret recipe completely).  It’s a rich and delicious, herby steak and ale pie that got a unanimous thumbs up from de brevren (we actually fought over the last piece).

Highly recommended!  ’Pieminister. A pie for all seasons’ is published by Bantam Press and is available now priced £14.99.

Review: Prepped by Vanessa Kimbell

Regular readers (well, the ones without early-onset Alzheimers, and those that don’t  just pop in to give me a bit of gyp in the comments) may remember me mentioning Vanessa Kimbell and her ‘write a cookery book in a year’ project a while ago, when I reviewed her spelt bread/pizza recipe.  At the time, I said that ‘the idea behind the book is gorgeous food without the slog – a multi-tasking masterpiece for time-short foodies’.

Well the book is now published, and looking gorgeous in pink, with my words on the cover (and the inside!!):

Bit blurry, sorry about that.  It was the excitement!

Anyhoo, as I was lucky enough to work with Vanessa  on her new book I suppose I can’t really give you a totally impartial review… but hey, who cares?  It’s gorgeous.

Not only is the photography RAVISHING, but the concept is just fab.  Take, for example, this rather luscious elderflower and rose syrup:

Not only is it beautiful, and would make an amazing gift but it’s also the cornerstone of several very inventive recipes.  Mixed, for example, with gin and ginger beer, it makes a rather fantastic cocktail called, adorably, a ‘Ginger von Tease’.  It also adds a piquant touch to baked trout with chilli and elderflower, and is wonderful when used to adorn baked peaches.

You’re getting the drift now, aren’t you?  Start with Vanessa’s building blocks: gorgeously fragrant sugars and aromatic syrups that can be whipped up on a rainy afternoon, and you have the beginnings of some seriously clever meals.  I love the spiced orange and clove brandy – imagine how Christmassy that must smell! – which goes on to be used in everything from a chicken liver parfait to mincemeat and even Christmas cake.  It’s clever stuff.

Well done, lovely, warm-hearted Vanessa.  Your book is beautiful.  I know it’s not always been an easy journey, but you got there, and the finished product is amazing!  Thank you for using my words, I meant them all.  Looking forward to that lunch! xx

Prepped, by Vanessa Kimbell, is out now priced £10.48 on amazon.co.uk

Review: My Daddy Cooks by Nick Coffer

Now first of all I’ll admit that I’m slightly biased here as Nick Coffer, author of this book and food vlogger and blogger, is a good friend of mine.  We’ve known each other for ages and finally met last year at The Real Food Festival.  We have a mutual ‘argh, help!’ relationship and he’s my go-to person for those niggly food-writing problems (‘why won’t this rise/will it matter if I don’t do that?’, etc…)

That said, I promised him faithfully that I’d give an honest review, so honest I will be (mwah ha haaaa).

First things first, the colours in the book are really pleasing to the eye.  There’s a turquoise theme running through, cleverly accentuated in Nick and Archie’s clothes, backgrounds and even crockery.  I think it was one of the things that Nick maybe resisted, but it works really well, making it a pleasure to read.

And don’t be fooled into thinking that because Nick cooks with Archie, his toddler, it means that the recipes are ‘kids’ food’.  Not at all.  The book is filled with really good, solid, family recipes with some innovative ideas sprinkled in for good measure.  Take, for example, the Mexican Lasagne.  Instead of pasta, the recipe uses tortillas: and yes, they really work!  It doesn’t even matter if you don’t use every recipe exactly as it’s written – simple layer up your own favourite chilli  and follow the rest of the dish in the book – I think that’s the beauty of a lot of these recipes: there are hints, tips and ideas that you’ll adopt into your everyday cooking.

The (almost) no cooking required section will have busy parents everywhere sending Nick fan mail, and the pesto, although different ratios of ingredients than I normally use is – gasp – better and fresher than mine!  I’ll be using Nick’s version from now on.

Tonight I shall be making the chicken and cauliflower biryani with my leftover roast chicken from yesterday, and this weekend I’ll be going all-out and trying Nick’s pared down version of a flourless chocolate cake (I do love it when my favourite recipes get even easier).

I’ll let you know how I get on!

Pop over to Nick’s blog to see videos of him and Archie cooking up a storm.  You can also hear Nick on BBC Three Counties Radio: Nick Coffer’s Weekend Kitchen is on every Saturday from 12-2pm.   I’m also regularly found busting my paltry download limit by listening on BBC iPlayer too.

Nick Coffer’s My Daddy Cooks is published by Hodder & Stoughton and is out now on Amazon, priced £11.04.

Review: Cakes by Pam Corbin (River Cottage Handbook no 8)

I knew I was going to love this book from the moment I was offered a review copy.  I stalked our poor postie, Bernard, mercilessly every day until he was beginning to look a little uncomfortable, I was so looking forward to reading it.

Happily (for me and Bernard, it appeared.  And I wasn’t wrong.  I bloody love it. Cakes (River Cottage Handbook) is probably one of those books that could render half my cookery book collection redundant, it’s that useful. I even took it on a recent Aer Lingus flight where the lady sitting next to me in departures took a look at it, nodded and smiled appreciatively.  I mean, who doesn’t love River Cottage?  And who hasn’t watched ‘Pam the Jam’ working her magic?

And yes, I’m a sucker for a bit of pink, so the cover alone is enough to make me want to carry it around in my handbag, but the contents more than compete in the gorgeousness stakes, believe me.

I’m a page turner-over (I know, kill me now) and this book now has so many corners turned over I can barely shut it.  Pam’s recipes for retro favourites are on my must-cook list (jammy dodgers!), and so is her fabulous chocolate fudge icing recipe.  I also spied a really gorgeous gluten-free lime and coconut cake that I want to pass on to a Coeliac friend.

There are some really great old-fashioned favourites here, like cherry cake and proper fruit cake, but also some really surprising new ones to try, my faves being a really interesting looking potato and apple cake, plus a twist on the wonderful Battenburg, made with chocolate and hazelnuts.

I love a cookery book that is more than just a collection of recipes.  I want something I can take to bed (or on a plane) and read, and really get a sense of the person writing the book, and the stories behind the recipes.  This book more than delivers.

Don’t be put off thinking this is just another book about cakes.  It’s an absolute must-have for seasoned cakeophiles and beginners alike.  Grab it while it’s hot.

The River Cottage Cakes Handbook is published by Bloomsbury and available now on Amazon, priced £7.68.

Review: I Love Curry by Anjum Anand

Anjum Anand’s Indian Every Day is one of my favourite cookbooks ever.  It’s well-thumbed and a bit covered in bits of food which is always a good sign, I think.  I was delighted, then, when Quadrille Books offered to send me Anjum’s new I Love Curry to review (by the way, I’m not sure if you’re supposed to say ‘I heart curry’ or what, but I gave up trying to put a little heart thing in the title bit here, so you’re stuck with ‘love’ I’m afraid.

There are 54 curry recipes in this book , from yummy nibbles, through to takeaway favourites like Chicken Tikka Masala, through to breads, rice and vegetable dishes, all with Anjum’s healthier approach to Indian food.  I tried the sweet and sour squash (admittedly without the dried mango powder and asafoetida – a trip to Dublin required for those, I fear), but the result was still gorgeous and raised our roast chicken to an entirely new level.

I was also really impressed with the Bengali Yoghurt Fish, which was heavenly.  I used pollock and the overall result was deliciously creamy without being sickly and scented without being overly spicy.

The pictures are really fabulous (call me old fashioned but I love a full-page pic on the opposite page to the recipe) and this beautiful book would make a great Christmas present for a curry lover who fancies having a go at home, or a foodie intent on creating an Indian feast.

Gorgeous.

I Love Curry is out now, published by Quadrille and available on Amazon priced £8.50.