I have just added another 3 cook books to my collection (it's an obsession which I really ought to get help with!) and thoroughly enjoyed having a good look through the first of them last night.
"Cook in Boots" by Ravinder Bhogal appealed to me straight away as aside from cookery I am also a collector of shoes! Mind you my shoe collection currently stands at maybe 100 pairs approximately (hope my husband doesn't read this) whereas my cook book collection is probably around 5 times that!
Overall the book contains
a lot of recipes that I would make or use as inspiration. They are relatively easy on the whole and the ingredients are also readily available, with maybe a few exceptions on the spices front. However many supermarkets are now stocking the more "exotic" spices and spice mixes and most large towns have ethnic stores or websites such as Seasoned Pioneers will have everything she mentions. There are several Indian recipes, quite a few Oriental themed dishes as well as Mediterranean and Middle Eastern representations. Ravinder's writing style is fun and flirty, easy to read and there are plenty of colour photographs to whet your appetite. This is her first cook book and I shall certainly keep an eye out for any further books by her.
a lot of recipes that I would make or use as inspiration. They are relatively easy on the whole and the ingredients are also readily available, with maybe a few exceptions on the spices front. However many supermarkets are now stocking the more "exotic" spices and spice mixes and most large towns have ethnic stores or websites such as Seasoned Pioneers will have everything she mentions. There are several Indian recipes, quite a few Oriental themed dishes as well as Mediterranean and Middle Eastern representations. Ravinder's writing style is fun and flirty, easy to read and there are plenty of colour photographs to whet your appetite. This is her first cook book and I shall certainly keep an eye out for any further books by her.
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| Sweet Potato Salad with lime, coriander and sweet chilli dressing |
Bread, Pasta, Potatoes: and includes some interesting salads too such as Sweet potato salad with lime, coriander and sweet chilli dressing.
Working It 9-5: with a small selection of soups and some salads that are easy to make and transport to work e.g. Couscous and roasted vegetable salad with pomegranate molasses and Peanut butter, noodle and chicken salad.
Comfort Food: for those days when you feel like a "hug on a plate" which includes a recipe for Cauliflower and broccoli cheese with tomato sauce and Parmesan breadcrumbs. I had not thought before of using a tomato sauce and a bechamel sauce together, rather like you would do a lasagne, for cauliflower but it sounds lovely and will definitely give that idea a run. The Carrot-spiced pudding also sounded interesting, although personally not a lover of rice puddings, I have family that are and the idea of using carrots and gentle spicing into the mix sounds intriguing enough to maybe give that one a go sometime too.
PMT: a chapter dedicated to things chocolate-y and which includes a recipe for a "Chocolatini" which sounds absolutely divine - chocolate liqueur and vodka based cocktail - mmm. The Raspberry and bitter chocolate lollies also sound like a novel idea.
TV, Remote Control and a Meal for One: this section is all about spoiling yourself when home alone to stop you resorting to a microwave meal - these never live up to expectations even if history has taught you not to expect too much, in my opinion! I am quite often home alone as my husband works a shift pattern and I always use these times to cook myself something I wouldn't serve to him (he's very fussy what he wants to eat and I do end up cooking us separate meals from time to time just so that I don't lose out on things like seafood or haggis or veggie main courses!
Social Grazing: finger food chapter for those pre-dinner canapes or maybe evenings when you feel like having a "carpet picnic" as we call them in our household - lots of tasty nibbles washed down with quantities of good red wine whilst lounging on the floor with lots of cushions, candle light and a good film to watch.
Hangover Food: recipes for the morning after the night before ....
Hard-Up Food: budget recipes which don't sacrifice flavour, or use up leftovers e.g. Zesty angel hair pasta with garlic, chilli, lemon and olive oil and Nasi Goreng.
Skinny Food: presumably for the week after you carb'ed yourself out testing the recipes in the first chapter?!
Food Rehab: this chapter includes some superfood recipes - the pomegranate glazed pork has caught my eye and would mean that the pomegranate molasses I bought to cook the Couscous salad mentioned in the "Working It" section above would have a second outing at least!
Fork me, Spoon me: the double entèndres here are perfectly intentional I feel as the author has put recipes into this section which she describes as "the food of love and rude food" - the sexy rack of ras-el-hanout lamb with potato and saffron rice and the scallops with champagne butter sauce sound worth a twirl one evening. In fact this is probably my favourite chapter and has many recipes that sound delicious and inspiring, like the Lychee jelly with vanilla pannacotta. I often struggle with what dessert to offer after a Chinese or oriental themed meal as the Chinese are not huge lovers of desserts in the way the western world are. My usual fall backs are almond jelly with an exotic fruits salad, a coconut ice-cream with a passion fruit or mango coulis or a char-grilled fresh pineapple in a chilli infused syrup so the lychee jelly sounds like a candidate to add to the oriental themed dessert library.
Meet the Parents: this chapter focuses on recipes for entertaining and includes some vegetarian recipes as well e.g. Dill crèpes with green vegetables, feta and béchamel sauce and Wild mushroom arancini.
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