I almost forget, here is the round up of my favourite cookbooks of the year, so if you are looking for any last minute gifts for your foodie friends or indeed a little treat for yourself, then here goes, in no particular order other than top to bottom:
- SMALL BATCH BAKES by Edd Kimber, perfect for singles and small households, this book is perfect for the two of us, most recipes are for 2-6 persons.
- FAST FEASTS by John Gregory-Smith, Quick, Easy Recipes with a Middle Eastern Twist, the baked Chicken rice is a very delightful and easy one pan dish.
- EXTRA GOOD THINGS by Ottolenghi and Noor Murad, the second instalment from the test kitchen certainly doesn’t disappoint, categories include, ‘A little bit of funk’ and ‘A whole lotta sauce’ and we about to make the Tattie scones with fennel and sausage gravy, perfect for winter.
- AMMU by Asma Khan of Darjeeling Express, Times book of the year 2022, Indian home cooking to nourish your soul, the Karai Murgh, Chicken and onion cooked in a Karia has become a regular in our home.
- PERSIANA EVERYDAY by Sabrina Ghayour, a Sunday Times bestseller, fuss free recipes for family and friends, and it certainly is, there is no denying our love for Sabrina the queen of Persian cookery, we adore her and her books, this book is worth it just for the Bloody Mary Spatchcock chicken and the braised celery.
- MEZCLA by Ixta Belfrage, expect the unexpected from Ixta, these are recipes to excite indeed, never have I seen a book so full of fusion flavours showcasing flavours from all over the world, Pappardelle with chipotle pancetta sauce is a classis example of that.
- MELIZ’S KITCHEN by Meliz Berg, I have been following Meliz for a while now and I was so happy when she brought out her debut book, simple Turkish-Cypriot comfort food and fresh family feasts, Cypriot pasta bake and green bean and minced beef stew are our faves so far.
- BREAD EVERY DAY by Jack Sturgess an absolute brilliant baker, simple step by step recipes, watch out for Jack he is a rising star in the world of bread, very informative and easy to follow instructions, his garlic bread is incredible.
- MODERN PRESSURE COOKING by Catherine Phipps is the encyclopedia of pressure cooking, there are over 200 recipes in this mammoth book, pressure cooking is so underrated in my opinion, it’s a super energy saving way of cooking and so quick compared to stove top cooking for many things, the butter tomato soup is heaven in a bowl.
- YOUR DAILY VEG by Joe Woodhouse, Modern fuss-free vegetarian food, this is an ingenious book, delicious and simple recipes that just happen to be vegetarian, even hubby loves this book. Courgette, butter bean and basil salad is an easy constant meal for us.
- HOME FOOD by Olia Hercules is the latest book by Ukranian born Olia and it’s incredible she was able to bring this out considering what is happening, these are recipes to comfort and connect and they certainly do, we love our chicken and Chicken Porkolt is a simple tasty traditional dinner to enjoy.
- TOMATO by Claire Thomson is as you can tell a book celebrating the extraordinary tomato, the tomato and cheddar soda bread is addictive, be warned.
Just a little note to say that you can click on the names of the books which should provide highlighted links to Amazon, all of these books were purchased by myself and none of them were gifts, I am under no obligation to promote them, I only promote and recommend books that I will use at home and continue to use at home, I hope you’ll appreciate my recommendation so let me know if you do, much love, and Merry Xmas x