Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook

This is a book I bought a couple of years ago, Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook by Annabel Langbein my edition was published by Mitchell Beazley 2011.

I had a look through it and ooh-ed and ahh-ed, but that was as far as I got for a while. Then a little while ago I picked it up again, and started cooking from it, and one recipe has followed another, and now I’ve cooked lots!

I like the ethos of this book and the food within it, good ingredients cooked simply, but well. Slow down a little and see some of the good bits of everyday life. There is a second companion volume to this one (Simple Pleasures 2012) but I’ll come back to it another day. Today though it is time for The Free Range Cook!

Annabel is a New Zealander, and the series which accompanies this book is set in the New Zealand countryside. It’s a country that I consider myself very lucky to have visited, and it’s left a definite print on my heart and soul. I can indulge that soft spot cooking from this book and watching the series. It makes me feel happy. I’m all for a spot of kitchen table travelling!

The book is illustrated with gentle and pretty pictures of totally do-able food and some beautiful scenery too. Pretty much all of the recipes are pictured. Chapters are: *From the Oven* From the Garden* From the Farm* From the Lake and Sea* From the Larder* and * From the Orchard*.

Now of course when I say one recipe has followed another that’s been because they are good! Here are the recipes I’ve tried so far. If you haven’t got this book I’d recommend it and if you have, well get cooking!! =)

Corn and Avocado Salad

Very simple blend of ingredients, but really good.

Sticky Date pudding with Wicked Toffee Sauce

A take on sticky toffee pudding, the sponge is flavoured with a touch of ginger and the pears on top, mmm mmm.

Honey Vanilla Panna Cotta with Sunshine Fruit Topping

I made this for a dark January Saturday night, with tinned peaches and fresh passion fruit. It was so right and injected us with a lovely burst of sunshine, even though it was cold and dark outside.

Spicy Chicken Skewers, Creamy Moroccan Cucumber Salad and Chermoula Dipping Sauce

This one starts with a Chermoula Marinade (garlic, ginger, cayenne, cumin, preserved lemon and fresh coriander). This is then split and used to marinade the chicken then also mixed with sour cream to make a dipping sauce. Some of the dipping sauce is then used to dress the cucumber and tomato Salad. Really different, we liked it.

Casbah Prawns

A couple of nights later I used the remaining dipping sauce from the chicken (which I’d set aside previously) was turned into a creamy prawn sauce to go over some rice.

Coconut Pavlova

A Pavlova flavoured with coconut and topped with a tropical fruit salad of pineapple, kiwi fruit and passion fruit. I made it as one big pav, instead of individual ones.

Chocolate Cherry Tiramisu

Chocolate cake, fresh cherries, berry syrup (with or without booze), creamy marscarpone and Cream. Need I say any more? Going to try this one with raspberries too in the Summer when local berries are in season.

Greek Yoghurt and Berry Syrup

The same syrup from the tiramisu, simple and delicious with fresh berries and Greek yoghurt.

Bella’s Pink Fizz

A third use for the berry syrup is in a lovely Pink fizz, Berries, berry syrup, cassis and a bottle of something alcoholic and fizzy. This is meant as a pre-dinner drink, and if it was your party is bound to go with a swing.

Lamb, Rosemary and Apple Sausage Rolls

My goodness these were good! Yum yum!!

Cypriot Shepherd’s Pie

Flavoured with ginger, cumin and cinnamon this Lamb pie is a bit different, and it’s topped with a fabulous parsnip and carrot mash.

Honey Lemon Cream Puddings

I made these for Valentines Day dessert. We loved this…and I got to use my pretty little cups that I found in an old shop recently. They begged me to take them home, so I paid up and they now live with me!

Sweet Chilli Jam

Home-made and with a lot of flavour notes that shop bought doesn’t have. Not that I have anything against shop bought, I now have both in my fridge.

Sweet Chilli Chicken

A great end for some of the home-made chilli sauce, but great too with shop bought sauce.

Beetroot and Feta Salad

Unusual, but yummy.

Braised Red Cabbage

My little one is not that unusual in that she won’t eat cabbage. Except… made like this! Well she might though, it a delicious way with cabbage, a little sweet, buttery and some currants too.

Steak and Double Mushroom Sauce, Potato Gratin with Gruyere and Garlic & Green Beans with Lemon

My Mum requested this for Mother’s Day, and the three recipes together made a fabulous treat of a main course. Each offsetting the other perfectly. Worth the effort.

So as you can see I have made a lot, and I’m not finished yet either there is an amazing looking cake called a strawberry cloud cake….soon when the berries are ripe.

Next Up: A Salad for All Seasons by Harry Eastwood

Greedy Girl's Diet

I didn’t even know this one was coming out, but a friend gave me a pointer in the right direction – “Have you got it? It’s really good!” and so it arrived very soon afterwards, because let’s face it I’m a sucker for a cookbook, and if you are reading this blog chances are you are too! Anyhow it's The Greedy Girl’s Diet  Eat Yourself Slim with Gorgeous, Guilt Free Food by Nadia Sawalha published by Kyle Books 2012.

This is a cookbook aimed at girls aiming to lose a bit of weight, and as diet titles go it’s quite inspiring, doesn’t sound like we might have to live on five lettuce leaves and a couple of peas plus a lot of hunger in order to get a bit slimmer! I’m not encouraging myself to be greedy, but I do prefer to think I can feel like I’ve had enough to eat while slimming.

The recipes are all do-able and there is even a chapter with puddings! The pictures are fresh and bright and the text by Nadia is often amusing. Chapters are: *My Secret* Exercise* Come on, Break the Fast* Let’s do Lunch * Delicious Dinner * and Decadent Desserts. There are also different sections within some of the chapters. For example the Delicious Dinner chapter has three sub headings: Yummy Mummy, Dinner Party Goddess and Dinner for Two. All the recipes are calorie counted for you per serving and there are also grams of fat, saturates, sugar and salt per serving too.

Now the question to be asked is are the recipes any good? Answer is yes, the ones I have tried have all been good, and I’d make them all again. Especially the risotto, yum yum!! There are a number of puddings too, but I haven’t managed to get round to them yet.

Prawn and Chorizo Rice Pot

This was my first make from the book. A Good supper with some greenery of some sort.

Creamy Chicken Curry in a Hurry

This was really good too. There was a lot of sauce, and hubby said “If this was soup I’d be delighted.” “It’s soup!” I said, genius, no? =)

June Wake’s Wide Awake Seed Bar

This is a really clever recipe that holds together with mashed bananas, and you taste the bananas, but also all the other delightful add ins. Mmmm.

Chilli Con Carne

A good chilli, the avocado topping was a great addition.

Winey Chicken

This one was lovely, the sauce was light but flavourful.

Italian Soup

This was a good filling soup. It takes a little while to cook to develop the flavours.

Risotto with Seared Scallops

A fabulous treaty supper this one, scallops, bacon and risotto too! I forgot to stir through some spinach at the end, and added a drizzle of balsamic glaze, though that’s because I love it on risotto.

Next Up: A book I've been obsessing about for a couple of months - Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook



Happy Easter and Hotel Chocolat Beastie Eggs

Hello, long time no speak! I’ve had a lot going on at home these past few weeks, hence the lack of posts. I’ve still been cooking though, so have tons of books to share with you!

The Easter weekend has come around so quickly this year, the last 4 weeks have just been a blur. So as a prelude to my review for Greedy Girls next week (I hope!), here is a little something of the chocolate variety for Easter.

The lovely people at Hotel Chocolat offered me an egg to review, which I said yes to – thank you! Got a bit more than I expected as I was sent two! I've shopped with Hotel Chocolat for years now, it's a pleasure to be asked to do a review for them. =) So here they are, just the thing for the chocoholic in your life - a Beastie Egg! The two here are the cow (on the left) and the zebra (on the right). I think they are really very cute, the lovely milk chocolate eggs being cleverly patterned to look like cows and zebras and each comes with 6 egg shaped chocolates, 3 salted caramel and 3 hazelnut praline. Yum!!

Happy Easter everyone, hope it’s happy, peaceful and full of chocolate eggs! xx

Pig Cooking with a Passion For Pork

I first came to hear about this book because I follow Duncan Baird Publishing on Twitter. They had a giveaway of a handful of copies, but alas I was not one of them. Still, being the inquisitive (obsessed!) cookbook collector that I am, I had a look online and loved the sound of the book, and pre-ordered it myself. Pig Cooking with a Passion For Pork by Johnnie Mountain 2012 Duncan Baird Publishing.

Johnnie Mountain is the chef from The English Pig in the City of London, and he has, unsurprisingly, a real love and passion for pork. Pork is one of my hubby’s favourites so I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to cook it. I’ve tried a new recipe most weeks since I started cooking from this book, and some have been cooked again as well. Johnnie bridges the gap between chef and home cook seamlessly and brilliantly. This is a fabulous book.

It is illustrated with gorgeous pictures and there are loads of ‘Show-me-how’ video links for your smart phone or tablet if you have either of these. I don’t and still love this book, but I can see that it would be a definite bonus to be able to be shown techniques for example to see how to stuff and tie a loin of pork or how to make fresh chorizo sausages. There is also a website address to be able to look the videos up online as well.

So what’s in the book? Well chapters are:* Introduction * Home Favourites * Cured, Dried, Preserved & Smoked * Spicy & Aromatic * Slow-Cooked * and *Accompaniments*.

I have made a number of recipes from it and have many more marked to try, how about Pork Medallions with Brandy soaked Prunes, Pancetta and Pea Risotto, Mexican Chilli, Filipino Sweet and Sour Pork (ribs), Eight-Hour Roast Shoulder of Pork, Lemongrass and Ginger Stir Fry Pork, Pork Dim Sum, Spicy Pork Meatloaf, Sausages in Spiced Apple Relish or Indonesian Curried Pork with Coconut Rice? I would like to try them all and many more besides.

Here are the dishes I’ve cooked for supper so far.

Pork Meatballs

These were lovely. Well flavoured, and not too heavy. I served them here with mash, but pasta is the obvious pairing. Super easy and you don’t have to brown the meatballs, and they cook in the oven with the sauce, so no last minute faffing. I used a bottle of bought passata.

Pork Stroganoff

One for when you want a creamy not too palate challenging dish.

Paella with Chorizo & Prawns

A good version of this classic dish. I used shelled prawns as that is what we prefer.

Toad in the Hole with Onion Gravy

Now you are probably thinking I’ve burned the sausages! They were not as dark in real life, neither was the gravy, but I couldn’t get a decent shot, and I don’t prink with my pictures to make them look false or different. I had to include this here though because this is a fabulous version of toad in the hole and the gravy was really amazing, such depth of flavour! In case you have not had ‘toad’ before the toad in question is in fact sausages in a Yorkshire pudding batter!

Pancetta Mac & Cheese

Pasta and cheese is always a good combo, and the crisped pancetta cubes just makes it better. It’s not in fact macaroni here, but I picked up the bag thinking it was, and wasn’t going to waste it! It is quite saucy when it goes into the oven, but has just the right amount of sauce when it is ready to serve.

Pork and Mushroom Stir Fry

A bit of effort needed for this one, but a great saucy stir fry is what you’ll end up with for your supper.

If you like to cook or eat pork, this is a must have for your collection. I was really impressed with the book, its layout, pictures, easy to follow recipes but above all the great food. I’ll be cooking something from it weekly for the foreseeable future too.

Next Up: Greedy Girl's Cookbook

Second Helpings from Nigellissima

Cappuccino Pavlova

It’s been a while now since I did my first post about Nigellissima Instant Italian Inspiration by Nigella Lawson 2012, but I’ve been cooking steadily from it so here is a second helping.

I was so happy last month when a friend who was going to one of Nigella's book signings offered to get a signed one for me. Thanks again, you know who you are!

Beef Pizzaiola

I made this one Sunday night for hubby and myself, it’s easy and delicious. Beef with pizza style sauce.

Farro Risotto with Mushrooms

Farro is worth picking up if you see some, it has a nutty deeply savoury taste that I just loved. This was my first time cooking farro, but not the last. Maybe in time it will become more easily available.

Pasta Risotto with Peas and Pancetta

A really fast weeknight supper this one, I’ve made this a good few times now, but always with chicken stock instead of water.

Iced Berries with Limoncello White Chocolate Sauce

Boozey, creamy and not overly sweet, very pretty too.

Green Beans with Pistachio Pesto

What a delightful combination this is, a special way with green beans.

Cappuccino Pavlova

This was a good pavlova, a bit different with the coffee and no fruit. I used grated chocolate instead of cocoa powder for the top. I used decaf, and we thought it worked well.

Romanesco with Rosemary, Garlic, Lemon and Peccorrino

Another new edible here for me, I happened upon romanesco at a deli not so far from me, and I’m so glad I bought some. It seems to take the best parts of broccoli and cauliflower together and it’s a great vegetable. Of course it’s stunning good looks helps too! Another lovely veggie dish from Nigella.

Chocolate Nougat Cookies

Now, Nigella suggests to use nougat or white chocolate chips for the add-ins to these chocolate cookies. I couldn’t decide, so used half of each. These were yummy. The nougat goes crispy.

Chocolate Salame

I like refrigerator cakes, and also chocolate salamis. I’ve tried a number of chocolate salami recipes, but this one is easily the nicest I’ve made. It positively melts in the mouth with a warm cup of coffee. On the Nigellissima Christmas Special the bit at the end shows Nigella with a fit of the giggles when making this, there is something comical about shaping it, I was giggling too! This one has raw eggs in it, so do be aware of that.

Italian Christmas Pudding Cake

This one is like a trifle in cake form. I had the Tuaca (plus Marsala) suggested for the recipe, and a lovely liqueur it is too. I didn’t use the Italian breads suggested, as they are both yeasted (I’m allergic to yeast) so used a light vanilla cake instead. I forgot to remove some of the creamy mixture for the top layer before folding in the bits and pieces (duh!), so sprinkled the top with chocolate flakes instead of more chocolate chips. Also I had a couple of candied chestnuts left so sprinkled them over as well.

Well this is my last post for 2012, this year has had many ups and downs for so many people, me included, so here’s to an even better 2013. Happy New Year.

Next Up: Pig Cooking with a Passion For Pork by Johnnie Mountain

Gifts Ideas 2012

Now, I did intend to do more than one post of Christmas gift ideas, but alas between one thing and another, my little blog has been a bit neglected recently. Here, as promised though, are some of my favourites from the new books out this year, with a few non book bits thrown in for good measure. Now I have cooked from a few of these, but they will get their turn with recipe reviews in my regular post format at another time. This is just a brief run through of ideas for you.

Limoncello and Linenwater

The new book from Tessa Kiros. Italian food is the topic of this one, though it’s not the same as her previous Italian one Twelve. I’m totally charmed by this book, it’s in a similar style to Falling Cloudberries.

Jerusalem

The third book from Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. The gentlemen are both from Jerusalem, and in this book they explore the amazing food that can be eaten there, and now here as well with this lovely book.

A Culinary Adventure Marque

By Mark Best and Pasi Petanen. This is one for the budding chef in your life! Contains a lot of ingredients that will take a bit of effort sourcing, but if Heston Blummenthal’s restaurant food is your aspiration this one if worth a look.

Kitchen Diaries 2

The second volume from Nigel Slater. I do like Nigel, and this one is just as inspiring as the first. Great photography too. Very real and do-able.

Calendar

The world in Your Kitchen Calendar 2013, is illustrated really well by Johnathan Williams, each month sees a different international vegetarian recipe as well as a related picture from Johnathan.

Pink Heart Plates and Mugs

Anyone who reads my blog regularly, or even just looks at the pictures will know I am a fan of Sophie Conran’s range for Portmeirion. This year they have brought out some of the items from the range in a beautiful baby pink. Love!!

A Book for Cooks 101 Classic Cookbooks

By Leslie Geddes-Brown. Not so much a recipe book exactly, but a book covering, as the title says, 101 classic cookbooks as selected by the author. Each book is described and there is a picture of the cover followed by some of the pages from each book. Definitely worth a look if you have any interest at all in collecting cookbooks.

Cake

Rachel Allen’s new book this year is Cake, to my mind it is a companion book to her previous Bake. Lots and lots of cakes – big, little, party, pudding….yum!

Little Paris Kitchen

This one from Rachel Koo accompanied the series earlier this year, and it’s a lovely book particularly if you are a Francophile like me!

My Italian Kitchen

By Victoy Scerri. Another favourite Italian one, full of gorgeous recipes, it has a coffee table quality to it, but the food all looks make-able in a home kitchen.

Gorgeous Jug

Another one I love is this jug from the Portmeirion Christmas Wish range, mine is just waiting it’s turn to be filled with some pretty flowers for Christmas.

Nuts

If you fancy a nutty nibble that you haven’t made (or aren’t inclined to make) yourself then these are gorgeous! Salted Caramelised Nuts and Balsamic Cashews, totally different, but both delicious.

La Tartine Gourmande Recipes for an Inspired Life

I beautifully photographed book, from a lady who loves food – Beatrice Peltre. The book has a lot of gluten free recipes, but do note that the ingredients for some of these are easier to source in the U.S. and Canada. Even so, I love this book

Celebrate A Year of British Festivities for Families and Friends

Pippa Middleton has entered the book world with this, her first book. I would have to admit buying it out of curiosity, but it is lovely, a cookbook and party ideas book, with some hand-made craft projects as well.

Annie Bell’s Baking Bible

A really lovely must have book, I would have loved to have been given this one on Christmas Day! A must have for a keen baker.

Candles

I’m a girl for a candle, and this year we are spoilt for choice with so many fabulous fragrances. I like them all and don’t think I could single out one as a favourite.

Cherry Deluxe

I couldn’t go without a little stocking filler of chocolate, I adore these Cherry Deluxe chocolates from Hotel Chocolat. Sweet chocolate, cherry and a little Amaretto. #swoon#!

So all that remains for me to say is to wish everyone a Peaceful and Happy Christmas.

Next up: Second Helpings of Nigellissima