Recipes from cookbooks we review, shared with full permission from publishers.
This herb-laden, golde -baked rice dish hails from Persia and comes to us via Peckham thanks to Sally Butcher’s Veggiestan cookbook , now republished in a special 10th anniversary edition. The crisp, saffron-tinted surface of the rice, known as tahdik, is enormously prized by Persians and definitely the star of the show. The generous volumes ... Read more »
Whilst I’ve eaten tofu knots in Japan, they are an ingredient I hadn’t thought to cook at home until I read Bonnie Chung’s cookbook Tofu Tasty: Imaginative Tofu Recipes for Everyday. As she explains, they are traditionally added to soups and stews, but in this recipe, she has fried them instead to create a wonderful ... Read more »
Cold tofu is the perfect base for this refreshing, light and full-flavour dish hailing originally from the capital city of Shaanxi Province in China. With no cooking necessary it’s very quick to assemble and, as they are long-life, you can keep the ingredients ready in your store cupboard. Serve for a light, summery lunch for ... Read more »
Agedashi Tofu is one of my favourite Japanese dishes – light and simple, with a wonderful combination of textures and tastes. I am literally unable to resist it when I see it on the menu, and it’s really easy to make at home. Cubes of tofu are dusted in starch flour, ‘lightly deep fried’ and ... Read more »
French toast is always a breakfast treat but if you’re cooking for more than two or three people, it can take quite a bit of time to dip and fry each slice of bread in turn. That’s where this ultimate french toast recipe from Rosie Reynolds’ The Shortcut Cook comes in, with its transformation into ... Read more »
The premise of Rosie Reynolds’ The Shortcut Cook is to share classic recipes with clever shortcuts to make them easier, faster and tastier. This Smoky paprika chicken with warm cannellini beans makes double use of a smoky paprika mayonnaise as both marinade and dip, resulting in moist chicken with crispy skin. Adding ripe tomatoes to ... Read more »
When Pete and I travelled to Japan, we were surprised to come across cheese-filled gyoza quite often, mostly in casual ramenya and izakaya. This recipe for cheese and onion gyoza is from Your Home Izakaya by Tim Anderson, and is a great example of Japan’s propensity to incorporate non-Japanese flavours into Japanese dishes. Read our ... Read more »
Sometimes the simplest ideas are the best! That’s definitely the case for these baked potatoes with butter and salmon roe from Tim Anderson’s Your Home Izakaya cookbook. The butter is boosted with mirin and soy sauce, and the plump round salmon eggs are piled on top Going through an obsession with new potatoes at the time, ... Read more »
This delicious pepper steak dish is quick and simple enough to make on a weeknight but special enough for a weekend treat too. The garlic soy sauce butter is really delicious and there’s lovely warmth from the black pepper. The recipe is from Tim Anderson’s Your Home Izakaya, a cookbook sharing the cuisine of Japanese ... Read more »
In his recently published cookbook Take One FIsh, Josh Niland aims to give home cooks more confidence in cooking with fish. He covers tips on selecting, preparing and cooking with fish before sharing a wide range of recipes for many different kinds of fish. At the back of the book are several basics such as ... Read more »
The Place of Onions, in old Lille. After last night’s rainstorm the intense sticky heat has broken and today is cool, breezy, fresh… I love it! A drop of… [more]
We went to Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire at The Void this morning, an amazing VR experience where we got to be Rebel Alliance members going undercover as… [more]