Posts in: 'Books for Cooks'
Leon: Ingredients and Recipes by Allegra McEvedy
Posted: 21 November '09 by Kelly
Leon - Ingredients and Recipes
“Leon” was founded by Allegra McEvedy,Henry Dimbleby, and John Vincent, and voted the “Best New Restaurant” by judges Rick Stein, Gordon Ramsay, Nigel Slater, Heston Blumenthal and Jay Rayner in the 2005 Observer food awards.
The restaurant, now part of a 9-strong chain of London-based eateries, was created to provide customers with fast-food that looked good, tasted good, and made you feel good.
The Leon: Ingredients and Recipes book attempts to bring this philosophy into your home, to make it part of your day-to-day lifestyle.
This book has two separate elements: the first half of the book looks at selecting the right ingredients; and the second half lists the recipes that make use of your carefully chosen ingredients.
The Ingredients Book:
“The Ingredients Book” is great, being detailed enough to give you everything you need to choose the best possible ingredients without being boring or preachy. The sections include:
- Fruit
- Herbs
- Vegetables
- Dairy
- Fish and Shellfish
- Meat and Poultry
- Stores (which includes things like flour, oils, pasta, rice, salt, and spices)
It’s a great reference: in the “spuds” section, for example, you get pictures of some of the different potato types, information about the distinct flavours, and how best to cook the various types; with other vegetables, you’re told which vitamins occur in which veg; the “beef” section shows you the different cuts and the relative merits of these cuts – from the fillet to brisket to oxtail.
What I particularly like is that everything is approached from this “good for you, good for everyone” perspective – so “organic”, “free-range” and “sustainable” are all terms that you will see. There is a great “open-out” section on page 90 that tells you everything you need to know about chickens, for instance – what all the different parts of the bird could be used for, the difference between intensive-, free-range-, and organic-farming, and which type of chicken to choose for your recipe.
There is also a pull-out guide, a wheel of ingredients in their seasons, and tips for buying the best ingredients in the appendix.
The Recipe Book:
“The Recipe Book” has over 140 recipes, and helps you put those ingredients to use.
Many of the recipes are from the menus of the Leon restaurants, while others have been contributed by friends and family, and they all sound delicious:
- Chicken, asparagus and lemon cassoulet
- Ham hock, savoy cabbage, and rosemary soup
- Moroccan meatballs
- Butterbean and chorizo tapa
- Leon Better Brownie
- Gooseberry and elderflower fool
- Leon Better Brownies
The recipes have been selected so that there’s nothing that’s too high on the glycaemic index – leaving you feeling satisfied for hours after you’ve eaten, rather than needing a sleep.
This isn’t a health-food book – if it was, I don’t think it would have made it through our front door! – but it does have your health at heart. The Leon philosophy is one based on balance – cook and eat with the best ingredients available and have a little bit of what you like for a healthy, fully-rounded life, or “the right to treat yourself without guilt” as the book says.
Details
- Title: Leon: Ingredients and Recipes (hardback)
- Author: Allegra McEvedy
- Pages: 295
- Publisher: Conran-Octopus
- ISBN: 978-1-84091-502-0
- Cost: £20
- Where to get it: From www.amazon.co.uk
Our Verdict:
This book has everything I like in a cookery book – there’s plenty of personality and quirkiness, without taking anything away from the food.
There’s a lot going on, but it’s really well organised – some nutritional facts about your ingredients, lots of interesting and varied recipes, and plenty of miscellany held in pull-outs, open-outs, and so on to keep you interested.
The fact that there is also a strong “healthy” undercurrent is hardly noticeable – but it’s also reassuring that it’s there. If you’re cooking for your family, it’s an important aspect, and one that isn’t part of many other cookbooks.
This is a fantastic book to have – not for the bookshelf – it should be on your kitchen table.
Tags: allegra mcevedy, book review, cookbook
Categories: Books for Cooks
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The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Fizz Carr
Posted: 19 October '09 by Niall
The River Cottage Family Cookbook
“This is a cookbook for everyone in the family to pick up and use.”
The River Cottage Family Cookbook is exactly that – a cookbook that everyone in the family can use – a how-to guide for good cooking. More than that though, the recipes are perfect day-to-day eating, having a heavy emphasis on good food and healthy, satisfying rustic grub. No fancy or sophisticated dishes here, just good staple dishes that are good to have in your repetoire.
The book is broken down into clearly defined sections: Flour; Eggs; Fruit; Vegetables; Fish; Meat; and so on. Each chapter comes will useful insights and recommendations, as well as a selection of reliable recipes intended for frequent use, such as:
- Creamy fish pie
- Spaghetti Carbonara
- Chicken Curry
- Roast Chicken
- Eggy Bread
- Custard ice-cream
- Gooseberry Crumble
- Your own ice-lollies
Another theme in the book is getting your kids into the kitchen and getting them involved in cooking. The recipes are designed so that 10 to 12 year olds can make them, with help – while older children should be able to make most of the dishes on their own.
The recipes aren’t just a list of ingredients either, but give the reader a full explanation of how and why things are done. The cookbook is well worth getting for this reason alone – inexperienced and/or young cooks can learn a lot, and there are plenty of photos throughout the book for reference.
The book also comes with lots of useful extras – I particularly like the step-by-step projects and how-tos:
- Make your own sausages
- Experimenting with steak
- Building a campfire for outdoor cooking
- How to make bread
- Making your own pasta
- Growing tomatoes
Details
- Title: The River Cottage Family Cookbook (hardback)
- Author: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall & Fizz Carr
- Pages: 415
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 0-340-82636-3
- Cost: £20
- Where to get it: From www.amazon.co.uk
Our Verdict:
The River Cottage Family Cookbook manages to be both a cookbook for the inexperienced and a way to involve children in cooking – and succeeds in both areas without patronising either group.
A great resource for everyone – and a useful source of inspiration for feeding the family. Highly recommended.
Other Information:
You can read more about River Cottage at: www.rivercottage.net
Tags: book review, cookbook, hugh fearnley whittingstall, river cottage
Categories: Books for Cooks
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Les Halles Cookbook – Anthony Bourdain
Posted: 28 September '09 by Niall
Les Halles Cookbook
Les Halles Cookbook begins by saying that it’s not really a cookbook – not very helpful then, you might think!
Although the book DOES contain plenty fine recipes, it’s much more than that – it’s also an insight into the dark world of running a professional kitchen, and a French bistro in particular. And it’s an excellent read at that. I find that lot of recipe-books are dry instruction-books – but Bourdain’s dark-humour pervades this book with asides, anecdotes, and observations (“if you can’t properly roast a damn chicken then you are one helpless, hopeless bivalve in an apron”). Mild abuse aside, Bourdain clearly enjoys the hectic, stressful life of a New York chef, leading his team into battle at the bistro every night – and in Les Halles Cookbook Bourdain treats you as if you’re in the same fight, his latest recruit.
Like every drill-sergeant from every war movie I’ve ever seen, Anthony Bourdain takes his new recruit through basic training before getting into the ‘fight’ proper. Although told from the perspective of his own bistro kitchen, this basic knowledge is just as important to the amateur cook: the importance of preparation; knowing which ingredients are in-season; how to find a good supplier; the types of knives you’ll need to work properly; and how vital a good stock is.
You won’t find any of those ethereal, delicate, haute-cuisine-type dishes in this book – but what you will get are plenty of good rustic, satisfying and flavoursome classic French meals: onion soup; vichyssoise; moules marinieres; rillettes; coquilles saint-jacques; boeuf bourguignon; coq au vin; cassoulet; boudin noir with potatoes; rabbit with olives; creme brulee; and cherry clafoutis. There’s also a section on preparing basic components like pastry dough, bearnaise sauce, and sauce gribiche.
Details
- Title: Les Halles Cookbook
- Author: Anthony Bourdain
- Pages: 304
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
- ISBN: 0-7475-8012-X
- Cost: £15.99
- Where to get it: From www.amazon.co.uk
Our Verdict:
Les Halles Cookbook isn’t an everyday cookbook – but it is a very enjoyable read, a “no-holds-barred” look at the realities of life as a professional chef, and a fantastic resource for hearty, satisfying French dishes. Not a “must have”, but a “should have”.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Other Information:
You can read more about Anthony Bourdain at: www.anthonybourdain.com
You can visit the Les Halles website at: www.leshalles.net
Tags: anthony bourdain, bistro, cookbook, recipes
Categories: Books for Cooks
