tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19669720925264258672012-02-19T23:59:15.945ZCook The Books is a bit of an experiment. We're a group of people who enjoy cooking who are recording our experiences from specific cook books.About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-76971854047254613852007-05-05T15:54:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:18.841Z

It's spring, and there are good seasonal ingredients again! After last night's warm salad of Jersey Royals, asparagus and bacon with the world's faffiest artichokes, we were in need of a little extra somethin'. No chocolate or cream in the house to lift those pears in the fruit bowl out of obscurity, so we embarked on making a cake.(Ok. So all my posts are about cake. Even the salmon was in

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-87446561606507755732007-04-27T13:05:00.000Z2007-04-27T14:24:46.799Z

There aren’t many great shops in the areas I shop, so it’s doubly annoying that the few there are shut at the time I’m leaving work across town. This leaves the palace of Mr Sainsbury’s glittering delights responsible for filling my sorry cupboards. As I leave for work this morning, I flick through the Kitchen Diaries and go for Mustard Chops – it’s just garlic, lemon, grain mustard, olive oil

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-45449472429578401772007-04-25T10:14:00.000Z2007-04-25T10:56:33.645Z

Having been raised as a non-pork eater (read Hindu), and lacking much experience cooking it or even eating it, when it comes to cooking a dish that calls for pork, I don’t feel very confident in the kitchen. I worry it is not seasoned properly, does not smell right and never sure if it I’ve cooked it for long enough, despite what recipe says. Despite the simplicity of this recipe, all of those

FoodNobodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05669500773568832048noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-72991173007828540232007-04-24T15:10:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:20.298Z

Lemon and Orange Cheesecake (April 22)Really Fast Cake with Blueberries and Pears (May 15)Strawberry Mascarpone Tart (June 24)Three cakes? Well, it was my birthday party /baby shower at the weekend, and I'm one of those people who get as much or more pleasure from making my own cake as from eating it. So why stop at just one?I've been a little suspicious of Nigel's baking recipes in the past -

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-16966511104622141012007-04-17T09:14:00.000Z2007-04-17T10:40:53.963Z

I have never been able to list risotto making as one of my superpowers, but after this outing, I'm definitely going to have to update my CV.Anyway, Nigel's Asparagus and Lemon Risotto (May 26) calls for arborio rice, but seeing as I only had a handful of vialone nano and full bag of carnaroli hanging about in the back of the cupboard (Yawn. Don’t I sound like the uncontrived foodie), there were

FoodNobodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05669500773568832048noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-29463188818195985602007-04-16T13:04:00.000Z2007-04-16T14:06:36.441Z

Wednesday night seems to call for chicken curry and I have most of the things Nigel suggests for “Chicken and mustard seed and coconut milk” (1st April, aka “A fragrant chicken supper”), apart from curry leaves. Obviously I’m not going to find them at 7.30pm in any Sainsburys.Chicken browns, spices fry, my sister calls and the sauce simmers a little too close to black… But it’s a forgiving dish,

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-9885160954920473552007-04-16T11:28:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:20.936Z

This weekend's magnificent sunshine got me racing ahead to the summer months of the book, so here's one from May10. Much as I wanted to put the barbecue on at 10 in the morning and add sausages to it every hour on the hour, the reduced salmon fillets from Morrison's needed using up.I instantly loved the idea of these fishcakes without the glutinous potato that in my hands often ends up a sloppy,

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-52922976213676329062007-04-12T15:16:00.000Z2007-04-13T08:50:52.562Z

Having recently purchased this gorgeous book, I have been paging through it for days on end, obsessing over which recipe I was going to try first. It's been driving my husband crazy. Something chicken related seemed most likely, and I was planning on the chicken with mustard seed and coconut milk, but it was actually a roast chicken with a pea pilau (June 3) that materialised in the kitchen last

FoodNobodyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05669500773568832048noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-1705735942927271322007-04-12T08:46:00.000Z2007-04-12T14:14:28.617Z

The warmest day of the year so far and I briefly venture out from my weekend of splendid isolation in flip flops, their first wear of the year. After a day of working and listening to mentally bad jazz I go for May 4's "Chickpeas with harissa, basil and ham". Light and tasty and warm, I hope.Toms and aubergines are roasted in olive oil, red wine vinegar and cumin seeds for an hour. A tin of

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-73666606274037006642007-04-11T12:05:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:21.602Z

My first day of maternity leave and to commemorate my new role as 'housewife' (can it be true?) I mean to make a pie for the man of the house. I also need to try out my new uberblender on some pastry. The last hand blender went smoking into the afterlife on another Nigel recipe: the lemon demerara cake which couldn't get a fair write-up what with the butter-sugar creaming ending abruptly. I'm

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-21992233969114592092007-04-10T13:17:00.000Z2007-04-10T13:25:10.566Z

My self-imposed finishing book deadline looms heavily on the horizon and I have a compulsory weekend of anti-sociability to try and make headway. But I write lists of other things to do, I try to make easter eggs, I think about cleaning the garden and wonder whether my CDs need reorganising. I decide on something easy for diner and for some reason, the sunny day, the need for comfort food, I

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-21769464709449473522007-04-03T22:10:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:21.821Z

My favourite style of cooking is the archetypal lazy bloke method – shove a load of meat and vegetables in a pan, with some other tasty bits and pieces, apply heat and some minimal supervision. The key is the choice of ingredients: not too many, keep it simple stupid, etc. This is a great meal for that: potatoes not even parboiled or peeled, just cut in half and thrown in along with some lemon

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-60669700688718249342007-04-01T10:09:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:22.278Z

So when I was preparing what I was to serve on Friday night earlier in the week, it appeared as if summer had arrived. The weather was balmy and, I thought, lamb meatballs (not from Nigel I’m afraid but delicious nonetheless) followed by Nigel’s lemon ice cream would constitute a perfect meal. Perfect for late (warm) March. Then the weather turned so we ended up eating ice cream at the end of a

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-40880751248715525762007-03-30T15:48:00.000Z2007-03-30T16:16:26.721Z

I have a rare lamb fancying moment on the tube home and invest in a small neck fillet, hoping that Nigel and my cupboard will lend me further inspiration. Happily, I have the lion’s share of things for “a fiery way with lamb” (March 11). It’s one of those meals he describes the idea of rather than directs, so I don’t worry about using puree and water instead of real toms and I reckon I’ll

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-79658139917484962582007-03-27T14:55:00.000Z2007-03-29T10:40:36.031Z

We're just back from a skiing holiday which consisted of a week of only three things - looking intently at the ten feet immediately in front of you, sleeping and refuelling the body with food and wine. And so after a slightly depressing Sunday back in London (at least it was sunny) we planned some dinner. A quick trip to a proper Painsbury's (while I watched Noel Edmonds on Deal or No Deal -

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-30955948623944441242007-03-25T10:20:00.000Z2007-03-27T15:42:33.765Z

We’ve got a few relationships which involve swapping desserts, and last night we went to one couple’s house for beef. Last time Sallie came 'round she made the most incredible blueberry cheesecake, so it was the perfect excuse to make Nigel's Lime Tart.Nigel says it’s easy, but it’s rather a lot of work. I thought I’d be able to do it without a problem in the two hours between when we got back

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-23627544727015802302007-03-25T10:17:00.000Z2007-03-27T15:54:45.950Z

M was upstairs putting the finishing touches on his first (and last) schoolwork essay in a decade and our house was practically devoid of any foodstuffs. I’d discovered a couple of chicken wings in the freezer which I was glad I hadn’t thrown into the last pot of stock I made. Those plus the remaining tortellini from the night before (plus the leftover bacon from the haddock dinner a few nights

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-80039778430760177312007-03-24T19:20:00.000Z2007-03-27T15:49:01.542Z

I OD’d on salmon late last year, and while I still love the fish I have tried to branch out into other sub-oceanic wonders recently. Haddock is one such foray. But, like Elvis, once I find a foodstuff I like I don’t wander too far off the rail. Sadly, I’m beginning to have my fill of this fish too.But bonus, the last fillet in the fridge gave me the perfect excuse to nose around the new

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-21565145529049472872007-03-16T15:40:00.000Z2007-03-27T15:54:03.476Z

My book arrived two days ago and I immediately noticed how heavy the thing is. Seriously heavy. The baptismal recipe was created for last night’s Girls’ Night pot-luck and clothes swap at Ruth’s house. Bonus: except for the white bread, I already had everything I needed for it in the house. I had no idea that there was 200g of white bread in treacle tart. I thought the treacle was made of,

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-48887466505088285422007-03-16T10:30:00.000Z2007-03-27T15:53:25.885Z

Before even the crack of dawn is a twinkle in Saturday’s eye we’ll be heading off to Gatwick and this means I’m trying to run down fridge supplies. Today I am looking to Nigel to use up the best parts of a packet of mushrooms and spinach. The man does not disappoint.A well put together index (multiple listings for each recipe) leads me straight to page 100 - March 29 in the Kitchen Diary and

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-62334627156228014372007-03-15T10:21:00.000Z2007-03-16T13:12:54.015Z

Tuesday is traditionally my rubbish day for cooking. Taichi after work means that even in these days when my after-class drinking partner seems less inclined to share a bottle than usual, I still don’t get home until 9ish. And even after 2 and a half years my eating plan so-as-not-to-be-famished-by-the-end-of-class is still hit and miss at best, so leftovers or tortellini seem more appealing than

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-4406823727946615032007-03-13T19:36:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:22.895Z

It seems like substitution may also become a bit of a theme. Personally, I don't think that's a problem. I like to think that one doesn't always need to follow a recipe to the letter unless, of course, one is making pastry or mayonnaise in which case I, at least, do as I'm told.A good case in point for not doing what I'm told however is Nigel's recipe for chickpea and sweet potato curry. I've

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-23479332147667812262007-03-13T11:43:00.000Z2007-03-13T15:33:36.169Z

Though it's been an unseasonably warm March, I chose the recipe from January 30 - primarily because the ingredients were inexpensive, readily available, and it was easy to make after work.It's doubtful the thought of expense crosses Nigel Slater's mind too often, any more than he cooks strategically to minimise washing up, but a good selection of reasonably priced recipes definitely makes or

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1966972092526425867.post-68137161129364453442007-03-12T15:55:00.000Z2008-12-11T07:13:23.124Z

Cooking from a recipe book is going to be hard. I say this because we often have to depend on Sainsbury's Locals. You have to go into these shops with an open mind - if you want anything specific for dinner you'll be disappointed. If you want seasonally pertinent over-packaged chocolate then you'll probably go home happy. And so last night after the first pleasurable outdoor pint of 2007 on

About Cook The Bookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09384697883736753406noreply@blogger.com0