Book Review: Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours by Diana Henry

Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours is Diana Henry’s tenth book and in it she revisits many of the themes that were first set out in an earlier book - Cook Simple, which she wrote as a harried new mother with little spare time to cook the elaborate meals she had favoured before her baby son was born. Despite the demands of motherhood, Diana wanted food that was still delicious to eat but easier to prepare. Her son Ted is now 18 but the no-nonsense approach that she developed when he was an infant is something that has underpinned her recipes ever since.

Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Diana Henry grew up in a family where home-cooked meals were standard. An exchange trip to France in her teens introduced her up to new flavours and her love affair with food began in earnest. On leaving school, she studied English Literature at Oxford before moving to London to pursue post-graduate studies in Journalism. In London, with its melting pot of cultures, she further expanded her culinary horizons trying out Greek, Turkish and Middle Eastern food for the first time.

 

Diana Henry

Diana is a busy woman. In addition to her weekly food column in The Sunday Telegraph, she regularly contributes to other publications and when she can, she hosts radio programs. However, her cookbooks are central to the work that she does. Although her previous books have covered topics as diverse as gastropub food and winter-inspired recipes from North America and Northern Europe, they all have one thing in common; they are written with passion. Moreover, she has a real understanding of the requirements of home cooks and this comes through in all her writing. It is easy to see why her books have won numerous awards. Her last book ‘A Bird in the Hand’, a collection of creative chicken recipes, won the prestigious James Beard award in 2016.

Carrot Houmous

The title of Diana’s latest book explains exactly what it is all about; flavoursome, fuss-free recipes. In many ways, food is a barometer of society’s changing tastes and fashions and the recipes in Simple reflect this. Many of them incorporate ingredients that seemed exotic a few years ago but are becoming increasingly commonplace in our kitchens. These ingredients are used in the recipes in a way that makes sense and without being contrived or pretentious.

 

Simple contains more than 150 recipes with chapters covering Salads and Toast as well as Pulses, Pasta & Grains. However meat-lovers need not worry because there are also chapters on Fish, Chops & Sausages, Roasts and Chicken. The book finishes with a brace of chapters entitled Fruit Puddings and Other Sweet Things. The opening chapter on Eggs includes some interesting new recipe ideas using this most humble of ingredients. I was particularly drawn to the Persian-Inspired Eggs with Chillies – a dish full of Eastern promise - which involved pan-frying the eggs with spinach, Medjool dates and spices. An equally intriguing dish of Eggs with Peppers and ‘Nduja (a spicy pork paste from Calabria) also managed to get my gastric juices flowing.

 

Carrot Houmous

I couldn’t wait to get stuck in and try out some of the recipes. In truth, I can see myself trying most of them out at some point but for the purposes of this review decided to pick a representative cross-section beginning with the Carrot Houmous, Roast Tomatoes & Harissa Yogurt - an interesting alternative to a classic houmous.

 

The houmous was incredibly easy to make and used ingredients that I already had in my pantry. Carrots were peeled and chopped before being simmered in a pan of water until tender. They were then blended in a food processor together with canned chickpeas, tahini, olive oil and lemon juice. Gently spiced with cumin, the houmous was absolutely delicious and I thought the suggested accompaniments of roasted tomatoes and harissa yogurt were just perfect with it.

 

Pork Chops

The beautiful images in the book by photographer Laura Edwards further tempt the taste buds. I was irresistibly drawn to the look of the Pork Chops with Mustard & Capers so decided to try it out for myself. Most people think of capers as a garnish – something strewn like confetti on top of smoked salmon or as part of an antipasti platter but here they were an integral part of the dish imparting saline pops of flavour to the rich and creamy sauce that accompanied the pork chops. I’m struggling to find words to describe this dish because it was just heavenly; deeply savoury, quick-to-make and… oh… SO tasty! I have made it on numerous occasions since getting my hands on Simple. A recipe for Coffee-Brined Pork Chops with Hot Sweet Potatoes also sounds fascinating so I plan to make it soon.

 

Smoked Sausage

Next, I made the Smoked Sausage with Split Pea Purée & Caraway Butter. It’s probably something to do with my memories of the caraway cake that my grandmother used to make, but I have always been a huge fan of anything flavoured with this fragrant, slightly bitter spice. Again, I had most of the ingredients to hand but had to buy the smoked Morteau sausage. This was poached whilst the yellow split peas simmered on the hob and everything was brought together with a sauce simply made from toasted caraway seeds and butter. This dish was, without a doubt, one of the most delicious things that I have eaten this year and I can see it becoming a new family favourite.

 

Roast Apricot & Orange Blossom Fool

To finish my recipe road-test, I made the Roast Apricot & Orange Blossom Fool. Here halved apricots were roasted in a dish with a splash of wine and seeds scraped from a vanilla pod before being puréed and folded through some double cream and Greek Yoghurt. Served in bowls and topped with roasted apricot halves this was a wonderfully elegant dessert. What I like so much about this recipe is the fact that it can be easily adapted to include other fruits that are in season.

 

Without exaggeration, I truly believe that Simple is a seminal cookery book. The recipes in it are contemporary but the ideas behind them are timeless. It is a book that sits comfortably with the realities of modern living and contains recipes that are straightforward but never compromise on taste. This is a book that truly stands out from the tens of thousands of cookery books that are published every year and I believe every kitchen should have a copy. Put it on your Christmas lists!

 

This review first appeared in TheTaste

 

Simple: Effortless Food, Big Flavours by Diana Henry is available to buy here.

 

Simple by Diana Henry

Book Review: Toast Hash Roast Mash by Dan Doherty

One wonders whether Dan Doherty was having a little bit of fun when he named his latest cookbook. As a title, Toast Hash Roast Mash is a bit of a tongue-twister but in many ways it also reflects what the book is all about; - playful, unpretentious food that is easy to make and delicious to eat. This is a book designed to have wide appeal as most of the dishes are quick to prepare and use everyday ingredients that are widely available. Even someone possessing limited culinary skills will feel empowered under Dan’s guidance to turn on the stove and get cooking.

Dan Doherty

Born and raised in Shrewsbury, Doherty started his career working as a kitchen porter and also helping out in the kitchen where he developed a love of food and cooking. A three-year apprenticeship with the Academy of Culinary Arts followed during which he worked at the Michelin-starred 1 Lombard Street under Herbert Berger. He did stints in a number of restaurants, working his way through the ranks, before becoming head chef at The Ambassador in Exmouth Market and subsequently at The Empress in Victoria Park. In 2012 Doherty was made Executive Chef at Duck & Waffle, developing a menu packed full of his interpretations of classic British dishes.

Toast Hash Roast Mash is a change of direction for Doherty. In Duck & Waffle:  Recipes and Stories, his first and much-lauded book, he shared the recipes for many of Duck & Waffle’s signature dishes. This über cool restaurant is located on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower in London’s financial district and, with its high-altitude location, offers up spectacular views of the city. The restaurant is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and serves the type of food that you will want to eat at any time; - smoked haddock scotch eggs, savoury ox-cheek doughnuts and a plethora of decadent desserts amongst many other offerings. Throw in a cocktail or two and you can see why tables are booked out months in advance.
 

Toast Hash Roast Mash

In Toast Hash Roast Mash Doherty gives us recipes that he likes to cook at home when he is off-duty and, in keeping with the food that he serves at Duck & Waffle, these are dishes that can be enjoyed throughout the day and are not slavishly structured around starters, main courses and desserts.

The book kicks off with chapters on Toast and Eggs before moving on to Pancakes, Savoury, Sides & Salads. It finishes with chapters on Sweets and Drinks but my favourite section of the book has to be the one entitled ‘Hangover’ with its indulgent but comforting recipes. Food for the morning-after-the-night-before may all sound a tad laddish but I defy anyone to not want to try out these dishes.


The recipes in the ‘Hangover’ chapter (and throughout the book) are also great from a practical point of view; - so many cookbooks demand that you buy obscure and often expensive ingredients but in Toast Hash Roast Mash leftovers are regularly employed to create new and exciting dishes. In ‘Hash, Eggs over easy’ Doherty explains how hash is essentially meat and potatoes plus anything else you have lying around, all chopped together and fried. Think Bubble & Squeak with Smoked Ham or Black Pudding & Yesterday’s Potatoes. Think comfort food.
 

Smashed Avocados on Toast

The best way to judge a cookery book is by trying out some of the recipes so I decided to start with one from ‘On Toast’, the first chapter of the book. Doherty notes that toast is the perfect vehicle for so many other ingredients and judging by the thousands of photos of it that appear daily on social media I have to say that I’m inclined to agree with him. People love toast.

Doherty recommends using sourdough bread to make toast as it holds its crispness much better than other breads. Luckily, I always have a sourdough loaf in the bread-bin so in no-time-at-all I made the Smashed Avocado with Minted Goats’ Cheese. Consisting of slices of toasted sourdough topped with mashed avocado, crumbled goats’ cheese and some finely chopped mint; this was a wonderful breakfast and a tasty start to my day. I’m often a little drowsy in the morning, so an added drizzle of fiery sriracha upped the ante and kick-started me into wakefulness. Delicious!

Turkish Eggs

Eggs are something that Doherty states that he could not live without and he devotes a couple of chapters in the book to recipes including them. The ultimate in fast-food, eggs can be eaten at any time during the day, whether poached, scrambled fried or boiled. The recipes in Toast Hash Roast Mash use eggs in all these forms but along with his take on Eggs Benedict using salt-beef and mustard hollandaise, you will also find Baked Eggs, Coddled Eggs, Smoked Salmon & Cream Cheese Scotch Eggs and that favourite of the 1970’s buffet table – Devilled Eggs.

There are many other egg recipes in the book but the one that immediately jumped out at me was Turkish Eggs, Yoghurt, Chorizo Butter, Mint. Here, small cubes of spicy chorizo were gently pan-fried in butter until cooked through and releasing their spicy flavour. The were then served alongside a poached egg and some warm yoghurt with plenty of toast on the side to mop up the buttery juices. Although the combination of ingredients may sound strange, this was a superb dish and one that has already established itself as a personal favourite.

The PBJ

The problem with Toast Hash Roast Mash is that I wanted to try out ALL the recipes in the book for this review and the beautiful, very tempting photographs by renowned Danish photographer Anders Schønnemann didn’t make whittling down my choices any easier. Succumbing to pressure from my children who are addicted to pancakes, I quickly whipped up ‘The PBJ’ – a glorious concoction comprising Doherty’s fluffy American-Style Pancakes, peanut butter, jam, cream and fresh strawberries… topped with crumbled shortbread biscuits for good measure. This was sinfully good.

I decided to complete my recipe road-test with Doherty’s Queen of Puddings. This is one of my favourite desserts and is made up of a custard base containing breadcrumbs, topped with sweet jam and clouds of frothy meringue. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner and for me it conjures up childhood memories of delicious meals at my Granny’s house which always finished with something sweet like this. In this updated version, the custard is flavoured with Earl Grey tea which adds a subtle and fragrant background note of bergamot which cuts through the overall sweetness of the dish. Although this recipe involved a number of steps, it was relatively easy to prepare and looked stunning when it emerged from the oven.

Queen of Puddings

I loved Toast Hash Roast Mash. Despite all the plaudits and awards he has received Dan Doherty has an inherent understanding of the type of food real people like to eat and he presents his recipes with a sense of impish good humour which is immediately appealing. Most importantly, the recipes actually work which makes this a book that you will actually use. This is not some tome that will sit on a shelf getting dusty but rather, I can see it becoming dog-eared and stained as all the best loved cookbooks do over time.

Toast Hash Roast Mash: Real Food for Every Time of Day

Author: Dan Doherty

Published: 11 August 2016

Hardback. First published by Mitchell Beazley, a division of Octopus Publishing Group

Pages: 224.
 

American Style Pancakes

 

Book Review: Fruit on the Table by Theresa Storey

Theresa Storey knows a thing or two about fruit; knowledge which she has acquired over many years making the wonderful jams, jellies, marmalades and chutneys for The Green Apron - the artisan preserve company she runs from the family farm in Ballingarry, County Limerick. The award-winning preserves are made in small batches by traditional methods using locally-sourced, organic produce where possible and without artificial preservatives, colours or setting agents. In Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen, her debut book, Theresa brings the reader on a fruit-filled culinary journey through the different seasons of the year and along the way shares some of her favourite recipes.

Fruit on the Table

Originally from Detroit, Theresa moved to Ireland as a young child with her family. Her parents had bought a small farm in County Clare and there they grew their own fruit and vegetables and kept livestock including chickens, ducks, geese, and sheep. Producing much of their own food meant that there were inevitable gluts so Theresa’s mother, Barbara, started making preserves in the late 1970s using the surplus fruit and vegetables. She sold the preserves locally and at the Milk Market in Limerick. Theresa, who qualified as a botanist took over the business in the 1990s and expanded it. These days The Green Apron also runs courses and workshops on sustainable living and all aspects of kitchen gardening. Topics covered on the courses include preserving, beekeeping and chicken-rearing amongst many others.

 

Apricot Cobbler heading into oven

Written in a relaxed and reassuring style, Fruit on the Table contains over one hundred easy-to-follow recipes and also includes loads of tips for growing, preserving and drying fruit. The book is structured around the fruit growing year and features fruit that grows here in Ireland but also includes recipes for some imported fruits - e.g. citrus fruits and bananas - as they are readily available and extremely popular. So, alongside recipes for Rhubarb & Coriander Meringue Pie, Strawberry Jam and Coronation Chicken are tempting recipes for Boozy Butterscotch Bananas, Lemon & Coconut Cake and Lamb & Fig Tagine. I couldn't wait to get stuck in and try some of them.

 

I decided to start with the Apricot Cobbler. Cobblers are most commonly made as desserts, but they can also take the form of savoury dishes where the filling is placed in a baking dish and topped with a batter or scone/biscuit topping before baking in the oven. In this inverted version the batter was mixed in the baking dish and then stoned and quartered fresh apricots were scattered on top. As it baked the batter turned into a delightful sponge with a crisp top and velvety smooth centre which rose up to surround the apricots. The cobbler was incredibly easy to make and I had it mixed up and in the pre-heated oven in less than ten minutes. The resulting dish was totally delicious and devoured by my family.

Buoyed by my success with the Cobbler, I then made the Pineapple & Rosemary Upside-Down Cake. Theresa Storey pairs rosemary with pineapple in this updated version of a family favourite and in her introduction to the recipe suggests that the two work well together with the woody herb adding a piney note against the caramelised fruit. I was intrigued and curious to try it out for myself.

Again, the recipe was simply laid out and easy-to follow. After peeling, coring and slicing my pineapple I laid it onto a base of melted butter and sugar in my cake tin. I then set about mixing up my cake batter which was made by the all-in-one method where all the ingredients (except the chopped rosemary) were placed into a bowl and mixed together. The rosemary was then folded in and once mixed through the batter was spread on top of the arranged pineapple before being baked in the oven for three quarters of an hour.


The only slightly tricky bit in the whole recipe was turning out the cake, but Storey recommends waiting ten minutes - no longer or the fruit may stick to the tin - so I followed her advice. The cake came out of the tin perfectly and looked gloriously resplendent with its upended topping of sticky caramelised pineapple. It was delicious to eat both as a dessert served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream but also cooled and enjoyed as a cake in its own right. I felt that the rosemary was an inspired addition.

 

Pineapple & Rosemary Upside-Down Cake

I find it impossible to resist anything that contains lemon. Some people are addicted to chocolate but lemon always makes me go weak-at-the-knees. I’m a huge fan of lemon curd but find it tedious to make -  lots of stirring for a long time to avoid the mixture turning into lemon-flavoured scrambled eggs. I had never considered making it in a microwave but this is exactly how the Lemon Curd is made in Fruit on the Table. I was convinced that it could not work. How wrong I was!

 

Containing only lemons, butter, eggs and sugar,  the recipe required that the ingredients were combined together before being cooked in 1 minute bursts in the microwave until the mixture had thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. I then poured it into a sterilised Kilner Jars which I allowed to cool before refrigerating. As it cooled it thickened further to create a perfect lemon curd. I couldn't believe that it could be so simple to make and given my love for this rich tangy preserve, it’s fair to say that I was more than a little bit excited by Theresa Storey’s amazing recipe.
 

Microwave Lemon Curd

I finished my recipe road-test with the Apple-Pie Filling which like all the recipes that I tried, was easy to prepare. I used store-bought Granny Smith apples which worked perfectly but later on in the year will use some of the fruit from the apples in my garden when they ripen. In this recipe the fruit was peeled, cored and chopped and then simmered in a sweet and spicy sauce before being allowed to cool. I stored the pie filling in a jar in the fridge and later used it to make an apple pie and as a topping for my morning porridge. Delicious!

 

From start-to-finish, Fruit on the Table is a joy to read. Theresa Storey’s passion for growing and cooking fruit is evident throughout the book. You really get the sense that she wants to de-mystify the whole subject and this she does brilliantly. All the recipes that I tried were easy to make and resulted in some truly tasty food. I love the way the recipes in the book follow the fruit growing and harvesting calendar as this makes the book one that you will refer to and cook from many times during the year. The recipes are accompanied by beautiful  photographs which were taken Valerie O’Connor, a food writer and photographer who was also responsible for the food styling.

Apple Pie Filling

The truth is that whilst fruit is readily available in our shops and supermarkets it is also relatively easy to grow. So many Irish families have an apple tree or rhubarb growing in their gardens. Glancing out my kitchen window as I sit here typing away, I can see the blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes that I planted nearly a decade ago heavily laden with fruit that should be ready to pick in a couple of weeks time. I usually freeze a lot of the fruit or use it to make jams and jellies to see me through the winter months but now, armed with Theresa Storey’s book and using her recipes as inspiration, I will endeavour to use my crop in more inventive ways.

 

Fruit on the Table: Seasonal Recipes from the Green Apron Kitchen is available to buy here.

Author: Theresa Storey

Hardback: 208 pages

ISBN: 9781847177773

Published by: O’Brien Press

 

Theresa Storey

Book Review: NINA Capri: Recipes from Italy's Amalfi Coast by Nina Parker

Nina Parker is a London-based chef, food writer and director of her own food company NINA Food which caters parties and pop-up events. She is also the author of the recently published NINA Capri: Recipes from Italy’s Amalfi Coast, a beautifully produced cookbook which showcases the delicious food of the Campania region of Italy.

Parker draws inspiration for her recipes from the Mediterranean having spent a large part of her childhood in the South of France. She favours simple, fuss-free plates of food but the recipes in NINA Capri are also heavily influenced by her time spent working in some of London’s top restaurants including L’Anima, Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester and as head chef at Gelupo.

Nina Capri

The very best food/travel books have the ability to make the reader feel that they have actually visited the locations that are described and in Parker’s book, the food of the Amalfi coast is presented in a new and exciting way whilst remaining true to its rustic origins. Her food may seem simple but Parker’s recipes incorporate contemporary ‘twists’ and look wonderfully stylish.The dishes have a light, healthy feel and many of the recipes are also dairy- and gluten-free in keeping with modern tastes.This, along with Parker’s no-nonsense writing style, is what makes NINA Capri so appealing.

At roughly 4 miles long, Capri is a small island set in Italy’s Gulf of Naples. Lemon trees grow in abundance and unsurprisingly lemons find their way into many of the recipes in NINA Capri where a squeeze of the juice is used almost like a seasoning to perk up and enliven the flavour profile of the dishes.

Lemon & Almond Cake

The book which has been beautifully styled by her sister, the artist and interior designer Juliana Parker, covers everything from breakfast through to dinner and is structured like an Italian meal around chapters offering up recipes for Appetisers, Starters, Mains and Desserts along with some rather tempting beverages in the chapter on Drinks. In the main the recipes include easily sourced ingredients and are set out in a simple format without recourse to complicated cooking techniques.

I was particularly drawn to the ‘Breakfast’ chapter with its recipes for the classic Italian bread Pandoro (like panettone but without the dried fruit), the Chestnut Banana Bread, Jam and Hot Chocolate but also liked the shared-plates and simple, flavoursome salads contained in the ‘Lunch’ chapter.

Lemon & Almond Cake

I decided to kick off my recipe road-test with the Lemon and Almond Cake which was full of the flavour of lemon and immediately conjured up images of warmer climates. Versions of this cake are available everywhere in Capri but whilst many of them are made using only ground almonds, the recipe in NINA Capri also includes a little polenta which gives it a lovely yellow colour and some added texture which I liked a lot. The cake was incredibly easy to make and I felt that that it was one that even a novice baker could attempt with some confidence. After creaming the butter and sugar together the eggs and dry ingredients were incorporated before adding the zest of 3½  lemons and a splash of orange blossom water. The resulting cake batter was then poured into the prepared cake tin and baked for just under an hour.

While the cake cooled, I made the lemon syrup using the juice of the lemons, a little icing sugar and the seeds of a vanilla pod. I loved the clever inclusion of the vanilla and felt that it added a further flavour dimension to the syrup. Once the cake had cooled I removed it from the tin and, as suggested in the recipe, dusted it with a little icing sugar before serving it with some crème fraîche on the side. One word… DELICIOUS!

Chicken Cacciatore

Like so many others, my family love chicken and although my children can be a little fussy, I felt that they would love the Chicken Cacciatore in NINA Capri which was full of robust flavours. At first glance the ingredients list looks a little lengthy, but this belies how simple the dish was to make; really only requiring some basic chopping of vegetables. I love food that is simple to prepare and results in dishes like this that are full of robust flavours that everyone adores. This is a dish that is guaranteed to become a firm family favourite.

I love baking and I am constantly on the outlook for recipes that are a little lighter but ones that don’t compromise on flavour so I decided to make the Strawberry & Amaretto Cream Cakes. Like all the recipes that I tried, this was simple to prepare, yet it was full on flavour. I had expected the cakes to be slightly denser in texture and was delighted with how wonderfully light they were. This was mainly due to the fact the eggs were separated and the whites whisked and gently folded into the cake batter at the last moment.

Strawberry & Amaretto Cream Cakes

The cakes were finished with a frosting made from mascarpone and enriched with an egg yolk, a little icing sugar and a generous glug of Amaretto - an Italian, almond flavoured liqueur. Finally, each cake was topped with a halved strawberry which tasted fabulous against the almond flavour of the cakes and looked wonderfully glamorous.

Next up was a recipe for Buoncore Pinoli – little horseshoe shaped biscuits generously covered in pine nuts which are the edible seeds of certain varieties of pine that are often used in Italian cooking. The biscuits were made using egg whites, almonds and a little sugar was added. The recipe also used coconut flour - something which I hadn’t used before - to add a little stability in place of flour which also meant that the resulting biscuits were suitable for those on a gluten-free diet. Finally, the biscuits were rolled in pine nuts before being shaped and baked in the oven. I loved them.

Pinoli

I completed my recipe testing with the Summer Minestrone, a simple peasant-style soup packed full of wonderful summer vegetables including broad beans, peas and asparagus. Made to a tomato base with carrots and shallots, the recipe also included cannellini beans and chickpeas which resulted in quite a substantial soup that was a meal in itself. Although this recipe required the chopping and preparation of quite a lot of vegetables, it was incredibly easy to make and totally delicious.

I really loved this book ; all the recipes that I tried were incredibly simple to make and resulted in wonderful tasting dishes that all my family greedily gobbled up. In many ways NINA Capri is so much more than a cookbook. Nina Parker brings you on a tour of Capri and the Amalfi coast and along the way introduces you to the people and places that make the food so special.The book is lovingly researched and the recipes she presents celebrate all that is wonderful about eating the food of this region; food that is made using fresh, good quality ingredients that have been prepared simply.

NINA Capri is a must for anyone who loves Italian food but it is also an ideal book for anyone who loves eating good food and wants to get their hands on some reliable recipes that are easy to prepare. Most importantly, these are recipes that you will actually want to cook.

NINA Capri: Recipes from Italy’s Amalfi Coast is available to buy here.

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Minestrone