James Martin - Masterclass Cookbook Review

I've been dipping in and out of cookbooks these last 2 weeks but haven't really stuck with one. I decided however to try James Martin's new book - Masterclass - properly. Unfortunately I had a run-in with some freezer burnt squid so there went my idea of making of making his Chilli Salt Squid. Boo.

There seem to be a fair amount of cookbooks out this year all about teaching cookery, such as the Rosemary Shrager book I reviewed a few weeks ago, and the Cookery School book I looked at a while back. James Martin's new book also follows the same idea, though it doesn't alienate a more confident cook. The book is split into 10 chapters including Soups, Stews and Pies, Red Meat, Pasta and Grains and Vegetarian. The introduction is very brief, it pretty much goes straight into recipes which I appreciate. There only seems to be 1 photograph per 3 recipes which is a shame but what is there is mouthwatering, apart from the Braised Fennel with Breadcrumbs and Ricotta - it's very beige! There is a good mix of the simple which could be made easily (Cream of Cauliflowers soup, Bang Bang Chicken and Poached Pears in Perry) to the more challenging (Chocolate, Mint and Satsuma Bread, Classic Beef Wellington and Potato and Duck Confit Terrine with Sweet Red Cabbage Chutney).

At first I wasn't sure if there was a lot I would want to make, I don't tend to make pies, I don't eat lamb and the side dishes are pretty boring, but on second and third viewings there were more and more things I fancied trying - unfortunately the chilli squid being one! Oh well! There wasn't any fresh in our local supermarket either so I was obviously being told something!

There are a few step by step pages to teach you how to do things such as filleting round and flat fishes, how to cut a chicken into 10 pages and how to poach an egg. I don't think I'd buy the book for these guides, there are books that do it better but it is a nice addition. For my first recipe I tried the Best Beff Burgers in the World. How could I not check if these lived up to their name?! The quality of beef is key in this recipe, James asks for tail of beef fillet or great quality minced beef. I went with the cheaper mince offer which worked well. There were plenty of additions to the burger including dijon mustard, chopped gherkins (more the better in my opinion!), shallot and double cream. The cream was a surprise but there was no egg in the mixture so it helped to bind the burger.

The burgers were easy to put together and grilled well. The additions added a great richness and tang to the burger. Maybe it wasn't the greatest ever burger I've eaten but I'll definitely be following this recipe again.

The other recipe I made was Basil Chicken with Lime. I made this with chicken thighs instead of breast which just took longer to cook. I prefer chicken thighs as they stay moist much longer and they have a lot more flavour. The marinade was quick to make and smelt gorgeous. It only needed marinading for an hour and this gave enough flavour to the chicken. The sauce wasn't the prettiest after being in the oven but it tasted gorgeous. The green chilli added a hint of spice and the mix of the mint, coriander and basil was really fresh and fragrant. The lime at the end really lifted everything. The sauce would be great with fish too and I'll be keeping this recipe safe.

Not the most exciting recipes to try but I couldn't fault them on taste. The book's recipes aren't earth-shatteringly new but you can pretty much guarantee that they'll taste delicious and will be easy to follow and make which is pretty important. I do prefer his My Kitchen book but I think there are some lovely additions in this new cookbook. The Chicken Kiev recipe using panko breadcrumbs looks gorgeous, as does the Rum Babas with Chocolate Sauce. The Cinnamon-Dusted Doughnuts are also going on the 'must make soon' list along with the Pork Burgers with Apple Chutney and Rarebit. Actually, most of the book looks pretty tasty! Maybe it's one to buy afterall ...!

Also this week I needed a cake recipe to use up some cherries we had. I looked through book after book and there wasn't much call for fresh cherries till I found a recipe for a Cherry Crumble Cake in Rachel Allen's Bake book. La Mama wanted some cakes to take for a party she was having for one of her French classes so I split the mixture into muffin cases rather than making one whole cake. Rachel's Bake book hasn't failed me yet and they were probably the most successful cakes I've ever made - and I only got to eat 1/2 of one! Oh no! But I'll probably make these again this weekend as I want more! Try them too here.

I also really enjoyed Simon Hopkinson's new show The Good Cook on BBC1 last friday. The Sticky Toffee Pudding looked amazing, I think I put on weight just watching it being made! We had some chicken thighs left after making the Basil Chicken so decided to make Simon's Coq Au Vin. I liked how the chicken was marinated overnight in the red wine, herbs and garlic. It was a last minute make so we had no celery or carrot but it didn't matter too much. I also put in diced chorizo instead of pancetta which added a really nice background flavour. It was absolutely delicious with some wild mushrooms. The sauce was just thick enough that you didn't waste any (before one of the cats got to it that is!) and I'm looking forward to seeing what he makes this week. Another accompanying book that's going on my wishlist!

Rachel Allen - Entertaining at Home Cookbook Review

This week I have been mostly trying out Rachel Allen's new book Entertaining at Home. As previously posted I absolutely love her Bake book and I also have her Food For Living book. I wasn't sure what I would make of a dinner party cookbook as I rarely cook for people other than La Mama and my brother. The book is pretty big with a lot of different menu ideas. Chapters include Brunches and Lunches, Eating Outdoors, Casual Meals and Small Celebrations. These are split into courses and there are also menu suggestions at the end of each chapter.

The introduction isn't too long which I always appreciate but it gives some nice advice about dressing the table, how to set the cutlery if you're having something a little more formal (a great drawing that makes everything very clear) and how to budget and stay calm!

The layout for the book is much the same as her previous books, everything is very clearly laid out and the instructions are simple to follow. There aren't as many photos as I would like and sometimes the full-colour photos are a bit of a waste, for example opposite the venison sausages with celeriac puree there is a photo of some dishes and out of focus copper pans - I'd much rather have a photo of the dish instead! Oh well! The food photography that is included is beautiful with a nice selection of table cloths!

Obviously I was not making this dish for a dinner party! The glass dish is very unattractive but I couldn't find anything else in a suitable size! Also the eggs look like boobs but the less said about this the better!! This is the Baked Eggs with Creamy Kale, the first recipe in the book. I was only making this for 2 so had to reduce the quanities by two thirds, but I didn't actually follow the quanties. I don't think it mattered too much as long as there was enough cream in the kale and enough cheese on top.

It was very easy to make and tasted delicious. The egg was a nice contrast to the texture of the kale and the cream made it a richer flavour. This would definitely be a great starting point to a dinner party but equally it's a nice dish to have at any time. La Mama said she'd prefer it with spinach so I'll try that next time.

My second dish was the Slow-Roast Ginger and Citrus Shoulder of Pork from the Casual Meals section. I used shoulder steaks instead of a whole shoulder so I cooked it for half of the 12 hours recommended (!). The overnight marinade was simple to put together, I just left out the coriander as a certain brother won't eat things with green speks on it, but mostly because I didn't actually have any coriander! The smell coming out of the oven all afternoon while this was cooking was divine. It smelt like chinese ribs. Yum. The pork was really soft and sweet and there was enough marinade left for a little sauce. Again, as this recipe was for a large pork shoulder I pretty much made up the marinade quantities but it didn't matter at all as this was so, so delicious. I served it with courgette and wilted spring greens with chili flakes.

The brother had it with crispy spring greens as he loves Chinese seaweed. Really easy to make, just takes ages hovering over a frying pan. I was asked when I'd be making the pork again so I think it was a great success!

So great praise for this book. The only annoying thing is the quantities but I understand this as you're meant to be making food for larger amounts of people - it's a given - so I can't grumble too much. Most things sound gorgeous and look very pretty. I want the gin and tonic lemon sorbet in my life and I need the salted caramel chocolate tart in my life! Yet another book to add to my wishlist, this copy is from the library but I just don't want to give it back.

And here is the kind cat who 'helps' me on the computer. Maybe he writes his own blog when I'm not looking!

Rachel Allen - Bake Cookbook Review

Back to my afternoon tea making - for the choux buns with creme patissiere and crunchy sugar on top I followed the choux pastry recipe from Rachel Allen's Bake book. The instructions were very easy to follow and I liked the accompanying photos so you had a clear idea of what the different stages should look like. I'm always surprised at how quick choux pastry is to make, and impressed in equal measure! I'm afraid I cheated at the filling, found one in the finest section of Tesco - oops! The caramel on top was quite entertaining. I cut the tops off the choux buns and then La Mama poured the caramel on top - then we had to scrape the tops off the plate when the caramel set!! It wasn't the easiest thing but we managed eventually! The main thing was that they tasted very nice. I would have dried the pastry out a little more but time was running out.

My second trial from the book was her pizza dough. The quantities were spot on, often I struggle with bread dough. It was very easy to work with, rolled out nicely and kept beautifully in the fridge and freezer. I don't think I'll ever be without a batch in the freezer now. Each quantity of dough made 3 full-size pizzas which is great for a family or a few friends.

There have been many variations in our household now I've discovered this dough recipe, always having to make different sections as my brother is a very picky eater and will only have plain or pepperoni pizza! The more exciting side of this pizza has goats cheese, blue cheese, mozzarella and emmental. Mmmm, cheese-fest! The dough was a little thick on my first attempt and a bit soft underneath, even using a pizza dish.

Attempt 2 was a little posher! Black olives, artichokes and prosciutto. This time I pre-baked the base a little so it wasn't so soft in the centre. I also rolled out the dough much thinner. Much better this time and the toppings were great.

Attempt 3 was pepperoni for my brother and I, blue cheese for La Mama - trying to keep everyone happy is hard! I think this base was even thinner than attempt 2 and again I pre-baked it, something I'll always do now. It doesn't take long but it really does improve the texture of the dough. And now I want to eat more pizza! I made another one at the weekend with a trusty ball of dough from the freezer. Lovely.

With a 1/3 of a dough batch I thought I'd attempt these pizza crescents from a fantastic blog:
http://annies-eats.com/2008/10/21/pizza-crescents/
I've fancied making them for ages. They were pretty easy to do, just very messy when rolling all the ingredients up in the dough! But like a complete dunderhead I totally forgot to add the cheese, the best bit of a pizza! So I added a little bit on top instead. They were great as a little snack but so much better eaten warm. I'd probably make them again as they were fun, this time I'll add the cheese!

And back to Rachel Allen's book, this is a really great and pretty comprehensive baking book. I've just borrowed The Great British Book of Baking, as seen on the BBC on a tuesday, and I think that Rachel's book wins out. Not that I've tried anything from the BBC book yet!

The book covers the whole range of baking, both sweet and savoury. Great looking recipes for biscuits, cakes, tarts, pies and breads. I want to make pretzels next, but will make them with cinnamon sugar rather than salt. The rustic bacon and cheddar bread also looks completely gorgeous. This is a book you can keep coming back to and finding something new to cook, or returning to a favourite recipe. Thumbs up.

Ottolenghi take two - plus brownies

I carried on my Ottolenghi testing this week as there were so many recipes I wanted to try. First on my list was the chargrilled broccoli with chilli and garlic. This was a perfect accompaniment for a nice steak. Really simple to prepare and nice to eat broccoli that hasn't had the life boiled out of it, or as a soup as I would usually prepare it. The chilli didn't add too much heat and the Ottolenghi addition of garlic really added a gorgeous flavour. I added a little lemon juice at the end, as suggested in the recipe. Another recipe to add to my repertoire. It would be really nice added to a mixed salad or served with some fish.

Next up were the turkey and sweetcorn meatballs with spring onion. I made so many of these so I have lots left over for some pasta tomorrow, and then some! I altered the recipe slightly as I was supposed to put stale bread in the mixture but soggy bread makes me gag so I just couldn't do it!! Wuss! But they held together pretty well, a few stray sweetcorn kernels here and there but nothing to worry about. They stayed really juicy, turkey is notorious for drying out, and I enjoyed the crunchy addition of the sweetcorn. That's what I've liked about all the Ottolenghi recipes, the differing textures in each dish which makes everything a bit more interesting.

And finally, I wanted to make some brownies to take to work to say thank you for my beautiful new MAC Hello Kitty lipstick (your loss is my huge gain Charlotte!). There is a brownie recipe in almost every cookbook ever made (slight exaggeration) so I decided to try Rachel Allen's recipe from Bake, removing the hazelnuts and adding a ton of mini marshmallows. I'm aware that it looks like my brownies have mumps but hey! There is also some glitter on there as requested but it doesn't show in the picture.

They tasted delicious, a huge hit of sugary, sticky chocolate, but forget about making slices! At room temperature this was more like a pudding and it had to be eaten with a spoon. Not going to stop anyone eating something so yummy but not what I was expecting when I made it. It was slightly easier to work with once it had spent the night in the fridge however. Cooking it in a glass dish may have made my sticky mess according to La Mama so I'll try again in a metal dish, couldn't find a suitable size this time round.

Will do a proper review of the Bake book when I've tried a few more recipes.