My rubbish updating

I have been incredibly lazy recently so don't have any proper cookbook reviews. Terrible. We're trying to empty the freezer in order to fill it again when my grandparents come over from France. Hopefully then I can try a few more recipes and there will be another afternoon tea to be made.

At the moment my favourite recipe is crab and noodle soup which I seem to be making at least twice a week. It's so easy to make, tastes amazing and makes good use of the corriander and chinese leaves I'm growing at the moment. So impressive just being able to go in the garden and pick your own leaves and eat them 2 minutes later!

I did venture into another 200 book, this time 200 Thai Favourites. You're probably sick of these books by now but I'm still finding them excellent. I had some tofu I'd been holding onto for a while, feeling I should cook with it but not quite sure what to do with it. I found a tasty sounding recipe in this book, fried rice with beans and bean curd. Turns out tofu is pretty boring if you cook it yourself!! I just don't have the magic touch. The rice and beans were nice though and the mint added a nice fresh flavour.

The second recipe comes courtesy of Simon Rimmer from the BBC website. There were good prices on rhubarb so decided to have a go at a crumble, usually opting for the traditional apple version, throwing in the occasional blueberry when they're available. I thought rhubarb and star anise crumble sounded like an interesting option and it was absolutely delicious. I left out the almonds from the topping as I'm not mad keen but I don't think it needed it anyway. The star anise was really subtle and the orange juice sweetened the rhubarb really nicely. Looking forward to eating this again while rhubarb is still in season.

Why not try making it yourself?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/rhubarbandstaranisec_85142

I will try my best to apply myself a little better in the next couple of weeks, it certainly isn't stopping me from taking every cookbook out from the library (slight exaggeration!). There was also a lovely sounding lentil recipe in last week's Stylist magazine so will have to have a go at that soon. Plus - great excitement! I bought some really pretty plates from Lakeland and TK Maxx yesterday so I can up my presentation a bit from now on yay!

Lazy Brunch cookbook review

Phew, I haven't updated for almost a month. Been on holiday to France, eating nice cheese and soups (it was cold - boo), and now I'm back and have a stinking cold. I can just about taste food so thought I'd get on with my first proper cookbook review, the whole purpose of this blog.

This week's review is Lazy Brunch by Simon Rimmer and Tim Lovejoy - recipes as seen on Something for the Weekend, which I try not to miss - not for Tim Lovejoy's gregarious presenting style but for Simon Rimmer's 4 recipes every week. I question whether Tim Lovejoy had much involvement in writing this cookbook, why oh why does he present a programme based on recipes when he clearly has no interest in cooking? I can't decide if Louise Redknapp is worse or not, my prefered line-up would be stand-in presenters Angelica Bell and Richard Bacon, at least they ask questions about the recipes and PAY ATTENTION!! Grrr, rant over, back to the review!

I like the layout of the book, I'm always happy when there is a photo next to each recipe, so you have an idea of how the dish should turn out. The photos are bright and inviting and make you want to start cooking. The recipes are all taken from the last section of the show, the lazy brunch (never would have guessed would you?!) so are quicker and hopefully easier to make than the other recipes in the show.

Without wanting to be sexist, I think this book is aimed at men. I can back this up as a couple of sections of the cookbook are called 'Beers with the boys' and 'Treating your girlfriend' so I think I'm justified!! Maybe this is where Tim Lovejoy comes in, to try and attract the football/food loving guy. Sexism aside this is an attractive looking book and there are plenty of recipes I want to try out, might have scrapped the title of the last section though. 'The olds round for brunch' - nice!

I tried two recipes this weekend, the first being king prawn pad thai. Looks a mess but tasted really nice. I thought I might leave the peanuts out as I'm not really keen but was persuaded otherwise. Good choice as they added a really nice crunch and weren't too strong. Rice noodles, bean sprouts and prawns are always a winner for me. Maybe it was just missing one extra fresh flavour to bring it to life, some mangetout or red pepper. I think I'd also use fresh red chili instead of dried flakes. Definitely one to make again. Good stuff so far.

Recipe two was tomato and anchovy tarte tatin. What can I say? The cooking timings were spot on and it was really delicious. I used baby plum tomatoes instead of full-sized ones but don't think this made any difference to the recipe, just perhaps ended up with a sweeter tarte. I adore anchovies, I'd quite happily eat them straight for a tin, added salt and all, and they worked perfectly with the tomatoes. I just served this with a simple green salad. Lovely.

So win for Lazy Brunch if you ignore the laddish qualities and Tim Lovejoy's face. A fair few other recipes I want to try eventually, such as tuna and ricotta fritters, chicken koftas and tartare of salmon and avocado. It makes a nice to change to see a book full of savoury dishes, I tend to go a bit mad on dessert books sometimes. Will now go make myself a spicy thai soup with the rest of the beansprouts to try and make myself feel better. Stupid colds...