By Christine Salins.
It’s so easy buying Christmas gifts for foodie friends because you know they will always appreciate a cookbook. Once again, there’s a veritable feast to choose from.
Jamie Oliver 7 Ways (Michael Joseph, $49.99) is top of the list for anyone wanting ideas for easy fuss-free dishes. I’ve been really enjoying Oliver’s latest series, Jamie’s Easy Meals For Everyday, screening on Network 10. While the recipes on the show are all very uncomplicated, he often adds an interesting twist that inspires me to do something differently (like sausage meat stuffed under the skin of roast chook, which we cooked for friends recently, to rave reviews).
For 7 Ways, he researched what shoppers were regularly buying – chicken breasts, salmon fillets, mince and so on – and created seven new takes on 18 hero ingredients. There’s so much good stuff in this book, you’ll surely be wanting what Oliver’s having.
Another TV favourite, Nigella Lawson, likewise puts joy into every dish with her latest book, Cook, Eat, Repeat (Chatto & Windus, $49.99).
As always, her recipes are intertwined with delightful prose, and in this book she shares the rhythms and rituals of her kitchen through recipes that make the most of her favourite ingredients. There are great suggestions for family dinners, vegan feasts, solo suppers and a chapter devoted to Christmas. We’ll be saying cheers with her festive Pomegranate Fizz.
If Lawson is everybody’s darling, Nat is everybody’s ratbag. He’s been making videos as Nat’s What I Reckon for almost a decade, but it was during lockdown that he became the tattooed saviour we didn’t know we needed, rescuing home cooks from packet food, jar sauce and total boredom.
If you found his videos hilarious – and let’s face it, his strong language wouldn’t be everyone’s cup of tea – you’ll enjoy Nat’s What I Reckon, Un-cook Yourself: A Ratbag’s Rules for Life (Ebury Australia, $32.99). With Nat’s no-nonsense rules, you’ll be on the road to being a better cook faster than you can say ‘get in the bin’ to jar sauce.
I’ve never come across a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe that I didn’t love. That’s a big call, I know, but Ottolenghi really knows how to make vegetables sing. I loved Plenty and Plenty More, and you could think of his latest book, Flavour (Ebury Press, $55) as being the third in the Plenty series.
How many more ways are there to roast a cauliflower, slice a tomato, squeeze a lemon or fry eggplant? Plenty, it turns out. The recipes in Flavour, co-authored with Ixta Belfrage, look utterly divine.
Sabrina Ghayour imbues the flavours of her native Iran with flavours from her travels around the world, so much so that it’s impossible to label her food as any specific cuisine …it’s Simply Sabrina.
Hence the title of her fifth book, Simply (Mitchell Beazley, $39.99), a collection of bold, flavoursome recipes divided into chapters such as Effortless Eating, Traditions with a Twist, The Melting Pot, Something Special, and Cakes, Bakes & Sweet Treats.
We can’t travel abroad at the moment but we can Eat California (Smith Street Books, $49.99) with this lovely big book that captures the vibrant food culture and fantastic fresh produce of California. The recipes are perfect for our Australian summer,
and they’re complemented by evocative pictures of scenery
and harvests that make you want to hop on a plane
tomorrow.
Chelsea Winter’s books are hugely popular across the ditch. Supergood (Random House NZ, $44.99) is the sixth book from this Facebook and Instagram sensation. This one’s totally plant-based, with no meat, dairy or eggs, and loads of gluten-free options, apparently in response to reader requests.
There’s plenty here to suit all tastes, from pastas, curries, burgers and lasagnes, to sides, sauces, cookies, brownies and icecreams. Also included in the book is her Lockdown Loaf, which went viral, and her popular 10-second Aioli.
As the title suggests, Vegan Christmas (Smith Street Books, $29.99) shows how you can enjoy the festive season with plant-based recipes. Pride of place in the centre of the table is Mushroom Wellington or Roasted Lentil Loaf with Christmas sauce. Other goodies include Blini & Faux Caviar (made from tapioca pearls), a Mango and Coconut Icecream Log, and treats such as Praline-coated snowballs, and Frosted sugar cookies.
I’ll leave you with a rustic and colourful recipe for a vegetable dish from Advent: Recipes and crafts for the countdown to Christmas (Murdoch Books, $24.99).
This gorgeous little book by Laura Fleiter and Kerstin Niehoff, who have a food, design and lifestyle blog called Waldsinnig, will make the countdown to Christmas a season to remember. As well as recipes, there are craft projects, decorations and gifts for you to make. The book would make a lovely gift too.
Maple-roasted veggies with polenta
Serves 1
For the roasted veggies:
1 beetroot
1 carrot
1 red onion
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt flakes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
For the polenta:
100 ml (3½ fl oz) vegetable stock
100 ml (3½ fl oz) milk
40 g (1½ oz) polenta
10 g (¼ oz) parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For the roasted veggies, preheat the oven to 250°C (500°F). Peel and slice the beetroot and carrot. Peel the onion and cut into wedges. Pick and finely chop the leaves off four sprigs of thyme. Toss the vegetables with the chopped thyme, olive oil, sea salt, pepper and maple syrup and spread out on a baking tray. Bake until lightly caramelised, about 15 minutes.
While the vegetables are roasting, cook the polenta. Combine the vegetable stock and milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Whisk in the polenta, then gently simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Grate the parmesan and stir into the polenta with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer the polenta to a bowl and arrange the veggies on top. Garnish with the remaining thyme sprigs.
Note: You can also cook the veggies in a frying pan, but their flavour develops much better in the oven, and you’ll also need less oil. Increase quantities as required.
Recipe and image from Advent by Laura Fleiter and Kerstin Niehoff, photography by Kerstin Niehoff. Murdoch Books, RRP $24.99.
