Monday, September 29, 2014

Jamie's Comfort Food


Jamie has put in that little bit of extra time, extra effort and extra love to give you a book full of indulgent comfort food recipes in Jamie’s Comfort Food. Bringing together 100 ultimate versions of all-time favourites from around the world, it provides a delicious recipe for any  occasion, guaranteed to hit the spot every time.

Inspired by everything from childhood memories to the changing of the seasons, and taking into account the guilty pleasures and sweet indulgences that everyone enjoys, Jamie’s Comfort Food is brimming with exciting recipes to fall in love with.

Some of the recipes are super quick and answer that instant need for comfort food, while others require a little more care and precision to achieve perfection. The deliciously indulgent recipes are perfect for weekends, holidays, celebrations and special occasions.

From the ultimate mac ‘n’ cheese and mighty moussaka, to delicate delicious gyozas with crispy wings, steaming ramen and katsu curry to super eggs Benedict and scrumptious sticky toffee pudding to retro semi-freddo viennetta, there’s something for everyone in Jamie’s Comfort Food.

Celebrating the beauty of good food is at the heart of Jamie’s Comfort Food, and it’s jam-packed with incredible photography and step-by-step images. Written in Jamie’s usual down-to-earth and easy-to-understand style, the methods are precise and have been tested to the hilt, so are guaranteed to work. But this time Jamie has turned the edit filter off, and shares extra hints, tips and ideas throughout to ensure the best possible results. 

This is Jamie's 16th book and every one of them has been a best-seller. This one may be the best yet? The other night I made his blushing spaghetti vongole and it was a knockout. Next up I am going to try his cassoulet de essex.Reading the recipe and looking at the photograph make my mouth water.

In the UK Jamie's Comfort Food (Michael Joseph, ) topped Hardback Non-Fiction for the fifth straight week, selling 12,701 copies

About Jamie
Jamie Oliver started cooking at his parents’ pub, The Cricketers, in Clavering, Essex, at the age of eight. After leaving school he began a career as a chef that took him to the River Café, where he was famously spotted by a television production company.

Guillaume Brahimi's new Sydney restaurant

Gourmet Traveller


Gallic good times indoors and out – it’s our French issue and here's a preview of the recipes.

Plus, our review of Guillaume Brahimi's new Sydney restaurant; how to eat your way through Nice and grow zucchini; how to get tickets for our final Gourmet Institute in Melbourne this year; and your chance to win a trip to Hong Kong, tickets to Get on Up and the Soulfest music festival, double passes to the stage show Hay Fever, and tickets to see TOTEM by Cirque du Soleil.

Happy eating,

Anthea Loucas and the team at Gourmet Traveller




Caractère de Cochon: Ham & Charcuterie Shop in Paris

Posted: 29 Sep 2014 0- David Lebovitz
Caractère de Cochon
Many times, I’ve walked by Caractère de Cochon, a slip of a place on a side street, just next to the earnest Marché des Enfants Rouges, in the ever-growing hipper upper haut (upper) Marais, and wondered about the cave à jambons jam-packed with hams of all sorts hanging in the window and from the rafters. But I’ve never stepped inside.
Caractère de Cochon

But recently I was talking to my friend Jennifer, and she’d mentioned the place in glowing terms, letting me know it was, indeed, an amazing emporium dedicated to all-things-ham. So we made a date to go. However as (my) luck would have it, of course, on the day of our date, it was closed for a fermeture exceptionelle.

Caractère de Cochon
Which, in my case, seems to happen a lot.
fermeture exceptionelle

Posted: 28 Sep 2014 
This coming weekend I’ll be at Treize…a baker’s dozen, in Paris on Sunday, October 5th, from noon to 1pm.
My Paris Kitchen
I’ll be signing copies of My Paris Kitchen at one of the latest, and sweetest, cafés in Paris – Treize…a baker’s dozen. Located in a gorgeous Left Bank courtyard, Treize…a baker’s dozen, where owner and chef Laurel Sanderson charms locals and expats with her home-style cooking, much of it rooted in flavors from her native South Carolina. Yet blended with a French sensibility, and French ingredients.
The café serves lunch, brunch and le goûter (afternoon snack), and readers of My Paris Kitchen will be familiar with Laurel, as she inspired a story and recipe in My Paris Kitchen. I’m excited to be a guest in her café for this event.
Treize_Logo__-_davidmlebovitz_gmail_com_-_Gmail

There will be copies of My Paris Kitchen available, and you’re welcome to bring previously purchased books as well. Looking forward to seeing you on Sunday!
[Note that there is a brunch from 1 to 4pm, which is sold-out. But this event is open to all from Noon to 1pm. If you'd like to RSVP to let them know you're coming, you can on the Facebook Event page.]

Sunday, September 28, 2014

The Perfectly Roasted Chicken



Nothing satisfies quite like the cooking and eating of a perfectly roasted chicken. The rewards for nominal effort are many – a home filled with heady cooking aromas; the tender pull-apart meat and crisp golden skin, and the exciting potential for what to do with the leftovers. 
The Perfectly Roasted Chicken takes this time-honoured classic and reinvigorates it by showing just how much enjoyment and variety you can spin from a simple roast.
Mindy Fox provides classic and modern recipes, plus inspirational side dishes and healthy yet delicious ideas for leftovers. Whether you’re looking for pastas, salads, sandwiches, small plates, brunches or lunches, it’s all here. Enjoy a Chicken Noodle Soup with Leeks, Peas and Dill, pass around Vietnamese Summer Rolls at a dinner party or indulge in Baked Macaroni, Chicken and Cheese. Whether you’re cooking for one, two, a family, or a party, The Perfectly Roasted Chicken delivers.

About the Author

Mindy Fox is the food editor of the US magazine La Cucina Italiana and a former editor at Saveur. She has written for many magazines in the US, including SaveurEvery Day with Rachael Ray and Prevention, and she has collaborated on a number of cookery books, including New York Times Notable Book of 2009, The Craft of Baking with Karen DeMasco. Mindy's cooking and writing has been inspired by extensive travels in France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Turkey.

Kyle Cathie (New Holland) - $39.99


The publishers have kindly allowed me to reproduce the following recipe from the book which I have made and can warmly recommend.

Pot-roasted chicken with Bacon,
Celeriac and Rosemary
A heavy casserole dish. Piney rosemary. Sweet celeriac. Salty-rich back Serves 4 bacon. Crushed juniper berries. Homemade stock. Calvados. A good chicken. This is my winter roast chicken mantra. Say it to yourself a few times, make it once or twice and it might become yours as well.
Use a high-quality bird (see page 6); those with a solution added for flavour not only taste inferior, they dilute this bird’s delicious juices.

1 x 1.8kg whole chicken
5 rashers thick-cut back bacon, cut
crossways into 2.5cm pieces
675g celeriac, peeled and cut into
4–5cm chunks
flaky coarse sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
125ml Calvados
1 tablespoon rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon whole juniper berries,
coarsely chopped
Serves 4

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5 with the shelf in the
middle. Pull off the excess fat around the cavity of the chicken and
discard, then rinse and pat dry very well, inside and out. Tie the legs
together with kitchen string.

Heat a 5.25–6.75 litre flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat.
Add the bacon and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it
releases some fat and begins to brown, then add the celeriac and cook
for a further 5 minutes, stirring, until just lightly golden. Remove the
bacon and celeriac from the casserole, leaving it on a medium heat.
Season the chicken generously on all sides with salt and pepper (about
1 tablespoon salt), then put the chicken, breast-side down, into the
casserole. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, undisturbed, for
about 5 minutes until the breast side is lightly golden.

Turn the chicken breast-side up, increase the heat to medium-high and
cook for 1 minute. Add the Calvados and let it come to the boil, then
carefully ignite with a kitchen match, keeping the lid of the casserole
nearby to extinguish the flames, if necessary. When the flames die out,
add 125ml water to the casserole. Return the bacon and celeriac to the
casserole and sprinkle the top of the bird with the rosemary and juniper.
Seal the casserole with foil, then fit the lid on well.
Roast the bird in the oven for 1 hour, then remove the casserole,
uncover and leave the bird to rest for 15 minutes. Transfer to a
chopping board, carve and serve with the celeriac, bacon, pan juices
and flaky coarse sea salt for passing around the table.

Extracted with permission from The Perfectly Roasted Chicken by Mindy Fox with photography by Ellen Silverman. Published by Kyle Books, and distributed in New Zealand by New Holland, $39.99.

Wrangling the root
Celeriac is very simple to cut. Slice
off the top and bottom first, then,
using a knife or vegetable peeler,
cut away the skin and roots. Small,
heavy roots offer a denser, more
tender flesh than larger, lighter
ones, which may have hollow spots
inside. Be sure to cut celeriac to
the size indicated; smaller pieces
get mushy and larger ones won’t 
cook through.




Thursday, September 25, 2014

Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop in Ponsonby for sale


The Children's Bookshop, Christchurch would like publishers, fellow bookshop owners and their loyal customers to be the first to know that, regretfully, The Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop in Ponsonby is for sale.


Sheila Sinclair, owner of both The Children's Bookshop, Christchurch and the Dorothy Butler Children's Bookshop, has decided as part of her retirement plan to relinquish the responsibility of one shop and hopes that a new owner/operator will continue the proud tradition of this iconic business.  
It has been a great privilege to be part of this well-known bookshop for the last fifteen years and we hope to pass it on to someone with a love of children's literature who will take over the next chapter.

Helene’s Brownies

helene chocolate brownie recipe_-5
Posted: 25 Sep 2014 by David Lebovitz





The French do a lot of baked goods very well. if you’ve been to Paris, you don’t need me to tell you that with over 1300 bakeries in Paris, it’s not hard to find a pastry or baked good on every block that will be more satisfying than you can imagine.

One of the rare baked goods that the French haven’t quite mastered are les brownies. If you see them in bakeries and try one, you’ll find they’re often on the pas humid side. I’m not sure why, because they’re simple to make, and don’t require any special techniques: You just stir everything together, scape the batter into a pan, and bake them. The only astuce (cooking tip) is that it’s important to watch them like a hawk, taking them out of the oven at the point where they’re still going to be soft and crémeux à l’intérieur.

Hélène's Chocolate Brownie Recipe
In August, we were visiting some friends who live on an organic farm in the Poitou-Charentes, and after dinner, Hélène, presented us with a large tart-like creation that looked like a big, flat chocolate cake that she’d baked up in between her other chores. I was told they were les brownies, but hers were different. In addition to a little bit of coconut that was added, which gave them a slightly elusive tropical flavor, they were moist and uber-chocolaty. I couldn’t keep myself away from them.
Hélène's Chocolate Brownie RecipeHélène's Chocolate Brownie Recipe

The French don’t usually snack with the same fervor that Americans do (Romain’s father was once shocked to learn that I ate between meals), but I spend a good part of my day picking at any and all desserts that are within arm’s reach. And when everyone else was out in the fields down on the farm, weeding and working on hedges, I stayed back in the house, reading in a comfy chair — and found myself circling back around and around the pan of brownies, cutting off une lichette (a sliver), to help myself.

Continue Reading Helene’s Brownies...

Simply Nigella: Food to Nourish Body & Soul.



 
Chatto & Windus has acquired an "uplifting" new book by Nigella Lawson for autumn 2015, to be titled Simply Nigella: Food to Nourish Body & Soul.

The “inspirational and practical” cookbook is about “cooking food that makes our lives easier, the sort of cooking that can be incorporated into our daily lives and celebrated without any stress, food that will make everyone feel better, both in body and mind”.
It will include 150 recipes, from everyday meals to indulgent dishes for special occasions.
An accompanying television series will be announced at a later date.

Vintage imprint Chatto & Windus acquired UK and Commonwealth rights, excluding Canada, from Ed Victor Ltd. Publishing director Clara Farmer said: “Nigella is writing an essential modern cookbook that mirrors how we eat today – and one we yearn to read, cook and eat from. Vivid, uplifting and beautifully balanced, Simply Nigella is set to be the go-to cookbook for our times.”
Earlier this year Chatto & Windus launched The Nigella Collection – all of Lawson’s bestselling cookbooks repackaged with a new look to celebrate more than 15 years of publishing the cook. 

However Simply Nigella will be the first new Lawson cookbook to follow a period of much-publicised personal turbulence including last year's divorce from Charles Saatchi and the fraud trial of her two former personal assistants.

Total sales for Lawson's titles via Nielsen BookScan stand at 3,557,189 copies, with her most recent, Nigellissima, selling just over 228,000 copies.

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Eat Your Books

September, 2014
|   Online Recipes   |   Indexed Books   |   Blog   |   Website   |

September’s a busy month as publishers ramp up production in advance of the holiday season--and more cookbooks means more giveaways! This month we’ve had loads of interesting articles like the Me & My Cookbooks series featuring Yotam Ottolenghi, a great cookbook store profile, plus a fun new feature in the Member Forum. Whether you are entering fall or spring, you’ll find mouthwatering soups to complement the season on our Pinterest board.

The team at EatYourBooks
Cooking together with your favorite authors
The latest addition to the EYB Forum, “Cooking together with an author,” was inspired by a topic on the Forum where members explored the recipes of Diana Henry. Now members can choose a favorite author or blog and get others cooking with them - sharing recipe experiences, talking about the books or blogs, and learning from the successes and challenges of others. Learn more »Cookbook authors
Me & My Cookbooks - Yotam Ottolenghi
Yotam Ottolenghi’s latest cookbook, Plenty More, is already a bestseller, inspiring countless cooks to expand their culinary boundaries. Now you can learn which cookbooks inspire him. He dishes on the authors he turns to for technique, which of his father’s cookbooks he would like to inherit, and the book that initially got him out of the library and into the kitchen. Continue reading »
Find cookbook events and cooking classes
Calendar
The EYB World Calendar of Cookbook Events is brimming with information. You can find out about Ottolenghi’s Plenty More tour (hitting the UK, US, Canada, and Australia!), Erin Scott’s tour in support of Yummy Supper, Danielle Walker’s Against All Grains cookbook tour, Mark Bittman’s tour for How to Cook Everything Fast, and the New Zealand book tour by Annabel Langbein. In addition to book tours, the Calendar has information on cooking classes at various locations, including several at Central Market in Texas and classes featuring instructors like Molly Stevens and Nick Malgieri at the Institute for Culinary Education in NYC. Check to see what's coming to your area or plan a trip to coincide with an event. Find an event »
Cookbook store profile - Books to Cooks
Barbara-Jo McIntosh, cookbook author and contributor to the Vancouver culinary scene, opened Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks in 1997. Learn about her store, which features cooking classes and visits from guest chefs and cookbook authors in addition to an extensive collection of books dedicated to the culinary arts. See more »
Meet the authors
Erin ScottTessa KirosAnnabel Langbein
Blogger turned cookbook author Erin Scott shares her thoughts on healthy and delicious gluten-free living. Her blog and cookbook were inspired by her family's struggle with celiac disease and gluten intolerance.Traveler extraordinaire Tessa Kiros answers questions about her compilation cookbook, travels, and life in Tuscany with her husband and two children. Plus she discusses her favourite recipes.New Zealand’s Annabel Langbein follows the rhythms of her garden in her latest cookbook, Through the Seasons. Discover how she celebrates the timeless cycle of growing, harvesting, cooking, and sharing food.

More

The Great NZ Cookbook - over 100,000 copies sold !

We are celebrating a pretty cool milestone today...

100,000 copies
4 print runs
8 weeks at #1

Thanks NZ for the amazing support & a huge thanks and congratulations to our 80 amazing contributors!