Eat – The Little Book of Fast Food Nigel Slater

The much-loved author of The Kitchen Diaries and presenter of BBC1’s Simple Suppers is here to help readers cook real food fast, with over 150 recipes for delicious everyday dishes.

It may be called "The Little Book" ,and it is smallish in format, but runs to some 450 pages featuring those 150 recipes. Really well indexed and also at the front of the book is a most useful "Quick guide to what to eat by main ingredient"

Inspired by his own supper-time improvisations, Nigel Slater shows how to make tasty and quick meals with the ingredients you have to hand. Full of inventive food ideas for those pressed for time, and with recipe variations and alternatives to suit any cupboard, Eat: The Little Book of Fast Food is already proving to be a feast of everyday inspiration for me. A real gem.

I have found his Rice Cakes recipe which uses left over chilled risotto especially useful, (often seem to have left over risotto), while both the  Black Bean & Onion Stew and Chicken with Fennel and Leek (see below) both proved delicious.Can't wait to try more dishes.

About the Author 
Nigel Slater is the author of a collection of bestselling books and presenter of BBC 1's Simple Cooking and Dish of the Day. He has been a food columnist for The Observer for twenty years. His books include the classics Appetite and The Kitchen Diaries, the critically acclaimed two-volume Tender, and most recently a second volume of The Kitchen Diaries. His award winning memoir Toast – The Story of a Boy's Hunger won six major awards and is now a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore. His writing has won the ‘National Book Awards’, the ‘Glenfiddich Trophy’, the ‘André Simon Memorial Prize ‘and the ‘British Biography of the Year’. He was the winner of a ‘Guild of Food Writers' Award’ for his BBC 1 series Simple Suppers.

Footnote:
The publishers have kindly allowed me to reproduce one of  the recipes from the book for you to try:

Chicken with Fennel                                

and Leek

chicken thighs, fennel, leeks, chicken or

vegetable stock, lemon, parsley

Season 6 bone-in chicken thighs with salt and pepper, then brown

them lightly in a shallow pan in a little oil and melted butter. Cut

2 medium-sized leeks into cork-sized lengths, wash thoroughly then

add to the pan. Separate 2 fennel bulbs into layers then add them to

the chicken and leeks and leave to soften for about 10 minutes,

covering with a lid. Grate in the zest from a lemon and continue

cooking for a minute or so.

Scatter over 2 tablespoons of flour, then cook for a few minutes

before pouring in a litre of chicken or vegetable stock. Bring to the

boil, season, then lower the heat to a simmer and leave to cook for

35 minutes, covered with a lid, giving the occasional stir.

Finish the dish with the juice of the lemon and a handful of

chopped parsley. We have leeks and fennel already, so just floury

potatoes, steamed in their skins, to soak up the parsley-freckled

chicken juices.

For 3. Familiar flavours. A meal to nourish.

Recipe extracted with permission from Eat – The Little Book of Fast Food Nigel Slater

published by Fourth Estate, $50.00

I talked to Jim Mora on his Afternoons programme on Radio New Zealand National about this title today.