Eat Your Books January Newsletter

Recipes | Books | Blog      Newsletter January 2017

Dear Bookman Beattie, This month we’re continuing to look back at 2016’s favorite cookbooks, this time with rankings of the bestselling books from our favorite cookbook stores. It is always interesting to see how the lists from specialty stores compare with sales figures from industry data. January also brings a record number of cookbook giveaways. Most of these books also feature recipe excerpts so you can get a feel for the book before you buy. You’ll also find a featured magazine with over 5,500 online recipes, author interviews, your favorite lists, and inspiration from our Valentine's Day Pinterest board. Happy cooking! The team at EatYourBooks Bestselling cookbooks of 2016 Our friends at cookbook stores around the world provided us with their lists for the bestselling cookbooks of last year, and depending on the store, the results differ a good bit from US sales reported by the publishing industry data company, Nielsen. While big names like Ina Garten dominated the mainstream market, other authors popped up in the specialty store lists. The memoir 32 Yolks by Eric Ripert topped a couple of lists and Small Victories by Julia Turshen also made a few appearances, but none of the stores had the same bestsellers. See all of the cookbook store lists on the EYB blog.  Highlighted magazine - Delicious (UK) January’s highlighted magazine is Delicious (UK). Billed as “an unashamed celebration of food”, the magazine features quality recipes accompanied by stunning photographs. We’ve indexed all 159 issues of Delicious (UK). Adding this magazine to your Bookshelf is like getting 28 cookbooks for free! To add all issues, featuring over 5,500 online recipes, use the date range 12/1/2003 to 1/1/2017, and subscribe to automatically add future issues. It can take some time for online recipes to be linked, so make sure to check back often. Browse Delicious (UK) in the EYB Library MUCH MORE

In A Pickle - Sauces, Pickles, Chutneys & Relishes

In A Pickle

Sauces, Pickles, Chutneys and Relishes

by Kirsten Day

                                RRP $29.99 - Bateman

In today’s society there is a growing consciousness of food miles, along with a commitment to eat fresh, slow and seasonally. Alongside this is the growing unease about preservatives and additives in shop-bought food, warring with concern about food waste ... But don’t get in a pickle about it! Kirsten Day has a solution by using natural methods that allow you to enjoy local and seasonal fruits all year round.

Kirsten shows how easy it is to preserve your own produce, and how to pick up great tips on getting the best out of you preserving. This delicious collection of recipes will appeal to both beginners and the seasoned preserver, and additional recipes and meal ideas highlight the wonderful ways you can use the preserves you make.

The sauces, pickles, relishes, chutneys and jams contained In A Pickle provide tasty and flavoursome treats that will add some zest and flair to the blandest of meals. Showcased by sumptuous photographs from the talented Todd Eyre, In A Pickle is a visual feast.

In A Pickle also includes recipes for companion pieces — crackers, sables and biscuits, breads, pastries and dough, and even ricotta, as well as meal suggestions, from snacks to salads, barbecues to full meals, and even a cake.

‘I love that the flavours you get in home preserves are far superior to any of those you will find in store-bought products. Once you have made a recipe a couple of times, you will feel confident enough to experiment with different combinations of fruits, vegetable and spices to create your own unique preserves,’ says Kirsten.

‘I try to preserve only the quantity I know we will eat in less than a year, although this is sometimes hard when the fruit trees produce more than you can eat. Over the years I have installed an empty-jar policy to everyone I give my preserves to: if they return the jar, I will refill it and give it back. This saves me having to buy jars every time!’ she says.

Kirsten discovered that, by giving away some of her pickles, chutneys and sauces to family and friends, she got a feel for which recipes were going to become favourites. These tried-and-true favourite recipes fill the pages of In A Pickle.

As many recipes currently available cater for large quantities, Kirsten has reduced the size of many of the recipes in her book so that you can have smaller quantities but a wider range of preserves in the pantry.

Kirsten says, ‘I love to enjoy the produce from my garden and the local markets all year round, which preserving allows me to do. I am learning more and more about preserving, the more I do. I enjoy the process in preserving — there is something therapeutic in the aromatics in the air as you gently stir your next creation. And there is a sense of self-satisfaction when you have created a delicious product for everyone to enjoy.’

Kirsten is the author of Kiwiana Cupcakes, Cake Pops and Whoopie Pies published in 2013.

 

There's every reason to eat cake when you add nuts and stacks of seasonal fruit.

Summer is the perfect time to make cake – true! Yes, that's right. If you've ever tried to chase a slab of hard butter around a bowl in a frigid kitchen while attempting to 'cream' it, try doing it in a lovely warm kitchen, or in the middle of a New Zealand summer. The butter will soften before your eyes and all your equipment will help keep things at an ambient temperature letting you whip butter and sugar to a thick airy cream. And that's the start of success with a butter sponge. Butter. It's had a lot of bad press lately, but take it all with a pinch of salt and a glass of wine (and a fried egg or two) because messages change all the time. The key to good health I reckon (and my father lived to 99 so I have quite a healthy perspective on this) is MODERATION. Yep, a bit of this and a bit of that, and lots of the good stuff (vegetables) in between. Back to the cake ... all the tips are here to ensure you can make a fabulous cake. And there's a recipe for a fabulous almond sponge loaded with summer fruit. Nothing wrong with a slice of that for breakfast if you happen to have leftovers! Salad Caprese, now there's a thing for summer. Ilaria and I got nattering over a glass of Rosé, as you do, and decided on Salad Caprese for dinner. What is it anyway? What are the essentials to get it right? We got different results as you'd expect. She charred some bread to go with it, and that was dinner done in 10 minutes. Mind you, the mozzarella cost a bomb! Headland Sculpture on the Gulf has got off to a brilliant start on Waiheke – the exhibits are amazing  and the weather has been brilliant. Don't forget you can  spend a day enjoying the amazing art then tag on a cooking class at my home in Rocky Bay at the end of the day with the Summer Sunset Classes I am running through February. Love to see you here. Julie

Apple Calvados Cake

Apple Calvados Cake David, 31 Jan This season saw a particularly excellent crop of cookbooks come to the forefront. But one that stood out for me was The London Cookbook by Aleksandra Crapanzano. When my copy came in the mail, I opened up the stately, deep blue cover, which revealed enticing pages of spectacularly simple, fresh food, the kinds I like, that are being cooked in London today. Spiced Carrots with Freekeh and Labneh, Taktouka (harissa-spiced Berber vegetable stew), Ras el Hanout and Buttermilk Cake, and Burnt Orange Chocolate Sorbet, turn the image of British cooking upside down. Like most cultures, chefs, cooks, and bakers in London have adapted ingredients, flavors from other places and cuisines, incorporating them into theirs. And they’ve done it well. Still, there are Potted Shrimp, Roast Corn and Chorizo Chowder, Short Ribs with Chickpeas and Swiss Chard, Treacle-cured Pork Belly, and Ginger Spiced Steamed Puddings with Rum Syrup, in The London Cookbook, that hew closer to home. I know from firsthand experience that London restaurants and bakeries have revised what we think of British food, and Aleksandra’s book isn’t just a collection of recipes, but one of those books that you’ll want to sit down and read (like I did), for the colorful stories that take you into London kitchens, behind the scenes of the food revolution there, with photos that will make you bookmark many of the recipes as you go, as I have. I liked the book so much that I asked Aleksandra if she would share a story and recipe from the book. Aleksandra grew up in Europe, spending time in Paris with her family. This Apple Calvados Cake stood out in the book as something that encompasses a slice of Britain, with a taste of Normandy. I hope you enjoy meeting Aleksandra through her story, and this Apple Calvados Cake, which is resolutely English, but infused with the flavor of France. – David  A Whiff of Calvados by Aleksandra Crapanzano It was in Paris that I learned to shop. Or should I say, I learned to respect the art of shopping, as my allowance only went so far. I was only ten when we moved to Paris, but, even then, I loved to peer into the shop windows. The bottles of vintage Calvados and Armagnac in the window of Maison Ryst Dupeyron on the rue du Bac held a special allure. If I put my face to the glass, I could make out the wood-paneled walls, the warm glow of the lamps, the wood desk with its leather ledger. One day, my parents took me inside. It was glorious. A serious place. A place of history. Bottles dating back a hundred or more years. The propriétaire offered my parents a taste of Calvados, as they were choosing a bottle. My father held his glass out to me to sniff. The beautiful, haunting smell was fiery with only a whisper of apple to temper the flame. It was heady. It was grown-up. I fell in love. Continue Reading Apple Calvados Cake...

Eating Ouselves Sick

Eating Ourselves Sick by Louise Stephen

Macmillan, RRP $39.99, Trade Paperback

Part big idea, part exposé, Louise Stephen shines a light on the global forces behind our modern diet, and how we have been eating ourselves sick for the last 100 years.

Former business analyst Louise Stephen contracted a flu in her early thirties, an illness that would lead to dialysis and then a kidney transplant. A once reasonably healthy, middle-class professional, Louise was perplexed as to how she could get so sick. She started investigating the world of food and medicine, applying her business mind and research skills to the task.

What Louise has uncovered will not only change the way you eat, but also the way you think about the people who make your flavoured milk, breakfast cereal and tomato sauce. Big Food is picking up where big tobacco left off, making multi-million dollar profits by selling us food that is destroying our health. Not only this, governments and peak health bodies, recipients of generous donations, are paving the way.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Louise Stephen is a former corporate strategy consultant for KMPG then PWC. After overcoming crippling health problems, Louise enjoys life in Melbourne with new vitality, passionately investigating modern food and health practices and their pitfalls. She lives with her husband and son.

Kick up the heat with kimchi

 

 

Recipe collection Kick up the heat with kimchi Who would have thought fermented cabbage could be so much fun? Whether used as a slaw in fried chicken burgers, cooked in a traditional crab pancake or packed into steamed dumplings served in a short-rib broth, this near-neon Korean staple delivers crunch and spice.

 

 

 

Roast cauliflower hummus with fried chickpeas and flatbread Quiz: Can you match these Melbourne restaurants to their signature dishes? Beautiful bar carts for your home Chana masala with yoghurt and flatbread

Living the Healthy Life

Living the Healthy Life by Jessica Sepel
Macmillan, RRP $39.99, Paperback

A practical and holistic 8-week plan to healing your life, body, nutrition and your relationship with food.

Clinical nutritionist and health blogger Jessica Sepel is fast becoming one of Australia's most sought out wellness and lifestyle advocates.

Living the Healthy Life is her practical and holistic 8-week plan to healing your life, body, nutrition and your relationship with food. Expanding on her philosophy from The Healthy Life, Jess will teach you how to quit fad dieting forever, give yourself the freedom to stop the guilt surrounding food, and to overcome body stress and anxiety.

She explores the benefits of sleeping more, nourishing your cleansing functions and optimising your thyroid function. Jess shares more meal plans tailored to balance your hormones, increase energy levels and nutritional advice for vegans. Including helpful tips for eating out, snacks on-the-go, mindfulness and positivity, you'll have everything you need to heal your life.

Packed with over 200 new recipes that prove healthy eating can be fun, simple and delicious.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica Sepel (BHlth, Adv Dip Nutritional Medicine) is a clinical nutritionist, author and international health and travel expert. She is also the beloved voice behind 'JSHealth', passionately advocating how to achieve a balanced lifestyle through wholefoods and a healthy relationship with food to her vibrant social media community on Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. Jess is also a regular contributor to Vogue Australia's Spy Style, Well+Good NYC, PopSugar and MindBodyGreen and brand ambassador for CottonOn and Nature's Way Wholefoods and Vitamins. Jess's book The Healthy Life is based on her popular and previously self-published ebook The Clean Life. Living the Healthy Life is her second book.

Eat Your Books - Weekly Round-Up

Recipes | Books | Blog      Weekly Round-Up

Dear Bookman Beattie, At Eat Your Books we want to bring you the best recipes – our dedicated team searches out and finds online recipes excerpted from newly indexed cookbooks and magazines. New recipes from the best blogs are indexed daily and members index their favorite online recipes using the Bookmarklet all the time. Below you’ll find this week's recommendations from the EYB team. Remember you can add any of these online recipes to your EYB Bookshelf – it’s a great way to expand your personal recipe collection. Happy cooking and baking everyone! The team at EatYourBooks From blogs: Bakery-Style Almond Poppy Seed Muffins from indexed blog Eats Well With Others From AUS/NZ books: 10 recipes from Salads & Vegetables by Karen Martini, indexed by an EYB member From UK books: 4 recipes from 26 Grains: 100 Recipes That Use Wholesome Grains -- from Energising Breakfast Porridges to Delicious Dinners by Alex Haley-Hutchinson, indexed by an EYB member