All posts tagged cookbook

Cooking with Armagnac

by Andrew on March 22, 2013 in Books For Cooks with No comments

cooking with armagnacTo celebrate its 180th anniversary, the Armagnac house of CASTAREDE has just released a new book, ‘Cooking with Armagnac’ written by Florence Castarède and her father Jean. Castarède is the oldest Armagnac house in France.

The first of its kind, ‘Cooking with Armagnac’ is 68 pages dedicated to this little known brandy and how to use it in a multitude of recipes including a chapter on cocktails.

The authors introduce us to this ‘very individual spirit’ as they call it, with a little history and romance added by the famous Gascon musketeer D’Artagnan, who was an adept of Armagnac, introducing it to the court of Louis XIV. The reader will learn how to drink this fine digestive, the rituals associated with it and the reasons why it is so adapted to its use in cooking.

A clear and simple, no-nonsense presentation, interspersed with full colour mouth watering photographs, lays out chapters starting with a line up of tapas and leading on to starters, sauces, seafood and fish, meat and poultry, desserts and fruits with a finale of recipes from professional chefs.

Recipes such as the traditional Gascon Garbure, a hearty cabbage soup with duck pieces, pigeon and Armagnac casserole, roast partridge with grapes and armagnac, duck with apples, vanilla and Armagnac custard, apple or pear clafoutis with armagnac and even a delicious sweet Armagnac omelette traditionally served as a dessert in the region.

Several more complicated recipes from renowned chefs such as Michel Guérard from Eugénie-les-Bains who presents his tipsy turkey recipe, sushi of sturgeon with Aquitaine caviar by Florence Cathiard in Bordeaux or Armagnac Babas from Nicolas Berger, the head pastry chef at Alain Ducasse’s Plaza Athénée in Paris.

Cooking with Armagnac is priced at €7 + €5 postage and packaging (UK) and is available from Armagnac CASTAREDE, 140 Boulevard Haussmann, 75008 Paris. Contact Florence Castarede on Tel: +33 (0) 1 44 05 15 81 or email [email protected]


Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian named ‘Best in the World’

by Andrew on February 28, 2013 in Books For Cooks with No comments

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian, published by Face Publications, has won the title of ‘Best Cookbook Design’ at the 2013 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Paris.

The debut cookbook from the Nottingham-based two-Michelin-starred chef features a behind-the-scenes account of a chef at the cutting edge of modern cuisine who won a Roux Scholarship in 1999 and now runs one of the world’s most compelling and applauded restaurants. It has 68 inspirational recipes, a foreword by Heston Blumenthal and anecdotal contributions from 36 of the world’s greatest chefs.

A total of 171 countries participated in in the 18th prestigious Gourmand Awards, which were held at Carrousel du Louvre in Paris.

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian is packaged in its own hardback slipcase and mailing carton and is limited to 10,000 numbered copies. It’s an imaginative coffee table book appealing to anybody with a passion for food.

Sat Bains said:

“It’s been overwhelming and an amazing journey. We set out to create a book that would stand the test of time and be testament to exactly what’s going on in the industry right now – and we nailed it.”

This is the fourth book published by Face to be recognised at the Gourmand Awards. The debut cookbook from James Mackenzie of East Yorkshire’s Michelin-starred Pipe and Glass Inn, On The Menu, was also recognised at the 2013 awards as ‘Best First Cookbook’ in the UK. And in previous years, two books by Andrew Pern from North Yorkshire’s Star Inn at Harome, Black Pudding & Foie Gras, and Loose Birds & Game, have both won Gourmand awards.

Too Many Chiefs Only One Indian by Sat Bains is currently listed by Amazon.co.uk for £63.75.

[A full list of the 2013 Gourmand winners and nominees]

Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the Languedoc

by Andrew on October 16, 2012 in Books For Cooks with No comments

Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the LanguedocIn Sud de France, Caroline Conran explores the food and cookery of the Languedoc, that province bounded by the Rhone, the Massif Central, the Pyrenees and the Garonne. The food is as rich and variegated as the history, the architecture, the landscape and the climate.

“There are warm, sustaining dishes to fuel a strenuous day in the winter’s cold, the dishes that reflect the influence of the Arabs, the Catalans, the French and later the Italian immigrants to the ports of Sete or Agde, the dishes that are as Mediterranean as can be or which look over the mountains north and south to other countries and other cultures”.

A book packed with recipes and background details. Few illustrations, no glossy full coloured food-porn here, but easy to follow, relativly simple recipes each accompanied by a little anecdote or two. Poulet aux Pyrenees (Chicken with Almonds and Pine Nuts) is a simple dish, cooked in one pot that returns a tasty, winter-warming dish expecially when accompanied with Pommes paillasson a l’ail (Doormat Potatoes with Garlic). Follow this perhaps with a Tarte au Chocolate, rich, lightly baked chocolate on a puff pastry base… delicious.

Next up to try from Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the Languedoc is Magrets de Canard Aux Pommes (Duck Breasts with Fried Apples) and a Tarte aux Chataignes (Chestnut Tart) for a true taste of autumnal France.

“This is not polite France, this is ‘in your face’ France; it’s history buried amidst the Crusades and Cathars, its towns and cities - Nimes, Toulouse, Carcassonne, Narbonne, Perpignan, Montpellier, Beziers - making up a fiecely independent region. Its people are passionate about rugby, about hunting and foraging, with a cuisine of their own, more Southern, simpler, more earthy, and less influence by the Michelin style of cooking than the rest of France. There will be information on the particular specialities such as chestnuts, sweet onions, Bouzigues mussels and oysters, salt cod, poufres (baby octopus), charcuterie, salades sauvages (salads of wild plants), the rose-coloured garlic of Lautrec, wild asparagus and local mushrooms. There are descriptions of places where oysters, truffles chestnuts or calcots - a giant spring onion, eaten roasted on a fire of vine-prunings - are the obsession of everyone in the community.”

Sud De France: The Food and Cooking of the Languedoc is currently available from Amazon for £19.

Celebrity Bake Book

by Andrew on August 30, 2012 in Books For Cooks with 1 Comment

celebrity bake bookWho would have thought that Twiggy loves a slice of Coconut Cake or that the Duchess of Cornwall’s favourite bake is a healthy Sultana Flapjack Bar?

And did you know that former Spice Girl Emma Bunton likes to indulge in Squidgy Chocolate Cake while Joanna Lumley’s favourite dessert is Fancy Bread and Butter Pudding?

These are just a selection of the 150 politicians, actors, singers, models, TV personalities and much loved chefs who have donated recipes to the Celebrity Bake Book which is raising money for the Ben Kinsella Trust to increase awareness of knife crime amongst young people. .

With a foreword and recipe from Great British Bake Off judge Mary Berry and sponsorship from food entertainment TV channel Food Network UK, the Celebrity Bake Book is rising to the challenge of becoming the must-have cookbook for Christmas.

Recipes include:

  • Gok Wan’s Chinese Steam Pudding
  • Lauren Goodger’s Rocky Road
  • Lorraine Kelly’s Dundee Cake
  • Gareth Malone’s Orange Almond Cupcakes
  • Mary Berry’s Best Chocolate Fudge Cake
  • Nigella Lawson’s Birthday Custard Sponge
  • Barbara Windsor’s Sour Cream Topped Cheesecake
  • Samantha Cameron’s Figs with Barbados Cream

Other famous faces include Jane Asher, Lauren Goodger, Fearne Cotton, Claudia Winkleman, Samantha Cameron, Russell Grant, Leona Lewis, Anneka Rice, Harriet Harman, Rachel Stevens Tamsin Outhwaite, Loose Women Jenny Eclair and Lynda Bellingham, national treasure Barbara Windsor, Downtown Abbey’s cook Mrs Patmore – alias actress Lesley Nicol – and TV’s top celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson, The Hairy Bikers, Gino D’Acampo, Michel Roux Jr, Marco Pierre White and Ainsley Harriott.

All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to The Ben Kinsella Trust.

The Celebrity Bake Book can be pre-ordered from Amazon for £10.49

Food For Friends

by Andrew on August 1, 2012 in Books For Cooks with 1 Comment

gourmet food for friendsIn the second-hand listings on Amazon you can pick up this recipe book, Food for Friends, for under £2. An absolute bargain if you are a lover of great tasting, ‘bistro’ style dishes, easy to prepare that look stunning on the plate.

Published back in 2002 Food for Friends by the Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine is an excellent collection of recipes – from entrees through to desserts that, to me, really encapsulates the summery, fresh, vibrant lifestyle of Australia with a subtle mix of European and Asian influences.

“Kathy Snowball and her gifted team of food writers present a second collection of more than 100 recipes with the unmistakable Australian Gourmet Traveller hallmark.

Food for Friends covers entrées, main courses and desserts for all occasions, from celebrations and dinner parties to barbecues and casual snack meals, with wine notes and menu suggestions accompanying the recipes throughout.”

Example recipes include Poached Quail With Noodles and Spinach, served with a New World Pinot Noir and Caramelised-onion and Leek Tart with Watercress and Walnut Salad, served with a lovely delicate rosé or full and rich Pinot Gris.

Gourmet Food for Friends (“Australian Women’s Weekly” Home Library)

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