Pairings | Recipes

Recipes that don’t work. The unspoken problem with cookery books

Recipes that don’t work. The unspoken problem with cookery books

Cookery books may still be selling like hotcakes but I sometimes wonder why given that so many of the recipes don’t actually work. Unsurprisingly it’s not a subject the publishing industry cares to dwell on but it’s a more widespread problem than you’d think.

Momofuku's 'Volcanoes'

Momofuku's 'Volcanoes'

At a time when everyone seems to be looking for meals they can make from 3 ingredients in under 15 minutes Christina Tosi's Volcanoes recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar will strike you as insanely long. It involves 3 separate recipes before you even begin to embark on the Volcanoes themselves. So why am I suggesting you should attempt it?

Save with Jamie - a better book than you’d think

Save with Jamie - a better book than you’d think

There have been the predictable howls of outrage over Jamie Oliver’s new book Save with Jamie. How dare a multi-millionaire, with no concept of what it’s like to go hungry, tell the poorest in society how to eat?

Best ever seville orange marmalade

Best ever seville orange marmalade

I’m not a great one for ‘the perfect this’ or ‘the perfect that’ in recipes but if you’re a marmalade aficionado I promise you this is as good as it gets. Intensely fruity, thick and sharply flavoured.

How to read (and adapt) a recipe

How to read (and adapt) a recipe

With many of us in isolation and some products already hard to find in the shops it can be difficult to cook, especially if you’re trying to follow a recipe.

Classic hot cross buns

Classic hot cross buns

The perfect Easter recipe comes from a lovely book called A Good Egg by Bristol-based cookery writer Genevieve Taylor who describes herself as an 'urban henkeeper'.

Bacon Tart

Bacon Tart

A traditional - and delicious - recipe from a book I discovered called Cape Winelands Cuisine compiled by Hetta van Deventer-Terblanche. Basically it's a savoury bread pudding rather than a tart but none the worse for that.

Andhra Curry-leaf Chicken

Andhra Curry-leaf Chicken

When I met Christine Manfield a while ago I gave her the impossible task of picking one recipe out of her stunning book Tasting India. This was the one she chose.

Matching Food & Wine by Michel Roux Jr

Matching Food & Wine by Michel Roux Jr

You’d think, wouldn’t you, that most chefs would be pretty good at food and wine matching, not least French chefs. Well, you’d be wrong! I’m constantly shocked by the number of chefs who haven’t the faintest idea what wine goes best with their recipes or indeed, who drink wine at all. (Some of them possibly because they’ve, er hem, enjoyed it a bit too much in the past . . . )

Veal chops with oysters

Veal chops with oysters

If you're not one for hearts and flowers but still feel like cooking up a special meal for Valentine's night this recipe from Will Beckett, Huw Gott and Richard Turner's Hawksmoor at Home* would fit the bill perfectly.

Rosemary, Polenta and Olive Oil Biscuits

Rosemary, Polenta and Olive Oil Biscuits

At this time of year no-one wants to spend too much time in the kitchen but it's well worth the few minutes it takes to rustle up these incredibly easy and delicious home-made biscuits from food writer Xanthe Clay's lovely book The Contented Cook - perfect, she says, with ice cream or with raspberries and cream

Pea, parsley & cheddar dip with pumpkin seed crackers

Pea, parsley & cheddar dip with pumpkin seed crackers

A recipe from a charming and inventive cookbook this week - blogger Rejina Sabur-Cross's Gastrogeek. I've picked it because I love dips - who doesn't? - but also because of the amazing-looking crackers.

Fridge- or freezer-foraged cheese, onion and parsley pie

Fridge- or freezer-foraged cheese, onion and parsley pie

This is the kind of recipe (or rather idea) that I used to put on my old blog The Frugal Cook. But as I’ve given up on it (I know - I shouldn’t have done) I’m posting it here.

Beef fillet in red wine and soya sauce

Beef fillet in red wine and soya sauce

In our final extract from Cape Wine Braai Masters we feature a recipe intended for Gemsbok from Michael Bucholz, winemaker for the Obikwa range but as antelope are a bit thin on the ground in the UK I've adapted it for beef fillet.

Beef bourguignon pie

Beef bourguignon pie

Why has no-one had the genius idea of putting beef bourguignon into a pie before? Here's the recipe courtesy of the brilliant Ginger Pig Meat Book which I reviewed here.

Barbecued Chicken with Yellow Mustard Sauce

Barbecued Chicken with Yellow Mustard Sauce

If you fancy a proper US-style barbecue this weekend try this brilliantly easy recipe from chef Brad McDonald's book Deep South: New Southern Cooking

Should we be aiming at ‘the perfect’?

Should we be aiming at ‘the perfect’?

Take a look at these jars of marmalade. Same recipe, made within one week of each other but with a slightly different colour and taste.

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