Lavender & Lovage - A culinary notebook of memories & recipes from home & abroad - A Review

Karen Burns Booth was one of the first food bloggers I ever came in contact with in my early blogging days and despite having never met in the flesh so to speak, is someone I consider a friend.

Her beautiful blog "Lavender and Lovage" was always something I aspired to in my own blogging efforts and was inspired by over the years.

Some 7 ish  or so years later, I was highly delighted to be sent a copy of her beautiful book to review, the book is very much Karen, part diary, part travelog, part life history but very much the book of a passionate lover of food and its importance in life not just as nutrition but as the linkage to a time and place in your life.

The book is wonderful  from start to finish, starting with the illustrated cover by Callie Jones which depicts Karen's new Welsh home on the Lyn Peninsula. The book features photographs from Karen's family archive of her vibrant upbringing in several countries and her world travels and all the food photography is Karen's own work too.

Image by Rama Knight

Divided into the sections such as "middlings" or a "bit on the side "and "on the shelf" the book exudes Karen, her fun down to earth approach to life and more importantly food. The book acknowledgements is like a who's who of my foodie inspirations.

Do yourself a favour and purchase yourself a copy you won't regret it, the book is a perfect gift for the foodie in your life, the recipes are tried and tested favourites of Karen, there is no higher recommendation in my eyes.

You can purchase a copy from Amazon or from your local bookstore who I am sure will be able to order if they don't already have this in.

Fruit by Rosemary Sassoon

Book Guild Publishing recently sent me a copy of the newly published book from Rosemary Sasson, Fruit - Grow, cook and preserve your own.

This handy sized softbacked book retails for £9.95 and is not your usual preserving, gardening book. Its more a sort of diary and the musings of Rosemary, her garden and how she uses the produce she grows. 

Its a practical book illustrated with her own photographs and rather than lavish pages of recipes its a chatty guide in three parts, Growing, Cooking and preserving. The last section particularly also reflects on life and its demands which impact the time or ability  you have to garden and cook as you progress through life. There are lots of handy hints, tips and ideas on using produce if a little focused on the more suburban or country dweller.

Cakes Regional and Traditional - Julie Duff

In what seems ages ago I was kindly sent a copy of a the lovely Cakes, Regional and Traditional by Julie Duff by the publisher - Grub Street. I love a good recipe book and this was let me tell is fab, its stuffed full to the gunnels with over 200 recipes for some fantastic British Cakes. 

Handily the book is divided into small and large cakes both regional and country (meaning baked across the country), there is also a section dedicated to Ginger cakes too. The recipes are throughly researched and you get the feeling that these are recipes that have been handed down through the generations and all the ones I have baked from so far have been very reliable.

 Now avaliable in paperback its a great addition to my extensive cookery book collection (bookcases now groaning !). I am pleased to note that there are all the Lancashire favourites featured and also a couple of more unusual ones too, the only little niggle with the book being not every recipe being illustrated.

Pictured are the Lancashire Teacakes which feature in the book and are for the unitatited a little like a fruited scone , using strong bread flour but raised using baking powder. They were very tasty served buttered and disappered quickly.

The book is avaliable from any good local book seller - ISBN-978-1-910690-06-2 published by Grub Street.

Mens Pie Manual by Haynes. A Guest Review by Mr Lancashire Food

If , like me you are a man of a certain age, you grew up with a collection of Haynes Manuals. Maybe to get your first car through its MOT and later on to give your lawn mower a service before its first cut of the season. These's books were written with step by step instructions and photographs to important steps in the processes. So, what has this got to do with cooking? well, the people from Haynes have teamed up with food journalist and author Andrew Webb to produce a manual to Men's Pies.

Just like the traditional manuals, the book is broken down into useful chapters.

· Tools of the trade - an overview of all the strange things you find in the kitchen but were afraid to ask what they did.

· Making Pastry - covering such topics as different flours and fats and how to make seven!! different types of pastry. Watch this space GBBO next year !

· Stocks and sauces - we all like the juicy gravy and jellies in pies.

· Meat Pies - following a short section on food Hygiene we are treated to step by step instructions on how to make 20 different meat related pies.

· The next five chapters cover other pie fillings such as fish, vegetables and fruit. Also, a chapter on pasties, sausage rolls etc.

As this is a book about Men's baking Mrs LF decided that I should make a from the book. Being a Lancashire lad, born and bred in Chorley, I grew up on a traditional pork pies made by Thornleys pork butchers, so it had to be a pork pie. Looking through the book, I decided that a cross between a Melton Mowbray and a Gala pie resembled most the pie of my childhood.

The Haynes Men’s Pie Manual is available from www.haynes.co.uk priced £21.99 and would make a smashing thoughtful christmas present for the man in your life.

My only disappointment  being a Lancashire lad that missing from the book was the iconic Lancashire speciality - the butter pie, otherwise its a great book. This blog fortunately does have a recipe which you can find here.

I'm going to hand back over now to Linzi for her to blog my actual bake from the book. Here is the first image of my bake.

Jamie Oliver -squash and spinach rotolo from Save with Jamie

Mr Lancashire Food has been oh so kind and bought me an early christmas pressie already, the latest work from Jamie Oliver (JO). Save with Jamie, features a selection of frugal recipes which aim to be popular with all the family, first impressions suggest this will be as popular as all his other books, of which I have quite a few.

To a lot of people Jamie Oliver can be a bit like marmite, you either love him or you hate him, personally I think that despite JO being a multi millionaire he has his feet firmly placed on the ground and admire the works he has done with young people and also with families encouraging them to get home cooking again.

The first recipe I chose to attempt from this book was his squash and spinach rotolo, JO's books always have a good Italian content and this one is no different, he has re invented one of his previous recipes from Jamie's Italy and made it more frugal by upping the vegetable content and more healthy too.

The recipe for the rotolo can be found here and its a recipe I would definitely make again as it made tasty supper dish, as always JO recipes are generous. 

Its a lovely book, my only compliant is that its a bit lacking on the dessert front, otherwise it a great book and one that I am happy to have on my bookshelf. In the next few weeks I'll be cooking more from the book, again like some of his other books he uses mothership recipes to springboard to linked recipes using the leftovers from the mothership in other dishes. There is plenty of vegeterian choice as well as meat and fish dishes and most of these are pretty frugal. 

On another note this is a cracking photo by Mr LF, in my humble opinion even better than the one in the book by the mighty Mr David Loftus no less. 

                                   

Vintage Tea Party Year

Don't you just love a book that along side recipes has craft and hair styling tips, what ! you never had one that has both ? well you never read one of Angel Adoree's seminal works. I just love this book , as soon as you seen the front cover you know you are handling something special, reminiscent of a fairy story book of your childhood, its enchanting.

This is Angel Adoree's second work and is just wonderful, vintage style and with great ideas on how to make seasonal and family celebrations special. The Vintage Tea Party year covers

• New Years Eve Tea Party
• Children Tea Party
• Coming of Age Tea Party
• Tea for Two
• Hen Tea Party
• Wedding Tea Party
• Mum To be Tea party
• Gentleman's Tea party
• Street Tea Party
• Picnic Tea Party
• Guy Fawkes Tea Party
• Christmas Tea Party

Each section has recipes, invites, thank you notes, decoration tips and funky craft ideas to get the party started. As well as penning cookery book , Angel runs a successful vintage event hosting company, this book is so much more than cook book and would make a great gift for a girl friend who loves all things vintage.

I received my copy of this book from Octopus Publishing free of charge, you can purchase a copy direct from them or alternatively Amazon or any independent bookseller.

Memories of Gascony - Pierre Koffmann

Memories of Gascony  is the life recollections of  Pierre Koffmann, uber chef  who  holds  three michelin stars. Originally published over 10 years ago this new addition by Octopus Books has a lovely vintage feel with parchment style paper, page ribbon and sumptuous food photography.

The book is so much more than your average cookery book, Pierre recalls his childhood experiences in Gascony in South West France where he gained his passion for simple French food,  the book is divided in to the seasons and details the recipes being cooked according to the season and the ever changing landscapes from which the food is produced. 

The Bear (as he is know in the chef world) seems a very humble quiet man and his childhood memories with her Grand parents in rural France evoke simpler times.

Whilst this not being my particular style of cooking I enjoyed the book immensely  given it style and the gentle amble through Pierre's early life and the intense connection he feels with this area of France and its cuisine. I have never eaten in any of his restaurants but understand that after a brief retirement his is back cooking as Head Chef at Koffmanns at the Berkeley Hotel in London, where his pared down simple provincial cooking can be experienced.

Makes a very nice addition to the cookery book collection, I was lucky enough to receive my copy from Octopus Books for review, the book is available direct from them, via Amazon and other normal channels, RRP is £30.

If you would like to win a copy of this book why not take part in my rafflecopter giveaway, unfortunately due to postage costs the book can only be mailed to mainland UK addresses.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Absolutely Foolproof Food for Family and Friends - Rosemary Shrager

If there every was a book that lived up to its title then this is it, the books aim is to provide you with good basic techniques which means that you can tackle any of the dishes with confidence. The book provides foolproof recipes and step by step instructions for over 200 recipes. 

I particularly liked the photo tutorials for key techniques such as 

• how to prepare an artichoke
• chopping and slicing techniques
• Dry curing fish for gravadlax
• Confit of duck

and many others. Most of the recipes are illustrated and the ones that are are beautifully photographed in this well illustrated book. For many of the recipes twists, ingredient alternatives and variations are suggested for the recipes and the methods are clear and easy to follow.

The book also has a handy section on equipment which gives some great advise on how  to equipt your kitchen, ready to work your way through the different sections in the book. A lot of the recipes are more classical in style so this book would make a good addition to most cooks library, the only major ommision is that desserts aren't covered.

Apparently the book accompanies a TV series, but its not one I watched so I can't comment on whether its a good representation of the show.

Rosemary Shrager has been cooking since was 6 and has worked alongside many top chefs over the years, she runs a popular cookery school in Yorkshire and this is her fourth book.

I received my copy for review from Octopus Books , the book is available through normal channels.

Sweet by Levi Roots

Levi Roots is a self made man made good, famously selected on Dragons Den, he received backing to launch his Reggae Reggae sauce brand on to the UK market from the Dragons. Despite the range now encompassing sauces, flavourings and ready meals, running a restaurant and making a caribbean tv cookery series, this hasn't stopped Levi publishing numerous cookery books, his latest of which I have been lucky enough to receive to review from Octopus Publishing Group.

SWEET bring the tastes and flavours of the caribbean to your kitchen in this indulgent book. SWEET features both new taste experiences and plenty of reggae reggae twists on some old favourites too.

The book has over 215 pages and  almost every recipe is illustrated, I enjoy a cookery book that is illustrated so you know what you are aiming for presentation wise, and the book also  features numerous other photographs of typical caribbean scences and ingredients.

SWEET brings an instant hit of sunshine to our rainy shores and the majority of the recipes focus on introducing sunshine fruit flavours or warming spicy notes to a vast range of cakes, ices, desserts and even a few cocktails.The book is  divided in to cakes, biscuits and bars, pies and tarts, creamy puds, bake and steamed puds, fresh and fruity puds, barbecued puds, ices, sweets and drinks, so all bases are covered.

I throughly enjoyed following some of the recipes from SWEET, I found them easy to follow and comprehensive so that my results where good. The recipes were fun and I loved the retro caribbean styling of the books layout.

I'm off to the shops to stock up on rum and more spices !


SWEET is available from Amazon and other good book shops.

Have Your Cake and Eat it too ! Sally Bee's new book !

As regular readers of my blog will know I really admire the work and personal courage of Sally Bee. I have been really lucky to be given the opportunity to review her latest book "Have your cake and eat it too !", her ethos being that life is too short to miss out on cake and puddings just because you are trying to eat healthy. Along side her common sense advice of positive thinking and living an active life, she has re worked all your favourite cake and dessert  recipes to be more heart healthy.

The book is presented with a sensible wipe clean cover for the busy cook and is well illustrated, the recipes are laid out in different sections to cover all the options for a sweet treat, Large cakes, small cakes, cookies, puddings, ices, etc. Each recipe is easy to follow and the instruction are comprehensive and feature healthy ingredients which should be easily sourced at your local supermarket, recipes are also provided for healthy toppings and frostings for your delicious creations.

This book makes a great addition to any cooks bookshelf, whether a beginner or a more experienced baker, and is available from Amazon or your local book shop. I can  so recommend the Blueberry Muffins !! 

Family Teatime

Need an idea for a great Christmas gift for a friend or family ? Then look no further, Family Teatime is a lovely book which has some great cake, biscuit and tea time treat recipes. The book is beautifully illustrated with Vintage images and postcards and filled with tips and anecdotes on the origins of afternoon tea.

This delightful book has a practical wipe clean cover and has an illustration for each recipe featured. The recipes are for all the traditional teatime favourites and one or two surprises, each recipe is detailed and easy to follow. The book would be ideal for all the family to bake together and having fun experiencing a traditional afternoon tea.

I have enjoyed making a number of the recipes from the book, scotch pancakes, almond and cherry cupcakes and lemon bars  which all turned out well.

I have kindly been sent the book to review by Flame Tree Publishing, the book is available to purchase on Amazon.

Bought, Borrowed or Stolen - Allegra McEvedy

Bought, Borrowed and stolen is not your usual cookery book, its the intensely personal food journey of chef "Allegra McEvedy". Allegra is well travelled and has visited a myriad of countries both as a chef and as a child following her historian Father.The book charts her journey and the life experiences she encountered on the way  and where and how she experienced the recipes  that are detailed in the book.

Unusually Allegra collects knives where ever she goes and these are sharply displayed in the book making a point of their importance in her life, the countries or cities each having a bio so you get a sense of the place before going on to the recipes. The recipes in the book  come from such diverse locations as Malawi to New York.

I particularly liked the fact that every recipe is illustrated, the two recipes I have tried so far where easy to follow and gave good results, they did however challenge some of my culinary boundaries, this is a cook book to buy for yourself or a close friend who will appreciate the personal stories Allegra tells.The narrative is modern and chatty, I can almost hear Allegra making the comments in the book.

My only criticism is that the book has a fabric cover, which isn't very practical for the kitchen.

You can purchase a copy from Amazon, I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to review the book by Octopus Publishing.