I have an irrational love of cookbooks. I love sitting down with a pile at my elbow, a cup of tea and my iPad for menu planning for the week.
I often have in mind which cookbooks will suit which people, and Christmas allows me to play matchmaker.
Here are a few options for you:
For the person who is trying to eat better, or eat less meat
Supernatural Everyday Heidi Swanson
Heidi’s site, 101 Cookbooks, has been my go-to for interesting veggie meals for years. Having her recipes and gorgeous photography in print is a special treat. The approach here is taste first, worthiness second, and Heidi is always coming up with intriguing and tasty ways with tofu, beans and the like. Reading her cookbook I am inspired to make the food, not because I think I should, but because it looks amazing.
For the Londoner or food nerd who loves meat
Hawksmoor at Home Huw Gott, Will Beckett & Richard Turner
Londoners probably know this small chain of Hawksmoor restaurants. If you’ve not been, you have to go. Have to. For those of us not in London, we can only read the Hawksmoor cookbook and drool. Peppered with stories of British food history, this cookbook has everything one needs to know to make a seriously good roast beef, and all the sides you could wish for. Any book that includes a macaroni cheese recipe with an amount of cheese described as ‘more than you think feasible’ is okay by me. I’ve had that macaroni cheese, it’s to die for. I’ve already made the salted caramel ice cream from this book and again, incredible.
Home cooks who could use some new ideas
Comfort & Spice Niamh Shields
I have no compunction in including my friend Niamh’s book on this list because it’s a great collection of doable recipes, as the subtitle says – Recipes for Modern Living. I love her section entitled ‘Eight Great Big Dinners’ – a few good roasts, a ragout and a squash recipe, plus three or four excellent recipes to deal with the leftovers for each one. That’s exactly how I cook. She has an insatiable curiosity about new flavours and techniques, but doesn’t get hung up on the newest or most obscure. Her pork belly recipe is my favourite. Visit her blog, Eat Like a Girl.
