Hoorah! One of our favourite guest bloggers, Ellie is back and she is talking about one of the best things in the world, cookery books. When I’m on a diet, I sit and flick through them mentally devouring the recipes and when I’m not on a diet they are the most brilliant source of inspiration. Oh dear, from masochism to greed all in one fell swoop!
Over now to the lovely Ellie……………………………………………………………………………..
I think I own more cookery books than I do saucepans. This is probably Very Bad Maths, but there’s something about them that I love, despite the fact that I am by no means a fantastic cook – the world of possibility suggested within those glossy and beautifully-photographed pages is irresistible, not only for the recipes themselves but for the imaginary world in which I am rich and beautiful and capable in the kitchen, whipping up a perfect syllabub of an evening or holding jolly impromptu lunches for 12 where everyone tells me how clever and marvellous I am. “We all love going round to Ellie’s – you get Michelin-star quality food in a relaxed, bohemian environment.” Yes, that’s what they’ll say. So, here are a few of my new acquisitions and old favourites when it comes to frivolous and lifestyle-flogging cookery books.
Gizzi’s Kitchen Magic by Gizzi Erskine 
My reasoning for buying this one was tenuous at best. I had spotted Gizzi in a few fashion magazines and was inordinately keen on her tattoos and mini-beehive; then, when I checked out her website, I found a recipe for a Guinness Chocolate Cake, which I duly made and turned out to be a proper, full-blown, crowd-pleasing marvel.
So, having used one of her recipes for free and to such miraculous effect, I decided that I really ought to pay some money for her new book. The styling is lovely, and I quite like the idea that this is supposed to be an old-fashioned, back-to-basics sort of ‘kitchen compendium’. However, as an intermediate-at-best cook myself, I found that most of the book was very basic indeed. In fact, I struggled to find anything that I really, really wanted to cook, amid all of the how-to-boil-an-egg kind of stuff.
There are a few interesting recipes – the Earl Grey chocolate cake, chicken katsu curry, and rosemary-infused caramel millionaire’s shortbread – but nothing exactly earth-shattering. I have since noticed that the wording on Gizzi’s website, for the Guinness chocolate cake that drew me in to start with (not featured in the book), has since been changed to acknowledge the fact that she ‘adapted’ it slightly from an old Nigella recipe. This may be a clue as to why this book was less imaginative than I might have hoped.
Throughout reading this, though, I kept thinking that it’s the sort of thing I would probably have really liked if I had been given it as a present when I’d been heading off to university. At that stage, I might have benefited from a good, basic Thai chicken curry or fancy pasta recipe (or it at least might have meant fewer Pot Noodles and/or desperate dinnertime phonecalls to my mum). I would certainly recommend this for the keen but clueless teenager in your life. For the slightly more advanced and/or health-conscious cook, I would recommend the first ‘Cook Yourself Thin’ book, to which Gizzi was a contributor and is packed full of pretty good ideas.
Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights by Sophie Dahl 
I know that The Delicious Mrs Cullum has come in for a lot of stick for her foray into food. If you are one of the many who think she’s an annoyingly over-privileged dilettante, I should warn you now that I was one of the three people in the world who rather liked her telly programme. Basically, this is a cookery book for those like me – OK cooks who just want to look like a supermodel and quote a bit of poetry whilst making a not-too-taxing omelette or similar.
The book is whimsical in tone and, despite Sophie’s claims to being super-humanly greedy, most of the recipes are as feather-light as the charming little line drawings that accompany them. It is divided by meal and season (‘spring suppers’, ‘summer lunches’, ‘winter breakfasts’ and so on), which I actually think is an extremely good idea, and one that I’ve found very useful.
Sophie is a lovely writer, who is clearly passionate about food, and her philosophies for cooking and eating are just basic common sense but extremely sensible. I thoroughly enjoyed reading her nostalgic meanderings on various food-related topics, and they left me feeling inspired to cook some beautifully simple and seasonal dishes.
Alas, they weren’t really to be found in this book. I attempted the fish pie and the lemon cake, and both were sadly substandard – absolutely fine and edible (well, I thought – although my boyfriend did actually refuse to eat the ‘bland and runny’ fish pie), but I truly believe I would have achieved better results had I just been winging it by myself. A shame, as I so wanted to love it, but after that I didn’t attempt to follow any of her other recipes, as the ingredients for the first two had been quite an expensive waste.
However, I still refer to Ms Dahl fairly frequently – but as a source of inspiration rather than for great recipes to follow to the letter. The seasonal lay-out means it’s perfect for flipping through and picking up ideas – I have thus been inspired to make my own versions of things like lettuce soup and baked squash, with lovely results, which I might not have done otherwise. Plus, the cover photo inspired me to buy a wonderful pair of Le Chameau half-height wellies – so, thanks, Sophie.
How To Be A Domestic Goddess and Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson
You can hardly be surprised to hear that I worship at the altar of Saint Nigella. In fact, I just find it utterly mystifying that there seem to be people that don’t. I adore her mentalist-racehorse facial expressions, those slightly-frightened-looking extras she hires as fake friends to come to her fake house in her telly programmes, her slightly inappropriate use of adjectives like ‘luscious’, her larder that’s approximately twice the size of my flat. However, what I love most about Nigella is that I have never, ever been disappointed with any of her recipes. Not once. And I’ve made loads of them, slightly cack-handedly. They still always work, and are usually even nicer than one might feasibly expect.
All of her books are a treat but these are my favourites, and the two I have found most useful over the years. If ever I have a free Saturday and want to cook something wonderful that will make me feel brilliant about myself, the first thing I do is crack open HTBADG (catchy, that) over a morning cup of coffee, before going out to buy the chosen ingredients (preferably on a sunny day, armed with a charming wicker basket and a 50s frock, obviously – well, at least it gives me something to dream of when I’m on the bus in the rain, laden with straining Sainsburys carrier bags). I like to say it’s the best (OK, maybe only) self-help book I have ever owned. Her Store Cupboard Chocolate Orange Cake is really the best I have ever felt about my kitchen-self for the minimum effort.
‘Nigella Express’ is possibly the most useful cookery book I have ever owned – things that you really can make after work that are genuinely impressive. Her chicken cacciatore in particular has become a staple of my weekday repertoire – also her ‘cheat’ macaroni cheese (more like a Caribbean macaroni pie, and delicious). Plus, what I love most is that when she claims to eat vast quantities of ragu (by itself, from a cereal bowl, to the horror of her husband) when she’s feeling miserable, I believe her entirely.
Those are my favourites. What are yours?
Suddenly everyone loves walnuts! Not that I have any objections to the crinkly little guys, but apparently they can cure everything from obesity to cancer. So let’s give them a go, I say! Now my first inclination would be to go straight for a coffee walnut cake, but as I’m still stuck on the boring low carb stuff, I have had to content myself with something savoury. So hey presto, walnut pesto (see what I did there?). This is great stuff to keep in the fridge to dollop on top of steaks or lamb chops and is also delicious on cauliflower. Oh yes, it is also great on pasta.
Ingredients: 
Pulse until they are finely chopped. Pour in the oil and mix briefly and add salt to taste.
A last word on walnuts. At Christmas my grandmother used to make after-dinner treats, by sticking two walnut halves together with some marzipan. They are simple little petits four, and delicious to have with coffee along with some truffles. I still make them every year as a little homage to her and somehow it always brings a lump to my throat every time I do.
The Bombay Boys 
