The Forest Feast for Kids

I don't remember when I last introduced one of my cookbooks to you, it has certainly been a while. Since I recently purchased The Forest Feast for Kids by Erin Gleeson, I thought I'd write a little bit about it now. 

I already loved Erin's first cookbook The Forest Feast, so it felt only natural that I would buy the second one as well, even though I don't have kids myself. I think that this book is perfectly nice for some bigger kids as well, like me.

This book is full of simple vegetarian recipes that are beautifully presented, and once again the artwork is very endearing. There are plenty of good tips for kids how to cut vegetables, and the book is also teaching the vocabulary for different cooking methods. The instructions for making the dishes are very visual and have simple steps to follow, which is obviously ideal. The book is fairly priced, which is another good thing.

I hope that I can maybe try out some of these recipes with my nephew. I'm sure that this book would inspire and encourage many youngsters to cook and to eat colourful vegetables and fruit.

I can't wait for Erin's third cookbook, The Forest Feast Gatherings, to be released this autumn, how exciting!

Your VegHog

My Cookbooks Part V – Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

When I first got Plenty, I almost couldn't believe my eyes. That's how wonderful vegetarian cookbook it was and still is! I was familiar with Ottolenghi's recipes through the Guardian before I got the book, but of course in a book format things look so much nicer and a fully new world was opened to me. 

Ottolenghi isn't a vegetarian himself and that might give him some sort of an advantage to be able to think outside the box and have a fresh approach to veggie recipes. That man certainly understands flavours and the book is full of beautiful food photos as well. This is a highly recommended book by me.

I have cooked many dishes from this book and even posted some on the blog. I absolutely adored the Aubergine with buttermilk sauce (p. 110-111) and Green pancakes with lime butter (p. 150-151) and cooked my own versions of these dishes (aubergine here and pancakes here). Funnily enough my most read recipe so far on this blog is Crusted harlequin squash wedges adapted from the Crusted pumpkin wedges with soured cream (p. 72-73) in this book. When I made paella for the first time, I also took guidance from Ottolenghi (p. 80-81).

I would strongly recommend getting familiar with Ottolenghi's vegetarian recipes, if you haven't done so yet! I'm sure I will be posting more recipes from this book sooner or later. Before long I will also review the second book in series, Ottolenghi's Plenty More, which is yet another triumphant vegetarian cookbook. 

These are my previous posts in My Cookbooks series:

Part I 

Part II 

Part III 

Part IV 

 

My Cookbooks Part IV – The French Market Cookbook by Clotilde Dusoulier

Today I want to write about a nice little cookbook: The French Market Cookbook – Vegetarian Recipes from My Parisian Kitchen by Clotilde Dusoulier. Clotilde also has this nice blog, Chocolate & Zucchini, which isn't a vegetarian blog, but there are many nice and innovative vegetarian recipes as well.

The book is divided into the four seasons and the dishes are obviously seasonal, which is a very clever way to arrange a cookbook. Clotilde has a pleasant writing style and she writes a story to each recipe, including some French market flair. I find that to be a nice touch, and as a friend of French food markets, I love reading anything about them.

I adore this book especially for its wonderful spring recipes made with beautiful ingredients, some of which I have posted here on the blog, like: Very Green Salad (p. 18-19), Crunchy Lentil and Watercress Salad (p. 20-22) and Radish-Top Pasta (p. 26-28). I loved cooking all of those dishes and they were packed with good flavours. I'm sure I will regularly look into this book for ideas and good recipes.

These are my previous posts in My Cookbooks series:

Part I 

Part II 

Part III 

 

My Cookbooks Part III – The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit

Today I want to introduce a book that has been a kitchen essential for me for a while now, ever since I purchased it. It's The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit.

This book is a life saver for creating new recipes or getting inspiration for which ingredients to mix together. It contains an extensive list of ingredients and suggestions to good flavour combinations. 

There are facts and descriptions about the flavours of vegetables, fruits, herbs and spices, so the book makes an interesting reading even without a plan to cook anything. I think this book is a wonderful tool and help for creative cooks and food bloggers of all sorts.

Of course I need to point out that this book lists 99 flavours in total and 14 of those are meat flavours. As this is not a recipe book I can live with the fact that also animal based flavours have been listed. Over the years as a vegetarian I have learned how to ignore these things pretty well anyway. I hope that you can too, as the book is really useful.

This book is also great, if you have a vegetable that you want to cook, but are unsure what flavours compliment it. There are so many flavours listed in the book that you can find a pairing almost every time. Sometimes I've had an idea of what to cook and have double checked with the “Flavoursaurus”, if all the ingredients really go together.

Here you can find the previous posts of My Cookbooks series:

Part I 

Part II 

My Cookbooks Part II – New Feast by Greg & Lucy Malouf

Happy New Year everyone! It's a New Feast for the New Year. I haven't made any resolutions as such, but I would like to be able to continue cooking and blogging as thus far and lead a healthy and balanced life. Hopefully that's not too much to ask.

Now after Christmas I haven't been cooking much anything that takes an effort, therefore the first post for this year won't be a recipe. However I am planning to make a vegetarian roast dinner today, which might appear here later. I started My Cookbooks series in November last year and Part I can be found here. Now I wanted to continue the series with a book that I got for Christmas: New Feast, Modern Middle Eastern Vegetarian, by Greg and Lucy Malouf.

I haven't had time to cook anything from this book yet, but it is showing promise and I can't wait to try some of the recipes and learn new techniques and ways of spicing. In general there are so many very good Middle Eastern veggie dishes and I enjoy the seasoning and choice of ingredients in that style of cuisine. This book has a massive choice on different recipes and suggestions for menu ideas for different occasions.

I'm particularly keen on trying to make some of the breads, such as the griddled flatbreads (p. 36) or Middle Eastern pizzas (p. 46-49), and the flavoured butters would make a wonderful addition to those (p. 52-57).

I'm also very interested in making some of those vegetarian dips and spreads, as there can never be enough in your selection. These could go so well with different fritters, and for those there is also a whole chapter in the book.

The roasted tomato and chickpea curry with coconut and coriander (p. 208-209) looks and sounds so tasty that it might be one of the first dishes I try to cook from here. Or then it will be the tomato and bean soup with harissa and honey (p. 94-95), as I do like the sound of that as a good winter dish.

And how about this wedding couscous with herbs and flowers (p. 218-219) – it just looks so great!

I will make sure I'll post any cooking attempts from this book in the blog and refer to the book as always. I can't wait to get started!

Your VegHog

My Cookbooks Part I – Modern Art Desserts by Caitlin Freeman

Today I'm starting a new series introducing my cookbooks. I love books and reading in general, so it's no surprise that I have also collected a few cookbooks. One day I will have a flat or house big enough for a library room.

The first one I want to write about is one of the more quirky ones, it's Caitlin Freeman's Modern Art Desserts. Unless I'm mistaken, it's my only dessert cookbook, but it's a very special one indeed. It's more like an ode to creativity in the kitchen. I am an art lover and visit galleries and exhibitions frequently. That was also a reason to buy this book, and I purchased it at Tate Modern's gift shop. I think that everyone who likes art or cooking or both, should read this book. It makes such a wonderful read, there is a fascinating story behind each of these creations.

Caitlin Freeman is an American art student turned pastry chef, business woman and author, and her journey is told in the book as well. She has created these art dessert recipes for her husband's company the Blue Bottle Coffee and their coffee shops, some of which are in large art galleries. 

So far I have been too intimidated to cook anything from the book, but I'm always dreaming of one day making the Mondrian cake. I'm not the best pastry cook, I do like my savoury stuff, but maybe one day I will give it a go. The recipes are written very clearly and even the equipment and ingredients are introduced in detail, but most of the desserts are really time consuming so you need to be really committed.

If I was to create my own art work influenced dish, I think I would choose something made by my favourite artist, the Belgian surrealist, René Magritte. By the way I had a Magritte moment the other day when a pigeon flew past me just in front of my face! What about you, has art inspired you in creating recipes? Any masterpieces you would want to share here?