Lifestyle Books > Cooking Lifestyle Books

The River Cottage Meat Book

Advantages: This book is the closest thing I have to a food bible.
Disadvantages: Not a quick reference cook book - but nor was it intended to be.

...to cooking meat. As the title may suggest, the book focuses purely on meat (of all kinds). What the book is really about is really about is where meat comes from, how it is raised, slaughtered and butchered. If that sounds a bit extreme then this really is the book for you. What people see in the supermarket is the end result. This book focuses on the fact that that piece of meat was once an animal. As such we should ensure that the meat we eat ...
...best possible quality. The stance this book takes has won the support of many vegetarians, not turning them to meat eaters but promoting everything that vegetarians stand for. Yes, this is a book full of meat recopies, but really it's much more than that. One word of advice. If you are not willing to spend a few pounds more on your meat, to ensure it has come from an ethical background, then this is not the book for you. Read it and you will be ...

steve_swinburne 18.10.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The River Cottage Meat Book - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

The Naked Chef - Jamie's first book

Advantages: A whole new way of cooking at home.
Disadvantages: very little in the way of illustration

...not half bad. Even by the age of 23 he'd acheived more that most of us will in a life time. This book is just a taster of things to come. When this book came out it was innovative and refreshing. Seven years later it is equally so and is the first footprint of the wonderful journey Jamie Oliver has taken throughout his twenties. From a chef in a popular London restaurant, to meetings with the prime minister and changes in government funding and ...
...where it all started! The book its-self is simple and like many of Jamies more recent books, has more detailed sections and specific subjucts, such as herbs. The Naked Chef also has a section detailing how to make pasta. Daunting to most, it is suprisingly easy and something I now thoroughly enjoy. There's also no need for a bread machine in my kitchen - all thanks Jamie. Some favourite recipies of mine are the Fragrent Green Chicken Curry and ...

steve_swinburne 18.10.2006 · Read full review
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Review of The Naked Chef - Jamie Oliver

Juices and smoothies for everyone

Advantages: Wide range of recipes to suit most tastes.
Disadvantages: None, really

...you're already a convert to the joys of juicing, this book will no doubt add some new ideas to your repertoire. If you don't own a juicer (or do own one but it's gathering dust at the back of the cupboard) you might be inspired to give it a try. I bought nutritionist Natalie Savona's book for £5 from Lakeland Ltd, which I thought was pretty good value. (The cover price is £12.99!) The gimmick of the book is 365 recipes - "one for every day of the ...
...in and out, trying out the recipes which appeal to you and glossing over the ones which don't. The vast bulk of the book is made up of the aforementioned 365 recipes for fruit and vegetable juices, smoothies and "quenchers" (mainly made from frozen fruit / ice). The book is usefully subdivided by types of fruit, meaning that it's easy to locate recipes with, for instance, an apple base. The excellent index makes this even easier, listing all the ...

sheri3004 12.05.2005 · Read full review
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Review of The Big Book of Juices and Smoothies - Natalie Savona

We are what we eat

Advantages: Highly readable, beautifully presented
Disadvantages: Quite expensive

I love the summer. Long, light evenings mean that I can potter quite happily in the garden for hours but come the winter I have often succumbed to ‘the blues’. Now I know that winter seems a long way off and no one really wants to be reminded of cold grey days however a bit of forward planning might make next winter a bit more bearable. I discovered this book ‘The Kitchen Shrink’ whilst browsing in the WH Smiths clearance shop and immediately felt ...
...Indeed I think that the book is a good all year round winner. The author Natalie Savona She trained as a nutritionist at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in London after graduating from Cambridge University. As well as lecturing and contributing to national newspapers such as The Sunday Times and magazines such as Woman and Home, Natalie runs a Nutritional Practice in London where they investigate links between diet and mental well being. The ...

gardenguru1 24.06.2004 · Read full review
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Review of The Kitchen Shrink: Foods and Recipes for a Healthy Mind - Natalie Savona

Delia complicates my Christmas

Advantages: Every dish you could ever want to cook
Disadvantages: Probably a few you'll never want to cook

...blunder through it I bought Delia Smith's Christmas Recipe book. It's very distinctive as you can see from the picture above as they have made the book look like a Christmas present with a red bow around it and the gift tag is a picture of Delia. It's bright, inviting and would almost beg to be picked up from the shelf in a bookshop. I however bought mine from Amazon so I wasn't enticed by the picture at all but Delia was a name I knew and trusted. ...
...starts with an introduction from Delia and then swings straight into the book. You get a helpful list at the start of the book for all your Christmas essentials. Not that helpful if like me you want to delve in a pick out a recipe or two but a useful addition to ensure you haven't forgotten anything obvious - like the Turkey Foil!! The chapters are laid out as follows 1) All kinds of Christmas Cakes 2) Christmas Puddings and Mincemeat 3) Preserves, ...

couscous 06.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Delia Smith's Christmas - Delia Smith