Category Archives: *4 1/2 Star Books

Cookbook Review: The Complete Asian Cookbook by Charmaine Solomon

Easy to make, authentic cuisines adapted for the average kitchen.  This curry was AMAZING.  

4.5 stars

Kari Ayam Kelapa and Nasi Kunit
Kari Ayam Kelapa and Nasi Kunit

But how does this book cook? I made the Kari Ayam Kelapa (Chicken Curry with Roasted Coconut) and the Nasi Kunit (glutinous tumeric rice).

More after the jump. read more »

Cookbook Review: Heston Blumenthal at Home

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

Molecular gastronomy for idiots. Unleash your inner gadget whore!

Heston Potato2

Highlights:

  • Makes a home cooked meal taste better.
  • Lots of online demos and advice from Heston himself

Lowlights: 

  • Makes a home cooked meal take three times longer to prepare.
  • Lots of proof reading errors (hence the need to rely on the online demos)

But how does this book cook? READ MORE AFTER THE JUMP read more »

Cookbook Review: River Cottage Veg Everyday! By Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

The best celebration of the Vegetable I’ve ever read. A must for carnivores wanting to eat more veg and compulsory for every vegetarian.

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Cookbook Review: PS desserts by Philippa Sibley

My rating: 4 ½ stars

 

This is a book for serious dessert lovers, budding pastry chefs and domestic cooks ready for training from a generous and kindly master.

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Cookbook Review: South East Asian Food by Rosemary Brissenden

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

This book is definitely one of those compulsory doorstops along with La Cuisine, Stephanie Alexander and anything by Marc Bittman…

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Cookbook Review: The Good Life by Adrian Richardson

My rating: 4 ½ stars

 

 

Adrian is a Melbourne boy done good – check out La Luna and his show, “Secret Meat Business”. This book is a fantastic celebration of his Italian food life. It is hilariously male in many ways… read more »

Cookbook Review: 2010 Cookbook of the Year: Around My French Table

My rating 4 1/2 stars


This book is old school i.e. it’s similar to books from the 60’s and 70’s in that there are hardly any pictures and there’s an overdose of words. (bye bye Gen Y, LOL, LMAO).  I would have cooked more than one recipe but typing out one gave me carpel tunnel.

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Cookbook Review: frankie magazine sweet treats

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

As a youngster in a migrant family, primary school fetes were completely foreign to me. Other kid’s parents made honey joys, toffees, rumballs, and fairy cakes. My parents sent me in with a packet of Marie biscuits. : (

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Cookbook Review Vintage: What Was Your First Cookbook?

What was your first cookbook?

Mine was: The Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step CookBook (1977, special imprint 1984) edited by Gill Edden.

My rating: 4 1/2 stars

Any child (to  later develop a weight problem) would have to stop and caress the cover of The Good Housekeeping Step-by-Step Cookbook…..My mum bought this for me from a discount bookstore – the kind Greg Evans did commercials for in the 80s.  Its one of the best cookbooks I’ve ever owned and produced the best baked cheesecake I’ve ever tasted (see below).

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