The Cookbook Junkies

 

Donna Hay’s back with another stunning title, Life in Balance, which is set to be released today. Donna Hay is a leading food personality in Australia, a magazine editor-in-chief, and a best-selling cookbook author who began her food writing career at the age of 19.

Her books and magazine are known for their vibrant, modern look at life food and cooking. In this title, Donna focuses on a fresher approach to eating with information on ingredients along with recipes. Oh the recipes! Beef Skewers with Crispy Amaranth and Brown Rice Noodle Pancakes; Roasted Quinoa and Tomato Soup with Parmesan Wafers and Crispy Basil; Coconut Poached Chicken Salad; and Moroccan Chicken and Carrot Salad with Whole-Wheat Couscous (recipe below) are examples of the incredibly flavorful, yet good-for-you, dishes that can be easily whipped up on a weeknight but are also suitable for entertaining.

Fresh and healthy ingredients do not mean we must go without dessert. We can still have Lemon Cheesecake with Blistered Peaches; Almond and Jam Tart and a Chocolate and Peanut Butter Slice that are all decadent and yet made with ingredients that thoughtful and nourishing.

Image credits: Chris Court, William Meppem

 

Moroccan Chicken and Carrot Salad with Whole-Wheat Couscous
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon ras el hanout*
1 tablespoon chopped preserved lemon rind
1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
3 x 200g chicken breast fillets, trimmed
1½ cups (240g) dried whole-wheat couscous*
1½ cups (375ml) boiling water
sea salt flakes
3 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 cup (160g) smoked almonds, chopped
½ cup (80g) dried currants
2 tablespoons poppyseeds
3 cups coriander (cilantro) leaves
orange dressing
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup (60ml) orange juice
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

To make the orange dressing, place the oil, orange juice, vinegar,
garlic and mustard in a bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F). Place the oil, ras el hanout,
lemon rind and coriander seeds in a small bowl and mix to
combine. Place the chicken on a baking tray lined with non-stick
baking paper and brush with the ras el hanout mixture. Roast
for 12–15 minutes or until golden and cooked through. Allow to
cool slightly before slicing into strips.

While the chicken is roasting, place the couscous, water and a
pinch of salt in a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside
for 5 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Fluff the couscous
with a fork and add the carrot, almonds, currants, poppyseeds,
coriander and the chicken. Top with the orange dressing, toss to
combine and divide between bowls to serve. SERVES 4

Reprinted from Life In Balance by Donna Hay © 2016 by Donna Hay, used with permission from HarperCollins publishers.

The Moroccan Chicken will be made soon and I will update the post with a photo which won’t be nearly as beautiful as that above. Very soon, I will make the lemon cheesecake while peaches are everywhere here in Colorado.

Now for the GIVEAWAY:  HarperCollins has generously offered one of you a copy of this beautiful book for your collection. The giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. To enter you  may leave a comment daily and a second entry can be obtained by sharing this post on social media. A random winner will be chosen on September 20th.

Random Number Generator picked #4 Jean J. Update: Jean already has the book – so the new random winner is #16 Joan O.

 

 

Herbarium (release date October 18) by Caz Hildebrand is the ultimate guide to herbs and the myriad uses they possess. The author states in her introduction, “We’re missing out on herbs if we don’t appreciate their multi-dimensional personalities, their varying medicinal, culinary, spiritual, cultural and magical qualities and histories.”

Illustrations by the talented Hildebrand are plentiful in this title and be warned, there are no recipes or photographs. However, the wealth of information and interesting background of each herb is fascinating and the illustrations are pure artistry. Also, shared is a reference section that focuses on growing and maintaining, pairing food with herbs, and herb uses for health and beauty treatments.

I read it like a novel and it has found a spot on my cookbook shelf as a valuable resource. Hildebrand is an award-winning designer for books by Nigella Lawson, Yotam Ottolenghi and the Moro cookbooks. (I love all these books – but the Moro books are particularly gorgeous). She also wrote The Geometry of Pasta with Jacob Kennedy. So while the name Caz Hildebrand might not be familiar, we’ve all seen her work.

Random Number Generator picked #3 Lori Hahn.

GIVEAWAY: Thames & Hudson is generously offering one of you a copy of this beautiful book. To enter: you may have a comment daily on this post until a winner is chosen. If you share this post on social media, you may leave a second comment telling me you did so for another entry. This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only – a random winner will be chosen on September 30th. Good luck.

 

Tessa Huff is a cake whisperer. Her debut book Layered: Baking, Building, and Styling Spectacular Cakes is SPECTACULAR. (Yes, I am shouting!) Tessa is the voice behind the beautiful site Style Sweet CA  the content of which houses a wealth of temptation and inspiration.

Somehow, I missed this book’s debut in April – I’m really slacking off. Thank goodness for my good friend, Judy, who righted my wrong and told me three or four times how much she loved the book. After the third, “Did I tell you how much I love this book?”, I ordered Layered. The moment I took it from it’s wrapping I was smitten. I’m going to order a second copy to stay pristine because this copy is going to get a work out.

At first blush, I was taken in by the stunning photographs – cake is art and Tessa is an artist. Then I read the first few recipes and for a brief moment I thought, “Oh this is a lot of work.” That passed quickly, because all good things take a little effort and truth be told, Tessa’s instructions are precise, succinct and incredibly easy to follow.

The book is organized with introductory chapters that focus on pantry staples and cake making and decorating techniques. She then breaks out into the categories: Sweet Staples, Classic Cakes, Chocolate Cakes, Casual Ckes, Whimsical Cakes, Adventurous Cakes and ending with Holiday Cakes. She even adds a bonus section containing Three-Tier Wedding Cake and Mix and Match suggestions.

A few examples of cake creations are: Blood Orange Thyme Cake, Red Currant Chocolate Cake, Ultimate Candy Bar Cake and Banana Split Ice Cream Cake. Every cake you will immediately want to bake- and while everyone is impressed with a homemade cake – everyone will be gobsmacked by a multi-tiered, multi-component offering.

For my first bake, I chose the London Fog Cake – a perfect blend of flavors – a chocolate espresso cake, earl grey buttercream and a salted caramel that will rock your world. Roughly, tacking on cooling time, interruptions and life – it took a total of two and a half hours to make (remember I have a lot of interruptions – their names are Jim and Andrew.) While I was making the cake for a dinner the following day, I knew Andrew would pester me to death for a slice, so I made a cupcake version. A best defensive is a good offensive.

The cupcake was shared by the three of us – Jim and I had a small bite and Andrew moaned and groaned while eating the rest. “The best cake you have ever made!” Frankly, he says that a lot – but Jim and I also agreed this time.

I knew there would be no time to get a decent shot when company arrived so I did slice the cake this morning and slid that slice right back into it’s rightful spot. It took every ounce of willpower not to eat that slice. The cake is moist and tender, the buttercream is not overly sweet – and the essence of earl grey is just right. The salted caramel is gilding the lily – but the lily loves to be gilded and this addition takes this spectacular cake to unworldly good.

Special thanks to Abrams and Tessa Huff who are allowing me to share this recipe with you. It can be downloaded here London Fog Cake.

Update: after serving the cake for dessert – I am even more enamored — it cut beautifully and received raves all around.

GIVEAWAY:  Tessa has kindly offered to provide one of you with a signed copy of this book! The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian addresses. To enter, leave a comment on this post telling me anything about cake! For a second entry, please share the post on social media and leave a second comment telling me you did so. Lastly, you may return here daily to leave a comment for additional entries. A random winner will be chosen on September 20th.

Random Number Generator picked #42 Katrina!

The link to Tessa’s book is an Amazon affiliate link. I purchased this book myself and felt so strongly about its brilliance that I had to do a post about it. We all need this book.

Thank you Tessa for writing this book and sharing with us your recipes for greatness.