We are also delighted to announce that October's book is SIMPLE by Yotam Ottolenghi and he joined as live on Monday 8th October at 5.45pm on Facebook and made a dish from his new book and also took questions from CookBook Club members. Watch the live stream here.
Even with the vast number ofrecipes available on the internet these days, there’s nothing quite like leafing through a beautiful book full of recipes. It’s a medium that’s stronger than ever before, with cookbooks topping bestseller charts throughout the year. If you’re anything like us then you’ll have shelves upon shelves of them in your home – some kept in pristine condition, others earmarked, stained and scrawled over after years of use.
It’s this national love for cookbooks that has prompted us to start our very own cookbook club. Each month we’ll select a cookbook that we think stands out from the rest and ask you, the Great British Chefs community, to cook a recipe from it. We’ll publish a small selection of recipes on our site so, even if you don’t already have the book, you can still get involved and see how your cooking compares to everyone else’s. Apply to join the Facebook group here and take a look at this month's book (and recipes) below. We've also included the winning post from last month's book, as well as some of our other favourite entries.
As much as we love spending hours in the kitchen crafting grandiose meals that give us the chance to show off a bit of technique and flair, sometimes the lack of time and energy (especially in the week) means we want something quick and easy. Ottolenghi’s latest book Simple is out to prove that speedy, simple dishes can be just as impressive and tasty as more ambitious fare, and in our opinion he’s completely right. The 130 recipes in this book each take less than half an hour to make, require ten ingredients or less and can be thrown together even after a particularly tough day at work. Thankfully, they’re all incredibly delicious to boot.
If you want a taste of what's inside, then the three recipes below are featured in the book. But if your interest is piqued, head over to Amazon to bag yourself a copy.
Yotam Ottolenghi joined us on Monday 8th October at 5.45pm on Facebook and made a dish from SIMPLE he also took questions from cookbook club members. View the live stream here
These little crunchy fritters are absolutely packed with giant bunches of dill, basil and coriander, bound together by eggs, flavoured with cumin and finished off with crunchy walnuts. The sauce on the side is optional but definitely worth making if you've got the ingredients to hand; it's essentially a tahini sauce with added parsley, but the flavours go with the fritters wonderfully.
This dish is a sort of Ottolenghi-fied shakshuka, with the eggs gently cooked in vegetable stock rather than tomato sauce. What makes it stand out, however, is the tangle of sweet leeks, salty crumbled feta and za'atar. The preserved lemons are an integral part of it, so don't leave them out – they provide a piquant top note to the flavours which really brings the dish together.
Yotam's pasta dish perfectly combines flavours of Mediterranean Europe with the Middle East, combining pasta and capers with fiery rose harissa and olives. There are some cherry tomatoes in there for sweetness, and the Greek-style yoghurt adds a creamy indulgence making this an instant crowd-pleaser.
Don't forget that Yotam Ottolenghi will be joining us on Monday 8th October at 5.45pm and you will be able to see him LIVE on Facebook cooking a dish from his new book in our office kitchen. Apply to join our group so you can ask him a question. Find out more here.
Last month we tasked you with cooking as many recipes as possible from our debut cookbook Great British Chefs, a collection of 120 recipes from sixty of the UK's top chefs. Cookbook club members tackled everything from buttery curries to mackerel and horseradish (plus everything in between) and we were blown away by the response. Huge congratulations to Helen Hayes-Wynne whose winning dish came top – she will win a signed copy of a cookbook club book of the month of her choice! Take a look at all the honourable mentions from last month below.
Make sure you post photos along with commentary of the dishes you cook from Simple in our Facebook group to be in with the chance of winning a signed copy of one of our featured cookbooks of the month.
Yotam Ottolenghi joined us live Monday 8th October at 5.45pm on Facebook and cooked a dish from his new book in our office kitchen. You can view the live stream here.
