From easy 15 minute family meals to show-off dinner party dishes, these five cookbooks have you covered … starter, main, pud and eat!
Sarah Graham’s blog, TV series and previous books have put her firmly in the ‘my favourite’ category when it comes to easy but inspiring dishes. Her seventh book, Simple Suppers – A Year of Easy and Delicious Family Dinners, will rapidly be your new best friend in the kitchen. With suggestions for every day of the week, through the seasons, the dishes are perfect for family suppers – Summer sausage traybake, easy fish traybake, or friends invited for a casual dinner – Greek lamb meatballs with whipped feta and flatbreads, salmon and potato bake. And for pud – her pear and pecan Biscoff crumble takes the cake! Penguin
Celebrate with Paul Hollywood – of the gorgeous blue eyes and host of GBBO. Mini chocolate logs, strawberry heart shaped scones, elderflower cupcakes, panforte keep things sweet, while for those who prefer savoury, there are glorious recipes like savoury Autumn roulade, hand-held beef pies, garlic and onion focaccia. You really should make Paul’s iconic chocolate cake – which may be the most famous cake in the world! – and our must-have … his ultimate rocky road – crammed with honeycomb and almonds, pistachios and apricots. Baking is like a hug, he says. It’s a joy. It’s a little bit indulgent. “I think we should all be looking for an excuse to celebrate as often as we can.” We agree. Bloomsbury Publishing
Lightly curried West Coast black mussels. Duban bean curry. Bunny chow. Oepsies. Cape Malay bollas. Local flavour on every page in Timeless South African, Ilse van der Merwe’s celebration of 101 iconic dishes. With lavish images, there’s everything from slap pap with butter and sugar to soetpatats to jaffles, from Cremora tart, to chutney chicken (if you were cooking in the 80s, you’ll remember this chutney and mayonnaise chicken dish). Filled with memories as well as recipes. Penguin
From the lemon curd to the beets with walnut dukkah to the eggplant and zucchini soup, all 100 of the delish recipes in 7-Ingredient Mediterranean have just that, a handful or less of easy-to-find ingredients. There’s a delish spicy chocolate halvah we can’t wait to make, a simple but impressive cucumber, mint and sumac salad, and lamb kebabs that’ll work well as the next braai. Cider Mill Press
Karl Tessendorf’s The Good Stuff is just that … a book with 80 kick-ass (as he describes them) recipes for every occasion.
‘Stick-to-your-ribs food that makes you weak at the knees,’ he boasts. And he’s not wrong. Short rib gnocchi al forno. Vindaloo sweet potato curry. Braaied chicken, sausage and leek pie. Tiramisu-ish brownies. Even the salads are substantial … there are two potato salads we’ll make on repeat. The South African-style French-dip sarmies are a thing of beauty, as are the Boxing Day gammon braaibroodjies. Heaven! Penguin
