Cookbook Review
So for my first cookbook review I've picked the cookbook with the same name, Maggie's Kitchen by Maggie Beer, one of Australia's most celebrated celebrity home cooks.
I absolutely LOVE cookbooks and food magazines. And I have stacks of them. Is Maggie's Kitchen my favourite cookbook? Actually no, because I have no favourite, I love them all. (It sounds as if they're my kids, haha!) I'm just doing a rather corny thing by starting with a namesake book. Back in January 2013, I did a review of Maggie Beer's cookbook on my Facebook page, Maggie's Kitchen. I tried only a few recipes but I'm inspired to try more now. To start off, here's a summary of the ones I tried back then.
Maggie Beer cooks a lot with Verjuice, which has a pleasant sweet sour taste to it. Gives another dimension to your dish.
First up, Maggie Beer's famous Roast Barossa Chook with Preserved Lemon and Tarragon Butter. Tastes good. But I'm sure it will taste a lot better if I followed the recipe as is. The recipe does call for quite a lot of butter. If you're a little hesitant about that much butter, well you can't be if you want the chicken breast to be as tender as she says it will be. And you can't skip the olive oil for the skin as well if you want a nice browning. So there it is, tips for you from my own mistakes/hesitation. And of course I didn't use Barossa chook. I used Aldi chook :-)
Frozen Pea Soup. A simple classic, served cold, but we tend to prefer our soups hot. The colour's not great, is it? But let me assure you that it tastes GOOD!
Mozzarella Sandwiches.This is a REALLY GOOD recipe for a simple but really delicious gourmet grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. Her recipe calls for buffalo mozzarella or bocconcini so I chose baby bocconcini, which is much cheaper. I'm a big fan of Aldi and I get mine there. Works fine. First slice bocconcini and marinate with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Fry some pancetta to a crisp. I used my homemade grain bread. Butter one side of bread slices, then fill sandwich with cheese, pancetta and chopped basil on unbuttered side. Fry buttered sides of sandwich till golden and crispy, and cheese is melty. So crazy delicious!
Pumpkin, Walnut, Cheese and Verjuice Terrine. Another gourmet-ish looking dish. I used almond, pumpkin, white castello cheese, ricotta cheese, eggs, seasoned with verjuice and wrapped in vine leaves. Line terrine mould with vine leaves, then top with chopped almonds or walnuts. Then layer cheese mixture mixed with chopped thyme and sage. I used the basil I had on hand. Top with pureed roasted pumpkin blended with eggs and milk. Cover with more vine leaves. Then bake, cool and chill in fridge overnight till properly set. Learn from my mistake, use fresh ricotta from the deli and not the packaged ones which are wetter and therefor does not help your terrine to set properly. Taste? Quite fine. Great when you're entertaining guests at a luncheon.
Salad of Beetroot, Blood Orange and Pumpkin. The recipe calls for blood oranges but they weren't in season so I just used oranges. With fresh beetroot, roasted pumpkin, sweet oranges, and crisp watercress (I used broccolli), this is again simple but gourmet-ish with refreshing sweet and spicy notes. And the colours look great too!
Carrots in Verjuice with Goat's Cheese and Pine Nuts. This is quite a classic dish that's further yummified with the addition of verjuice, raisins, pine nuts and goat's cheese. Yum!
Broccoli with Almonds and Lemon Butter. Almond flakes are roasted till crunchy. Butter infused with lemon juice. Simple, almonds and lemon butter makes the veggie less boring. Doesn't taste particularly great, but not bad either.
Spring Salad. Just had this about 2 weeks ago at a dinner party. As it is now spring, I wanted to use seasonal produce and out together a simple, beautiful and light tasting salad to complement my husband's fabulous Peri Peri Chicken, which has a heavier flavour. Salad greens, zucchini, snow peas, broad beans and new potatoes, tossed in a simple and light dressing of macadamia oil, salt & pepper. Nice. Pretty colours, and light tasting with a good crunch.
So the verdict, a cookbook that's nice to have, and if you're Australian, a nice addition to your collection of books by local chefs. Most recipes are quite lightly but elegantly flavoured, suited to the local tastebud. Three stars :-)
