Christmas Loot

This Christmas I have received four wonderful cookbooks from my husband. I love books, so for me a gift of a good book is the best gift I can receive. He selected cookbooks he thought I would enjoy using (and he would therefore benefit directly from my usage of the books), and he really impressed me with his selections.

I got What To Cook & How To Cook It, by Jane Hornby.


It's a mouthwatering book, and I cannot wait to make dishes from it. Although it is a beginner cookbook, it is really well done. The pictures of the dishes are amazing, and I like the way it is organized. This week I am cooking a couple of dishes from it: Huevos Rancheros (p.44), Shrimp and Mushroom Laksa (p.80) and Tomato Thyme Soup (p.76).

Another gem of a cookbook, that is now in my possession is 1080 Recipes by Simone and Ines Ortega.


Apparently this book is The Silver Spoon (famous Italian cookbook) of Spanish cooking. It's daunting piece of work with almost 1000 pages. Tonight I made two dishes from it: Lentejas Guisadas (recipe 227) and Ensaladilla Rusa (recipe 21). Both were very delicious, but more on that later.

The other two cookbooks are The Wagamama Cookbook, by Hugo Arnold, and Thai by Lulu Grimes. I have not had a chance to really dive into them yet, but over the next month I will. I am particularly curious about Wagamama, which is a Japanese cookbook, and since I have never prepared any Japanese food at home, I am very excited about trying it out. I love making Thai curries (or any curries for that matter), so I know I will enjoy using the Thai cookbook.