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Frame by Frame Cookery: Quick and Easy - Love Food
by Holland1
As many of you will know, I am a lover of cooking and baking, and any opportunity to expand my already extensive (ridiculous) cookbook collection is greeted with open arms and purse. I've owned this book for a couple of years, having bought it in conjunction with another book in the same range on baking, which I have already ... reviewed.
The book is from a Love Food series, called "Frame by Frame". The idea being that all the recipes in the book contain step by step photos to ensure you stay on track during cooking. The RRP is £14.99 but I bought this half price in Waterstones in a sale so it cost me around £7.50. It is also available on Amazon for anywhere between £3 - £9, and I have also seen it stocked in The Works so it's worth keeping an eye out for it if you have a store near you.
It is a hardback book which is a bit wider than most cookbooks, allowing it to stay open at the page you're using rather than having to prop it open, although I usually use our cookbook stand so this doesn't usually pose a problem for me. Anyone who is a bit particular about the size of their cookbooks sitting nicely on their bookshelf (mentioning no names!), should probably be warned that this is a little wider so it comes out a bit further than most cookbooks.
The book begins with the usual introduction and "useful information", which I have to admit is a section I ignore in almost every cookbook. It does have some useful hints for saving time and might be worth reading if you are a beginner. The recipes themselves are split into broad categories: Meat, Fish, Vegetarian, and Desserts. Choosing a recipe from the book can be tricky because there are so many lovely photos I find flicking through the book makes me hungry and I want to cook everything at the same time, but it is great for providing inspiration if you're looking for something nice to cook, unlike those books which are lacking in photography and you have to use your imagination to picture the final result.
The instructions in this book are excellent, and the pictures give a good indication of whether you are on the right track or not. I find this useful if I'm in doubt of whether I have chopped the ingredients to the right size, or if I'm deciding if something looks ready to take out of the oven or not. The instructions are foolproof and this is one of the few books where my cooking actually reflects the photos in the book rather than my version looking completely different.
Are the recipes quick and easy? Yes. But, that said, they are also quite impressive. Some of the recipes in this book have been adopted into our favourite weekday recipes, so there are a few that I make without having to look at the ingredients each time, because they have become second nature. Examples of this are the chorizo, chilli and chickpea casserole (ideal for winter nights), and the fish pie which is made with a breadcrumb topping instead of pastry. This makes it tasty but easier than having to make your own pastry which you're unlikely to get chance to do during the week. I have also used the recipes to use for entertaining guests, because I know they will be easy to make yet the results are always pleasing. This means I can take a chance by trying a new recipe, but have confidence that the recipe will turn out perfectly every time.
The selection of recipes is varied, with no "dud" recipes in here. By that, what I mean is there's nobody teaching you to suck eggs here. Sometimes with celebrity cookbooks, I get annoyed when they give ideas of how to jazz up scrambled eggs, or include recipes for things like jacket potato fillings and other basics that you don't really need to line a celebrity chef's pockets to be shown. This book contains some really excellent recipes, with some fresh new ideas on what to do with meat and fish. It also uses ingredients you'll either have in your storecupboard, or you'll find easily in your supermarket, and you won't find yourself buying something for a recipe and never using it again. This is another positive for me, as I hate wasting ingredients and like to be able to delve into my storecupboard to throw meals together cheaply.
The vegetarian section has some unusual ideas, such as tacos with chickpea salsa, falafel burgers, and courgette, carrot and tomato frittata. I have tried these myself although I'm not a vegetarian. I haven't tried any desserts from this book yet as I tend to use the baking book from the same series, but there are some tasty looking recipes in this section, such as pear and hazelnut pancakes, which are also easy to put together without too much preparation.
As with the baking book, this book doesn't tell you how long each recipe takes to make, which is a little annoying. But I guess the point is that you know none of the recipes are going to be epic hours worth of preparation and cooking. They are all reasonable in terms of time, meaning that each recipe in this book would be practical to make during the week after a day in work. I have never looked at a recipe and thought "I won't have time to do all that, I'll pick something else".
I love this cookbook, and frequently choose it over my celebrity-focussed cookbooks as it has impressive food which is difficult to get wrong with the step by step instructions. I also find it inspirational when looking for food for a special occasion, as the photos provide a visual aid to imagining how the food will look once prepared.
Another thing worth mentioning is that I like the fact the recipes are reasonably health-conscious. I'm not saying they're all fat-free or anything radical like that, but I like the fact you won't be adding huge blocks of butter, or gallons of olive oil (you know those celebrity chefs who say "add a glug of olive oil", then pour in half the bottle?!). Even the fish pie, which is described as "creamy fish pie", is made with crème fraiche and doesn't involve pastry, so it's not as indulgent calorie-wise, but is still delicious.
I would thoroughly recommend this book, and I have my eye on expanding my collection to include the other books I am missing from this range (hint for a Christmas present if any of my family are reading!).
Other books in the Frame by Frame series include:
Frame by Frame: Italian Cooking
Frame by Frame: Baking
Frame by Frame: Asian Cooking
I would recommend this book to beginners and advanced cooks, as it is in no way patronising, but ensures perfect results every time.
(Review also appear on Ciao under the username Gingerkitty)
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The River Cottage Family Cookbook - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
by loopylou1234
I bought this book after a friend recommended it. I have bought and then subsequently 'de-cluttered' a large number of recipe books over the last few years but this is one of the few 'keepers'.
It is not just a recipe book, it is packed full of information too. It is divided into sections 'Flour, Milk, Eggs, Fruit, Vegetables, ... Fish & Shellfish, Meat, Store Cupboard, Sugar & Honey, Chocolate'. It is almost a 'lifestyle' book too as it explains the importance of eating good food using the best ingredients.
For example, the first section is about 'Flour'. It has a small descriptive paragraph as follows "See those crumpled bags of flour in your cupboard? They may not look much but without them you'd have no bread to spread with butter and jam, no spaghetti to twirl around your fork, no crunchy pizza with its tangy cheesy tomatoey topping. Not to mention no cakes, no biscuits, no croissants, no pies, no pancakes, no scones... no wonder this is the first chapter'. Then there is photographs alongside of someone rolling out dough, a handwritten note about sourdough, a photo of the easy flatbread with reference to the recipe page number, a photograph of a combine harvester harvesting crops in a field, a loaf on bread rising on the kitchen side and a few others that link it with the heading.
After the introduction page there is information explaining what flour is, what flour does and the different types of flour that you can buy and then it goes on to explain about bread, the importance of yeast, kneading bread, and then it goes on to sourdough. After this beginning introduction, the recipes then start.
There are recipes for the whole family to enjoy and they are clear and easy to follow. The book has lovely photographs throughout.
I have cooked a few things from this book and I often flick through it for ideas and inspiration.
Overall I would recommend this book, I bought it when it was on offer for about £10 from one of the major supermarkets a couple of years ago. It is still available to buy on Amazon for £17.50.
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The River Cottage Family Cookbook - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
by xxlucexx
The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall & Fizz Carr.
This cookbook is special because it is especially designed for the whole family to use. The book aims to teach people of all ages exciting and delicious recipes which are easy to follow and use only basic ingredients. The book was first ... published in this country in 2005 by Hodder and Stoughton.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is a well known chef who has had numerous Channel 4 TV series such as 'Beyond River Cottage'. He is best known for his organic approach to food, he cooks with fresh produce and is a campaigner for "real food". He is a strong believer in the consumption of local produce and does not like to depend on stores for food.
Fizz Carr is a writer who is passionate about animal welfare standards and teaching children about where food comes from and how it is made. Together Fizz and Hugh worked together to create this book suitable for children and adults. Not only does the book include recipes but it also includes useful information about food origins.
Hugh moved into the original River Cottage in Dorset in 1998. His aim was to create somewhere he could grow his own produce and depend less on the outside world. He filmed several successful television programmes at this cottage and produced many cookbooks, including this one. Nowadays the River Cottage HQ is at Park Farm near Axminster. The current River Cottage runs courses to teach other people how to grow their own produce and live by the same self-sufficient rules.
I would say that a lot of the text in the book is aimed at children 12+. There are just as many explanations about food as there are recipes. If you are looking for a cookbook with just recipes then this isn't it, it is almost like a food-tech text book.
The book is separated into different chapters for different food groups/items:
*Flour
*Milk
*Eggs
*Fruit
*Vegetables
*Fish & Shellfish
*Meat
*Store Cupboard
*Sugar & Honey
*Chocolate
At the start of each chapter there is a brief explanation about what the item is, how important it is in cooking, where it comes from, what you can do with it and then finally some recipes with the ingredients. As an adult reading the book a lot of the information is pretty much a given and that is why I think it is more suitable for children to teenagers. If I was a teenager reading this book then I would certainly learn a lot about food and ingredients.
The recipes themselves are based on homemade food and some of them are a little basic for an adult e.g. poached egg on toast, crumble, custard and beef burgers. These recipes would be great for kids who want to start getting into cooking. The instructions are very clear and concise and on a few of the recipes it even tells you how to eat it.
The photography in the book is by Simon Wheeler. There are some beautiful pictures in the book of animals, fresh ingredients, families making the recipes and the finished products.
I am not a huge fan of the way the book is laid out as to get to a recipe you first have to go through pages of information about where flour comes from and different types of flour. I think it would be good if all the recipes were placed together so that they are easier to get to. The information itself is laid out clearly and it is very colourful.
I paid £20 for this book and I bought it from Waterstones.
Overall there are some really useful recipes in this book. There is a lot if information about produce and techniques for creating food which is also useful. I would recommend this book for children 12+, teenagers or anyone older who wants to learn more about food. I bought the book for the homemade recipes but it wasn't until I got it home and started to read it that I recognised what its real intentions are. I think that the book is intended to teach about food more than give out recipes.
I give this cookbook 4 out of 5 stars!
The website where you can find out more information about The River Cottage is www.rivercottage.net
Thank you for reading : )
Review also on Ciao under luceey.
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