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Food/Recipes

Diana Henry

9 replies

anonymousbird · 19/01/2017 09:53

I've suddenly started hearing quite a lot from friends about Diana Henry, and I see she is a well established food writer.

She has two books called "Cook Simple" and "Simple" which sound almost too good to be true in terms of providing easy interesting meals.

I have loads of cookery books which I dip in and out of, but am often put off by long lists of unusual ingredients and lack of time to amass and cook it all, so more often than not our evening meals, although freshly made, are fairly "standard" and not terribly exciting.

Does anyone have thoughts on either of the above books and are they actually "Simple"?

TIA

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ILikeyourHairyHands · 19/01/2017 10:02

I have quite a few Diana Henry books including cook simple, have used it a fair bit and quite a few of the recipies have made it into my regular repertoire. There's some lovely interesting recipies in there that are very easy to bang out on a week night.

I also use Food from Plenty a fair bit, definitely worth a look with some great ideas for making things stretch further and getting the most out of seasonal food.

I've found all her recipies to be reliable and never had a dud!

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PeanutButter82 · 19/01/2017 11:55

Huge Diana Henry fan here - I have all her books!
I think Cook Simple is probably a better book for what you're looking for (easily accessible ingredients, things that take little effort) than Simple. I second ILikeYourHairyHands that Food from Plenty is great too and probably the most used cookery book on my groaning shelves. It has a good mix of easy dinners and things you might cook when entertaining.

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anonymousbird · 19/01/2017 17:32

Ah, thank you both. I will investigate further in that case - does sound like just what I may need - a couple of DH's books to inspire me!

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1frenchfoodie · 21/01/2017 20:11

I don't have the 2 books you mention but have 4 of her other books and think she is a brilliant food writer, one of the best. 'roast figs, sugar snow' and 'crazy water, picked lemons' are among my favourite books. I've had no dud recipes and many I return to time and time again.

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Teapot13 · 24/01/2017 20:11

I have Cook Simple. I have got several great recipes from there. A lot of her things aren't to my taste, like lots of anchovy things, pork chops, and sweet things with meat but obviously this is personal! Generally I think it's a good book, well-tested.

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PerspicaciaTick · 24/01/2017 20:15

I have her book "A bird in the hand" and it is a lovely book and I often look at it for inspiration but...hand on heart...I've never actually cooked anything out of it. I look at the recipes and can't be bothered/know that someone in the family would turn their noses up at it.

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Cookingongas · 24/01/2017 21:23

I have roast figs and sugar snow- lovely book, fattening as hell.

I also have a change of appetite- lovely book, preachy as hell.

She wrote well and her recipes are sound though. I've not had many duds and have cooked a lot from both books.

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HeadDreamer · 25/01/2017 04:03

I have both of the books and am a huge fan of Diana Henry. I have cooked a lot from Cook Simple and cooked a fair few from Simple too. I find Diana Henry to be reliable and unfussy.

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HeadDreamer · 25/01/2017 04:06

I have cooked a lot from a bird in the hand too. It's a change of appetite that my children aren't that keen on.

In the last few weeks I have cooked the gochu mayo chicken with cucumbers, New York take out noodles and a dhal from Simple. They are all hits with the DCs. (They are 5 and 2 so very young).

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