Cookery bookclub - who is with me?

[Curioustiger]

I love cookbooks and have picked up a ton of recommendations since joining mumsnet. I am keen to set up a cookery book club - anyone else interested? I propose:

• we select one book each month
• we go away, try out the recipes and generally revel in the deliciousness
• we chat about it

We could alternate between books people are likely to have eg Nigella, Jamie, Delia and something a bit more unusual. If we have a rolling three month list, that gives people time to borrow / buy books they don't have (from the library for example).

What to you think?

thereslfellatio are you the one who suggested eat your books to me? Glad you're joining us!

Kindle Ap on iPad tiger yes lots of pictures, not the same as the feel of a real book though. DS2 has Kindle Touch that he loves, am not keen on the original Kindle though, very plasticy and clumpy buttons.

Ahh. Had not thought of kindle apps on iPad. I have an old fashioned kindle with no keyboard. Will remember for the future.

I did the free 4/5 books on eat my books but am not keen on it. It doesn't bring up the recipes and only lists ingredients and then not store cupboard ones, unless I'm doing it wrong somehow?

I am going to do 1 recipe from SK this weekend probably this smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/01/southwestern-pulled-brisket/

And hopefully the Chocolate Guinness Cake from Feast, if my DH stops drinking the Guinness I buy

No that is how it works but I find it really useful. Yes it would be better if it gave you the whole recipe but I get that anyone could say they'd bought a book and get the recipes for free otherwise. Quite often though I find myself staring at the fridge looking at, say, butternut squash, and thinking, what shall I make with that? Then it's great. Also quite good if you're round the shops and want to check ingredients.

Oh kneedeep the Guinness cake is amazing. One ofmy favourite cakes ever!

Ooh great. Not so great for my diet though.

Right - today is a cooking day, the DCs actually asked if we could not go anywhere so we only went as far as the butchers and I am going to make the Finger-lickin Ribs from Feast for their tea. Going to substitute pineapple juice with apple juice as we don't have pineapple juice and I didn't really want to get a whole carton just for this. Should be OK shouldn't it? Also going to make the Jacked-Up Banana Bread from SK as I have 3 mouldering bananas in the fruit bowl.(Probably with their help, so the results may not be reliable...!) Will report back later!

Ok I've read through all the posts and have followed on twitter my twitter name is kitchenstars I would follow some of you guys but unsure who's who!
Anyway I'm going to make the Whole lemon cake bars and the spaghetti squash, black bean and feta tacos from Smitten Kitchen. Also like the look of the lamb chops with pistachio tapenade but noticed that is a recipe on her blog by someone else, so not sure if I will do that but will def keep for the future.

The feast book I have not looked at for a while so will peruse that this afternoon over a cuppa.
I can recommend the gingerbread muffins they are yummy I make a cinnamon glaze to go on them.

Actually cooking will have to wait until tomorrow as I am on the 5:2 diet and today is a fasting day!

Glad I found this, its just up my street!

I'm doing the 5:2 diet too ELR. Fasted yesterday - finding it very do-able but not sure if I could manage to read a cookbook on a fast day, it might tip me over the edge!

Hello! I just made the SK caramel cake mentioned way down the thread. I overcooked it so it looks quite solid and dry. I'm hoping that because it contains buttermilk it will be ok. The recipe was easy to follow. Will report back about the taste tomorrow.

And yes, yes, yes to the gingerbread muffins in Feast. I make them often. I always used to make the Easter next cake until I decided I didn't actually like it. It's a shame because it's very easy to make & people always seem impressed with it. I'm going to look at some more SK recipes.

Right - the Smitten Kitchen banana bread looks and smells great, but is slightly dwarfed in my 2lb loaf tin. Would do it in smaller one next time. Very easy to make and will be interested to see what the bourbon and nutmeg in it are like when we taste later.

The ribs have just gone in. I left the chilli out of the marinade just because even though the DCs are OK with spicy stuff I find raw chilli hard to judge for heat and didn't want to overdo it. The marinade is v liquid but I like the fact you tip everything in - hopefully it will go nice and sticky with plenty of sauce... Also the ribs are the kind that don't have bones in so I hope an hour at 200 isn't going to annihilate them... will see what I think at 30 mins as that's when you have to turn them.

Thank you, Pantah.

Kneedeep - the Guinness cake is amazing: my favourite cake recipe ever. :)

minimuffin have earmarked the ribs as a contender so let me know what you think. Also love a banana cake so will have a look at that. Been looking at cookbooks all day and watching cooking Chanel too I'm a glutton for punishment! Are you on the 5:2 thread?

Have ordered Jerusalem from the library for next month and I already have kitchen diaries.

I am cooking SK's mushroom bourgignon tonight as a side for Nigella's sake Marsala steak (venison instead as had one in freezer and still not been to shop - working too hard this week - but suspect that may be a rather wonderful substitution. Will report back!)

Two in one meal, one from each book! Do I win a medal or summat?!

On a side note, all this talk of chocolate Guinness pudding is reminding me thAt I have some real cocoa powder from Venezuela (DB works there) that I need to use up!

Any recommendations on recipes?

Well, I'm happy to report that I've done my bit for the day and made the sk meatloaf. They were fab and especially good with the tomato sauce in the recipe. I ended up making the full amount of tomato sauce but a half quantity of the meatloaf and there was only just enough sauce as DH thought it was so good. Baby DS was also a big fan and made it clear by ensuring that not one piece of meatloaf hit the floor although a pity the same could not be said of the spinach I made to go with it.

Again, hits all of the same notes as the lemon bar recipe - relatively cheap, all ingredients that we generally have in and tasty.

Have just devoured our Marsala Sake Steak and the steak, I used rump, was delicious not so keen on the sauce, was a bit too much Marsala or me, maybe it's better with sake but I could really taste the acohol in it rather than the saltiness from the soy and fish sauce. Rice was good with cardamom. I will definately marinate steak again this way but omit the sauce, it was incredibly tender and just melted in the mouth.

pantah I think the 'cook and wrap in foil and rest' method really works, I only ever cook steak like that now. Interesting about the alcohol - I don't like taste of alcohol in food if it's noticeable - perhaps that's why I always have to make twice as much sake sauce than the recipe (because I'm reducing it down to my taste!)

I made a bit of a half arsed version of the grapes and olive chicken from SK tonight. I roasted a whole chicken with no fat at all for half an hour, then added the grapes and olives to the casserole dish and continued to roast for about twenty minutes. Then transferred the whole lot to the hob and added vermouth as had no open white wine. Although it wasn't the exact recipe it was probably a bit easier and I have to say, it was really tasty, I'd make that again.

choos that choc sounds AMAZING, I would love that. One of my proud foody moments was when someone bought me tea leaves which had literally been picked on the Himalayas and were the best of the crop - they were huge and the tea was completely out of this world! I imagine Venezuelan cocoa vs our standard cadburys might be similar ... You've got the chocolate cake hall of fame in feast for inspiration?

mini and wetweekend it truly delights me that you're on a diet and still on the thread! Raising a glass to the 5:2 diet!

Thatll be what happened, I didn't reduce it enough to burn off the acohol, d'oh I can still taste it now horrible aftertaste. YY t the foil wrapped steak, lovely and tender, next time I'll probably only cook for 1.5 mins per side as I like my meat rare.

The verdict on the ribs was good. DSs ate them and liked them, but they like ribs with Wagamama teryaki sauce on equally well. I liked them too, the marinade was quite sour and savoury, which was a nice change from the usual sticky sweet thing (maybe because I used apple juice rather than pineapple) but I wouldn't be gasping to do them again if that makes sense. They were nice but not amazing. I also wouldn't try using them as a seduction technique as she suggests. (By the way I used black treacle instead of molasses by the way and cooked them for 45 mins in the end.)

The banana loaf is very nice, lovely flavours but quite dense - I normally break up a banana bread with walnuts or raisins and I prefer it with one of those in. Just thought I wouldn't muck about with the recipe to give it a proper test run. My favourite is Nigella's banana bread from Domestic Goddess and this recipe hasn't quite knocked it off top spot, but it's good. I always have really high expectations of American baking recipes - they seem so good at it both on a home cooking and professional level - so I am always a bit disappointed when I bake something using an American recipe and it doesn't blow my socks off. I've got the America's Test Kitchen Baking Illustrated book and expected to be producing the ultimate of everything from it, but have yet to find my ultimate anything. Find the recipes fiddly as ingredients slightly different or hard to find, US measurements etc.

Will try another couple of recipes next week but am going to make another Nigella simnel cake over the weekend as the last one vanished too quickly.

ELR not on 5:2 threads but have got a few useful links from them. Have just been plodding along with it quietly for about 7 weeks and have dropped 5 or 6lb. Cursing it today as I fasted yesterday and didn't feel like lunch for the first time ever, so I just skipped it. But haven't been feeling hungry today either - just been to pub with DH for dinner and nothing on the menu really grabbed me. Loss of appetite on fast days is fine but not on other days!!

May change my mind about the ribs then as I have my own fab recipe which is delish! Still looking through feast and so far it's the desert recipes I am finding I like, will carry on till I come to a savoury one!