cookbook addict

Elle ne contient pas de mayonnaise et elle nous vient directement d'outre-Rhin, où ils s'y connaissent en pommes de terre. En Allemagne, la salade de patates divise le pays en deux : au nord, la salade de Westphalie, avec de la mayo, au sud, la salade bavaroise, à la vinaigrette. Mais attention, pas de la simple vinaigrette, hein, l'amidon des patates lui confèrent une texture sirupeuse qui donne l'impression qu'elle contient beaucoup d'huile, ce qui est faux. Je trouve qu'elle est plus raffraichissante et plus légère que sa cousine du nord, et la meilleure que j'ai mangée, c'était par hasard, au retour d'une journée au lac à Munich, au détour du chemin, tout le monde affamé, on a posé nos vélos près du premier (en apparence) boui-boui du coin et là, sublime salade de pommes de terre maison. La mienne s'en approche, même si souvent on prend des oignons lambda au lieu des oignons verts. It doesn't contain any mayonnaise and comes direct...

Leon, in case you don't know, is a healthy fast food chain for people who like their food. A bit like Ottolenghi , I suppose, but with more of a generous nuance -and cheaper-, since their motto is also "better food for most people" or something alike. I have never had the privilege to set foot in one of their outlets, having not been in London at all for the past two years, but a visit there is definitely on my list were I to be travelling in those parts again. So, they have published a cookbook, and the foodie brain behind the whole venture is Allegra McEvedy, who seems like a generous, funny character, and whose humour shines through the pages. The book is huge, and divided in two sub-books, one about ingredients, with lots of interesting info and trivia about the whole spectrum of food (including a seasonal chart and a cheese map of Europe), and one about recipes, not just those of the Leon signature dishes, but also "family" recipes, handed down by members ...

Thanks to the lovely Claudia, I have recently watched many episodes of Nigella's food shows, including Forever Summer. In a time when I find it hard to plan ahead my meals, ie looking at my cookbooks for inspiration, writing down grocery shopping lists and going to the supermarket, I was surprised to be inspired by so much DVD watching of La Nige. The last program I watched was Forever Summer, and therefore it had the most vivid impact on my memory. The other day, we hopped over the border intending to gather strawberries in a special field where you pay for the amount of fruit you've collected (and stuff your face in the process). It was to have a little fun and show Maya where strawberries come from (she loves them). Alas, what disappointment when we found out they had cleared the field to sell the produce in a stall by the side of the road, having a strawberry fest that weekend -probably the end of the season (?) Anyway, we consoled ourselves by spending time in Trier, ...

The title sounds a bit grand, but I have been cut off my cookbooks for a little while, having no energy to plan, shop and cook special recipes. The other day, wanting to shape minced beef into hamburgers, I remembered the success I had had with Jamie's Botham burgers from the Return of the Naked Chef. So I pulled it off the shelf. While I was at it, I browsed it a bit, and found inspiration for my asparagus too. My burgers turned out to have a mushy texture, but that's because instead of using eggs, I used a slice of bread soaked in milk. I was making much less quantity than the recipe called for and had no desire to use half an egg. Still, they tasted good. My tip is to use grainy mustard, if you have it... The salad , which is a posh tabbouleh, was really tasty. Taboulé, the French version, is usually simply precooked couscous, lots of lemon and olive oil, and red pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, a bit of parsley only, all chopped very small. This salad, on the other hand, used ...