Saturday, July 07, 2007

Destitute Gourmet - A favourite Cookbook

This is a shameless cook book plug. I think I've written about Donna Hay, and the occasional Jamie recipe. Sophie Gray is another big favourite that you might not have heard of before.
What I like about Donna Hay is the simplicity, but often that simplicity relies on premium ingredients that I wouldn't normally buy. I'm happy to buy bocconcini cheese, or rib eye steak, or swordfish - but I'd never buy them all in one week.
Sophie Gray recipes take the next step. There's an emphasis on cooking from scratch, working within a budget, and still creating very flash food. Where a Donna Hay pie recipe might use frozen puff pastry, the Sophie version includes a simple shortcrust recipe. I just wish her cookbooks had more pictures!
Sophie Gray writes as the Destitute Gourmet, and her website is here. Another bonus for us Australian's - Sophie is a New Zealander, so all the measurements and ingredients are familiar. Anyway, here is a picture of 'Casserole of Chicken and Thyme' also featuring her herby dumplings.

2 comments:

fitcat said...

I'm going to see if our library has this book - the recipes all look so delicious and I've only heard good things about it.

I'm definitely going to try that sausage recipe and the asparagus one as well!

Kristin said...

thanks fitcat! it's good to get a comment when i've been neglecting my blog for so long.


For some reason, blogger won't let me add a title to this post - it's a bit maddening! Hopefully it will work with the next one.