What Katie Ate by Katie Quinn Davies

Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 9780007458592
Format: Hardback
Pages: 304
Genre: Non-Fiction, Cookery
Publication Date: February 28, 2013

SYNOPSIS

This extraordinary début cookbook from award-winning Irish photographer and home cook Katie Quinn Davies features over 100 simple, seasonal recipes. Katie offers much-loved classics and mouth-watering fresh dishes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, baking and desserts, drinks and gatherings. Featuring Katie's gorgeous photos throughout, this enchanting cookbook is a feast for the eyes as well as the palate.

REVIEW

Cookbooks have become a particular weakness for me over the last 6 years. I've seen my collection rapidly grow from a few basic student cookbooks to well over 3 shelves worth. And while admittedly they are mostly unused, they are much loved.

I think I just miss food. I was fortunate to grow up in Toronto, a fantastic multicultural city that provides an amazing diversity of world cuisines to sample. I'm also quite lucky to have my father who is a wonderful chef and whose food I could never hope to reproduce myself. So it's not a surprise that some of my earliest and fondest memories are sitting down and enjoying a tasty meal. To me cookbooks are not only just great reference tools for honing culinary skills, but can also serve as literary keys to unlock treasure troves of sensory associated memories.

This year I promised myself that instead of staring longingly at photos of foods I want to eat, I would make good use out of all my cookbooks and try to become more of an intuitive chef rather than a strict recipe-only amateur. It'll be a long time before I develop enough of a knowledge base to instinctively combine random things into tasty meals, but I think this cookbook is a good place to start.

What Katie Ate is a hard book to resist. Quite simply, it's one of the most beautiful cookbooks I've seen. The food photography found within its pages feels rustic, yet highly polished in its framing and lighting, but most importantly, every photograph makes you passionately want to cook the mirroring recipe.

I'm ashamed to admit that I've bought a plethora of recipe books purely on how well designed and attractive they are rather than asking myself the oh so practical question "Will I ever use this?".  With space becoming a new unwanted and incessant issue, Katie's book had to pass my first test to see if it would remain on my shelf. The first thing I do when I have to decide whether or not I should buy a cookbook is to mark the number of recipes that I would like to cook, that have realistic ingredients that I can find easily and don't involve kitchen contraptions I've never heard of and most likely will never buy. You'd be surprised how many cookbooks I had to grudgingly put back into stock because there were only a small handful of recipes I could mark within their hundreds of pages.

I set off with my trusty pack of post-its and bookmarked well over 40 recipes before running out.  I debated on buying another pack of sticker notes to finish off the rest of the book so I could quote a precise number for this review, but decided in the end that it might be a tad too obsessive. Even for me. We'll just say that What Katie Ate passed the first part of my criteria with flying colours.

The first recipe I tried was the Mushroom and Bacon Risotto with Poached Egg. A dangerous starting choice. I haven't poached an egg in over a decade and in the past I have gotten bored and frustrated with the constant stirring/pouring of liquid which has resulted in some spectacularly crunchy risottos.

Mushroom and Bacon Risotto with Poached Egg (page 168)

As a quick side note, this recipe calls for Cavolo Nero and my local grocers didn't seem to stock it. I'd never heard of it before so for other cooking novices like me, Cavolo Nero (also known as Black Cabbage, Tuscan Kale or Lacinato) is a dark green leafy Italian cabbage that can be substituted with regular kale, spinach or chard. I went with the safe choice of spinach since it’s the only vegetable I actually know how to prepare and cook properly out of the three.

It’s probably a good thing that this recipe doesn't mention a rough cooking time and sits next to an incredibly appetizing photograph of the finished product, or I would have chosen an easier and less time consuming recipe to make. Or maybe chosen to make this on a day off with plenty of preparation time rather than attempt to squeeze this meal into a workday evening. When I finally sat down for my very late dinner, with a grumbling stomach and a starving boyfriend by my side, I was starting to wonder if all that hand numbing stirring was worth it. Oh boy, was it worth it.

It was lovely and creamy; well balanced and the addition of the poached egg is a fantastic idea. I've always found risottos to be a bit too rich and repetitive. With every spoonful having the same creamy consistency and bold flavour it can become increasingly overpowering and overwhelming with each additional bite, but the poached egg on top provides another texture and taste to break up the monotony.

The next recipe I cooked was the Lemon Chicken with Herbed Rice. By contrast, it was probably one of the worst plates of food I've ever made. Any subtlety of flavours from the herbs and seasoning was drowned out by the overpowering taste of balsamic vinegar. It may have looked pretty on a place but after two bites, I had no choice but to throw it out and order a pizza.

Lemon Chicken with Herbed Rice (page 166)

The success (or in this case the failure) of the recipe came down to the creation of the sauce. The lemon sauce consists mainly of 125 ml of Italian salad dressing combined with 80 ml of soy sauce and 180 ml of lemon juice. Katie comments that by using a shop-bought salad dressing as the base for the sauce, it gives the dish a fresh tanginess and acts as an ingenious shortcut for a quick easy meal.

I think the fault lies in the recipe’s lack of explanation of what to look out for in the readymade dressing. I've discovered that there are many variations in the ingredients that go into the different brands and the vast sea of online recipe sites have many differing ideas of what can be added to the vinaigrettes.

Since the dressing accounts for 48% of the liquid going into the sauce, the delicate balancing act needed to create a proper sticky sauce to coat the chicken rests on the flavour coming out of that bottle. It’s a risky thing to rely on amateur cook selecting something perfect. The inclusion of a short author’s passage on what goes into a traditional Italian dressing or an optional list for nervous chefs who want to forgo the shortcut and create it from scratch would have been welcomed. It’s a shame that for me this recipe relies too heavily on blind luck rather than foolproof precision. I think it could have been a lovely twist on a classic dish.

I did manage to take away something positive from cooking this recipe. The inclusion of chopped spring onions and herbs to the cooked rice is a simple inspired idea to add an extra dimension to an otherwise bland accompaniment. It never even occurred to me to add salt and pepper to plain rice before and I've been eating it for most of my life! That revelation alone was worth the small chicken sacrifice made to the refuse gods.

Fettuccine with Prawns, Cream and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Page 142)

The tie-breaking dish was a creamy fettuccine with prawns and sun-dried tomatoes. A great pasta dish that’s simple to make. I would recommend chopping the sun-dried tomatoes into finer pieces than the suggested strips if you don’t want to end up with a mouth full of strong chewy tomatoes, but other than that minor compliant it was a very tasty dinner.

And I couldn't review this cookbook without baking the raspberry friands displayed on the front cover. After all, it’s the image that first caught my eye and made me lust over the book obsessively for several weeks. This dessert piqued my interest not only because of the attention stealing photo, but because despite having a lot of baking books, I've never heard of them before. Friands are small French cakes that are quite popular in Australia and New Zealand. They’re usually baked in special oval shaped moulds to give them their distinctive shaped, but it’s difficult to find here in the UK. Online shops do carry them, but I found it works really well in a standard cupcake tin. Just reduce the baking time to about 20 minutes instead of 25-30 to account for the smaller size.

Raspberry Friands (page 240) 

They taste absolutely AMAZING. The one downside I found about the recipe is that these cakes should all be eaten on the day that they’re baked. The fresh raspberries lose their shape and texture the following day and spread into the sponge. The day old friands weren't unpleasant to eat, but just knowing how tasty they were previously made it a bit of a let-down. Ideally, they should be devoured straight out of the oven while still warm and inviting. The cake sponge is light and moist with a hint of sweetness and the sharp acidity of raspberries makes for a fantastic combination. The small batch I left in the staff room quickly disappeared and I have now promised to bake some more for everyone who missed out the first time. Rave reviews all round and a new addition to my favourite recipes collection.

I hope Katie won’t mind me posting the recipe for it here, since it’s available on her blog. It’s the one I would recommend everyone try since it’s surprisingly simple to make and incredibly moreish.

Raspberry Friands

http://www.whatkatieate.com/recipes/raspberry-friands/

Ingredients

• 10 free-range egg whites
• 300 g unsalted butter, melted
• 175 g ground almond
• 370 g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
• 100 g plain flour, sifted
• 2 x 125 g punnets raspberries, plus extra for serving

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 ̊C (fan), 200 ̊C, gas mark 6.
2. Lightly grease 18 holes of 2 silicone friand moulds or non-stick friand tins.
3. Whisk the egg whites for a few seconds just to lightly combine; you don’t need to whip them into peaks or anything like that.
4. Add the butter, ground almonds, icing sugar and flour and beat lightly to combine well. Pour into the prepared moulds or pans, filling each hole to just two-thirds full.
5. Place two or three raspberries on top of each friand and bake for 25–30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean and tops are lightly golden brown.
6. Dust the friands with icing sugar and serve warm, with extra fresh raspberries if you like.

Makes 16-18 friands. (made 24 friands in the cupcake tins)

Despite making one disastrous recipe, I really loved the food featured in Katie's book. The stunning food photography and charming faux rustic page layouts are addictive to flip through and I can't help picking up the book every so often to just to admire it artistically. I'm really looking forward to cooking more dishes, especially the ridiculously cute mini egg benedicts. It's a wonderful cookbook and a much appreciated belated birthday gift. 

Cookbooks are meant to be used, not merely gawked at no matter how vivid the descriptions, elaborate the illustrations or scrumptious the photographs may be. As the old adage says, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and What Katie Ate is proof that you can have a tantalizing book that is as much a feast for the stomach as it is for the eye.

Short and Sweet: The Twitter Review

Elegant and thoroughly delicious, What Katie Ate is a mouthwatering temptation that's hard to resist. 

Beautiful Book of the Month: December

The Hobbit By J.R.R. Tolkien

Published November 2012
ISBN:  9780007487301
Format: Special Edition Clothbound Hardback
HarperCollins
www.harpercollins.co.uk

I put off buying a copy of The Hobbit months ago, because I wanted something special. Something that will last for years. After all, if you're going to buy a classic why wouldn't you want something that will look beautiful on the shelf and periodically tempt you back to the lovely story within its pages?

Part of my obsessive enthusiasm for "beautiful books" is the fact that they are books that demand attention; they refuse to be ignored. With every fleeting glance towards the bookshelves, these extraordinary books stand out and coax me to come closer, to run my fingers gently over their covers and dare me to open their pages and read what's within.

No matter how tall or time sensitive my "To Read" pile grows, there’s always that nagging knowledge that some new shiny proof or book release that will inevitably push some books further from my mental priority list and lower and lower in that teetering pile. In the worse cases, they are moved to another stack of teetering books located in my bedroom with an even later promised read by date dustily associated with them. Heaven forbid they end up in the dark no man’s land that is the cramped space under my bed. I'm too scared at the prospect of hunting down a hidden gem in that poorly constructed labyrinth of lost reading material. It always conjures up an image of me being found 2 weeks later buried under a massive paper avalanche...or never being found at all.


In contrast, there’s an unspoken understanding exchanged and renewed each morning as I pass by my cherished bookcase that houses my special editions. that first initial spark of enthusiasm; that feeling of anticipation and excitement you get when picking up a new book; it never fades away in time with these books like it does with my other reading piles. I may read dozens or even hundreds of stories before I eventually pluck one of the enticing tomes off the shelf, but I know, without a doubt, that I will inevitably visit each of their worlds.

That’s the main reason why I took my time selecting an edition of The Hobbit. I didn't want a cheap throwaway paperback to read as quickly as possible before the upcoming film release. I'm already aware that the story is fantastic and to honour both it and my fond childhood memories, it had to be something deserving and desirable.

I was going to cave in and buy this edition of The Hobbit, when by chance I came across a new listing for this absolutely stunning hardback. Stunned is the perfect word to describe my reaction to seeing this lovely book. As I stood for a few seconds starring somewhat dumbfounded at the screen image, it slowly seeped into my pretty book occupied brain that it was absolutely perfect. Just what I always wanted and was waiting that extra bit for. It may sound a bit melodramatic, but that’s how it felt at that moment. Nothing is worse than the feeling you get when you finally settle for something, think you’re happy with it and suddenly the next day there’s that perfect item you were looking for, the one you gave up believing even existed, staring you right in the face. So am I excused for doing a little mental happy dance when I finally purchased this? There may have been a little discreet cover stroking and whispering of “My Precious” in a secluded corner of the shop as well. That may not be as excusable…

This collector’s edition is being advertised as a special film tie-in hardback with a design “inspired by The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, but I'm happy that HarperCollins decided not to go the normal route of using either a promotional movie still or the official film poster image for the cover. Instead, we are presented with a modern, yet timeless illustrative scene of Mirkwood forest, complete with a delicate splattering of butterflies hovering above its towering trees.

“There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.”

                         ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

Patience is not a virtue that I’m blessed with. I’m a notorious compulsive buyer of books; both the state of my flat and bank account can attest to that, but in this case I’m extremely glad that I decided to extend my search for the perfect edition. Not only did I end up with an unexpected surprise that will lead me on an unexpected journey, but I couldn’t have hoped for a more wonderful choice to guide me there and back again. 

This Moose Belongs to Me by Oliver Jeffers

Publisher: HarperCollins

General Edition ISBN: 9780007263875

Special Edition ISBN:  9780007492480
Format: Hardback

Pages: 32

Genre: Children's, Picture Book

Publication Date: August 30, 2012

SYNOPSIS

Wilfred owned a moose.  He hadn't always owned a moose. The moose came to him a while ago and he knew, just KNEW, that it was meant to be his.  He thought he would call him Marcel.

Most of the time Marcel is very obedient, abiding by the many rules of How to Be a Good Pet.  But imagine Wilfred's surprise when one dark day, while deep in the woods, someone else claims the moose as their own...

Is Marcel really Wilfred's pet after all?

REVIEW

Oliver Jeffers has been one of my favourite children's illustrators ever since I first came across his second picture book Lost and Found nearly 5 years ago.  If you've never read the book, I highly recommend reading it and also watching the 24 minute Bafta award winning animated adaptation created by Studio AKA.

What really impressed me about Jeffers' work was how much character expression he could convey with an uncomplicated wire frame body and two tiny dots for eyes.  The dots may be easy to create, but their positioning is crucial.  That's what I love about his work. It's simple, clean and minimal, but it's deceptively so.  It requires a lot of precision to accomplish something that appears that effortless.  That's why I would never say that creating a picture book is easy.

I had extremely high expectations for his latest picture book partly because being a Canadian comes with a strange instilled patriotic fondness for moose and my first glimpse of the cover design showed an impressively detailed mountain scene that was unlike anything I've seen in Jeffers' previous works.

This Moose Belongs to Me explores the mature themes of friendship, ownership, independence and acceptance, but presents it in a funny, inventive and addictive narrative that is both accessible and readable for younger and older viewers.  The clever choice of featuring an uncommon wild animal as a "pet" makes it easy for children to understand why Wilfred could never really truly own "Marcel" and make him abide by his long list of rules.  There's a lovely message about the compromises we sometimes have to make when we want to have certain people or animals in our lives.

My favourite 2 page spread

It's always refreshing to see an established illustrator evolving their signature style and trying something a little different.  It's easy to stick to the same formula that has a track record of proven commercial success, but I've always loved artists that attempt to branch out and experiment with their methods. What I love most about the artwork in This Moose Belongs to Me is the variety of textures and mediums used for the landscapes and backgrounds of every page.  There's a sense of richness and abundance that flows from the pages that mirror the vast open wilderness setting of the story.  With so much detail to admire and marvel over, words aren't even necessary.  The strength of the artwork not only drives the narrative along its intended path, but makes this book must own collector's item for admirers of illustration.  I have to admit that I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the standard hardback edition a week later from the publisher to review, but as soon as I snuck a peek at the special edition and read through the story, I fell completely in love with it.  I left work happy a few hours later albeit a few pounds lighter than I should have been.      

Special Edition slipcase and hardcover Book

Limited Edition numbered print included in Special Edition

Picture books are an underrated form of storytelling that deserve wider acclaim and appreciation. While many people see them as a quick distraction or as a means of simple entertainment, many provide pivotal life lessons ranging from learning to identify different colours or first words to difficult topics for parents to discuss like moving house or losing a love one.  The ability to pass on a strong message or moral in only a few images and words is an remarkable accomplishment for anyone, but the added ability to make it charming and engaging at the same time is one of the reasons why Oliver Jeffers continues to be an author whose work I not only respect and love, but believe should be an essential addition to every child's library.

Short and Sweet: The Twitter Review

An irresistibly charming story about a boy and his moose. Fair warning to all: one small peek between its pages and you'll be hard pressed to leave it behind in the shop.