If you're running short of weeknight dinner inspiration, are feeling a bit out of your depth ahead of a big dinner party, or just fancy taking some time to refine and improve your cooking skills, investing in one of the best cookbooks is definitely a sensible decision.

Best cookbooks 2023: From Nigella Lawson to Ottolenghi 37 Best cookbooks 2023: From Nigella Lawson to Ottolenghi

Enticing, inviting and delicious. Vegan and vegetarian dishes that are hard to resist (and why should you?).” I found that I could travel to Asia without traveling very far at all. I spoke to my accountant, Ben, who is from Borneo, where Sarawak laksa is prized. I begged Wichet, the owner-chef of the Thai restaurant Supawan, to show me how to make a tom kha ghai soup, and Shuko Oda, the Japanese chef, to teach me how to make her walnut miso. I accosted home cooks on social media who had innocently posted photos of their breakfast to ask them more about what they ate and how they made it. The tomatoes create a wonderful sauce with the coconut milk; they also float up to decorate the dish. I began by looking beyond India to east and south-east Asia, finding new ways to shift vegetables from the side to the centre of the table. I had already travelled to Sri Lanka and eaten sublime beetroot and cashew curries. In Thailand, I had memorised every twist in the creation of som tam salad and counted down the minutes until my next pad thai. I had been soothed by my first congee in Hong Kong and had my taste buds electrified in London’s Chinatown by a bowl of dan dan noodles. I was hungry for more. Since Chinese takeaway is a very different beast to standard Chinese and Cantonese cuisine, then it seemed fair to include this for those wanting to make their takeaway favourites at home!This is a huge boon to home cooks who love the flavour and texture of deep-fried foods but hate the fat, calories, mess, and danger that accompany frying foods in a pan of hot oil. We love both of these books equally, depending on how we’re feeling! One recipe that we can’t wait to try is the chilled pistachio and cucumber soup — perfect for a warm summer’s day! And I converted to tofu. Until a couple of years ago, I was a tofu-denier. The dish that changed my mind was chilli tofu, shared with my father at his favourite bolthole, a canteen called Tangoe in Leicester. The tofu was crisp and chewy, giving way to a soft and creamy sponginess, and doused in a sweet, fiery sauce. This is living, I remember thinking – until we got to the last piece. Surely it’s the daughter who should have it, I said, but he decided it was the father’s right. We are still on speaking terms. Meera Sodha's stunning new collection features brand-new recipes from a wide range of Asian cuisines. This cookbook is a collaboration between Sodha and the East Asian and South East Asian home cooks and gourmet chefs who inspired her along the way. There are noodles, curries, rice dishes, tofu, salads, sides, and sweets, all easy to make and bursting with exciting flavors.

East: 120 Easy and Delicious Asian-inspired Vegetarian and

As a lower energy alternative to a conventional oven, air fryers are a cost-efficient way to make all your favourite dishes and save on your household bill. And, as a low-oil cooking method, they're ideal if you're keeping an eye on your calories, too.

Drain the rice, add it to the pan and stir to combine. Add the coconut milk, 200ml of water and the salt. Stir again and bring the mixture to the boil, then put the lid on, turn the heat down to a whisper and cook for a further 15 minutes. Don’t be tempted to lift the lid, as the steam is key to cooking the rice. After 15 minutes, take off the heat and keep the lid on for a further 10 minutes to let the rice rest before eating. Serve with a fresh green salad. Two years later, the time felt right to bring all these recipes together in a book. Some are vegetarian, not vegan, because this is, in the main, how I like to eat— and therefore not all of them have featured in my column. What if we told you that you can eat anything you like and lose weight?Well, you probably not believe us, would you? And if you did believe us, you would ask HOW? With step-by-step guidance and over 75 recipes to help you on your journey, this book will give you everything you need to build a healthier relationship with food. So let's get started: lose weight eating the food you love and give yourself the power to say #itsfine.

BBC Good Food 15 best cookbooks – chosen by chefs | BBC Good Food

Using the firmest tofu I could find and frying with a good amount of rapeseed oil on a high flame gave me the most perfect result I could have wished for, and the pad thai sauce! A satisfying combination of 6 tbsp of peanut butter with syrup (I used agave instead of brown rice syrup), tamarind, lime and soy sauce, producing the most beautiful salty/sweet sharpness that marinated the noodles, tofu and broccoli wonderfully.

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You’re also given chapters on Chinese cooking techniques and food etiquette and customs to broaden your knowledge in that area. They also offer a vegetarian version of this book! Set the same saucepan over a low heat and put a couple of tablespoons of water into the pan. When hot, add the mangetout. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, then add the watercress. Stir-fry for a minute until it wilts, then take the pan off the heat. The complete introduction to the schools of Chinese cooking and how history has greatly impacted Chinese cuisine leaves you fascinated and want to learn more. The Classic Italian Cookbook was published in 1973 in America, where Hazan taught cookery in her New York apartment. Then, in 1980, it was adapted for a British audience by Anna del Conte, at which point she won herself a whole lot of new fans, plus an Andre Simon Award. It is a very good book indeed: comprehensive, straightforward, with recipes that really work. If you want to know how to make proper risotto, minestrone, or lasagne, this is where to look. But it includes other delicious things, too: pot-roasted squab, stewed rabbit, braised oxtail. As Hazan notes, the Italians like to describe such dishes as "un bocone da cardinale", or a "morsel for a cardinal". We don't know too many cardinals, but we know what she means: this is gloriously tasty food, to be cooked for those you really love. Rachel Cooke 7 THAI FOOD David Thompson The great Jane Grigson, the Observer's food writer from 1968 until her death in 1990, was also the author of many wonderful cookbooks. It's perhaps debatable which is the best of these, but the one for which she will always be most celebrated is English Food. As the critic Fay Maschler put it: "She restored pride to the subject of English food and gave evidence that there is a valid regional quality still extant in this somewhat beleaguered cuisine."