I come from a family of food lovers, not of fine dining, but good honest home cooking with the best of locally farmed or grown ingredients, the benefit of growing up in the countryside. One of our closest neighbours when I was little, was the married daughter and her family, of a local farmer who pioneered a farm shop, butchering his own meat and serving local produce over thirty years ago. As we children grew up and played together there were many outings, trips, walks, picnics and visits to the distant seaside. Now the lady in question was also a culinary pioneer and catered for these events with lots of pies, pasties and sweet pastries made with wholemeal flour long before the modern, organic, healthy eating movement began, and I have to say, they were really bad. My sister and I buried them in the sand on the beach and even the Seagulls refused the crusts and half eaten baking.

Now a good many years later as a chef I have to admit I still have an aversion to healthy cooking, compounded by a classical training using a cannon of French recipes, requiring copious amounts of cream, alcohol and butter. But times have changed. We are much more aware of diet, healthy eating and can make informed decisions about what we eat. We can make choices about low fat, low sodium, high fibre, organic, ethically sourced or gluten free dishes or menus. So two of my biggest challenges as a chef are to find inspired, tasty and healthy recipes, like vegetarian dishes a little different to a vegetable lasagne or three bean chilli, and to find reliable alternative methods to make gluten free pastry and biscuits that are slightly more palatable than my memories of buried jam tarts that will be around for hundreds of years.
It is then a real pleasure to have found the Nourish imprint and in particular two very excellent cookery books. The Best Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Baking Recipes by Grace Cheetham and The Part Time Vegetarian by Nicola Graimes. For someone who deals with recipes every day at work and in my own kitchen it is really encouraging to discover some real distinct and different dishes in The Part Time Vegetarian and I like the concept of adapted recipes including meat and fish if you so choose.
From the very moreish, crumbly Butternut squash scones with goats’ cheese served warm from the oven, to a particular favourite the Halloumi Hash, a really clever idea to use up any leftover roast potatoes and vegetables for a Monday lunch, the book is packed with well written, thoughtful recipes. Not only did I learn several new dishes and ingredients I have been inspired to go meat free at least one day a week. I have tried my hand at making Labneh, a simple, tangy Middle Eastern style cheese that was delicious with flatbread and Balsamic cherry tomatoes. I made Okonomiyaki for my lunch, this is another great way to use up a fridge full of leftovers and is a kind of really delicious, grilled Japanese pancake cum pizza. I found this book to be a total joy and a treasure trove of wonderful ideas some of which will no doubt find their way on to one or two restaurant menus.

In the Part-time Vegetarian there is a very adaptable recipe for an asparagus and Parmesan Panzanella, a classic Italian tomato salad that uses up yesterday’s stale bread. Nicola adds chicken for her non vegetarian version. I have done a similar dish on a menu using pan fried king prawns, but I was really impressed by the Best Gluten-free and Dairy-free Baking Recipes book with a recipe for Panzanella. You just don’t think to make a salad using up old bread for someone who is gluten intolerant. The author Grace Cheetham provides a failsafe collection of recipes for gluten breads, biscuits and cakes so you can enjoy the same dishes as anyone who is not intolerant.
I am in total admiration because I have to say these alternative recipes are every bit as delicious and palatable as the gluten originals. You will have to stock up on a few items such as chickpea flour, maize flour and brown rice flour but the results are well worth it from a moist Chilli Cornbread to an excellent Beef Wellington that would impress the most discerning dinner guest. Best of all there are some really astounding chocolate brownies and melt in the mouth Millionaires shortbread that went down amazingly well in the office. So if you are intolerant, on a restricted diet this is a detailed, practical and impressive cook book with recipes that really work and you can the adapt or use in lots more of your cooking.
If you know any chefs you will be aware that they are seldom wrong, well I would like to admit that there is a big place for some of these recipes in my work and I am very pleased to have found both of these books. If I am not going to swallow my own word’s I am at least going to do the next best thing make another batch of gluten free Millionaires shortbread and swallow the results of reading someone else’s.