Too easy - that book
"It's a noisy world out there, and simple cooking is our solution."
Yotam Ottolenghi
The quote is both on the back of the book and begins the Introduction - the latest Ottolenghi and co blockbuster book. It's probably sold millions. And I rushed to buy it too, although I think I took the time to order it from Amazon because it was cheaper. And before you are outraged at my use of Amazon - yes I felt very guilty. Apologies to my favourite bookshops.
It's actually a co-authored book by Ottolenghi and Verena Lochmuller his Head of Quality and Product Development - and also it must be said a long-time co-recipe developer with pastry and baked things being her speciality I think. And there are contributions here and there from others in the team, like this Chaya's saffron yoghurt hake from another long-time colleague Chaya Maya. Mostly these people are acknowledged - they certainly are in the general acknowledgements at the back of the book, but I suspect not always on an actual recipe page. Or maybe it's because a finished recipe may have been one person's original idea, but then it was workshopped into a joint creation.
So far I have only made one dish - this Butter bean dip with Kalamata oil - the recipe for which is not yet online, and it was more than fine, but I guess not super fine. I see I have written that I was marginally disappointed and that it needed more oil. Also that I should have been a bit braver with the chilli flakes. It was certainly nothing to be ashamed of however. I suspect that there is nothing in this book that would create that feeling.
I have not made anything else because it has been sitting on my desk waiting for me to write about it, although I see I have already written about one dish - Menemen - which several of you seem to have read. I have not made anything else, but I have many little yellow stickers pointing out of the book crying out for my attention some day. In fact when I picked it up today I found that the yellow stickers almost gave out about halfway through which I suspect was because I started to think it was ridiculous marking almost every other recipe for attention some day. I might just as well pick any page at random. Not quite of course, because there are recipes for prawns for example that I cannot make, there are recipes that include black limes, which I have yet to source and some that just don't appeal - chopped salads have never appealed to me for some reason. But then, maybe these are the recipes that we really ought to try. The ones we think we don't like.
The book is called Simple Too, and the Introduction is full of how it is intended to make our lives easier, when it's all too much:
"They're there to save you on a weeknight when you have nothing and no ideas and no energy left. ... Whatever your particular barriers to cooking are - time, confidence, decision paralysis, or the general noise that distracts and numbs - we've put together a collection of dishes whose sole purpose is to bring you into the kitchen with a promise that simple solutions are within reach, both technically and mentally."
To be a tiny bit cynical, money is not listed as one of the restraints, but then anyone with very little money would not have the book - unless they were a voracious public library user. The book is not cheap and I doubt it will turn up in the op shops any time soon. It's too good for that.
Nevertheless here is a dish Baked chicken thighs with yoghurt and za'atar - the recipe for which is on the House and Home website - which is not only described as "This wins the award for easiest recipe in the book" but which also is relatively cheap to make - chicken being the cheapest meat around, and it requires nothing else other than yoghurt, lemon and olive oil. Well za'atar I suppose, but if you look you can find how to make your own online, from a few dried herbs and sesame seeds. And it does't have to be chicken thighs either - they suggest drumsticks, but wings would probably do too - I saw a massive bag of chicken wings reduced in price to about $5.00 the other day. I was tempted! Also I will say there is not much of the 'use the best ingredients you can afford' advice. So if you pick and choose, there is a lot that is cheap as well.
As someone with a vegetarian grandaughter I am always particularly pleased with the vegetarian mains in Ottolenghi and co. cookbooks. In this one there are a few - most of which I could eat myself: Fennel, grape and olive tarte Tatin - high on my list to try sometime soon - perhaps with the fennel that my friend gave me; Butternut parmigiana a recipe that Ottolenghi has chosen to be featured on his website; The one sauce (with pasta) - available on The Times website - but behind a pay wall. There was also a superb looking Stuffed romano peppers - Wine Selectors.
He does breakfast and snacks particularly well - Baked za'atar tomatoes and mascarpone, as well as everything else from several eggy things, Everyday granola and Weekend pancakes with date butter syrup and that gorgeous looking Crushed crisp omelette that I may have mentioned on another day.
For mains? What about Roast chicken and cabbage with soy butter or Slow-roasted lamb with grapes - delicious./Herald Sun; Salmon with apricot and coriander pesto - Democratic Underground served with a side of Little gem with orange, pecans and Parmesan - Ottolenghi
At about this point in the book I began to flag. As I said at the beginning I was tempted to add one of my little stickers to almost every page. Suffice to mention what Ottolenghi said was his favourite photograph in the book - 'a study in green' he calls it - Green beans with miso and grapefruit and Asparagus with miso and olives - Ever Open Sauce.
However, I'm guessing that you will find your favourite vegetable in the Sides or Salads sections and an exciting new way to cook it, without lectures about going organic, or buying from framers' markets. Indeed he begins the whole book with a look into his fridge, where amongst the more exciting condiments and leftovers there are 'slightly tired-looking vegetables.'
Desserts too - there's a chocolate cake, a most divine looking semifreddo, not to mention Verena's Ginger-peach puffs - the ginger being crushed ginger nuts on which the peaches sit. AI will give you the recipe if you search Google, but it's not yet officially online. As soon as we get peaches - or nectarines - in the shops I'm certainly going to try this one. And maybe I should take the semifreddo recipe with me to New Zealand for our Christmas Day dinner dessert.
Most of the recipes truly are simple, either because they can be made in advance, or once prepared just sit in the oven for hours, or consist of just a few ingredients ... all the ways you could define simple, although not all at once. Anyone with a modicum of skill - no often with no skill at all could make somthing from this book - beginning with that za'atar chicken. If, like me, you are an Ottolenghi fan you may well have the book already. If not, either go out and buy it or ask for it for Christmas.
The only question I am asking is what shall I make next - maybe Chicken schnitzels with curried tomatoes - of which one reddit reader said:
"out of this world flavor (my mouth waters when I talk about it).
Alas the recipe(s) are not online yet.
And where can I find a space for it on my shelves? My kitchen shelves are all full.
One last quote from the Introduction:
"We don't want cooking to become another thing we're failing at, another source of low-grade guilt about not being the person we thought we'd be by now."
No we don't and that is why we should have books like this in our collection, or search out online those recipes that are available. I can only assume that over time other blog writers will make them and publish the recipe online. And maybe Ottolenghi will too.
YEARS GONE BY
October 20
2024 - Nothing
2022 - The sugar dilemma
2021 - Missing
2020 - Missing
2018 - Nothing
2017 - Yuzu = citrus junos
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