Sunday, September 11, 2011

Review : Catherine's Family Kitchen

Last week, a lovely envelope landed on my doormat - a copy of Catherine's Italian Kitchen by Catherine Fulvio.  I'm a big fan of Catherine, having done a one-day course at the lovely Ballyknocken House Cookery School with my friend Mrs T. (who inspired this blog).  I've a copy of her previous book, Catherine's Italian Kitchen which automatically opens to soup, potato bake and Saltimbocca, all of which are made on a regular basis in our house.


This time around, Catherine's recipes are family oriented with flavours to please even the fussiest of palates.  I've already made the Thai-Style Crab Cakes with a spicy Sesame Dipping Sauce (which I learned at Ballyknocken) and these feature in the first episode of the TV series on RTE, together with Oriental Style Roast Sirloin of Beef, Stirfried Green Beans and a decadent Raspberry and Chocolate Meringue Tower which looks very complicated but is surprisingly simple to make.

Catherine's writing is like her teaching : simple, uncomplicated and easy to understand.  She takes the time to explain how to chop food, highlights five useful kitchen gadgets (all of which I possess) and gives each recipe a variation or suggestion at the bottom.  What I really love about this book is the use of local ingredients - Wicklow is a county full of amazing food producers and it's fantastic to see them featured here.

Catherine's Family Kitchen is published by Gill & Macmillan and available in all good bookshops.  The accompanying TV series is on RTE1 on Fridays at 8.30pm from 9th September.

3 comments:

  1. Will keep my eye out for this. So far, I haven't spotted it. Love Catherine Fulvio, and her relaxed style.

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  2. I watched her tv show on the weekend and I really liked the Thai-Style Crab Cakes. If only I could have every cookbook I want...

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  3. Colette - it's a lovely book & the recipes are all easily achievable.

    Wiosanna - if we could have every cookbook we wanted, we'd all have to live in mansions!

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