Designer salads | Cookbookmaniac

Roasted Eggplant with Saffron Yoghurt by Ottolenghi

By Amy @ cookbookmaniac

"Oh my goodness. You have so many cookbooks. Do you cook from them all?" This is the question asked by most people who are perplexed by the size of my collection. In fact the IKEA shelf that I purchased specifically to house them is now full and there are books overflowing onto the floor. Most of the books that end up on the floor are far too obese for the lean wooden shelves (Ripailles - yes, I am talking about you). Quite often I purchase a cookbook for its potential. This is the possibility of creating something that will satisfy my greedy appetite. If I only get one 'great recipe' out of a cookbook, then I consider it worth its value, at the very least. I recently purchased Ottolenghi - The Cookbook and was flabbergasted by the quality and diversity of the recipes. I could not flick pass one page without cooing, pointing or bookmarking it. Every recipe is filled with vibrant ingredient combinations that are not only healthy, but delicious. The other thing that astounded me was that the ingredients used in the book can be accessible (in my opinion). I could not settle on a recipe, so I randomly flicked open a page in the salad section and landed on the Roasted Eggplant with Saffron Yoghurt. I did the same for the Meat and Fish section and got the Roast chicken with Sumac, Za'atar and Lemon. Both recipes turned out fantastic. It is cookbooks like this that puts…

Cheap Eats Recipes

Lamb Chops stuffed with Feta Cheese

By Amy @ cookbookmaniac

I own so many cookbooks. I think the floor under the shelf is bending from the weight of it. There are thousands of recipes sitting inside these gems calling out to me. "Make me, try me, love me". You see, one of the main reasons why I started this blog was because I felt I wasn't cooking from them enough, (and food blogging is a fantastic hobby). I find that there are many, many recipes that I have never heard of, nor ever eaten. I am too much of an adventurous eater to just stick to one type of cuisine and not try anything else. There is no better comfort of knowing that I have the freedom to choose a recipe based on the whim of whatever I am craving, from wherever it is from in the world. Whether it be digging my fork into a tomatoey eggplant that is oozing mozzarella, or, slurping and sweating over a bowl of pho. There is also a deep warm satisfaction when I watch Pizzaboy rushing into kitchen to grab his share of whatever I have concocted in the kitchen. Sometimes it doesn't work out. That is when the shit hits the fan and I smack my fist into my failed creation. All that time, energy and food wasted because I was not able to either follow the recipe or mothernature decided to watch me throw a tantrum. I feel lucky I have a partner who will eat my food no matter how…

Asian Recipes

Thai Kangaroo Salad – What is Australia’s national dish?

By Amy @ cookbookmaniac

It was Australia Day a week ago. For a longtime I'd been wanting to cook and present one of Australia's National Dishes to the blog. However, I was having a hard time selecting one, or actually, I don't know if I had even found one that didn't have its origins from elsewhere. Pizzaboy and I came up with a few possiblities: Meat Pie & Sauce Shepherds Pie Fish'n'Chips Pavlova Sticky Date Pudding Lamingtons Masterchef runner-up Poh Ling Yeow suggests that it may be Salt & Pepper Squid. I don't think she was too far off. You see, Australia is culturally multi-layered, built by many years of immigration from around the world. Almost all of the world's cuisines are represented here, we are very lucky in that respect. With all this in mind. I do believe that we show our "Australianess" by throwing together a barbeque. Everyone can bring whatever they want and "chuck it on the barbie". It is an opportunity to take advantage of the fresh produce that is available to us, soak up the warm climate and relax. What can be more Australian than that? I received my copy of Delicious magazine in the mail and my decision was made when I came across a recipe for Thai Kangaroo Salad. Jill Dupleix makes the following observation, "It makes sense that if we are to produce our food from animals, that we do it from those that belong here. I bet if Thailand had kangaroo, they'd cook it like…