Anne Sheasby

People looking for a bread making recipe book need look no further than, “I Love My Bread Machine”. It has a number of great bread making recipes, most of which I have not seen published anywhere. The book was obviously written by a Brit since some of the ingredient names, like castor sugar or fine grain white sugar in the US, are of UK origin. All recipes in the book are converted into US measures.

Although the book’s title indicates that this is a bread machine recipe book, I found that a large number of recipes used only the dough cycle of the bread machine. Final kneading and rise were done on the counter followed by oven baking. Oven heat settings are included in the recipe instructions for gas and electric ovens.

A number of the recipes called for powdered mustard and pepper. This is the first time that I’ve seen these ingredients called for in bread recipes. Unfortunately, as I write this using a library computer, I’m still without power at my home, the result of Hurricane Irma, and unable to test these recipes. But, I am curious as to what flavor mustard powder will add to a bread and will remedy my ignorance as soon as I am able.

As a recipe book, this volume is a success for the author. If you’re looking for a more basic treatise with explanations of the bread making process, however, then I recommend that you read Peter Reinhart’s excellent book, “The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread” first.… (mer)

Another lovely little cook book in the Marks & Spencer series.... Here's the thing, I can not locate these on the internet. They are U.K. books and the one I did find is no longer available, via Abe Books.

The book is divided into six parts: Introduction; Soups & Salads; Meat & Fish Mains; Vegetarian Mains; Desserts; and Index. The Introduction contains information on Carbohydrates, sugars, fats, proteins, fibres, vitamins & minerals, salt, & guideline daily amounts, which I found helpful and easy to understand.

Recipes include: Roast mushroom & garlic soup w/ wholemeal croutons; Spiced lentil & vegetable soup; Lentil & goats cheese salad; Warm duck salad; Beef en daube w/ mustard mash (potatoes); Plaice parcels w/ fresh herbs; Chinese lemon chicken; Seared duck w/ onion relish; Moroccan style turkey w/ apricots; Seared scallops; Pasta w/ leek, butternut squash, & cherry tomatoes; Sweet potato curry w/ lentils; Mushroom stroganoff; Blueberry fool; Ruby fruits w/ baby meringues; Orange cups (filled w/ low-fat yogurt & honey); Coffee ice cream; and Chocolate Swiss rolls.

Lovely photographs, easy to follow recipes, some a bit more time consuming than others, but overall a nice little cookbook.… (mer)