Most of us are lucky enough to eat every day. Many of us look forward to meal times and some of us live to eat, but it’s often difficult to please everyone for every meal. Bill Granger presents us with a selection of recipes that stand a good chance of appealing to all the family, and you won’t be spending too much time in the kitchen, either.
Lots of you will have seen Bill on TV in his series Bill’s Food. He is a charming chap with a quick smile and the most gorgeous kids. His food is innovative, accessible and child-friendly. He is not only a successful dad but he has three popular restaurants in Australia. Bill opened his first when he was only 22 years old. He comes from a family of butchers and bakers so unless he was going to become a candlestick maker chances are he would work in the food industry.
Every Day has seven chapters which reflect the days of the week, with each chapter offering a breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am sure you could get away with making Tuesday’s recipes on Wednesday – let’s not be silly about this. It’s a nice concept.
The food is superb. It’s not cheffy and it doesn’t contrive to be elevated although there are plenty of smart dishes, but even those are not over-taxing for the home cook. Lots of fresh ingredients and a good dollop (a culinary term utilised extensively by the cognoscenti) of style.
It’s summer and a young person’s fancy might turn to burgers. Bill Granger has a simple pork burger served with roasted red pepper and sweet potato fries (recipe for these is included). The meat is flavoured with a touch of fennel and some parsley, and is a cut above most beef-based burgers. Use meat with enough fat to give flavour and to bind.
Lime Paprika and Honey Glazed Chicken is a simple recipe but it will be popular with the whole family. The combination of ginger, garlic and honey is a match made in heaven and the chicken is succulent; a dish of rice and some unfussy veggies are all you need to complete a flavoursome meal.
Creamy Mushroom and Prosciutto Pasta is perhaps my pick of this book. It’s comfort food at its finest. A good mid-week (Bill suggests Thursday) meal for the family but I’d be tempted to give this to guests on a Saturday night. Some good red and bread, and contentment will reign.
Every Day is an attractive book (photographs by Petrina Tinslay) with food that is practical and tempting. The recipes are well written and a gift to those of us who love to cook but don’t have much time to devote to it. Yes, it’s a pretty book but more important it’s a book that will be used.
Cookbook Review: Every Day
Author: Bill Granger
Published by: Murdoch Books
Price: £16.99
ISBN 978-1741963557
Cookbook review by Chrissie Walker © 2018