March can be a tricky month – it’s officially autumn, but often it seems that summer didn’t get the memo. This month’s cookbook club selection is certainly generous enough to provide plenty of March morsels, whatever the weather.
March is officially the beginning of autumn here in Australia but we know that, while the leaves start to turn, summer usually still has a few surprises left for us. Nevertheless, the March morsels in Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club selection, Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking by Danielle Alvarez with Libby Travers, are diverse enough to cover whatever the weather throws at us.
This cracker of a book is full of recipes as eclectic and varied as Alvarez’ tastes, drawing as it does on her love of Italian and French food, her Cuban roots, her time spent cooking in California and then Australia, and the incredible array of Asian influences that Australian cooks and diners have embraces so whole-heartedly.
I guarantee you’ll find the perfect dish, or March morsels, to accomodate the weather, and your family and friends, because that’s what this cookbook is all about – the joy of cooking at home. It’s about embracing the seasons and the seasonal gluts, and balancing the time and decisions you make around your meals and food. As Danielle says, “With abandon and restraint, you can make a kitchen that ebbs and flows with the weather, with your mood, with your budget and with your tastes.”
What did we cook in February
So many of you embraced the wonderfully sunny food of Bill Granger in February. It was such a joy to rediscover some old favourites and to also embrace some previously untried dishes. What a loss we’ve sustained with his death, but what a wonderful legacy he has left us.
Potato and smoked trout (or salmon) salad, by Karina Francis, from Bill’s Sydney Food
Salt and Pepper Tofu with Lemon Soy Dipping Sauce from Bill’s Asian, from Carmel emery
Giovanni’s sausages with potatoes and rosemary, from Simply Bill, by Michelle Moon Shepherd
Labneh, by Jan sessions, from our year-long cookbook Food Saver’s A-Z
So – Tell me about April?
For April, I’m presenting you all with special challenge.
I want you all to select just ONE of your own cookbooks, and take a deep dive into it – a really good one. Go wild, pick any book you like, but all April cookbook club posts must only be from that one nominated book per member.
Whichever book you select, you bought it for a reason, and presumably you’ve hung on to it because it resonates, so I want you to rediscover what made you fall in love with it in the first place. Share your favourite recipes from it, the ones you thought you were going to love, and the ones you want us to love too.
Be daring – I’m REALLY looking forward to this challenge.
In the meantime, I’m excited to see what March morsels we all share in the coming weeks – it’s going to be fun !
So far, 2024 is looking a little like this –
The whole year cookbook is The Food Saver’s A-Z – The Essential Cornersmith Kitchen Companion by Alex Elliott-Howery and Jaimee Edwards
March – Recipes for a Lifetime of Beautiful Cooking by Danielle Alvarez with Libby Travers
February – Any recipes from the late Bill Granger, either from his books or online
January – Kindred by Maria and Eva Konescny
YOU CAN BUY ANY OF THESE COOKBOOKS AT ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS, OR ONLINE AT BOOKTOPIA USING THE LINKS IN THIS POST. (IF PURCHASED VIA THESE LINKS, YOU WILL GET A GREAT PRICE AND I WILL RECEIVE A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF THE COST.)
Details for last year in the cookbook club are all here.
[mc4wp_form id="16750"]
