2022 in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club is a wrap with “Around the Table” by Julia Busuttil Nishimura as our December cookbook – are you wondering what the January ’23 cookbook club selection is?
Wow. It’s December already, and time for the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club selection. Again. Where on earth did 2022 go?!
This month (December) we get to explore Around the Table, by the much-loved Melbourne cook Julia Busuttil Nishimra. In between the covers you’ll find the quick tasty meals you need to have up your sleeves on busy weeknights – especially useful with the whole end-of-year craziness coming up – and also plenty of show-stoppers for summer sharing that won’t have you tearing your hair out. I just know you’re going to love it.
November was our busiest cooking month ever, since we began the club in March last year. Our cookbook club selection for the month was Nagi Maehashi’s Recipetin Eats Dinner, and boy did it go off – and not just with our little group. Nagi has been kicking some serious goals with this cookbook, including outselling Yotam Ottolenghi in Australia since it was released!
Her secret to success is simply good, honest, hard graft. Her recipes are extremely well tested, they are simply written, with ingredients that are not hard to source (no visiting three different gourmet stores for obscure ingredients), and they are clearly laid out – written step by step, in simple language and with options and swaps where possible. And they are delicious.
You can visit the group (link above) if you’d like to see what’s been happening this month, but here’s a quick snapshot of some very tasty meals from our members.
Spicy Sichuan pork noodles from Karyn Hearn
Forever Chocolate cake from Kerry Price
Pork ribs with BBQ sauce from Carolyn Miles
Beef Biryani from Jan Sessions
Moving on to the cookbook club selection for January, I’ve opted for a book that will suit the hot Australian summer right down to the ground – it’s chef Tom Walton’s highly acclaimed More Fish, More Veg. Tom is renowned for his low-fuss, max-flavour approach to food and I’m pretty sure that’s what we are all looking for on those long summer weekends when we want to put something delicious, healthy and impressive on the table.
His recipes are vibrant, boldly flavoured seasonal dishes, that make the most of our abundant fresh produce and our seafood, which is some of the cleanest in the world. This book is going to totally take care of your summer food needs, with fabulous salads, exciting tray bakes and wonderful fish dishes. And don’t worry if you feel a little nervous about cooking fish (I know I do); he walks you through the key fish cooking methods step-by-step, providing pointers on sustainability and seasonality that will take the guesswork out of what fish to buy and serve.
The end of December sees us finish with our 2022 year-long cookbook, Neil Perry’s “Everything I Love to Cook”, and I will be announcing the 2023 year-long book in a few weeks. Don’t panic – I think there’s truly something for everyone in my selection.
In other cookbook club news, the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club list for 2022 looked a little like this –
December – Around the Table by Julia Busuttil Nishimura
November – Recipetin Eats Dinner by Nagi Maehashi
October – any Australian Women’s Weekly cookbook
September – Chinese-ish by Rosheen Kaul & Joanna Hu
August – Pride and Pudding by Regula Ysewijn
July – The Cook’s Companion, or Home, both by Stephanie Alexander
June – Mabu Mabu by Nornie Bero
May – The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, by Marcella Hazan or
Jamie’s Italy, by Jamie Oliver
April – The Comfort Bake by Sally Wise
March – The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
February – Bella (or anything from any of her previous works) by Annabel Langbein
January – One Pan Perfect by Donna Hay
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.)
If you would like to join us in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club, check out my original post here, or just click on the “Cookbook Club” link at the top of the page.
[mc4wp_form id="16750"]
