Summer in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club celebrates all things seafood – because that’s how we roll at Christmas time here in Australia!
It’s December 1, so that means summer kicks off in Australia today, although it’s very chilly here in the Adelaide Hills. Summer in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club, and in the kitchens of our members leading up to an Australian Christmas, is going to begin looking fairly busy. Many Australians, but by no means all of us, have moved away from the traditional heavy turkey roasts, platters of roasted veggies, and steaming puddings so popular when I was growing up. Instead, we embrace the abundant, varied, and high quality fresh produce that is grown here all year round, and the magnificent and largely sustainable seafood (with the exception of farmed salmon), that comes from our local waters.
With this in mind, I’ve chosen an Australian seafood bible to help see us all through summer in the last Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club selection for 2025. Compiled by four of the most respected names in the food industry, The Australian Fish & Seafood Cookbook is really the only cookbook you will need to master selecting, preparing and cooking the amazingly fresh and varied seafood on offer in supermarkets, markets and fishmongers in this wide brown land. I’m not a confident seafood cook, but this book was a personal game-changer for me.
First published back in 2017, it’s not a new book, but is as relevant today as it was when I reviewed it here, back when it was first released. It’s still available on bookshop catalogues and shelves, and will be available in libraries, so everyone will be able to get their hands on a copy.
So – how did November go?
As expected, our month of Ottolenghi was a huge hit. There were heaps of delicious dishes shared over on our Facebook page (you could join in too, you know!) – here’s a small selection from the members.
From Gigi annabelle – One Pan Crispy Spaghetti and Chicken pg122 of Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love
Kathy Laderman Wright’s Portobello mushrooms with brioche and poached eggs from Simple.
From Ottolenghi SIMPLE, “Hot charred cherry tomatoes with cold yoghurt”, and “Roasted butternut squash with lentils and dolce latte by Heather Wallace.
Sumac roasted strawberries with yoghurt cream from Simple, by Carolyn Miles
And how about January of 2026?
Summer in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club is not only a time for seafood, it’s also peak salad season, so how how better to enjoy all of the aforementioned vibrant and readily available fresh Australian salad ingredients, but with Salata by Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley. This superb collection of more than 90 recipes presents the classic flavours of Greece, Italy, Türkiye and beyond, showcasing just how easy it is to turn a fresh, nutritionally complete salad into a meal in its own right.
It’s a gorgeous book, and the flavours are divine – you’re all going to love it. Who knows, you might even be tempted to use these delicious dishes to accompany some of the amazing seafood meals that you’ll be turning out once you start exploring The Australian Fish and Seafood Cookbook!
I’ll be back with another post in the next week or so with my top 2025 cookbook picks.
IF YOU HAVEN’T JOINED THE LAMBS EARS COOKBOOK CLUB YET, YOU WILL FIND ALL THE DETAILS HERE.
SO, here’s 2025 in it’s entirety!
Your whole-year cookbook will be any ONE cookbook from your own collection
December – The Australian Fish and Seafood Cookbook by John Susman, Anthony Huckstep, Sarah Swan and Stephen Hodges.
November – ANY Ottoleghi book or online recipe
October – Secret Sauce by Rosheen Kaul
September – Boustany by Sami Tamimi
August – Slow Cooking by Olivia Andrews
July – citrus recipes from ANY of your own cookbooks
June – Some of My Best Friends are Cookies by Emelia Jackson AND The Bakers Book by Ruby Goss
May – Everything Is Indian by Justin Narayan
April – Too Easy by Donna Hay
March – What’s for Dessert by Claire Saffitz
February – RecipeTin Eats Tonight by Nagi Maehashi
January – Salad for Days by Alice Zaslavsky
PLEASE NOTE, AUSTRALIAN ONLINE BOOKSELLER BOOKTOPIA IS BACK IN BUSINESS. IF YOU PURCHASE ANY OF THESE COOKBOOKS FROM MY LINKS, YOU WILL GET A GREAT PRICE, AND I WILL GET A VERY SMALL COMMISSION.
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