Take a Tin of Tomatoes … A New Month for the Cookbook club

If there’s one ingredient nearly all of us have in our kitchen, it’s a tin of tomatoes – and this month we discover just how versatile they are!

Well, here we are at the EOFY again and it’s time to take a tin of tomatoes and  begin another new cookbook in the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club. Financial constraints are really beginning to hit in many households, and budgets are on our minds at this time of year, but most of us nearly always have a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard. The July cookbook, The Tinned Tomatoes Cookbook, will be the answer to many a home cook’s prayers, as it offers 100 versatile and budget-friendly recipes. There’s no fancy, difficult-to-source ingredients here – you’ll find much of what you need for these dishes already in your pantry, and definitely in your local store ready to be picked up on the way home from work.

A tin of tomatoes is one of the most universal kitchen ingredient around, and can be used in nearly every cuisine. Flick through this cookbook, pick a chapter that suits your mood/requirements – Storecupboard Saviours, Pasta Sauces, Family Feasts, etc – grab your tin of tomatoes, and go. There’s something here for every budget, dietary consideration, time constraint and batch-cooking needs.

I really hope you’ve got your hands on a copy of this cookbook. If you haven’t been able to run to purchasing a hard copy, don’t forget that it’s available as an eBook for your reader or tablet and, when used on a table, all of the photos are in full colour.

What Did We Cook in June?

In June we celebrated the 25th anniversary of The Naked Chef. We had a look back at that first book of Jamie Oliver’s to see how it stands up to the test of time, and revisited some of his early subsequent cookbooks. Personally, I found that my cooking has been so influenced by his fresh approach to food that the original “The Naked Chef” cookbook had little to interest me now.  However, I had fun rediscovering some old favourites from his other early books – dishes that I loved and had forgotten about – as did many of the Lambs’ Ears Cookbook Club members.

Here’s just a few of the efforts from our gang in June.

So Tell Me About August

I’ve selected Now & Then by Tessa Kiros (Murdoch Books) as our August cookbook. (And it’s on special right now at Booktopia – just use this link!) If you are familiar with Tessa’s work you will be very happy. If not, you will be grateful – her writing is beautifully evocative and her recipes utterly reliable.

Tessa was one of the very first cookbook authors I ever interviewed 12 years ago. At that stage her work was already featuring heavily on my shelves, and on our plates. I loved her work then, and this new cookbook, which was published last year, features all of the hallmarks of her earlier work – beautiful imagery and a deeply personal aspect to her stories and her recipes. It’s a collection of the recipes she loves, and returns to again and again, and I’m sure you will all love her food as much as we do.

But for now, it’s time to grab a tin of tomatoes and make the most of one of the most versatile ingredients in your pantry!

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

July – The Tinned Tomatoes Cookbook by Samuel Goldsmith
June – The Naked Chef and any other Jamie Oliver cookbook
May – Easy Wins by Anna Jones
April – Your choice from any ONE book you have
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

Details for last year in the cookbook club are all here.

 

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