Choice Books - Food. Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food

Well it IS Sunday. I meant to put this up before Christmas but the book was always in the kitchen (being used) and it went out of my head...so without further ado....

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If you're a foodie, you'll probably already have this, if you don't, you must check it out.

Back before Christmas, Jamie held a tasting at his store in Notting Hill for bloggers and press - tasting all of the dishes on the night was an amazing opportunity and meeting the man himself only reassured me that he is exactly the same in the flesh as he is on screen.

Nic Chapman from Pixiwoo, Moi, Louise Sprinkle of Glitter and Lily Pebbles

Full to the brim of completely achievable, delicious looking food, Comfort Food, as always contains the brilliant photography of David Loftus, who has worked with Jamie for years.

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Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food is £12.99 and available from amazon, all good booksellers - and his website continues to be an awesome source of daily recipes, updates and videos and is well worth checking out. www.jamieoliver.com

Choice Books - Food: Elizabeth David French Provincial Cooking

Not ALL of my book shares will be food - I swear. This one is just too good to hold off on. I read Elizabeth David's cookbooks and connected immediately with the woman behind the recipes - it was only once I read more into her life and how rebellious, outspoken and challenging to conventionality she was that I really thought: YES.

Although Ms. David's first book was all everything Mediterranean (and also brilliant), this one I read cover to cover on holiday in Kent years ago and have re-read it since whenever the mood takes. Similar to Nigella's books in that you can read them as a book, rather than individually picking out recipes, this walks a brilliantly fine line between someone talking to you as if you are a complete moron (in a totally enjoyable way) and your favourite auntie talking you through her treasure trove of recipes collected over the years.

If you are older or into cooking you will no doubt have digested (see what I did there) all of her works, if you haven't, I can't recommend them - all of them - enough.

As The Telegraph says:

'We’re awash now with cookbooks, sated with television cookery programmes. Elizabeth David was the forerunner of them all. A hundred years after her birth, she’s still worth reading and learning from.'

Elizabeth David French Provincial Cooking is available from Amazon. For a few quid more you can buy 'The Classics' which contains Mediterranean Food, Summer Cooking and French Provincial Cooking - here.

Choice Books - Food: Nigella Lawson - How to Eat

I can't believe this book is 17 years old this year. When I was planning regular slots for the blog this year - I really wanted to keep talking about my favourite books - this was the first one that popped into my head. Easily, with no competition, the most dog-eared, filled-with-splashes cookbook that I own. And I own a lot.

Filled with simple, clear, funny instructions and food that you would actually eat, her 'basics' section alone spans 80 pages and is enough to get even the most novice of cooks started.

Nigella's tone is so warm and honest that you really feel she A: cares about your results and B; is in the kitchen with you.

there are over 350 recipes in this but I want to give a particular shout-out to the 'Babies and Small Children' section which lists everything from weaning to the 'mashing everything in sight' stage - to smaller children and even covers birthday parties. It saw me through a lot of trying times with fussy small people.

A woman after my own heart. Brilliant.

Nigella Lawson 'How to Eat' is around £13.00 and available from all the usual booksellers. Her website has further info and is an Aladdin's Cave for foodies: www.nigella.com

The Detox Kitchen Deli and Delivery!

The Detox Kitchen is the kind of establishment that makes the type of food that you think you can make in your head, but in reality fail miserably. In my case anyway...

Lily Simpson - a 29 year old chef - wanted to challenge the preconceptions of what a ‘diet’ is: “I’m amazed (and a little frustrated) at how often I've  heard the words ‘you can’t’ in connection with a diet. You can’t eat this. You can’t have that. I can’t live in a perpetual state of deprivation. I’m a chef. I wouldn't eat something if it wasn't tasty – so I want to prove that a ‘diet’ doesn't have to be faddy, unsatisfying and difficult to stick to. That’s why I created Detox Kitchen.”

All of the food made at the Detox Kitchen is free from wheat, dairy and sugar - and it tastes amazing. I tried the one day fresh delivery system - probably best suited to someone kick-starting a healthy phase, or to give you a trial of what is on offer longer-term. The food was fresh, really tasty and the portions didn't leave you starved.

I'm not always a fan of the word 'Detox' because the body is more than capable of taking care of itself and detoxing itself 24/7 - but in this case I think it literally gives the message that everything is good for you and 'takes the strain off'.

Moving on from their delivery service and the first deli in Harvey Nichols - they've just opened in Soho in Central London - if you're passing you should definitely give it a try. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner - and it's hard to go wrong with the choices.

www.detoxkitchen.co.uk for more details and if you're a foodie look at the Instagram - serious food porn.

Jamie's Italian or *totally gratuitous pictures of food and Duran...*

I recently visited Jamie's Italian in Oxford with my other BFF The McKay. She of the infamous...

 And the best picture taken in the world ever...

As if going to see Duran Duran in a venue the size of a pub wasn't enough - we figured 'We're grown-ups, let's get some real food while we're at it.'

It did NOT disappoint. The service was spot-on, the atmosphere was relaxed and the food was well....

Burrata with chilli and mint salad

Flash cooked greens with chilli and garlic

Posh Chips - with truffle oil and parmesan

Angus Sirloin with grilled mushrooms

There was also a large bottle of red and much talk of....

Le Sigh.....