Venturing into new territory

Ever found yourself in the kitchen, cooking the same old dish once again (possibly for the fifth or six Monday in a row, Monday being a particularly imagination-less day in my world)? That's where I am right now - void of imagination, in a place where doing another green curry or another roast chicken is inconceivable because i might end up so bored that i can't eat it... So now is the time to try something new and in this spirit, I have bought two cookery books, none of which are Italian (quite an achievement for me!). 

Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sammi Tamimi
Yesterday, the wait to get a table for lunch at Ottolenghi in Islington was more than an hour so in the end, we gave up and found somewhere else to eat and gossip. Being no big fan of waiting for hours on end for a table, I will be attempting to cook some of their delicious dishes myself instead. 

The Guilt-free Gourmet by Jordan and Jessica Bourke
No dairy, no wheat, no sugar. Great for those days where you've been really good in the gym and don't fancy spoiling it by refueling with pasta or pancakes. 

Paris, je t'aime

Like delicious French patisserie? Enjoy a bouef bourguignon? A good glass of red wine? Feeling slightly hungry now? Then you - like me - will be drawn to "The Little Paris Kitchen: Classic French Recipes with a Fresh and Fun Approach" by Rachel Khoo. 

It is a cook book with a twist. It is written by Rachel Khoo, a gorgeous young lady (watch out Nigella), who left her native London and her steady job to become a chef in Paris. And not just any old chef. This girl opened a restaurant in her tiny flat, cooking for a maximum of two diners at a time in a seriously spartan kitchen. And she became a hit with fashionable Paris. 

Such a hit that she now has her own show on the BBC. I have just watched the first episode and it was mouthwatering. I am up for cooking salted caramel chocholate fondant (it was called something far more poetic in French!) right this moment and feel tempted to spend a large amount of money on cook books and kitchen paraphenalia! 

So "The Little Paris Kitchen: Classic French Recipes with a Fresh and Fun Approach" by Rachel Khoo is going straight on my TBR!!