A Year of Simple Family Food

Author(s): Julia Busuttil Nishimura

Food & Drink | Read our reviews!

Family food is generous, unfussy and demonstrates love and care. No matter what busyness the day brings, the act of setting the table and enjoying a simple meal together is comforting and ever-reassuring. Eating simply and seasonally is at the core of Julia Busuttil Nishimura's recipes. Whether it's a cooling coffee granita to start a summer's day or the comfort of a hearty baked maccheroni in darkest winter, this is the kind of food you will want to share with your loved ones throughout the year. The dishes in this book are brought to life by great ingredients. There are plenty of quick recipes and some that require more time to bubble away on the stove. Overall, they are linked by taste and pleasure, and making the most of seasonal produce. This is generous, delicious food that the whole family will love, all year round. Recipes include: Summer - Crêpes with whipped ricotta - Slow-roasted tomatoes with mint and mozzarella - Spaghetti with fennel and prawns - Apricot and berry galette Autumn - Granola with poached plums - Spiced split lentil soup with fried eggplant - Miso roast chicken - Blackberry and apple pudding Winter - Congee - Lentil and maple-roasted carrot salad - Japanese braised pork - Dark chocolate, walnut and oat cookies Spring - Tokyo-style French toast - Silverbeet and ricotta malfatti with brown butter sauce - Lamb and green bean stew - Simple butter cake with raspberries

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STELLA'S REVIEW:
Winter sees you reaching for the tried and true recipes — the Edmonds Cookbook is the go-to for biscuits, and your favourite chefs are on call for inspiration as you look to see what you have left in the fridge and what clever recipes will require the least ingredients. And being in the winter season for vegetables, it’s always interesting to see which of your cookbooks is best at creating dishes from these sometimes seemingly uninspiring staples. Like last year, when Ostro became a favourite inspiration for home cooking, Jula Busuttil Nishimura's recipes are being made and consumed in our household, and her second collection, A Year of Simple Family Food, is making it onto the kitchen table on a regular basis. Firm favourites are anything pie! I never imagined that I would be a great fan of pies, but her pastries are perfect every time (ditto her focaccia bread recipes) — just the right proportions and clear instructions for getting the right texture for your dough. In Ostro, the Leek and Potato Pie is now a regular dish (and it doesn’t matter what cheese you have — I have used cheddar, feta, a combo of parmesan and other, and it’s always been delicious). In A Year of Simple Family Food, the pumpkin pie  (there is plenty of pumpkin right now!) was surprisingly light — that great pastry again —  and tasty (herbs and spices, as well as filling). And it looked excellent — that wonderful orange glow. Arranged around the seasons, the cookbook is easy to navigate, allowing us to match recipes to ingredient availability across savoury to sweet. While rhubarb was missing from our stash, that didn’t hold us back from consuming the Spiced Rhubarb Crumble Cake. Substituting frozen berries (thank you freezer!) for the rhubarb worked a treat, and the orange zest in the cake base lifted this out of ordinary crumble shortcake style territory. With recipes from her Maltese heritage making an appearance and the influence of her Japanese partner coming through, there is a wonderful variety, from pies, crumbles, and pasta (both lighter spaghetti-and-sauce style and hearty baked dishes) to noodles and Japanese breakfast. There are also hearty meat dishes with Mediterranean, as well as Asian influences. And a good smattering of fish and seafood. What stands out about her cookbooks is the sheer pleasure Busuttil Nishimura has for food, both its preparation and its eating. 





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Product Information

Shortlisted for the ABIA Illustrated Book of the Year 2021

General Fields

  • : 9781760784362
  • : Pan Macmillan Australia Pty, Limited
  • : Plum
  • : 0.3
  • : March 2020
  • : ---length:- '26'width:- '19'units:- Centimeters
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Julia Busuttil Nishimura
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : English
  • : 641.564
  • : 256
  • : WBA