The Homemade Table is a very handsome hardback, and it’s packed with over 170 recipes. Nicola Galloway is a food writer and cooking educator, as well as being a photographer. Her love of food resonates on every page, and the photography is beautiful.
More than just individual recipes, this is a cookbook that is a complete guide to home cooking, and it includes recipes for creating staples that are often the backbone of the kitchen – bread and preserves, dairy products and ferments.
The recipes focus on seasonal produce, and I particularly like these recipes:
Zucchini & Mozzarella Bake – delicious and easy to make.
Baked Chicken Schnitzel – I can see why her son would have this on the menu weekly if he could.
Slow-cooked Pork Shoulder with Orange and All Spice – perfect for sharing with family and friends.
Hearty Winter Goulash – so comforting on a cold day.
And for something sweet, these are sensational: Vibrant Beetroot & Chocolate Slice, Spiced Ginger ‘Tea Dunker’ Biscuits and the Parsnip & Carrot Cake.
In the introduction, Nicola says, ‘Maybe I am a romantic, but I truly believe that if we put aside time to cook for the joy and satisfaction it brings rather than just simply seeing it as a necessity, it can feed not only the body but also the mind and the soul.’ I agree wholeheartedly with these sentiments, and this book encompasses this philosophy beautifully.
Reviewer: Iain McKenzie
Potton & Burton