I'm joining with Penny at The Homemade Heart who invites fellow bloggers to choose one cookery book each month, select and cook two dishes from it and post their thoughts at the beginning of the following month.
For August I chose Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's Three Good Things. We have my elder daughter's signed copy on loan and I've been taking full advantage of the opportunity to try out as many of the recipes as I can manage.
The idea behind the book is simple and exactly as its title suggests, that many of the dishes we enjoy can be reduced to the winning combinations of a few (three?) good things on a plate.
I'll preface my chosen dishes with the confession that they involve little or no cooking and the explanation that this is due to them being the only ones for which I have any photographic evidence. More complicated recipes were attempted on occasions when the light was too poor for a good shot, or when we scoffed the lot before I remembered to capture them.
My first offering is a breakfast duo: Egg, Toast & Anchovy and Toast, Olive Oil & Honey. Spreading mashed anchovies onto soldiers before dunking them in a soft boiled egg takes is ingenious (if you relish the rich saltiness of anchovies as much as I do). As for the pairing of olive oil and honey, you have to try it to realise that it does work. Holidays in Greece suggest that a smear of soft cream cheese might add another dimension I'm always on the lookout for ideas to brighten up weekend breakfasts and these two fit the bill, with the added advantage of being simple enough to fit into a weekday routine as well.
My second offering of Tomatoes, Bread & Olive Oil, makes the perfect summer's lunch, but only if you use the best quality ingredients you can find. Pallid tomatoes and plastic bread won't cut it.
Three Good Things is divided into chapters offering recipes for salads, starters and soups, snacks and sides, vegetables, fish, meat, pasta and grains, fruits and deserts. Although each contains three main ingredients most of them require a few extra, but they are all simple to prepare. Hugh also suggests variations to ring the changes.
Of the other dishes I've prepared the Chicken, Plums & Soy is my favourite, but I also enjoyed the Leeks, Cheese & Bread and the Lentils, Spinach and Potato.
I'd recommend this book to inspire courage to challenge your taste buds, to be bold in your combinations of flavours and textures and to produce a delicious plate of food within a very short time.
My book for September is Prasad by Kaushy Patel.
