Non fiction

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Best Cook Books of 2018

Again this is a very easy category for me to judge as their are a couple of books I continue to use and refer back to.

One is strictly for baking; breads, cakes, tarts, gluten free, dairy free…this book has it all and the recipes are easy to follow.  If you love baking give “Love Laugh Bake” by Silvia Colloca a try, you wont regret it.

Love Laugh Bake

 

And then we have something completely different – a book that has given me so much pleasure; it is a visual delight, I love the scenic tour of Italy it provides and the recipes are outstanding – I have tried so many of these, I love the seasonal fruits and vegetables they use. Adriatico is by Paola Bacchia is a musts for your kitchen library.

 

Adriatico_cover

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Best Non Fiction Read/Listen in 2018

This was a very easy category for me to decide as two books immediately came to mind – both have left a lasting impression – their stories poignant and engaging.  In no particular order, my favourite non fiction reads/listens of 2018 are:

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris 
The Tattooist of Auschwitz
And Evil Has A Name:The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation by Paul Holes,Jim Clemente,Peter McDonnell 
Evil Has A Name
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The Delight that is the Fab Five: Queer Eye:Love Yourself, Love Your Life – Antoni, Tan, Jvn, Bobby, Karamo

Queer Eye

Queer Eye

Love Yourself Love Your Life

Antoni Porowski, Tan France, Jonathan Van Ness, Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown

Hachette Australia

Headline

ISBN: 9781472261946

RRP $ 39.99

 

Description:

From the Fab Five—the beloved hosts of Netflix’s viral hit Queer Eye—comes a book that is at once a behind-the-scenes exclusive, a practical guide to living and celebrating your best life, and a symbol of hope.

Feeling your best is about far more than deciding what color to paint your accent wall or how to apply nightly moisturizer. It’s also about creating a life that’s well-rounded, filled with humor and understanding—and most importantly, that suits you. At a cultural moment when we are all craving people to admire, Queer Eye offers hope and acceptance. After you get to know the Fab Five, together they will guide you through five practical chapters that go beyond their designated areas of expertise (food & wine, fashion, grooming, home decor, and culture), touching on topics like wellness, entertaining, and defining your personal brand, and complete with bite-sized Hip Tips for your everyday quandaries. Above all else, Queer Eye aims to help you create a happy and healthy life, rooted in self-love and authenticity.

 

 

My View:

The Fab Five deliver their inspiring, inclusive, positive outlook with a few tips and tricks to have you feeling good inside and out. I am a big fan of this show; it surprises me, it is sometimes hard hitting, addressing such issues of racism and the epidemic of loneliness and poor self-image that seems to have swept over our planet, other times it shines the light on contemporary social issues, sometimes it is light-hearted and makes me smile. Never is it boring, always poignant and ultimately, fun. The book is written with these trade mark characteristics; there is a good dose of honesty and personal information shared that explains how the individuals arrived at this point in their lives (on the tv series).  Then the individuals in the team – and it is definitely a team, share a little of their expertise whilst all the time reminding us we are great, we can do whatever we make up our minds to do, and that we are “already fantastic, honey. You just need a little help to become your best self.”

 

A most enjoyable and positive read. Share this book with someone you love.

 

 

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Just Desserts: Raspberry and Chocolate Tart – Fruit – Bernadette Worndl,

fruit-9781925418446

Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018

 

RASPBERRY AND CHOCOLATE TART

 Chocolate and raspberries really, really like each other!

 

Raspberry and chocolate tart

Pastry

100 g (3½ oz) cold butter

200 g (7 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tablespoon icing (confectioners’) sugar

pinch of salt

1 egg

splash of milk, as needed

 

Chocolate filling

300 g (10½ oz) bitter dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa)

pinch of salt

pinch of ground cinnamon

pinch of finely grated orange zest

125 g (4½ oz) thickened (whipping) cream

½ teaspoon orange-flavoured liqueur

 

Topping

1–2 tablespoons raspberry jam (jelly)

250 g (9 oz) raspberries

1–2 teaspoons honey

 

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) (conventional). For the pastry, chop the butter into cubes. Place the butter in a large bowl, along with the flour, icing sugar and salt. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the egg and knead into a smooth dough, adding milk if the dough is too dry. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to 3 mm (⅛ in) thick. Line a large pie dish or 4–6 small flan (tart) tins with the pastry and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

 

Cover the pastry with baking paper, fill with dried beans or baking beads and blind bake on the lowest shelf of the oven for 10–15 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake the pastry for a further 10–12 minutes, until the edge begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

 

For the chocolate filling, chop the chocolate and place in a bowl with the salt, cinnamon and orange zest. Heat the cream in a small saucepan, then pour it over the chocolate mixture and allow everything to melt together for 2–3 minutes. Stir until smooth, then stir through the liqueur.

 

Spread the jam over the pie base. Pour over the chocolate cream and leave at room temperature until set. Top with the raspberries and serve drizzled with the honey.

 

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Sunday Roast: Pork Cutlets with Caramelised Pear and Sage

fruit-9781925418446

Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018

 

PORK CUTLETS WITH CARAMELISED PEARS AND SAGE

 “Roast and caramel flavours combine here with smoky wooden-barrel notes of Cognac and creamy, sour crème fraîche.” p. 157

 

4 pork cutlets

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch sage

2 tablespoons clarified butter

4 small pears

6 French shallots

1 garlic clove

5 juniper berries

5 peppercorns

1 bay leaf

40 ml (1¼ fl oz) Cognac

100 g (3½ oz) crème fraiche

Pork cutlets

 

Preheat the oven to 120°C (250°F) (conventional). Season the cutlets with salt and pepper. Pick the sage leaves. Heat half the clarified butter in a frying pan over high heat. Add the sage leaves and cutlets, and quickly sear the meat on both sides. Transfer the cutlets and sage to an ovenproof dish and cook in the oven for 15 minutes.

Halve or quarters the pears. Peel and halve the shallots, and bruise the garlic clove. Heat the remaining clarified butter in the same pan and cook the pear, shallot and garlic until golden brown. Add the juniper berries, peppercorns, bay leaf and cognac, and very carefully set alight to burn off the alcohol. Stir in the crème fraîche. Remove the cutlets from the oven and transfer them to the sauce. Spoon the sauce over the cutlets for the flavours to combine, then season with salt and pepper and serve.

This goes well with creamy polenta or fresh white bread.

 

 

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The Best Way to Start the Day – Bircher Muesli

fruit-9781925418446

Edited extract from Fruit by Bernadette Worndl, published by Smith Street Books, $55. Photography © Gunda Dittrich. Out November 2018

 “My favourite breakfast. It easily lends itself to seasonal combinations using different grains, seeds and nuts or fruits. A grated apple always makes an appearance, though.” p. 17 

 Bircher Museli

BIRCHER MUESLI WITH GRATED APPLE, PEPITAS, YOGHURT AND FRESH GRAPES

2 apples

1 handful walnuts

100 g (3½ oz/1 cup) rolled (porridge) oats

2 tablespoons linseeds (flax seeds), roughly crushed

2 teaspoons wheat bran

2 tablespoons pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

150 ml (5 fl oz) milk

300 g (10½ oz) yoghurt

pinch of salt

small handful shelled pistachios

small handful grapes

honey, for drizzling

 

Coarsely grate one of the apples and roughly chop the walnuts. Place in a bowl and add the oats, linseeds, wheat bran, pepitas, milk, 200 g (7 oz) of the yoghurt and the salt. Stir well to combine, then cover and refrigerate overnight to soak.

 

The next day, roughly chop the pistachios and coarsely grate the second apple. Finely slice two grapes. Serve the muesli in shallow bowls and top with the apple, remaining yoghurt, grapes, pistachios and a drizzle of honey.

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Guest Review: My Polar Dream – Jade Hameister

My Polar Dream

My Polar Dream

Jade Hameister

Pan Macmillan AU

ISBN: 9781760554774

 

Description:

Fourteen-year-old Jade Hameister had a dream: to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

In 2016, she skied to the North Pole.

In 2017, she completed the Greenland Crossing.

In 2018, she arrived at the South Pole.

This is the story of an adventurer who never gave up – who set herself incredible challenges beyond her years and experience. An adventurer who endured extremes of cold and blizzards; tackled treacherous terrain where one wrong step could be fatal; struggled through sastrugi, ice rubble and emotional lows to achieve an extraordinary goal.

Along the way, she made a sandwich for online trolls, inspired young people, and made international headlines.

At sixteen, Jade Hameister became the youngest person in history to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

Jade is:

*The youngest person to ski from the coast of Antarctica to South Pole unsupported and unassisted

* The first Australian woman in history to ski coast to Pole unsupported and unassisted

* The first woman to set a new route to the South Pole

* The youngest to ski to both Poles

* The youngest to complete the Polar Hat Trick.

 

Brenda’s Review:

What an amazing, inspirational young woman Jade Hameister is! Over a period of three years she completed three goals so achieve the Polar Hat-Trick. In doing so, she became the first in many of her endeavours. Her final journey, in Antarctica to finish at the South Pole, was over late 2017 into 2018 and was the most grueling but not once did she contemplate giving up. The support of her Dad and the other people of the team with her helped her through the worst.

Each trek was unassisted and unsupported, which meant no outside help whatsoever once the journey started. The thrill of forging a new path through the snow and ice to the South Pole meant the hard work and extreme temperatures; the dangers of a hidden crevasse on the mind constantly; the storms and blizzards which meant losing time when the danger was too intense – were all worth it. Jade’s satellite calls to her Mum and brother back in Melbourne, Australia each night were a lifeline as well.

Now she’s trying to settle back into “normal” life with schooling as her main priority. She’s sixteen years of age and has done more in the last three years of her life than most people would ever do. I wonder what she will do next? Highly recommended. 5 stars!

With thanks to Pan Macmillan AU for my ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.