Real Family Food |
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Antony Worrall Thompson
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Pages: 176 (Paperback)
ISBN: 1845333632
Pub: Mitchell Beazley
Pub date: 2007-11-15
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 115279
Editorial Review:
Ever wondered what a top chef eats at home? This book is packed with recipes that Antony Worrall Thompson cooks for his own family - recipes that his kids love. He also has some great ideas for making shopping, cooking and mealtimes fun for children. There's advice on optimizing nutrition for the whole family, and ideas for how to cut back on less healthy foods such as saturated fats and salt without getting too many complaints from the kids. A simple traffic light system shows you which foods can be eaten regularly and which should be saved for special occasions. Now in paperback, the inspiring collection of recipes that the top chef cooks for his own family. These are dishes that kids and adults will both enjoy, with additional advice on optimizing nutrition for the whole family.
Reader Reviews:
'Lots of household favourites, twists on a theme and essentially new dishes' (17/17 people found this helpful)
'Look after your body, feed it well and it will serve you well.'
`A Dad as well as a cook, AWT has developed a wealth of recipes that the whole family will love - recipes which should appeal to grown ups and kids alike, easy to make, and packed full of healthy ingredients.......
A modern cookbook for the whole family, 'Real Family Food' helps to make shopping, cooking and healthy eating a real pleasure to be shared together.'
176 shiny, high quality pages split over 10 main chapters:-
Breakfasts
Lunches
Lunchboxes
After-School Dinners
Weekend Dinners
Vegetables
Picnics & Barbeques
Puddings
Cakes & Biscuits
Celebrations
with further sub-sections, entitled:-
Slow Release Energy Ideas
Lifestyle & Carbohydrates
Good Fats & Bad Fats
Salt
Making Mealtimes with Kids Fun
Getting Kids Cooking
Plus an introduction re `You, Your Kids and Food', AWT's `House Rules' and an index.
Clear ingredient list and step-by-step method for each recipe, which is highlighted in a `traffic light system', of red, amber and green, the latter allowing you to eat as many of these dishes as you like, amber requiring a little more caution, and red recommending only one of this sort of dish a day.
Useful informative tips throughout , e.g.:-
`It is said to take 17 experiences of the same food for a child to get used to it, so you have to persist.'
and at the head of each recipe, e.g.:-
Mainstay Mince
`With all the problems associated with beef, mince has slipped out of favour which is silly as beef is now probably safer than it has been for 20 years. This is a good stand-by by for making imto lots of dishes so make large amounts and freeze.'
Then follows a useful recipe to make 12 servings.
At the foot of each recipe is an `Also Try' section with suggested variations.
This useful book is interspersed with the usual AWT humour, e.g:-
Dublin Coddle - `Coddling means slow cooking, and this slow-cooked dish is a wonderful winter comfort food.
I married my Dublin wife, Jacinta, hoping she would cook this dish (it wasn't the only reason), but unfortunately she had never experienced the delights. This typical dish of bacon, sausages, and potatoes originates from the 17th Century.
I have since added cabbage - sorry Dublin!'
Inverted Cheeseburger - `There are burgers and there are real burgers. Try this one.'
There is a reasonable amount of photography throughout, but not of every dish, which may be slightly negative to some who prefer to see what they are aiming for!
A Selection of the Recipes, in no particular order:-
A Version of Spaghetti Carbonara
Chicken, Sweetcorn and Pasta Salad
My Scotch Eggs
Pumpkin Gnocchi with Sage
Cottage Pies in Baked Potatoes
Fresh Lemonade
Creamy Scrambled Eggs in Roast Mushrooms Cups
Tomato and Basil Poached Fish
Oriental Salmon with Asian Slaw
Roast Loin of Pork with Apple Sauce
Basic Pizza Base
Potato, Onion and Gorgonzola Bake
Mediterranean Carrot Rolls
Baked Soufflé Bananas
the intriguing:-
Spiced Cats' Tongues
Saucy Pigs in Blankets
and, my favourite - a `RED' dish, (naturally) is
`Raspberry Pavlova Roulade'!
`This is not an everyday pud as it's so rich and sweet, but it's so delicious that I had to add it to the book for the odd occasion.'
And mark my words - it is simply fantastic!
Not quite what I was expecting ... (2/19 people found this helpful)
I was hoping for something wittily written that could pep our our daily meals. What I got from it eems to be a re-hash of the same things over and over again. I like some of the ideas in this book and I'll try some of the recipes. But nothing really leapt out and grabbed my attention.
I don't know if it's the style of writing or the way the book is presented that make it not terribly exciting. To be fair I found the same fault with Jamie Oliver's 'Jamie's Dinners'. There seems to be a trend toward writing cookery books for 'basic cooking' which I should probably avoid in the future. Perhaps its just me.
Fantastic Food! (22/22 people found this helpful)
This is just what has been needed - not a cookery book with recipes for children or food for adults but something that finally has some common sense advice for us all. Recipes are not divided in the standard way, ie meat and fish, puddings, etc, but more sensibly for when you would want to use them so that you can use the book much more quickly than usual. The advice that Antony gives us really should be common sense for us all these days but he realises that with modern life the practices that were once normal, ie "mother knows best", seem to have disappeared.
His own ancedotial advice is excellent too and makes you realise that you can really try but even then kids won't see you as the best as he found when his own told him his burgers weren't as good as McDonalds!!! I have only just got this book and can't recommend it highly enough as you just want to dive in and try everything out - can highly recommend the pork loin and apple sauce recipe, although you might need to adjust the quantities a little if you are just a family of four!!!
Not quite a manifesto (9/23 people found this helpful)
There's a trend in contemporary cook books to combine television celebrity, a political message, and good recipes. The best television chefs combine culinary knowledge and skill with vast enthusiasm for their subject and an ability to communicate. Latterly, the best television has embodied a commitment to getting across a message that food is not just something we eat, it serves a vital social and economic function. Good food is healthy food. We need to pursue a healthy diet, and we need to support our local producers and markets if we are to maintain a healthy economy and a healthy lifestyle.
Antony Worrall Thompson communicates this message - he has an excellent book on the GI diet, and here he looks at family meals as the core of a happy, healthy family. In 'Real Family Food' he makes the valid point that food is not just something to be quickly shovelled down throats, but a focus for family bonding and an opportunity to communicate with one another, play with one another, and respect one another.
He begins by setting out his house rules - meal times are respected as an opportunity to be together and talk about the day. This is not so much a manifesto as a discussion topic in its own right. If you're trying to wean your children off fast foods and fizzy drinks, this is something you can use as a starting point to forge an understanding of the quality and value of food, and to establish a pattern of talking together as a family, agreeing on values, and create an environment where you can talk about things, not just shout up and down the stairs or grunt at one another in front of the television.
Moralising? Perhaps. But it's not one which AWT tries to ram down your throat. He simply suggests that if you're worried about your children's diet - whatever their age - you need to consider both adventure and communication. Don't just insist they eat their vegetables, find a way to get them to understand and value vegetables, carbohydrates, proteins, or whatever, and find a regular venue where you can be together as a family to talk.
Significantly, the book opens with a confession that his two oldest children prefer fast food to his own cooking! Nevertheless, he argues that you should encourage your children to enjoy adventure, to play, to use their imagination, have fun, and try new experiences. It will enhance their self-confidence and self-respect.
AWT can pontificate a bit on his television programmes, but he delivers his message with a considered, cerebral passion and practical awareness. He clearly sees food as something to be understood as well as enjoyed. He combines nutritional awareness with an appreciation of the social role of food.
In this volume he offers a stimulating range of recipes - breakfasts, lunch, packed lunches, evening meals, snacks, and special occasions. There are vegetarian options and ones for carnivores. He doesn't present a rigid list - if it's Tuesday it must be Welsh rarebit with tomatoes and spinach. Rather, he offers options, a menu for exploration, a sense that cooking is not about following a blueprint - it's an adventure, an exploration of what works, what people like, what can be produced within budget and within time.
These are recipes you can allow your children to investigate, to choose, and to participate in the shopping, preparation, and cooking - maybe washing up is a drudge too far. Don't let your kids - or your partner - feel that it's boring or a chore. Food is an adventure, and should be celebrated as such.
Tastes are clearly a lot more sophisticated than they were in my childhood - AWT offers a range of traditional, ethnic, and esoteric dishes and ingredients. Push the boundaries. It can seem boringly middle class, at times, but adapt his recipes and his ideas to your local produce, markets, and pocket.
The book skimps a bit on photography - only a minority of the dishes are illustrated. That, of course, is in keeping with the message. This is not a glossy cookbook to grace your coffee table: it's a robust hardback you can leave open on the kitchen table. It's a book to work with and from. The recipes aren't earth-shattering - they are, in the main, practical, attainable dishes which offer a sound nutritional balance and a sense of adventure.
Use the book as a toy, as a vehicle for play and discussion and experimentation, as a launchpad to explore further. Share it. Share it with your family and friends. Exchange recipes and ideas. Don't relegate it to the bookshelf. Good cookbooks get smudged, creased, and stained - if they don't, you're not using them, and they're not worth the money. A good investment, this one, one well worth talking about at meal times ... where you can maybe use the celebrity of the author as a means of getting people interested.
Not quite a manifesto (48/66 people found this helpful)
There's a trend in contemporary cook books to combine television celebrity, a political message, and good recipes. The best television chefs combine culinary knowledge and skill with vast enthusiasm for their subject and an ability to communicate. Latterly, the best television has embodied a commitment to getting across a message that food is not just something we eat, it serves a vital social and economic function. Good food is healthy food. We need to pursue a healthy diet, and we need to support our local producers and markets if we are to maintain a healthy economy and a healthy lifestyle.
Antony Worrall Thompson communicates this message - he has an excellent book on the GI diet, and here he looks at family meals as the core of a happy, healthy family. In 'Real Family Food' he makes the valid point that food is not just something to be quickly shovelled down throats, but a focus for family bonding and an opportunity to communicate with one another, play with one another, and respect one another.
He begins by setting out his house rules - meal times are respected as an opportunity to be together and talk about the day. This is not so much a manifesto as a discussion topic in its own right. If you're trying to wean your children off fast foods and fizzy drinks, this is something you can use as a starting point to forge an understanding of the quality and value of food, and to establish a pattern of talking together as a family, agreeing on values, and create an environment where you can talk about things, not just shout up and down the stairs or grunt at one another in front of the television.
Moralising? Perhaps. But it's not one which AWT tries to ram down your throat. He simply suggests that if you're worried about your children's diet - whatever their age - you need to consider both adventure and communication. Don't just insist they eat their vegetables, find a way to get them to understand and value vegetables, carbohydrates, proteins, or whatever, and find a regular venue where you can be together as a family to talk.
Significantly, the book opens with a confession that his two oldest children prefer fast food to his own cooking! Nevertheless, he argues that you should encourage your children to enjoy adventure, to play, to use their imagination, have fun, and try new experiences. It will enhance their self-confidence and self-respect.
AWT can pontificate a bit on his television programmes, but he delivers his message with a considered, cerebral passion and practical awareness. He clearly sees food as something to be understood as well as enjoyed. He combines nutritional awareness with an appreciation of the social role of food.
In this volume he offers a stimulating range of recipes - breakfasts, lunch, packed lunches, evening meals, snacks, and special occasions. There are vegetarian options and ones for carnivores. He doesn't present a rigid list - if it's Tuesday it must be Welsh rarebit with tomatoes and spinach. Rather, he offers options, a menu for exploration, a sense that cooking is not about following a blueprint - it's an adventure, an exploration of what works, what people like, what can be produced within budget and within time.
These are recipes you can allow your children to investigate, to choose, and to participate in the shopping, preparation, and cooking - maybe washing up is a drudge too far. Don't let your kids - or your partner - feel that it's boring or a chore. Food is an adventure, and should be celebrated as such.
Tastes are clearly a lot more sophisticated than they were in my childhood - AWT offers a range of traditional, ethnic, and esoteric dishes and ingredients. Push the boundaries. It can seem boringly middle class, at times, but adapt his recipes and his ideas to your local produce, markets, and pocket.
The book skimps a bit on photography - only a minority of the dishes are illustrated. That, of course, is in keeping with the message. This is not a glossy cookbook to grace your coffee table: it's a robust hardback you can leave open on the kitchen table. It's a book to work with and from. The recipes aren't earth-shattering - they are, in the main, practical, attainable dishes which offer a sound nutritional balance and a sense of adventure.
Use the book as a toy, as a vehicle for play and discussion and experimentation, as a launchpad to explore further. Share it. Share it with your family and friends. Exchange recipes and ideas. Don't relegate it to the bookshelf. Good cookbooks get smudged, creased, and stained - if they don't, you're not using them, and they're not worth the money. A good investment, this one, one well worth talking about at meal times ... where you can maybe use the celebrity of the author as a means of getting people interested.
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Categories
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Books -> Refinements -> Language (feature_browse-bin) -> English
Books -> Refinements -> Age (feature_two_browse-bin)
Books -> Refinements -> Format (binding_browse-bin) -> Paperback
Books -> Refinements -> Condition (condition-type)