The Delia Collection, Chicken (Delia Collection)

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Delia Smith

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Pages: 144 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 0563487313

Pub: BBC Books

Pub date: 2003-10-02

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 59241

Editorial Review:

Is there a more versatile ingredient for a host of recipes than chicken? Delia Smith is in no doubt of the centrality of chicken to many really tempting dishes and Chicken will clearly be one of the most popular volumes in her four-volume The Delia Collection. These recipes are culled from Delia's notebooks of many years and her wealth of experience pays dividends. While it's true that we've seen variations on these recipes before--not least from Delia herself--those on offer here represent a compendium of some of the key approaches to the subject.
As in the other volumes in this series, Delia cuts her text as close to the bone as any piece of meat--the virtue of this series is the unfussy, direct approach to each individual subject. As in the volume on fish, Delia tackles everything from the straightforward, such as an easily realised Oriental Chicken Waldorf Salad, to the more ambitious (a tempting Thai Creamed Coconut Chicken with Thai Green Rice). In fact, though, nothing here is over-ambitious and with Delia's straight-from-the-hip approach, most readers will find everything here is easily achievable. But the food is never penny-plain; some recipes are mouth-wateringly exotic. Chicken Kebabs Marinated with Whole Spices, Yoghurt and Fresh Coriander Chutney, for instance, is a winner. As Delia points out, yoghurt as marinade does wonders for chicken and the charcoal adds that crucial extra dimension. As with every other recipe presented here, every step is lucidly laid out, with well chosen illustrations giving a clear idea of what to aspire to.

While many cookery books are beautifully designed products (and there's nothing wrong with that), Delia's editors have completely eschewed such an approach--there is no attempt to make this anything other than a basic (and very useful) guide to preparing a key ingredient in cookery. --Barry Forshaw

Reader Reviews:

Brilliant! (2/2 people found this helpful)

I love this book - everything I have made from it has come out as it should have! The ingredients aren't too exotic, and there's a good variety of recipes. There is a good mixture of simple and fancy things to make.
The only difficulty I had was that quite a few of the recipes contained nuts (I live with someone with an allergy) but in a lot of cases the nuts weren't a crucial part of the recipe anyway.
I love this series of books, and this is my favourite so far!

A gentle introduction to cooking! (29/33 people found this helpful)

At 30 years old I thought I ought to start cooking some proper food instead of heating up ready meals!
So finding Delia's beautiful collection of books has been a godsend.
I started with the 'Soup' and 'Fish' ones and so far have been making a fresh soup every week.
The instructions are easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find in your local supermarket. The lovely pictures help to show you what your creation is supposed to look like too!
Delia has given me the confidence to move onto more complex recipes and I am planning to do some baking this spring....!
Good luck. Hope you find the book as inspiring as I have.

Lovely recipes!! (12/16 people found this helpful)

There are some incredibly stylish and delicious recipes in here. My only wish was that Delia could have packed in a few simpler recipes. But all-in-all, an excellent selection of soup recipes to choose from!

Excellent (19/36 people found this helpful)

I've always wanted a book like this. I never cook fish or other meats, so to have Delias chicken recipes in one book is just fantasic. The photography is excellent. It is hardbound so won't be damaged in the kitchen. It usually cheap on Amazon. What more do you want?

I have heard that some receipes are in Delias older books. That is probably true. Lets face it, they're somewehere in the 500 page 4 inch thick book with no pictures and boring text that you've had for ten years. Treat yourself as this is an excellent addition to the bookshelf at a great price!

Good ... yet not so good (72/77 people found this helpful)

I own ALL of Delia Smith's books along with 223 other cookery books by various experts all over the world. What I like most about Delia is her "no nonsence" approach to food, although she can be a little "mumsy' at times. But then, that is part of her appeal.

This book and all the others in its series (Soup, Fish, Chicken) have been very difficult to review because they can be simply fabulous or down right rip-offs.

The recipes themselves are typical of Delia - straightforward and designed to work - and as such these books are indispensible for those who do not own any of her other books. On that basis alone I would have given this book (and its siblings) a 5-star rating.

BUT, for those wanting to buy this book, I would warn that there are no great culinary revelations here. These are recipes published by Delia in her previous collections - Summer, Winter, Christmas etc - just a rehash of old hits. If you buy this book and others in this series, you might just be tempted to ask for your money back- but not before giving a 1-star rating!

However, if like me, you have several bookshelves groaning under the weight of countless cookery books, Delia offers a wonderful filing system for her recipes. Personally, I find this to be a time saver when faced with organising dinner for 8 at short notice. No more flipping through pages looking for Delia's Chocolate Mouse or Delia's Mini Chocolate Muffins or Delia's Chocolate Truffles etc etc

For those thinking about buying this book, I suggest that you first ask yourself if you have so many Delia books that you now need more books of neatly organised Delia delights.

For an average person, this book and the others in the series get an average 3-star rating.

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