Popular Masterchef winner Brett McGregor has released his second cookbook, A Taste of Home. More than 100 recipes feature in the title, with lots of kiwi classics as well as a selection of classic and original international meals.
I’m liking
I think there’s good value in this book. Recipes cover a variety of meals from brunch, smaller dishes and a few sweets. Primarily, I think Brett is known for his main meals and these are the stand outs in this book – together with fresh, original salads. He does challenge you to try a few new things and I enjoyed the mix of very familiar cupboard stocks together with yummy new things which do often appear more than once, meaning they shouldn’t sit on your shelf past their use-by date.
A lot of the recipes are family-friendly, as they are things Brett cooks at home. There are a few that he states wouldn’t go down so well with kids but for the most part, it really is ‘a taste of home’.
Things that made me go hmmmm
It’s hard to feel ultra inspired to recreate recipes that don’t have pictures. Some of these recipes are pictureless which I struggle with.
Some of the recipes I tried didn’t really live up to my expectations. Others were completely delicious and I’ve made several times already!
The conclusion
With an RRP of $45.00 and a handy guide of the basics like how to grow common herbs well (which caused me to rip out my italian parsley, as I hadn’t realised its best season is definitely its first), how to cook a great steak, make a stellar dressing, marinade, coulis and the list goes on… you could be a bit of a master chef in your own kitchen by mastering these basics. Still, the majority of the recipes are accessible and many of them call out for you to try them.
For a sample, see this recipe for Chicken and Cashew Nuts.
A Taste of Home is published by Random House New Zealand.
