Linder Lisa - Friends, food, family: essential recipes, tips, and secrets for the modern hostess from LibertyLondonGirl.com

FOR MY PARENTS
NICHOLAS AND VICTORIA,
AND, ABOVE ALL, FOR MY
WONDERFUL SISTER HOLLY,
WHO PUTS EVERYTHING
INTO PERSPECTIVE

Photography by
Sasha Wilkins

Additional photography
by Lisa Linder

RECIPES AND SECRETS FROM
LIBERTYLONDONGIRL

SASHA WILKINS

COOKERY NOTES

Butter is salted unless otherwise stated.

Either caster or granulated sugar can be
used unless otherwise stated.

Eggs are medium unless otherwise stated,
and I always recommend using free-range,
organic eggs whenever possible.

I recommend using unwaxed citrus fruits
when grating the zest.

Recipes were tested in a fan-assisted oven.
If using a regular oven, follow manufacturers
advice for adjusting temperatures.

1 dsp (dessertspoon) is equal to 2 tsp
(teaspoons), and 1 tbsp (tablespoon) is
equal to 3 tsp.

Publishing Director: Jane OShea
Creative Director: Helen Lewis
Senior Editor: Cline Hughes
Designer: Nicola Ellis
Illustrator: Heather Gately
Photographers: Sasha Wilkins and Lisa Linder
Prop Stylist for Special Photography: Iris Bromet
Production: Vincent Smith, Sasha Hawkes

First published in 2014 by
Quadrille Publishing Limited
Alhambra House
2731 Charing Cross Road
London WC2H 0LS
www.quadrille.co.uk

Text 2014 Sasha Wilkins
All photography 2014 Sasha Wilkins except:
Pages 1, 4, 7, 19, 29, 34, 35, 37, 40, 45, 53, 61,
71, 85, 90, 93, 105, 107, 109, 115, 116, 126, 129,
141 144, 145, 157, 158, 160, 168, 174, 176, 180,
182, 192 2014 Lisa Linder
Design and layout 2014 Quadrille
Publishing Limited

The rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this book shall
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted by any means electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without written permission from
the publisher.

Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue
record for this book is available from the
British Library.

ISBN: 978 184949 470 0

Printed in China

CONTENTS

Secrets of successful entertaining 6

Breakfasts, Brunches and Burgers

Food to Eat when you Come in
from the Cold

Salads and Food for Hot Summer Days

Kitchen Suppers

Weekend Entertaining

Food for the Great Outdoors

Sweet Things

Cakes and Afternoon Tea

Parties

Index 188

SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL ENTERTAINING

Nothing has surprised me more than the
success of my blog LibertyLondonGirl. It was
only ever meant to be my diary when I moved
from London to New York back in 2007, so
that my family and friends could stay up to
date with my new life in America.

Much to my initial surprise the subject of
food and entertaining has always been one
of the most popular threads across all of
LibertyLondonGirl, from advice posts maybe
the best place to buy cannoli in Manhattans
Little Italy to copious recipes, always
developed by me, and usually inspired by
what I found in the market or in my fridge that
day, via Instagrams of table settings.

When it comes to the food part, I am not
a chef: I am a cook. And I have been since
the age of four when my mother first taught
me how to roll out pastry, with a tiny
wooden rolling pin from my Galt childrens
baking set, a present from my godmother
Rachel. Thanks to them, it seemed natural
to spend as much time as I could in the
kitchen when I was growing up, and so all
my earliest memories (from the 1970s)
revolve around food.

Those memories include watching my
mother make chicken liver pts in deep
stoneware bowls to sell in the local deli;
coming home from school on Wednesday
to discover every kitchen surface covered in
wire racks of cooling cakes and biscuits from
Delia Smiths Book of Cakes ; the endless
files of cut-out newspaper recipes to thumb
through by Marika Hanbury-Tenison, Katie
Stewart, Jane Grigson, Josceline Dimbleby,
Caroline Conran et al.; and packed lunches
that my school friends thought bizarre,
including chunks of fresh mozzarella
cheese, cold slices of gratins, homemade
pizza, and olives.

So its not surprising that I equate food with
happiness, and that feeding my friends and
family is my favourite occupation.

Wherever I find myself in the world, I
cook for my friends and the people that
I meet along the way. Of course, its a
challenge: getting used to new kitchens,
different ingredients, cooking with whatever
you can find. On my last road trip in
California, I travelled with a box of kitchen
essentials in the boot of my car, and I will
never forget sugar pouring out of a pocket
in my backpack on the luggage rack onto
a passengers head on an overnight coach
journey in Australia. Some of my most
memorable meals have been cooked in the
most unexpected places: a youth hostel by
the Golden Gate Bridge with raccoons sitting
by the window, a friends house right on
Venice Beach, a childrens home in Singapore,
a hotel kitchen in New Delhi.

My biggest culinary shock was New York. Id
heard all the stories about Manhattan kitchens
and their shoebox proportions but nothing
really prepares you for a cooking space less
than a metre wide and that includes the
storage. It was a real test. Not least because
Id designed and had fitted my perfect London
kitchen just a year before I moved to New
York. But I learnt to adapt, and honed my
recipes so that they could be prepared with
minimum fuss and with the minimum of
kitchen tools.

Now I am based back in London, I once
again have my collection of cooking
equipment around me so I can feed people
on a far larger scale. Because we eat. And eat
properly. I utterly refute the cry of nothing
tastes as good as skinny feels. Goodness,
life would be so unutterably boring without
delicious things to eat. I find it hard to admire

SECRETS OF SUCCESSFUL ENTERTAINING

people who pick at food or remain resolutely
opposed to eating.

Dont get me wrong; I watch my weight
as much as the next person (theres a fine
dividing line between perky and porky), but