Rhodes - Gary Rhodes 365: one year, one book, one simple recipe for every day

Gary
Rhodes
365/ One year.
One book. One simple recipe for every day. GaryRhodes Photographs by Lottie Davies MICHAEL JOSEPH
an imprint of
PENGUIN BOOKS MICHAEL JOSEPH Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephens Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi 110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London, WC2R 0RL, England www.penguin.com First published 2008 Text copyright Gary Rhodes, 2008 Photographs copyright Lottie Davies The moral right of the author has been asserted All rights reserved Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-14-195701-2

; This book is for somebody who has provided me with a decade of dedication. She always has a smile and keeps everyone happy while managing a huge collection of different requirements every day, knowing instinctively how to mix and turn them into something quite smooth; everything falling into place. So a very special thank-you to my personal assistant, Lissanne Kenyon, for her commitment 365 days of the year. Thanks, Lissanne
x How lovely it would be to find the time to eat freshly prepared food every day of the year.

This may have been the way in days of old, but as we know, times move on and with that, habits change. The kind of food we eat changes too and we are lucky to have been introduced to so many different cuisines from across the world, due mainly, I suspect, to the ease of travel. Theres Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Spanish and the list goes on. Many of these are readily available for home delivery and fresh and frozen dishes wait to be picked up from every supermarket shelf. So in todays world of ease and convenience, why this book? Well, on a quite rare sunny summers day in 2007, friends were due round for one of those late alfresco lunches. Thinking about the company and the flavours I wanted to share, I decided that it was going to be all about freshness and simplicity.

For me, this was to be a bowl of tomato and basil risotto, crisp summer salad leaves with a light vinaigrette, followed by a platter of British, French and Italian cheeses. The risotto was simply one pan on the stove, the arborio rice loosened with hot water straight from the kettle, a stock cube sprinkled over to enhance and lift the rice. Bread, biscuits, fresh fruit and good wine were all that were needed to accompany our meal. As we all, just under a dozen in total, tucked in beneath those welcome rays of sunshine, conversation, as it so often does, turned to food. Many of our friends made much the same statement: If only I knew how to prepare such simple, beautiful and tasty food, I would be cooking every single day of the year! So here it is, 365. This is a book that can be followed as freely as you wish.

As youll see, the recipes are divided into chapters relevant not to a particular day of the year, but to the time of day or an occasion in the week. Please, however, dont allow these categories to become set in stone. Im purely offering guidance as to when the recipes might suit, but all are very willing to be juggled around. Youll also notice that to simplify the cooking of many dishes Ive used what I call convenience foods, such as chopped tomatoes, tins of cannellini or haricot beans and frozen peas, mingling them amongst the fresh produce. Do remember also that good ingredients, cooked simply, need little help to explain themselves and its worth every effort to see whats seasonal and available when choosing recipes to cook. With these common aims, youll see that the new recipes blend very nicely with those Ive chosen to include from Keeping it Simple and Time to Eat.

And if this still sounds a bit daunting, then may I suggest creating a new habit by cooking fresh food at least one day a week? Soon this new cooking habit will become an obsession and youll find yourself reaching for your pan more often, the new habit having become an old one and this being one good old habit that dies hard. I do hope you enjoy reading and choosing from amongst these pages. The greatest social meeting place in the world is at the dinner table. Its the spot that draws family and friends together to enjoy what? Good company with good food. This book offers 365 recipes to do exactly that and to remind us that it is good food that makes people happy, whatever the effort, time or expense that goes into preparing it. Enough is as good as a feast John Heywood (14971580)

General
Nuts and spices
Fish and seafood
Eggs
Fruit and vegetables Ive provided here a few pages of straightforward cooking skills to learn from or just to quickly refer back to when needed. Enough is as good as a feast John Heywood (14971580) General
Nuts and spices
Fish and seafood
Eggs
Fruit and vegetables Ive provided here a few pages of straightforward cooking skills to learn from or just to quickly refer back to when needed.

Where these techniques appear in the recipes, Ive cross-referenced you to here, but if youve already mastered a skill, you can of course carry straight on.

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