Maureen: We thought Anna Jones would deliver another winner, and deliver she did.
Her 12 star ingredients– see photo on the cover above if you’re curious what they are– undoubtedly will be things you already have in your kitchen, or if not, they’re easy to source. The recipes were easy to do and the instructions were very clear. Most importantly, all but one of the dishes I made were utterly fabulous. This cookbook definitely will be hitting the High Rotation Bookshelf.
My only (admittedly small) criticism applies to both this cookbook and vegetarian recipes generally: Do not underestimate how long it will take to clean, chop, prepare and cook the ingredients. On more than one occasion, we didn’t read the recipe carefully enough and we found ourselves eating dinner much, much later than we thought we would. This is not a slam on Anna– she’s a great recipe writer– it’s only that if you’re looking for a dinner that you can get on the table in under 30 minutes, there’s only a few recipes in this collection that are going to fill that brief. And again, that’s fine, because she never promises that. Her idea is that you’ve got 12 star ingredients and here’s some delicious things you can make with those ingredients– and she delivered and then some on that idea.
Kirstin: This may be my favourite of Anna Jones’s books. The premise of focusing on 12 star ingredients works really well and the resulting vegetarian recipes are FABULOUS. But the thing I love most especially about Anna Jones is the way she writes her recipes; the way she confidently organises her preparation, her simple but thorough and clear instructions along the way and well chosen sub headings. As a result Jones’s recipes are a joy to cook. Her style of writing is as near as it gets to having a cook in your kitchen, holding your hand as you cook. This is no mean feat. So many cookbook writers do not do nearly as well at what you would think is the obvious when it comes to writing recipes. The photography is also spot on, with an exquisite photo for each recipe to inspire and guide. This cookbook is on high rotation in our kitchen and will remain so for many months and probably years. It’s an absolute classic and everyone– EVERYONE– should own a copy.
A cookbook a month 