Scrumptious is the latest instalment from New Zealand MasterChef winner Chelsea Winter.
Just Like her previous cook books Homemade Happiness, Everyday Delicious and At My Table, Scrumptious delivers on all fronts. This book is full of super-delicious, soul warming, made-for-sharing meals that are full of flavour and goodness.
What I’m liking
As with her earlier books, the recipes are sound and steadfast. I like to think of it as home-cooking in fifth gear. The recipes aren’t overly technical, but will certainly keep you on your toes. We made the Scarborough Fair Chicken recently. It seemed simple and homely enough, and it was, but there were 14 different ingredients and three phases to this one-pan dish! The result though was absolutely delicious…
Many of the recipes take this form, lots of ingredients, and loads of flavour. The dishes themselves are simple and understated, but the depth of flavour Chelsea Winter achieves is fantastic.
As with her previous books, there’s lots of really simple dishes in here like Roast Chicken, Thai Pumpkin Soup, Chicken Cranberry Pizza, etc. But Chelsea really tries to up the ante with recipes like Moroccan Chicken Delicious, Splendiferous Soup, and Slow Lamb Puttanesca. These dishes are challenging, but without being scary. Hearty, and belly-filling with unpretentious flair!
Anything to improve?
This is a really thorough cookbook. You certainly won’t get bored working your way through the recipes. If there was one criticism, it’s that some of the recipes were questionable as to whether or not they needed to be there.
I got the feeling that Chelsea was trying to reach too many people with this book. Recipes like Louise Slice, Anzac Biscuits and Poached Egg just didn’t add much to the book, and almost felt like content fillers.
That’s a very minor gripe though, and they’ll be plenty of people happy to have those recipes included. To counter this minor criticism, the sweets and deserts sections, in particular, include some really delicious Chelsea-special recipes that are sure to delight!
Conclusion
Chelsea Winter just keeps getting better and better really. This is a top-shelf cookbook. The photography is divine. The recipe methods are thorough with tips throughout. And the meals really are super-yum! This one will show up under Christmas trees right around the country this year, and deservedly so.
Scrumptious – Written by Chelsea Winter – Published by Penguin Random House – RRP $49.99
