Bill's Open Kitchen by Bill Granger ***
Australian cook Bill Granger is the darling of the Sydney restaurant scene. He open his first café, Bill’s, twelve years ago and hasn’t looked back since. Earlier this month he opened his third Sydney restaurant and he has just visited Christchurch to launch his fourth cookbook, Simply Bill. Not bad for an untrained cook who, until he opened Bill’s, had no experience in a commercial kitchen.
Bill’s Open Kitchen is his third cookbook. In it, Granger veers towards fusion cookery with plenty of Asian and Mediterranean flavours but, fortunately, not in the same dish – although he has a nice take on mixing old traditions (afternoon tea) with modern flavourings (Orange and Cardamom Biscuits).
As befits a man who also does all the cooking at home (he and his partner had three small girls at the time) Granger also has plenty of ideas for fast and not inordinately difficult food. A professed fan of casual and easy dining, his Tagliatelle with Chicken and Green Beans and Spicy Omelette Sandwiches all look like tasty and quick options for the harassed and short-of-time cook.
The images and presentation are wonderful if, at times, a little bit too staged but there are good recipes and useful tips in Bill’s Open Kitchen.
Thanks for that Caroline – I have been wondering about this cookbook for a while. I have a few of his other books and while I love to look at them, I don’t cook much from them at all. When I saw a new one was out, I steeled myself against it, but when I saw how BIG it was, I was tempted. Very tempted. Hmmmn ….
I copied a few recipes down – as this was a library book – and have since used his Apricot Slice, Baked Beans and Polenta recipes. The Boyfriend was very taken with the Apricot Slice!
I too have this book. The photos are a bit food porny, but they are lovely to look at. (Isn’t that the point of porn anyway.) The Apricot Slice is by far the favorite recipe that I have tried.
I do love food porn, I must admit. There’s often nothing better than sitting down with a cookbook full of glorious pictures of dishes that you have no intention of cooking! Bill is good on the food porn side of things, but it’s also great to find a book like that which has recipes you’ll actually use.