Title: Hob
Author: Amy Sheppard
Publisher: Bloomsbury Absolute
Synopsis:
Short of time, short of money? Entertaining friends or looking for a perfect mid-week meal? Discover 80 great-tasting, time-saving recipes with HOB!
Sick of endless cooking for an uninspiring meal? Or how about that 15 minute wait to pre-heat the oven? Life is complicated enough, so say hello to a new kind of cookbook that cuts out all the fuss and delivers on flavour.
The concept is simple. 80 great-tasting, time-saving recipes, all of which are cooked on the hob, most in one pan and guaranteed to have food on the table in under 30 minutes. And it doesn’t matter what type of hob you have – the only temperature directions are low, medium or high. You know your hob and how fast or slow it cooks, and these recipes will give you the flexibility to cook more intuitively.
With HOB, expect simple budget-friendly ingredients and tips on meal planning and quick fixes – everything you need to get dinner served that bit quicker. Whether you’re simmering, sautéing or frying, recipes include crowd pleasers such as chorizo marinara and vegetable katsu curry; budget wonders like spicy bean burgers and red pesto koftas; and HOB treats such as pan-share blackberry crumble and apple and cinnamon rolls.
From busy families to budget-conscious students, this is a cookbook for anyone who wants to dial down the effort and turn up the flavour!
My Review:
Hob is a great idea for busy people – a cookbook full of 80 recipes that can be created using just the hob, therefore avoiding the legnthiness (and often added ‘faff’) of using the oven.
Firstly, the design is pleasing and easy to read. From what I can tell there’s an image of every recipe, which is such a bonus in a recipe book – I really like to visualise a recipe before deciding whether to cook it (shallow of me perhaps? But still true…) and they’re lovely images too. The book is clearly laid out and has a really modern feel to it.
Now the most important bit – the recipes! As someone who is 90% veggie (but loves fish!), I was a bit worried it would all be meat-heavy dishes, and although there are indeed a lot of meaty recipes, there are also plenty of vegetarian options too. Plus a lot of the other recipes seem like the meat can easily be substituted for vegetarian or fish alternatives.
There’s also a good range of recipe ‘types’ – for example, one section focuses on lunch & brunch, one on ‘quick dinners’ and another on longer ‘weekend food’ plus a ‘budget wonders’ section – plus more!
I’ve already tried the tuna quesadillas which were really tasty and so easy (a simple recipe but I have to admit I wouldn’t have thought to put some of the ingredients together without this book inspiring me), the halloumi hash and the ‘roasted’ cauliflower mac & cheese. I also have many, many more on my list ‘to cook’ too – for me, the mark of a good recipe book is how many recipes I flag when I first flick through it – there were plenty added to my list from this one I’m pleased to say! Some of the highlights I am excited to try include lasagne(ish), cheesy crumb fish pie, Stilton spaghetti with walnut toastie bits, and the butternut saag – plus many more too!
I’d definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants a range of recipe ‘difficulties’ available to them. None of the recipes look hugely difficult but they do range from those which look mega-simple to a little more involved. None of the recipes involve a ridiculously complex ingredient list or specialist equipment, so it’s a great recipe book for someone who doesn’t want to spend hours in the kitchen but still wants tasty, varied dishes and some general food inspiration!
This is a book I will be buying in print, as I know it will be super handy to have in the kitchen.
Rating: 4/5
Many thanks to the publisher, Bloomsbury Absolute, for providing a copy of this book on which I chose to write an honest review.
For some reason, I am suddenly not getting any email notifications anymore when there’s a new post from you, Laura. Is it just me?
Oh no! 🙁 I’ll double check my settings and see if anything has happened. I had some issues with jetpack update messing everything up and had to roll back to earlier version so wonder if that’s messed something up. Will look – thanks for letting me know! X
Ooh so can’t see you on the email follower list, I only have 9 followers by email at the mo! Wonder if it’s unsubscribed a load of people ???? sorry! But it might be ok if you don’t mind opting back into emails?
Thanks so much Eva x