Hard on the heels of Stephanie Alexander's magisterial Kitchen Garden Companion comes Nigel Slater's equally magnificent Tender Volume 1: A cook and his vegetable patch (Fourth Estate, hbk, $59.99).
Unlike the Australian Alexander, Slater lives in London whose climate more approximates ours in the South, and I had only to flip through this tome to realise it was definitely going to find a permanent place on my kitchen bench.
I'm finding it a constant reference, not only for practical recipes, but also for the numerous tips about what goes well with each vegetable, and suggestions for quick and simple ways of cooking and serving them - not to mention the gardening tips.
The section on broccoli delighted me as he grows sprouting broccoli, not the thick green heads you buy in supermarkets (although you can use them the same way), and these thin, succulent stems with loose heads were sprouting vigorously in our garden when the book arrived.
His suggestion of slow-cooking them with garlic, lemon juice and parmesan was just the simple inspiration I needed - with some of Pasta d'Oro's local pasta it made an ideal Friday night dinner when there was little else in the fridge.
He is generous with recipes - the potato section alone takes up 50 pages with mouth-watering recipe after comforting recipe, but there are also sections on swedes, kale, carrots, beetroot and numerous other winter and summer vegetables.
Whether you have a garden or a few pots with lettuces, or just buy your vegetables at the market (as Slater admits to doing as well), this book is definitely recommended.
(And what will volume 2 be? A hint at the back suggests fruit - another book I'll be looking forward to.)
This tastes no more of beetroot than a carrot cake tastes of carrots, yet it has a similar warm earthiness to it.
It is less sugary than most cakes, and the scented icing I drizzle over it is purely optional.
The first time I made it, I used half sunflower and half Fairtrade Brazil nut oil, but only because the Brazil nut oil was new and I wanted to try it.
Very successful it was too, not to mention boosting everyone's zinc levels.
There's enough for 8-10.
225g self-raising flour
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
a scant tsp of baking powder
½ tsp ground cinnamon
180ml sunflower or Brazil nut oil
225g light muscovado sugar
3 separated eggs
150g raw beetroot
juice of half a lemon
75g sultanas or raisins
75g mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseed)
for the icing
8 Tbsp icing sugar
lemon juice or orange blossom
waterpoppy seeds
Set the oven at 180degC.
Lightly butter a rectangular loaf tin (20cm x 9cm, measured across the bottom, and 7cm deep), then line the base with baking parchment.
Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
Beat the oil and sugar in a food mixer until well creamed, then introduce the egg yolks one by one.
Grate the beetroot coarsely and fold it into the mixture, then add the lemon juice, sultanas or raisins, and the assorted seeds.
Fold the flour and raising agents into the mixture while the machine is on slow.
Beat the egg whites till light and almost stiff.
Fold gently but thoroughly into the mixture, using a large metal spoon (a wooden one will knock the air out).
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 50-55 minutes, covering the top with a piece of foil after 30 minutes.
Test with a skewer for doneness.
The cake should be moist inside but not sticky.
Leave the cake to settle for a good 20 minutes before turning it out of its tin on to a wire cooling rack.
Extract from Tender Volume 1: A Cook and His Vegetable Patch, by Nigel Slater (HarperCollins).
