The Good Table: Adventures in and around my kitchen

by Valentine Warner

'Valentine has left no culinary stone unturned and has achieved what all cookbooks strive for, in that you want to go home and cook everything in the book!' - Fergus Henderson Featured in Vegetarian Living , Valentine Warner takes us on a journey to home food heaven. The food on your table is at the heart of the house, and The Good Table shows that it is best when sourced and cooked with love and care. In this book, Valentine pays homage to the slow cooking of cheaper cuts of meat, whilst encouraging us to enjoy less widely-used meat such as rabbit and venison. His ingredients are local, mostly inexpensive and easy to find, yet his dishes are often surprising, based on forgotten classics or hailing from distant countries such as Mexico and Morocco. The food you put on your table is at the heart of the house, as a matter of survival and joy. Everything we eat sustains family, friends and self, and The Good Table shows that it is best when sourced and cooked with love and care. Whether making comforting favourites such as Toad in the Hole or Paella, classic dishes such as Beef Suet Pudding or a Brandy Snap with Berries, or recipes from far-flung shores such as Lapland Fish Soup and a Spanish dish of Chorizo in Cider, Valentine's omnivorous curiosity and attention to detail set his recipes apart. In this timely book, Valentine pays homage to the slow cooking of cheaper cuts of beef, pork and lamb, whilst encouraging us to enjoy less widely-used meat such as rabbit and venison. His ingredients are local, mostly inexpensive and easy to find, yet his dishes are often surprising, based on forgotten classics or hailing from distant countries such as Mexico and Morocco. For Valentine, The Good Table starts with good shopping, and he encourages us to not be afraid of buying new ingredients, especially when they are affordable and plentiful. He seeks out sustainable fish, creates luxuries from everyday ingredients such as bread and eggs, and cooks fruit and vegetables when they are in season. Contents Includes... Meat
Birds
Fish & Shellfish
Veg & Foraged Foods
Bread, eggs & Cheese
Toast as a Vehicle
Puddings
Drinks

Kindle Edition

Published January 5, 2011

About the author

Valentine Warner grew up on a farm in Dorset, learning to fish, shoot and cook from a young age. He studied an art foundation course in Bath before heading to London to train as a portrait painter at the Byam Shaw School of Art. Valentine enjoyed a "reasonably successful" career as a painter, but, at 23, couldn't resist the call of the kitchen and decided to focus his time on cooking instead of painting. His first job was at the Halycon restaurant in London; for the next five years he brushed up on his cookery skills, working under chefs including Alastair Little and Rose Carrarini.