Pieday Friday – ‘Broth’ & ‘Simply Ramen’ cookbook review

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Two very similar, yet very different cookbooks. One eager food blogger. A whole weekend of reading, Post-Iting and note-taking. Equals today’s Pieday Friday blog post. Yes, I’m reviewing a couple of freshly published cookbooks, both focusing on the wetter side of cooking – Broth and Simply Ramen.

I don’t know why, but it seems like the right time of year to be cooking up this kind of meal. The dishes in these cookbooks are much lighter than the stews and casseroles I’ve been slow-cooking all winter, yet they’re still warming meals that help you feel cosy on rainy April days as you cup your hands around a steaming bowl of soup. I’ve definitely been inspired to whip up a few bowls of something hot and wet over the past couple of weeks so I thought that the time is right to share these books with you all. First up is Broth. It’s a very reassuring – almost old-fashioned – publication that shares the very basics of broth-making, and how to turn these stocks into delicious and filling soups, stews and main meals. Using simple methods and easily accessible fresh ingredients the authors Vicki Edgson and Heather Thomas whip batches of base broths, and share lots of ideas for different meals that can be created from one stock. Take, for example, the basic chicken broth; this can be turned into a classic chicken noodle soup, an Italian Stracciatella, a simmering risotto, Asian hot and sour soups, or even a chilled gazpacho. It makes all that boiling seem worthwhile when you can make so many dishes from that one base stock. I’ve picked out some of my favourite recipes from this cookbook to share with you today so please feel free to download the PDFs for each recipe (kindly supplied by the publisher Jacqui Small) and try out the cookbook for yourself. Don’t be fooled into thinking that Broth is just a soup cookbook. There’s a whole chapter on stews, sautés and casseroles including pot roasts, side dishes, risottos, pasta meals and braised meats. Is was here that I found my favourite tagine recipe that I plan to slow-cook this weekend, so it’s a great source of inspiration for all types of meals.

PDF Recipe – Broth – Game Broth_

PDF Recipe – Broth – Aegean Fish Soup

Recipe and images extracted from broth by Vicki Edgson and Heather Thomas, photography by Lisa Linder. Published by Jacqui Small (£20).

The second, slightly more exotic, cookbook in today’s review blog post is Simply Ramen by Amy Kimoto-Kahn. As a massive fan of noodles (I’d eat them for every meal if I could!) I was really excited to check out this new publication. I was delighted to find, after only a few pages, that there was a recipe for making your own ramen noodles. Having never made any type of pasta or noodle before, I am really keen to try it and see just how difficult it is to make your own. I suspect, to my novice eye, they look rather more complicated than they actually are, but we’ll see when I try out the recipe for myself! Again, thanks to the kind permission of the publishers Race Point Publishing I’m able to share some of the recipes from this cookbook to inspire you this weekend. Please do help yourself to the PDF downloads of the ingredients and recipe instructions and enjoy a couple of tasty ramen dishes at home. Throughout the book are countless ramen ‘basics’ recipes so that you can build your own ramen meal using your favourite base soup (who knew there were so many bases?), homemade noodles and toppings such as: Tamagoyaki (Japanese omelette), braised pork, poached eggs, seaweed, garlic chips, string potatoes and much more.

PDF Recipe – Simply Ramen – Noodles

PDF Recipe – Simply Ramen – Shoyu Base

PDF REcipe – Simply Ramen – Furikake Salmon_

Recipe and images extracted from Simply Ramen by Amy Kimoto-Kahn. Photography © 2016 Colin Cooke. Published by Race Point Publishing (£14.99)

You’ll also find complete dishes in this cookbook so you can create a meal from start to finish, rather than relying on your own ideas of what to put together. Of course, as you get used to cooking ramen, you can mix and match elements of each dish to create your own favourite bowlful. There’s pork, beef, fish, shellfish, soya, vegetable and chicken, each with different levels of spiced broth or curried sauce. And don’t skip over the ‘sides’ section at the back of the book – I think the rice dishes, pickled vegetables and chicken wings are actually some of my favourite recipes in this publication! Let me know if you too have these books tell me what you think of them. It would also be great to hear if you make any of the above recipes and how you got on with the process. Plus, I’d love to hear if you decide to invest in a copy of either book for yourself so please leave me a comment below or tweet me @Cassiefairy.

Get your own copies of these inspiring cookbooks at bargain prices here:

Broth: Nature’s cure-all for health and nutrition, with delicious recipes for broths, soups, stews and risottos

Simply Ramen: A Complete Course in Preparing Ramen Meals at Home

Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂