:: On the Shelf ::

Stephanie Alexander - The Cook’s Companion

:: Megann’s Kitchen ::

:: Stepanie Alexander the Cook's Companion ::

When I first received the Stephanie Alexander Cook’s Companion as a Christmas present from my sister, I was quite the amateur cook. I flicked through it to the pictures. Hmmmm.... lacking. “It’s the bible” she assured me, “it has everything in it. You won’t need another book again. You have lots of apples, turn to ‘A’ for apples & there are all her recipes. ” “But where are all the beautiful pictures of her amazing food?” I screamed in my head while smiling politely. “Did she run out of money in her budget whilst shooting?”

You see, at the time I was very much a visual cook. I needed the finished product to cook to and I could not comprehend simply just working to text. I don’t know how long poor old Stephie sat on the shelf when I dusted her off, opened her up to look up how long to cook a roast beef. Then chicken. Then pork. Then prawns. Then I ventured to her sponge cake by using her recipe and a picture from another book for the finished product. SUCCESS! After a few attempts of this slap together visual method I had complete confidence in Stephanie Alexander’s recipes and my fear of working without pictures was cured! I now simply appreciate the brilliance of her cooking & reap the rewards of her genius.

The Content: Stephanie Alexander delivers a cook book for all levels. It looks daunting, but it really isn’t! The recipes are simple and easy to follow, some venture to the more advanced as your cooking progresses. Tonight, for example, I was able to look up under “beef” how I wanted to roast it, on what oven temperature and for how long for, for the weight that I had & then how long to rest it. Fantastic! It is one of those books that will remain in your book shelf for the rest of time with marks of love & use, not wear & tear.

The Recipes: The book provides just about everything, including information about the food your cooking with. My favourites are her buttermilk scones and lemon tart.

:: my favourite scone recipe ::

Now this book, as promised, is my bible & has become a true companion as the title suggests. It is loved in this household like a family member, fondly referred to as “Stephie” and the book is a “she” or “her”, not an “it”. She stands front and centre to my cookbooks: a book for life.

:: follow through to purchase ::

Source:  Purchase any book from Amazon through this link. Amazon has many great products at great prices, I tend to get lost (& have it cost me) online there!

Thank you very much R, for being so thoughtful and introducing me to this amazing religion + book and, of course, to Ms Stephanie Alexander herself.

:: scribed by my sister, a great idea for a gift ::