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A Vegetable Cookbook
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 18, 2021
Very little is known about the shy and reclusive Kiwi cook, the late Digby Law, other than he died in 1987 & he loved vegetables. Digby used to spend a lot of his free time working on his father's vegetable garden - & then cooking or preserving the results!
So many vegetables in this COVID world have been so expensive - I have yet to find my favourite (asparagus) at a price I can afford. But what has been affordable is beetroot - one of my husband's favourites. & the beetroot (beets to some of you) we have been buying has such a wonderfully earthy taste! I have used Digby's A Pickle and Chutney Cookbook & preserved beetroot three different ways, but we have beetroot coming out of our ears still, so I was looking for ways to serve the beetroot as a vegetable. & any time I experience a vegetable glut, of course I turn to Digby!
I loved his Beetroot and Apple Salad - of course the beetroot bled all over the salad. So it looked - different. However, the caper garnish was a very nice touch! I've also made Harvard Beets & Sweet-Sour Beets- the Harvard Beets was the nicer of the two. Next might be Beetroot with Caraway Seeds. Love Caraway.
We have an avocado tree & I don't usually have any trouble thinking of ways to eat the avos! But this book happened to fall open at the recipe for Avocado Stuffing for Roast Chicken. I just had to try this one.
However - disaster. The two avocados Ihid from my husband set aside for this were bad! I only had one other - very small- ripe avocado. Since I had paid an outrageous price for one tomato I still went ahead.
After stuffing the chicken cavity, I still had enough for what my Canadian mother used to call 'Dressing.'
So pretty! After cooking in the oven it looked like this;
The chicken stuffing was very nice, but the cooked dressing was really delicious, served cold the next day! I will certainly make again when our own tomatoes are in season.
I'm looking longingly (still) at the asparagus recipes. I'd really like to recreate the soufflé.
Watch this space!
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
So many vegetables in this COVID world have been so expensive - I have yet to find my favourite (asparagus) at a price I can afford. But what has been affordable is beetroot - one of my husband's favourites. & the beetroot (beets to some of you) we have been buying has such a wonderfully earthy taste! I have used Digby's A Pickle and Chutney Cookbook & preserved beetroot three different ways, but we have beetroot coming out of our ears still, so I was looking for ways to serve the beetroot as a vegetable. & any time I experience a vegetable glut, of course I turn to Digby!
I loved his Beetroot and Apple Salad - of course the beetroot bled all over the salad. So it looked - different. However, the caper garnish was a very nice touch! I've also made Harvard Beets & Sweet-Sour Beets- the Harvard Beets was the nicer of the two. Next might be Beetroot with Caraway Seeds. Love Caraway.
We have an avocado tree & I don't usually have any trouble thinking of ways to eat the avos! But this book happened to fall open at the recipe for Avocado Stuffing for Roast Chicken. I just had to try this one.
However - disaster. The two avocados I
After stuffing the chicken cavity, I still had enough for what my Canadian mother used to call 'Dressing.'
So pretty! After cooking in the oven it looked like this;
The chicken stuffing was very nice, but the cooked dressing was really delicious, served cold the next day! I will certainly make again when our own tomatoes are in season.
I'm looking longingly (still) at the asparagus recipes. I'd really like to recreate the soufflé.
Watch this space!
https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...
December 20, 2012
A delightful book from New Zealand’s “high priest of vegetables” Digby Law, A Vegetable Cookbook covers quotes from Shakespeare, references to Nero’s use of leek soup to retain his sonorous voice in speechmaking and tantalises the senses of beginner and advanced cook alike. Although concerned with “nutriments” (have you ever heard that word before?) it is colour and flavour which display the enthusiasm of the cook for his ingredients, rather than any sense of meeting the requirements of external authorities for what should be served, or how.
A great introduction to vegetables you may never heard of, as well as refreshing examples of new ways with old familiars, such as Turkish or Balkan influences may provide. While suggesting less cooking, less water and less salt for the most part, the practicality of seasons of produce require variety of presentation to get through a full harvest. And this is the approach Digby takes.
There is also a little hint at the over-consumption of food in modern western society hidden in the comment: “Raw vegetables, of course, retain their vitamins, but you could probably eat about five times the amount of certain cooked vegetables in comparison with the bulk of raw vegetable.” But such an idea is for another place and time.
I can only say I wish I had come across it when I first tried a vegetarian diet in my twenties. The copy I have was passed on by a friend moving house with an extended trip overseas in between. I am ever grateful.
A great introduction to vegetables you may never heard of, as well as refreshing examples of new ways with old familiars, such as Turkish or Balkan influences may provide. While suggesting less cooking, less water and less salt for the most part, the practicality of seasons of produce require variety of presentation to get through a full harvest. And this is the approach Digby takes.
There is also a little hint at the over-consumption of food in modern western society hidden in the comment: “Raw vegetables, of course, retain their vitamins, but you could probably eat about five times the amount of certain cooked vegetables in comparison with the bulk of raw vegetable.” But such an idea is for another place and time.
I can only say I wish I had come across it when I first tried a vegetarian diet in my twenties. The copy I have was passed on by a friend moving house with an extended trip overseas in between. I am ever grateful.
August 7, 2017
There aren't many vegetable cook books out there that are specific to the vegetables we can grow in New Zealand. Finding recipes for something unusual like 'choko' is really amazing. This book is a classic for a reason!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews