It is thanks to a post on the Financial Times foodwriter Tim Hayward’s Instagram that I came across this lovely book. I had thought it was the documented Day in the Life of a restaurant – and that it is, in part – but for the home cook there is hidden treasure in the form of restaurateur Anna Hedworth’s eat-me-now recipes. These cover breakfast, lunch, dinner and all things inbetween and her approach favours simplicity – but with finesse.
To give you a flavour of the book, let me tell you some of the recipes that caught my greedy eye, namely: Crumpets with Fruit Compôte; Wild Garlic Harissa Fried Eggs on Toast with Yogurt & Onion Seeds; Curried Pea and Ricotta Fritters; Chilli & Mint Spiced Koftas; Tempura Cauliflower with Coconut Curry Sauce; Charred Purple Sprouting Broccoli with Maple Miso Dressing & Toasted Seeds; Beetroot & Plum Salad with Dill, Feta & Poppy Seeds; Ham Hock & Pease Pudding; Creamy Crab, Fennel & Tarragon Gratin; Confit Duck Leg with Roast Cherries & Mint Salsa Verde; Beef Shin & Pickled Walnut Suet Crust Pie; Raspberry & Rhubarb Pavlova with Rose Cream & Pistachio; Sticky Ginger Cake with Calvados Caramel; Roast Figs with Vermouth in Cardamom Cream; and Grapefruit & Mint Shrub. I’m afraid I was in danger of getting carried away with my list here: there were simply far too many recipes I wanted to tell you about, and only rigorous discipline made me curtail it so it didn’t seem to go on forever! There’s one more to bring to your attention, however, and it’s the recipe I’m gleefully sharing with you today. It couldn’t be more seasonal if it tried, frankly, and, pretty much chose itself: Spring Chicken Pie with Wild Garlic & Asparagus!
Service by Anna Hedworth (Quadrille, £30).
Photography © Andrew Montgomery.
