These recipes for comfort food are all about the good stuff. Karl says to be a cook, use your own judgement and not follow his recipes to the tee. It is important to think and use your senses, and this is exactly how I cook. Taste what you cook, while you are cooking it. The key is good ingredients and practice.
The Good Stuff
80 rib-sticking recipes for people who like to eat, drink and be merry.As experienced, self-taught recipe developer Karl Tessendorf asks, what kind of name is The Good Stuff for a cookbook? He explains that it’s not just a name but a celebration of the magic of comfort food. From perfect pastas, pies and Sunday roasts, through blissful bakes, and all the way to scrummy salads and sides, you will find more than 80 recipes that will leave your mouth watering as you recall your own happy comfort food memories. But being the food wizard he is, Karl adds more taste and panache to those comfort classics than you thought possible. He encourages you to try your hand at your own improvisation. Most importantly, he wants you to share these meals at a table with your nearest and dearest, accompanied by a few drinks and great conversation — because that’s The Good Stuff. It’s about human connection, great food and the memories they create. So here’s to The Good Stuff!
Today’s recipe book review from Lavender and Lime ♥ ♥ #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Chapters are divided into:
- pasta
- soups
- roasts
- pies
- pots
- bakes
- bread
- salads
- the good sides
Recipes that caught my eye:
- short rib gnocchi al forno (p15)
- spicy mussels puttanesca (p26)
- nduja, tomato & roast red pepper soup (p33)
- charred miso onion soup (p36)
- chicken tray bake (p47)
- rib roast (p51)
- charred leg of lamb (p59)
- lamb rib roast (p64)
- big boy sausage roll (p71)
- lamb & onion pie (p72)
- the ultimate pepper steak pie (p75)
- bacon BBQ spare rib pot pies (p83)
- prego steak shakshuka (p86)
- lamb shank tagine-tjie (p97)
- tomato bredie braaibroodjies (p101)
- ding-dong melanzane (p102)
- creamy nduja mussels (p104)
- tiramisu-ish brownies (p108)
- brûlée Basque cheesecake (p112)
- cinnamon cloud rolls (p114)
- elevenses scones (p125)
- buttermilk biscuit breakfast sarmies (p133)
- bone-marrow butter grilled cheese (p145)
What I made:
The first thing I attempted was the big boy sausage roll. The filling was amazing, but the pastry was a disaster! I used high quality, shop bought, puff pastry and it was completely raw on the bottom after 40 minutes of baking. I left it in a further 10 minutes, but the pastry was still not cooked. Thankfully we could still serve the sausage roll, with a delicious onion and apple gravy. I will use the filling again to make my own version. The next recipe I tested was the lamb and onion pie. I had to use my intuition with this recipe, and I made the right choice. Leaving out the sauce was a good decision as the pastry was not completely cooked on the bottom and had I added more liquid, it would have been another failure.
My impressions:
On first impression, I loved this book! The photographs are really good and many pages are set on black backgrounds. Both the pot pies, and the lamb and onion pie, caught my eye due to appealing photographs, and the recipe for the shakshuka sounds very unique. I love how the recipes include stories of origin or feelings. But, having made two of the pie recipes, and both needing a lot of intuition, and both not baking properly, I might not attempt another pie recipe from the book. I will in future follow his advice, and not follow his recipes to a tee!
Cook the book:
Publishing information:
Click this link if you wish to purchase the recipe book on Amazon Kindle.
Penguin Random House South Africa sent me this recipe book to review.
See the links below for blog posts I published on February 26:
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- 2021: Oven Baked Courgette Fritters
- 2020: The Lamb Inn
- 2018: Blueberry Meringues
- 2017: Truly Madly Guilty
- 2015: Vanilla Sugar
- 2014: Laniéres de Poulet | Chicken Strips Using Quorn
- 2013: Chocolate Fudge Brownie Parcels
I am afraid I have never heard of the guy but love his and your ‘indivdual’ thinking! And the ‘Good Stuff’ whenever and wherever I can get it 🙂 !
Glad I could instroduce you to someone new!
Definitely a concept I can get behind! We all deserve the good stuff in life. Based on the title and cover though, I was kind of hoping it would be a cookbook of all stuffed foods. Now that’s a concept!
There is a plan for you – a new cook book on all things stuffed 🙂
Lamb and onion pie looks quite amazing! I wonder why so much sauce needed for the filling in original recipe…
Who knows! I think some recipes are not tested by ‘ordinary’ cooks!
I like the cover of that book 🙂 I sometimes put a baking tray into the oven first to get hot then put the pie dish on top so it cooks the bottom too. Always tricky with pastry.
I usually scatter semolina under the baking paper which helps, but your tip sounds perfect!