The Delia Collection: Chicken - Hardcover

Smith, Delia

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0563487313 ISBN 13: 9780563487319

Publisher: BBC Books, 2003

Synopsis

In compiling The Delia Collection cookery series, Delia Smith has chosen her best and most popular recipes, updating old favourites and adding some that are completely new. The cookbooks are aimed both at experienced cooks and at newcomers to homecooking who can be sure that, with Delia's friendly and approachable style, they will be guided by a trusted hand through her fail-safe recipes.

This – the second cookbook in the series – is a collection of over 50 beautiful chicken recipes. For best results Delia recommends a good quality chicken, preferably traditionally reared for the table. Delia's chicken recipes range from classic roast chicken to paella and oriental chicken stir fries.

About this title

Review

Is there a more versatile ingredient for a host of recipes than chicken? Delia Smith is in no doubt of the centrality of chicken to many really tempting dishes and Chicken will clearly be one of the most popular volumes in her four-volume The Delia Collection. These recipes are culled from Delia's notebooks of many years and her wealth of experience pays dividends. While it's true that we've seen variations on these recipes before--not least from Delia herself--those on offer here represent a compendium of some of the key approaches to the subject.

As in the other volumes in this series, Delia cuts her text as close to the bone as any piece of meat--the virtue of this series is the unfussy, direct approach to each individual subject. As in the volume on fish, Delia tackles everything from the straightforward, such as an easily realised Oriental Chicken Waldorf Salad, to the more ambitious (a tempting Thai Creamed Coconut Chicken with Thai Green Rice). In fact, though, nothing here is over-ambitious and with Delia's straight-from-the-hip approach, most readers will find everything here is easily achievable. But the food is never penny-plain; some recipes are mouth-wateringly exotic. Chicken Kebabs Marinated with Whole Spices, Yoghurt and Fresh Coriander Chutney, for instance, is a winner. As Delia points out, yoghurt as marinade does wonders for chicken and the charcoal adds that crucial extra dimension. As with every other recipe presented here, every step is lucidly laid out, with well chosen illustrations giving a clear idea of what to aspire to.

While many cookery books are beautifully designed products (and there's nothing wrong with that), Delia's editors have completely eschewed such an approach--there is no attempt to make this anything other than a basic (and very useful) guide to preparing a key ingredient in cookery. --Barry Forshaw

Review

Delia Smith is a household name and as far as many people are concerned, she is THE goddess of the kitchen. With her foolproof recipes and clear instructions you are guaranteed 100per cent success and it is never a problem to make a dish for a dinner party for the first time, wondering if it will turn out alright or not. It always does. Moving on from her phenomenally successful previous titles, she has amalgamated her recipes into four new cookery books grouped by subject - chicken, chocolate, fish and soup. Lavishly illustrated, they are Delia's personal choice of what she views as the best and most popular recipes. And combining them into individual volumes ensures fast access to a particular recipe rather than ploughing through half a dozen in search of that elusive favourite. Chocoholics will revel in the chocolate fudge cake, four nut chocolate brownies, squidgy chocolate log and frozen chocolate bananas. Comfort eaters will find soups to die for with scallop cream soup, smoked haddock chowder with poached quails' eggs and watercress and buttermilk vichyssoise. For chicken fanciers there is chicken jambalaya, coq au vin and chicken cacciatore and for fish lovers there is chargrilled squid with chilli jam, salmon in champagne sauce and luxury smoked fish pie. These are sure to become bestsellers and it is to be hoped that the collection will grow to include other culinary collections and make it a definitive guide to cooking no cook should be without. - Lucy Watson

Edition details

• Publisher: BBC Books
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0563487313
• ISBN 13: 9780563487319
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 144