Southern Woman's Kitchen: Crockpot Cooking and More for the Family Table ~ Paperback ~ Joan Bishop

In A Southern Woman's Cookbook New Zealander Joan Bishop has collected the recipes that she uses most often when cooking for her family and friends. As she says, ‘sharing food with friends and family is the way we celebrate not only the big occasions but the everyday. We can make any small event seem special by the food we serve.’ The spirit of the south can be found in many of her dishes, as well as the influences of extensive overseas travel and ethnic cuisines. From Anzac Biscuits (complete with their history) to light and delicate Vietnamese Crepes, from the sumptuous and fragrant Roses of Persia Cake to the comfort of Braised Venison with Blueberries, this book will make you want to shop for the best, cook with love and eat with gusto. Southern Woman's Kitchen Book Review By foodstyle.co.nz "…The title of her 7th book, A Southern Woman’s Kitchen: Crockpot Cooking and More for the Family Table, aptly describes half a lifetime of producing the choicest fodder for her family. After feasting on this book in one sitting, I was inspired to buy a swede weighing nigh on 3kg at the Otago Farmers’ Market so that I could make Golden Pottage (“I call this beautifully deep cream coloured soup Golden Pottage because I don’t ever tell my guests before they eat that swede is the basic ingredient.”), and my social life needs an urgent makeover so I can rustle up some refined guests to try Autumn Harvest Pate (“The velvety richness of this pate is enhanced by the tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the sautéed onion.”). Oh blow it, let’s just slap some on a slab of toast after a couple of hours shovelling compost onto the vege garden in the freezing cold. If you’re unfamiliar with Joan’s work, think back to a new kitchen appliance that you may have approached with trepidation – the food processor, electric frypan or crockpot. She wrote books on them all in the 1980s and went on to produce new and revised editions of her original crockpot cookbook, incorporating slow cookers as they came on the market. Her crockpot books have sold well over 125,000 copies. This latest book gives us 50 new crockpot recipes, plus over 100 favourites from her 25 years of monthly recipe columns in the Otago Daily Times. Down south we’re rejoicing over the news that Joan has gathered together and published these hugely popular recipes as they can be difficult to locate in the recipe files of even the most Beetonesque of households. The standout aspect of this book is that every recipe has been reworked with incremental changes over weeks and months, so that we have a rich and intense reduction of the art of the author’s cooking, written in simple language. Her background as a teacher, air hostess and southern regional manager for Sunbeam Appliances (demonstrating kitchen gadgets all over the place) has turned her into an expert at planning, preparation and attention to detail. The first part of the book includes recipes right across the menu, ending with baking, while the smaller slow cooker section focuses on soups, vegetables, bean and lentils, plus a selection of meat meals. Each recipe has a decent introduction and the instructions are lengthy and, dare I say it, idiot proof. For example, don’t squeeze the mince with your hands, warm the bowl before beating eggs, and bay leaves release their best flavour when torn. It’s a rather pretty book, with an image of floral linen on the cover and at the start of each section, and an air of cosy domesticity. Some recipes are illustrated with photos by Linda Robertson and pictures of Joan, the hostess with the mostest, in her kitchen holding a plate of fishcakes, and another of her smiling in her garden with bonny rhubarb. A middle sized book, it’s easy to use, and has a logical progression plus a good index. The only downside for me is the layout of the introductions to the recipes. The justify/centring system seems to have gone a little haywire and I find it makes the text confusing to the eye. Aside from being a regional cook, shopping at the local market and using produce from her own garden, Joan also takes to new ingredients with enthusiasm. She seems besotted with crystallised strawberries, and makes a mean salad dressing using pomegranate molasses. My favourite Joan Bishop recipe, which I was relieved to find in this book, is Beef Carbonade; a hearty beef stew made with dark beer (I use a home brewed Guinness style one). Follow her meticulous instructions to the letter and you’ll have the perfect dish for a large family gathering, with the most delicious steamy aroma dragging people in the front door…" Author Biography Joan Bishop, well-known as ‘Queen of the Crockpot’, has been writing a monthly cooking column for the Otago Daily Times for 20 years. Over time, her trusted and much-loved recipes have inspired and delighted cooks in kitchens throughout the south. Joan is the bestselling author of Joan Bishop's NZ Crockpot and Slow Cooker, Cookbook. She lives in Dunedin, New Zealand.