Here are some of the latest new cook books for 2023. They will give you some ideas on what to cook when your cupboards are bare, ideas for fast delicious meals and some inspiration to try something new. Maybe try a summer BBQ or a one pot meal; the options are endless.

Cook what you have : make a meal out of almost anything / Kimball, Christopher
“The Milk Street team solves the problem of making dinner, starting with what you have on hand in the kitchen. Focusing on two dozen key kitchen ingredients such as couscous, tomato paste, canned beans, lentils, breadcrumbs or yogurt, the 225 featured recipes will demonstrate the endless possibilities that can be fashioned from just the ingredients you already have at home”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

Easy speedy vegan : 100 quick plant-based recipes / Beskow, Katy
“Simple, straightforward and delicious – Easy Speedy Vegan is the ultimate guide for plant-based mealtimes, bringing you 100 new recipes from bestselling author Katy Beskow. Easy to prepare, quick to cook and using readily available ingredients, this book is not only the go-to cookbook for new and established vegans, but also for home cooks looking for effortless ways to bring plant-based meals into their kitchen. “–Publisher’s description.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Tonight’s dinner 2 / Liaw, Adam
“Australia’s favourite cook Adam Liaw is back with Tonight’s Dinner 2, the sequel to his bestselling recipe collection of mighty meals for every day featuring 80 all-new recipes inspired by Adam’s hit SBS series, The Cook Up. Tonight’s Dinner 2 provides simple, satisfying meal ideas and captures what Australians want to eat now, served with a side of Adam’s signature wit and expert advice. What are you having for Tonight’s Dinner?” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Cast iron skillet one-pan meals : 75 family-friendly recipes for everyday dinners / Freeman, Jackie
“75 meals you can make in a single cast iron skillet. These are complete meals, organized by protein”– Provided by publisher.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The Hairy Dieters simple healthy food / King, Si
“The nation’s favourite food heroes, aka the Hairy Dieters, are back to show you that losing weight and staying healthy doesn’t mean losing out on taste and enjoyment. With more than 80 great new recipes, Si and Dave prove that healthy food can be delicious food – and also easy, accessible and affordable.  All made with easy-to-find ingredients and packed with the Hairy Bikers’ trademark knockout flavours, so you won’t feel like you’re missing out when you cook from this book – these are healthy meals that the whole family will love”–Publisher’s description. (Adapted from Catalogue)

Beans, peas and everything in between / Jones, Vicky
“A staple in plant-based dishes and beyond, pulses are not only satisfying to eat but they are also cheap, sustainable and readily available. Taking her inspiration from all around the globe, Vicky Jones showcases all the best uses of beans, peas and lentils in these deliciously healthy recipes. This is the go-to cookbook for anyone who is ready to embrace these protein-rich and diverse ingredients.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

 

Fire grill smoke
“The smell of the barbecue is the smell of summer, of friends and family gathered around the grill. No matter your preferred way to barbecue – be that charcoal, gas or wood – there are a wealth of recipes containd within to get you cooking outdoors all season long.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The weekend cook : good food for real life / Hartnett, Angela
” Great flavours and simple recipes abound in these pages, each one a joy to cook and eat, from satisfying one-pot dishes and comforting risottos to perfect party food and bakes to feed a hungry crowd. Collected in these pages are over 100 recipes from one of Britain’s most-loved chefs, as well as time saving tips and cheats that will take the stress out of hosting and allow you to enjoy your dinner parties without breaking a sweat. The only essential ingredients are friends and family… and lots of them.”–Provided by publisher.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

This month, I thought it would be nice to showcase our New Zealand chefs with their new cook books that have been recently added to the catalogue. Yummy kai, designed for Kiwis to try.

Pic’s really good recipe book
“Recipes and more from Pic’s Peanut Butter. As well as giving a fabulous range of tasty peanut butter recipes, both sweet and savoury, this book tells stories about how the brand got started. From the early days, when Bruce ‘Pic’ Picot made his own peanut butter in an adapted concrete mixer and sold it at a local market, to the opening of Pic’s Peanut Butter World in Stoke, near Nelson, there are many hilarious tales to be told.  There are more than 60 enticing recipes that will have peanut butter lovers drooling as they flick through the pages.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Whānaukai : feel-good baking to share aroha & feed hungry tummies / Toilalo, Naomi
“A bilingual te reo/English cookbook from Naomi Toilalo. In 2017, Naomi was runner-up in TVNZ’s Great Kiwi Bake Off. Baking should be a simple pleasure. In Whānaukai, celebrated baker Naomi Toilalo shares more than 70 of her tohutao reka – delicious recipes – all made without fancy equipment or hard-to-find ingredients. Featuring breads, slices, biscuits, cakes and pastries, Whānaukai is a window into the whakapapa that inspired Naomi’s passion for baking, where feeding people has been a special part of her life for as long as she can remember.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The homemade table / Galloway, Nicola
“Nicola Galloway is one of New Zealand’s most respected food writers and photographers, well known for her syndicated columns and award-winning website ‘Homegrown Kitchen’, as well as her book of the same name. She has also built a large following for her sell-out cooking workshops that she runs around New Zealand. ‘The Homemade Table’ is her latest book. It expands on her approach to cooking, which is more than just about preparing homemade meals. It encompasses an inspired way of living and thinking about food that not only feeds the body but also the mind and soul. With many new seasonal recipes, and in-depth sections on sourdough bread, preserves and fermentation, this is a substantial, beautifully illustrated cookbook that the reader will be able to return to again and again.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Together : food for sharing / Metcalfe, Cherie
“With more than 70 photographed recipes, there are dishes for everyone – from sides and salads to bigger plates and sweet delights”–Back cover.” (Catalogue)

 

 

The RNZ cookbook : a treasury of 180 recipes from New Zealand’s best-known chefs and food writers
“An authoritative and above all useful cookbook from New Zealand’s favourite broadcaster, featuring 180 trusted (and tested) recipes hand-picked from the thousands of delicious recipes that have featured on RNZ shows such as Nine to Noon, Afternoons, and Saturday Morning in recent decades. The format is mapped to a day on air on RNZ: the recipes are in categories that take the user from morning to well into the night. Featuring recipes from key personalities from down the years–from Alison Holst and Julie Biuso to Martin Bosley, Nadia Lim, and Peter Gordon–it’s a terrific way to track our food history.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Simple fancy : inviting recipes for all eaters + occasions / Flanagan, Rosa
“We have a “simple fancy” philosophy when it comes to our recipes. Start with your plants. Use whole, unprocessed familiar ingredients that you have at home in new and inventive (yet simple) ways … and then add your choice of protein – animal or plant-based. Because, all eaters are welcome”–Page 9.” (Catalogue)

 

Kai : food stories and recipes from my family table / Lowe, Christall
“The gathering of food and the gathering of people to share a meal are at the heart of Maori family life. Award-winning food photographer Christall Lowe invites us to join her whanau table and experience for ourselves an abundance of mouth watering dishes, a veritable feast for the eyes and for the stomach. Kai is a passionate homage to a life deeply rooted in food, where exquisite flavours weave seamlessly with cherished food memories. It is impossible not to open the pages of this book and be inspired by the beautifully captured recipes, and compelled to recreate the deliciousness of Kai in your own kitchen. This book is a precious taonga – a treasure trove of recipes gifted to you from Christall’s pataka (storehouse), for your family table”–Publisher’s website.” (Catalogue)

The countdown is on! The Christmas celebrations have started, so now is the time to think  about what to plan and eat with our friends and whānau.  What do you cook?  What can you cook?  How many people? Do you need inspiration? Here are some new releases and some old classics to help you prepare for the festive season ahead.

Best ever recipes
“The Australian Women’s Weekly Test Kitchen has been developing and triple-testing recipes for decades. This is a superb collection of over 100 hundred recipes from the not too distant past, that have been requested over and over by readers of The Weekly and the cookbooks.” (Catalogue)

Christmas : feasts and treats / Hay, Donna
“Donna Hay’s bestselling classic Christmas Feasts and Treats, now fully revised and updated with many new recipes to make, enjoy and give away, will make your Christmas cooking and entertaining fabulously easy and delicious. Donna Hay takes the stress out of Christmas cooking and entertaining with this must-have collection of over 170 stunning yet simple festive recipes. Featuring all the nostalgic favourites and some fun twists on the classics, this is the only cookbook you need for the festive season.” (Catalogue)

Cocktail botanica : 60+ drinks inspired by nature / Anders, Elouise
“Cocktail Botanica is a celebration of all things floral, herbaceous, fruity and boozy. Put a little nature in your glass! Explore the world of botanical cocktails – delicious boozy concoctions that use the very best floral, herbaceous and fruity ingredients. With more than sixty recipes for infused cocktails and punches to please a crowd, as well as recipes for creating your own botanical-driven spirits and wine at home, you’ll find a cocktail for every occasion.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Vegan Christmas / Fitzjohn, Audrey
“Deck the halls with plant-based goodies, for Vegan Christmas is here. We all know the state of panic. It’s your turn to host the whole family for the holidays, which means dozens of people, so you’re already stretched thin. And then you find out that so-and-so’s new boyfriend is vegan! Luckily for you, this book is a fool proof guide to making plant-based meals for the holidays.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Christmas express : quick, delicious & easy recipes for the festive season
“Preparing food for Christmas can often mean days of labour-intensive cooking. If you’re short on time, or just don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen while everyone else is opening presents, then this book is for you. Using clever tricks and quality shortcuts, we show you how to create your favourite festive foods and flavours in a fraction of the time. Christmas Express is all about spectacular food with minimum fuss.” (Catalogue)

Christmas feasts and treats / Hay, Donna
“Donna Hay makes Christmas cooking and entertaining so easy, with this must-have collection of over 200 easy, delicious, reliable and totally fabulous Christmas recipes to make, enjoy and give over the festive season.  This book is full of recipes I love and trust for exactly those times. With step-by-step images and plan-ahead tips, you can change-up your menu with confidence. And, you’ll find plenty of modern styling ideas and time-saving tricks inside.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Boards & spreads : shareable, simple arrangements for every meal / Fahr, Yasmin
“Provides more than sixty-five recipes for creating epic spreads for family-friendly, sharing meals that go beyond the standard cheese or charcuterie board and include Italian aperitivo board with crispy prosciutto caprese, any-night tacos, and egg pita sandwich board.” (Catalogue)