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bills open kitchen

by Bill Granger

REVIEW by Chef James
Bill Granger is an Australian restaurateur, and this is his third cookbook. Bill's Open Kitchen is a collection of fairly easy to prepare, quality recipes, with excellent photos by Petrina Tinslay. This is a nice fusion of Asian and classic European/Mediterranean dishes (as is true of many Australian cookbooks). Bill Granger's recipes are easy to prepare, but they sacrifice nothing by way of taste and appearance.  His love of food is apparent, and his recipes reflect his attitude that food preparation and entertaining should be a pleasurable experience. Which means spending less time in the kitchen and more time with family and friends enjoying the food and pleasurable company.
 
The recipes in this book range from quick family meals to elegant meals for a dinner party - but all follow the same premise - make it simple but delicious utilizing fresh local ingredients. With Bill's Open Kitchen you can easily learn to expand your culinary horizons, without spending hours in the kitchen. There are a few items that may be cause confusion with American cooks - such as a recipe calling for a "punnet" of cherry tomatoes. But there is also a metric measure of 250 grams, so a little metric conversion and you can see that about 9 ounces are called for - which would be about a one pint plastic basket in which cherry tomatoes are usually sold.
The Bottom Line: I have 2 places for my cookbooks - a bookshelf in my study for those that I occasionally use and a shelf in my kitchen for those few that I use frequently. This one goes on my kitchen shelf.

Description:
In bills open kitchen, renowned Sydney-based restaurateur and chef Bill Granger presents dozens of effortless, inventive dishes for every meal of the day.Bill loves food that is fast and easy to prepare, yet still rich in flavors like Ham and Gruyére French Toast, Caramel Chicken, and Banana Maple Upside-Down Cake.Bill believes cooking is a time to kick back and relax. You won't find any complicated steps or fancy equipment here – just simple, straightforward, delectable dishes. And all infused with the welcoming, celebratory spirit of Australia.