Helen Jackson
Random House -RRP: $45.00
Release date: 1 April 2011
With a radio lifestyle show, the food editorship of the country’s iconic weekly women’s magazine, a flourishing foodies' website plus a busy home life as the mother of with three kids under ten, one would have thought Helen Jackson had more than enough on her plate. Apparently not.
Now, this fun-loving, supremely practical and capable former primary school teacher by-day and caterer-by night (and weekends) has gathered together a hundred recipes that her family and friends love, in a new cookbook, Helen Jackson's Kitchen.
Whether it’s throwing together a dinner party at short notice, organising a children’s birthday party or a lazy Sunday brunch with the family, Helen has loads of easy, delicious and inspirational food ideas up her sleeve.
Helen has grouped her recipes according to occasions, including breakfast, easy entertaining, afternoon tea, family dinners, catering for crowds, children’s birthday parties and lunch. It’s food aimed at busy people who still want to turn on a good spread. Her chapter header notes show how straightforward the recipes area.
But her beautiful new book is also aspirational, with dinner party recipes that will wow guests with beautiful tastes and flavours. There are also plenty of tips and how-tos along the way.
Helen’s the first to admit that with so much going on in her life, she has to be pretty organised but she never lets this get in the way of having fun. This zest for life infuses the book with a girl-next-door charm that makes for a delightful and reassuring read for any busy Mum.
“It can be a bit like a train station at home with so many people coming and going,” laughs Helen.
"Our door is always open. Our friends and family just take us as they find us. They’ll pull up a chair and help themselves to something relaxed and delicious. Ed and I love that. I wanted my cookbook to reflect our easygoing lifestyle.”
The cooking and photography for her cookbook was done in her own kitchen, the same busty place where she triple-tests hundreds and hundreds of recipes for her magazine food pages.
Having been the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly food editor for the past three years, Helen follows a long lineage of great food editors who have all been household names. This fabulous book should cement hers firmly among them. Having been the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly food editor for the past three years, Helen follows a long lineage of great food editors who have all been household names. This fabulous book should cement hers firmly among them.
And for Weekly readers, there’s a further delightful and quite serendipitous connection, in that Helen’s cookbook includes a recipe for cantucci, the little Italian biscuit that’s at the heart of Sarah-Kate Lynch’s new novel.
And here is a recipe from the book for you to try:
“Please don’t be put off by the ingredient list or the time involved, as this dish really is simple. It is often difficult to find dried cannellini beans so I use canned instead. This cassoulet is easily extended to cater for extras by adding more ingredients such as chopped sausage and beans. Traditionally, the duck legs are cooked confit style — immersed in duck fat and cooked slowly. Duck fat isn’t the easiest thing to purchase and so for this dish it is fine just to gently roast them. They can be done a day in advance.”
Duck and pork cassoulet
sea salt
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
400g pork slices, finely chopped
8 Toulouse sausages, chopped into 2cm thick slices
6 chorizo sausages, chopped into 2cm thick slices
2 large onions, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, finely sliced
3 sprigs thyme
2 x 400g can crushed tomatoes
2 cups (500ml) red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
2 cups water
4 x 400g cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup roughly chopped parsley
Preheat the oven to 130°C.
Rub duck legs with salt and arrange in a single layer in a large roasting dish. Pour over oil and cook for 1–1 1/2 hours until tender. Leave duck to cool in oil and fat from the dish, and refrigerate until required.
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat and cook pork slices, sausages and chorizo until golden brown. Reduce heat and add onions, garlic, carrots, celery and thyme. Allow to cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Transfer vegetables and meat to a large casserole and add tomatoes, wine, tomato paste and bay leaf, along with 2 cups of water. Cover and cook in oven for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Add cannellini beans and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Ten minutes prior to serving, remove duck from oil and place on a chopping board. Using a sharp knife, separate the legs and thighs so you have 16 pieces. Heat a frying pan and brown the duck pieces on both sides until the skin is crisp and golden. Transfer duck pieces to the casserole dish and continue to cook for 10–15 minutes.
Serve cassoulet scattered with parsley in bowls with plenty of crusty bread.
Serves 8–10
Footnote:
Publication not until 1 April. Put your name down now at your bookstore or library.
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