Living Over The Shop

I'm a bit of a sceptic when it comes to cookbooks. Some of them seems to be there just for the chef to show off with recipes you couldn't do at home in a million years. This book is different. Steven Doherty may have been a celebrated chef to the rich and famous, but here he talks to home cooks in language they can understand. The recipes are simple and beautifully illustrated. As well as the recipes, there are some very useful tips on cookery techniques - I now know how to make the perfect poached egg, for example. I also enjoyed reading Steven's life story. In all, the best of its kind.

Being a keen, though somewhat novice cook I was very pleased to see my favourite Lakeland Cafe dishes were now available in a book, and subsequently bought a copy even though I doubted I'd cook from it. I liked the fact that all the recipes had pictures as this gave me something to aim for. I've now cooked three dishes from the book, the most I've ever cooked from any recipe book, and have found the recipes to be tasty, easy-to-follow and worth the effort. Our favourite so far has been the Salmon en Pappillote, though I'm tempted to dive into cake baking next - We shall see!

It's nice to see a cookbook from the real world. Even though this guy has obviously cooked at the highest level, he teaches readers how to cook simple food well, without being in any way patronising. Lovely photos and a good read too. I really liked the way it shows you which Lakeland implement you're going to need when preparing a dish. I'm going to get another for my mum for Christmas!