Newsletter: Glorious Gallic grub 🇫🇷 + Nisha Katona gets Bold

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Take a moment for Madeleines

Award-winning baker and cookbook author Barbara Feldman Morse has a lifelong love of baking, and madeleines in particular. She first made the delicate shell-shaped little cakes when cooking for events and restaurants in San Francisco after university. An idea that began as napkin-scribbled notes on different flavors and styles has now matured into her book Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake & Share, which we are delighted is newly added to ckbk. We were also delighted to have the opportunity to catch up with Barbara and hear about her life in baking and the creation of this utterly tempting book.
Find wonderful stories from the pastry front line – delivering the perfect cake to a wedding is not without its stresses! She also tells us how she developed her one-bowl simple madeleine method, which sits alongside the classic method in her book. There are recipes galore, for the essential – Classic French Madeleines – the unexpected – Peaches and Cream Madeleines – and the savory – Chipotle Madeleines with Green Chilis – including ideas for drinks to pair them with – Nightcap Madeleines with Affogato anyone? Let’s get baking!
Find all 74 recipes from Madeleines
Pictured above: Nightcap Madeleines with Affogato from Madeleines: Elegant French Tea Cakes to Bake & Share by Barbara Feldman Morse

A chance to explore Plats du Jour

First published in 1957, and newly added to ckbk, Plats du Jour was highly influential in introducing English cooks to everyday French dishes.

Illustrated by noted artist David Gentleman, the book became a major bestseller and influenced many later writers including Alan Davidson and Jane Grigson.
Food and travel writer Patience Grey and co-author Primrose Boyd set out to write the way they liked to cook, focusing on one central dish, accompanied by a green salad, a good cheese, some fruit in season, a bottle of wine.

There lies an ideal meal. In this way they introduced many French dishes that were little known outside of France at the time. Bake a Quiche for lunch, try a Poulet Sauté à la Paysanne for supper. There are lots of idea also for sauces and sides if you want to make that extra effort – sides don’t get much more delicious than Pommes de Terre Dauphinoises.
Illustration © David Gentleman
If all these madeleines and pommes de terre have got you craving more French cuisine, take a look at our French Bookshelf.

Have you seen "The Taste of Things"?

One of the best food-focused movies ever made.” Variety
Starring Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel, as cook and gourmet boss respectively, The Taste of Things is a movie making a stir, and making us all very hungry indeed.

Tran Anh Hung won best director at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival for this sumptuous offering based on the book La Vie et la Passion de Dodin-Bouffant.
A love story, set in 1885, conducted over a shared love of food and the creation of many sumptuous dishes, Anh Hung consulted food historian Patrick Rambourg to ensure the food was appropriate for the era. Pierre Gagnaire acted as consultant, assuring the quality of both the food and the depiction of its creation.

The movie focuses on good everyday French food, as oppose to the fussier restaurant food of the time. Served in all its humble glory, the Pot au Feu is just such a dish, and is close to Gagnaire’s heart – a take on the dish is served every year in his three Michelin starred restaurant.
So you can satisfy that French food hunger we’ve put together a French Menu Inspired by The Taste of Things Movie.

Try this Tartes au Poire en Cage, or a Baked Alaska.

Getting Bold with your cooking

Nisha Katona, restaurateur, cookbook author and Great British Menu judge, is one of our most popular authors on ckbk. Her recipes are packed with flavor and spice, never lacking in boldness. In her new book she is spreads the reach of this magic beyond the Indian dishes that that made her famous, to offer a host of recipes inspired by cuisines all over the world, but also full of bold new ideas. You won’t be able to wait to try it.
What's more, you’re in luck, because our Cookbook Preview not only tells you everything you need to know about the upcoming book, but as a special treat it also includes early access to two striking new recipes from the book to excite your tastebuds ahead of publication day – Cashew & Mushroom Stroganoff followed by Banana & Tahini Bread & Butter Pudding.

Bold will be the March Cookbook of the Month in our #ckbkclub Facebook Group, and will be available in full to ckbk Premium Members immediately once published on March 5.
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6 of the best recipes with peanut butter

Are you a peanut butter lover? Then it’s your day on March 1. Eat it straight from the jar, of course, or here are 6 peanut-tastic recipes for you.

Peanut Butter and Jam Chocolate Ice Cream Profiteroles

from Lamingtons & Lemon Tart by Darren Purchese

Peanut Butter Cookie Sandwiches

from Savory v Sweet by Shalean Ghitis and Stephanie Ghitis

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Madeleines

from Madeleines by Barbara Feldman Morse

Chocolate-Glazed Peanut Butter Scones

from Sweet Vegan Treats by Hannah Kaminsky

Peanut Butter and Bacon Bars

from The Bacon Bible by Peter Sherman

Peanut Butter Pretzel OTT Shake

from Crazy Sweet Creations by Ann Reardon
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