Newsletter: 🎃 Last minute spooky cooking for Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations + our Cookbook of the Month from a culinary legend 👩‍🍳

🎃 Last minute spooky cooking for Halloween and Day of the Dead celebrations + our Cookbook of the Month from a culinary legend 👩‍🍳

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Your Halloween & Day of the Dead food sorted!

Whether you are cooking up a spooky storm for Halloween tomorrow, or devilish delights for a Day of the Dead celebration on November 2, we’ve got plenty of recipes to get your party started.

Our collection of Dishes and Drinks for Day of the Dead Celebrations has everything you need, from your morning mug of Chocolate de Agua—try dipping a hunk of Bread of the Dead into it—to this warming Chicken Tortilla Soup. Dulce de Calabaza is a fitting seasonal dessert—it is thought that the sweet, spiced aroma is so tempting that it attracts departed spirits home.

Trick or Treat: Savory & Sweet Eats for Halloween gathers 32 recipes that are definitely treats. From Dad’s Pumpkin Soup to warm them up after they been out collecting candy, to this Devil’s Food Bombe—a showstopper if ever there was one.

Explore 58 Halloween Recipes

Pictured above: Sugar Skulls from Muy Bueno Fiestas by Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack

Remember, remember…

the 5th of November. Gunpower, treason and plot!

While we are on the subject of cosy autumnal get togethers, Bonfire Night is just a few days away.

This annual remembrance of Guy Fawkes’s failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London in 1605 is celebrated with giant community bonfires—on which the dastardly ‘guy’ is burnt—and explosive firework displays.

Bonfire Night wouldn’t be complete without baked potatoes and toffee apples, but any outdoor-friendly hot dishes are a win. Explore our collection of Warming Recipes for Bonfire Night—find Spicy Sausage Rolls, Sonoran Hot Dogs, Mulled Wine, and more.

The Four Horsemen: the cookbook

‘These days we have a Michelin star and a waiting list for tables, a James Beard Award for the best wine program in the United States, and a significant reputation both here and abroad. Excellent winemakers are happy to have cuvées on our list. Good purveyors trust us with their best ingredients.

Here we are, writing and releasing a cookbook. It wasn’t always like this. There were so many indicators along the way that this current state of the restaurant was so laughably implausible that, along with the recipes of Nick’s amazing food, it feels worthwhile to try and tell some of the story of how our place came to be. Maybe it can serve as much as a cautionary tale as it might a potential inspiration.’ James Murphy, restaurant co-founder, The Four Horsemen

We are thrilled to now have The Four Horseman: Food & Wine for Good Times, a book that documents and celebrates the titular cool and highly influential Brooklyn restaurant. Written by chef Nick Curtola—with food writer Gabe Ulla, co-founder James Murphy, and containing notes on wine by the late Justin Chearno—it tells the story of a place, the creativity and endeavour needed to create that place, and brings us the memories and the food that are at its heart.

There are sections to talk you through ingredients, and equipment, and a recipe list of Nick’s ‘Italian-by-way-of-Northern-California’ dishes that will prove impossible to resist. Try Pan con Tomate with Fennel Pollen, Anchovies, and Black Pepper, or this Fried Chicken with Cipollini Mushrooms, Maitake Mushrooms, and Marsala. Desserts are far from forgotten—indulge in Flourless Chocolate Cake with Zabaglione, or this Burnt Cheesecake with Amontillado Vinegar.

Find all 96 recipes in The Four Horsemen

Our Cookbook of the month for November is…

The New Making of a Cook by Madeleine Kamman (1930-2018). This month we bring you one of those rare cookery books that is a cookery bible, an all-you-need-in-one compendium of knowledge, experience, and instruction.

French chef, restaurateur, cookbook author, and cookery teacher, Madeleine Kamman moved to America in 1960, and forged a unique path educating Americans in authentic French technique, and as a champion of women’s place within the industry. A legendary figure, whose work was recognised with James Beard Awards, and the respect of peers such as Paul Bocuse, there is little she cannot teach us about cooking. This seminal tome was first published as The Making of a Cook in 1971—The New Making of a Cook is the updated a 25^th anniversary edition, published in 1997. It will be a rare treat to explore it as our Cookbook of the Month for November.

If you’ve not joined in before, here is how it works. We have a Facebook group called #ckbkclub, where we chat about what you’ve made from all the cookbooks on ckbk. Each month we choose a cookbook for the group to focus on, encouraging members to cook from it, and share any photos, tips, or questions they have about the recipes.

Don’t forget to upload your photos to the group, as we can’t wait to see Madeleine’s creations come to life!

Ingredient focus: oats

Oats are a cereal crop that thrives in moist, temperate to cool, climates—they do well in areas where wheat and barley may not thrive.

This has caused oats to be an important food in certain regions, notably Wales and Scotland.

There are various ways to process oats into different grades of oatmeal, and whole ‘rolled oats’, all of which are often eaten as porridge. Almost completely lacking in gluten, oats can’t be used to make conventional bread. But as they are highly nutritious and with an excellent nutty taste, they are a good inclusion in loaves that mix oats or oatmeal with wheat flour. Their texture and flavor make them a good cereal addition to many recipes.