This week’s book was The Ginger and White Cookbook. Ginger and White is a cafe in the back streets of Hampstead in London; they make amazing coffee, lovely cakes, lunch and brunch food. Their cupcake recipe is our go-to recipe for kid’s parties. However, this week, we thought we’d try recipes we’ve not tried before (as always in the Cookbook Shelves) and focus on savoury recipes.

Before we go savoury, though, we kicked off with their Granola recipe. I’ve been making the one from What Katie Ate that we did a few weeks ago every couple of weeks, so this was a nice change. Its a lovely mixture of seeds, nuts, honey, cinnamon and fruit. I’m not sure its better than Katies but it does have a much better crunch. I’m wondering whether there’s a combination option in the offing.

Next up was Smoked Mackerel, Fennel and Chickpea Salad. This was a superb little lunchtime salad with a yoghurt and horseradish
dressing. The dish was terrific, fresh and oh so simple to make. It should have had their dried tomatoes, but I forgot to make them, so we used a few cherry tomatoes. A cracking salad and one I know we’ll do again.

Next up was a cracking little Macaroni Cheese, served with rosemary and garlic croutons (though we used breadcrumbs). Our son cooked this on his own. It was a straightforward Mac and Cheese, and everyone enjoyed it.

The last dish of the week was Chorizo, Avocado and Lime on Toast. This is a proper antipodean brunch dish and was wonderful. The dish was a fantastic combination of griddled sourdough with smashed avocado topped with spicy chorizo, tomatoes and leaves to top it off. It was an excellent lunch. Ginger and White’s savoury recipes are as great as their cakes. Next week we take an unusual turn to a book of vintage tea parties.