This week we finally cracked open Five Fat Hens – The Chicken and Egg Cookbook by Tim Halket, and what a (long overdue) treat it’s turned out to be.

It’s not the flashiest book on the shelf – no glossy food-porn photos to drool over, and its month-by-month organisation initially felt a bit tricky to deal with. Plus, every single recipe features either chicken or eggs, which seemed a bit limiting at first. So for all those reasons, it’s sat neglected on our shelf for far too long.

But here’s the thing: it’s quietly brilliant.

Without all the visual distractions, you’re left with straightforward, well-written recipes that really shine. The month-by-month format is rather helpful when you’re standing in the kitchen in March wondering what to cook with what’s in season.

We made the very aptly named Easy Chicken with Lemon – just four chicken legs, a good glug of olive oil, some thyme, lemon slices, and a hot oven. Simple, honest, delicious.

Nice work, Tim Halket. I suspect we’ll be dipping into this book again and again, month after month.