Weekend food with Darina Allen

If by any chance you have a few book tokens left over from Christmas presents, I’ve got some brilliant suggestions for worthwhile cookbooks to track down. For the growing number of cake-makers, Annie Bells Baking Bible published by Kyle books is a real gem. Recipes are triple tested so really work which can’t be said for every book.

April Bloomfield is the toast of New York at present. In London she worked at Kensington Place, the River Café and with Simon Hopkinson at Bibendum. Her initial venture in the US – the Spotted Pig in Greenwich — was the first real gastropub in New York.

She’s gone on to open the highly-acclaimed Breslin and John Dory. I love her simple food, so I was thrilled to learn some of the secrets from her recent book – A Girl and Her Pig, Harper Collins.