Each week Her.ie will look at a new cook book, giving you the inside scoop whether the recipes cut the mustard. From health kicks, to wholesome foods, we find out what books offer the best insights for budding cooks!
This week: The Art Of Eating Well – Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley, Ebury Press
Jasmine and Melissa Hemsley are sisters who just happen to be passionate about good cook and eating well. The Art of Eating Well is the first cook book from the duo, boasting 150 recipes that claim to be nourishing and good for the body and mind to make you look and feel amazing.
The sisters base their cooking with a focus on quality, and avoid the usual shunning of fat or calorie counting. Instead recipes encourage the use of saturated fats including butter and coconut oil and all recipes are free from grain, gluten, refined sugar, high starch and are alkaline friendly. The London based sisters also credit the upbringing of their Filipino mother and aunties for teaching the nourishment values of meat, vegetables and using food to its full potential and value – including the meat bones!
The book approaches the concept of meal planning based on meat and two veg, but gives room to manoeuvre in healthy eating without taking a trip to the health food shop. Yes some ingredients won’t be lying in the kitchen press, but the foods included in the book range from chia seeds to cider and sausage meat, proving you can eat healthily while indulging some of your favourite foods.
The recipes are easy to follow, and the imagery captures the variety and vibrancy of the range of dishes covered from breakfast to summer salads, TV bites and dinners.
If you’re considering giving a health kick a shot, this might not be the worst way to start into a new superfood/ wholesome eating plan.
Sample Recipe From The Hemsley Sisters: Cambodian Beef Lok Lak
Ingredients – Serves 2 people
- 250g beef steak, sliced into 1cm wide strips—we like to use rib steak
- 1 tbs grass-fed ghee or virgin coconut oil
Marinade
- 1 tsp fish sauce (we like Red Boat brand)
- 1 tsp tamari (we like Clearspring)
- 1 tsp fresh finely grated ginger—keep the skin on if organic
- 1 tsp finely grated garlic
- sea salt to taste
- very large pinch of black pepper, freshly ground
Black pepper dressing
- 2 tsp fresh finely grated ginger—keep the skin on if organic
- 2 tsp finely grated garlic
- 3 tsp fresh lime juice
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt to taste
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Salad
- 3 large tomatoes, sliced medium thick
- 1 shallot or ½ small onion, thinly sliced
- 1 large avocado, sliced
- 1 head of Romaine or Cos lettuce, washed, spun dry and torn into medium pieces
Method:
1. Combine the sliced beef with the marinade ingredients in a bowl and leave it to sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the fridge (bring to room temperature before cooking).
2. Whisk or shake the black pepper dressing ingredients together in a jar and set aside.
3. Prepare the salad ingredients and arrange over 2 plates, starting with a layer of lettuce then tomatoes, avocado and onion.
4. Heat a wide frying pan to a high heat with the ghee or coconut oil, add the beef and fry for 1 minute for medium rare–making sure to keep it moving.
5. Remove the beef from the pan and distribute between the two plates.
6. Add a quarter cup of water to the pan to deglaze, scraping up any bits of remaining sauce from the bottom and allow to reduce down. Pour over the beef and drizzle the dish with the black pepper dressing to serve.
Images and recipe via Hemsley and Hemsley
