Butter: Comforting, Delicious, Versatile - Over 130 Recipes Celebrating Butter

James Martin recipe books are my usual go to. I had high hopes for this latest book, as honestly, who doesn’t love butter…A lot of the recipes are a bit of a faff, to much so for me to have the time for at home. There wasn’t really many that tempted me either.The photography was also disappointing, I always like a photo per recipe and you don’t get that in this book.Gutted to be leaving a sub standard review as I’m a BIG James Martin fan. This book sadly, will be going back to Amazon . It’s a sad day.

EDIT:~ First up for me 'CHOCOLATE (HAZELNUT) CAKE', pages 194/195...just the cake & icing, in my case (i.e. no hazelnut sprinkling on top) and it was simply amazing...moist & well, buttery! (image below refers)ooOoo🧈 ~ ‘To all who appreciate the world’s greatest ingredient.’And I am one...in fact, based on JM’s advice, I have been adding a ‘blob’ (for want of a better word) of butter to this, that & the other, including most casseroles, pastas & stews for years!This latest recipe book is a sincere tribute to BUTTER, and evident from the shiny gold colouring for the word on the thick hardboard front cover that follows through to the spine, both glinting mischievously in the change of light. You can even make your own butter on page 19, with flavoured butters following.‘BASICS’, the basis for a fair few recipes is up next & cross-referenced in the individual recipes when necessary, with ‘Croissant Dough’, then ‘Pastry’, with a double-page picture for a ‘Traditional Puff’, followed by recipes only for ‘Rough Puff’, ‘Paté & ‘Sweet Paste’.Other doughs & pastries are included in the individual recipes, e.g. the delicious sounding ‘Beef in a Brioche Crust’, pages 157-159, ‘Choux’, on page 203 or ‘Suet’, on page 207...with the odd 'cheat' included, such as filo pastry sheets!The photography, by John Carey, which includes a few on-location shots, is on the light side, IMO, especially for those of us who like to see what we are aiming for on the plate and the matte finish, sadly, does not make those that are pictured leap off the page.The text is not without the odd mistake but grammatically rather than critical to the recipe, in my experience so far.Also, potentially on the negative side, the no-nonsense cookbook is of the old-fashioned variety with a fair bit of white space dotted around and recipes spilling over the page, e.g. the intriguing ‘The Apple’, pages 211-213, which is not for the faint hearted and requires a special mould!There is a liberal peppering of ‘buttery’ quotes included, e.g.: from the double-page spread that opens ‘BASICS’, from ‘Galton Blackiston: Morston Hall’:🧈 “Quite simply the most important ingredient in our kitchen.But, James, everything in moderation!”From the back cover, which is different to the current blurb above (‘Rhubarb custard bread and butter pudding’ & ‘Rum baba’ recipes are NOT in my copy of Butter!):🧈 ‘Butter is the essential book for anyone who loves to cook with this glorious, versatile ingredient.Through over 130 original recipes, James Martin presents some of his favourite new dishes and classics ~ everything from savoury delights like ‘Butter-poached lobster’, ‘French onion soup’, Chicken with 'nduja butter’ and ‘Dover sole meunière, to sweet treats including Cinnamon bread with caramel butter dip, Shortbread and Baklava.Butter can bring so much to a plate of food and James showcases this comforting superstar of cooking to its very best.’The current stock images & the ‘LOOK INSIDE’ facility above give an idea of the content.ooOoo🧈 ‘Butter: COMFORTING, DELICIOUS, VERSATILE ~ OVER 130 RECIPES CELEBRATING BUTTER’In a neater format, measuring roughly 25.5 cm x 19.25 cm, the aforementioned front cover opens to 224 matte finish pages split over 2 main sections simply entitled:~ SAVOURY (pages 36 to 161)~ SWEET (pages 162 to 219)...sandwiched between an INTRODUCTION + the aforementioned BASICS at the front & the alphabetical INDEX at the back, the tightly bound tome, which can be reluctant to stay open at the chosen pages, winds up with the usual short but nevertheless sweet JM page of ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, that concludes:🧈‘...To everyone who loves eating as I do, whether its butter on toast or a butter-laden croissant, just enjoy food, for it’s one of life’s true pleasures.’The 2 main recipe sections are well set out with the capitalised TITLE/the number of SERVINGS/the list/s of INGREDIENTS, most with a short, relevant opening paragraph that heads up the clear method/s.A small taste of the other recipes included (in order of appearance):~ WILD GARLIC BUTTER~ POPCORN (VARIOUS)~ MARMITE AND CAYENNE CHEESE STRAWS~ WARM LENTIL SALAD WITH WHIPPED GOAT’S CHEESE BUTTER~ FRENCH VINAIGRETTE~ ROAST PUMPKINS WITH WALNUTS AND PARMESAN~ DAUPHINOISE ‘BUTTER PIE’ DANISH~ BBQ MISO BUTTER ONIONS~ SALT-BAKED CELERIAC WITH SCALLOPS~ POTTED BROWN SHRIMP SOFT SERVE~ CLAMS WITH PARSLEY AND LEMON~ SALMON PAVÉ CONFIT IN BUTTER~ CHICKEN SATAY~ PHEASANT KIEVS~ PÂTÉ SANTÉ~ CROQUE MONSIEUR~ PAN-FRIED BLT~ FILO PARMA HAM MIKADOS~ ROAST HAM WITH BUTTER MARMALADE GLAZE~ LAMB STEAKS WITH PUMPKIN GNOCCHI AND SPLIT BUTTER SAUCE~ RIBS WITH LIQUORICE BUTTER GLAZE AND JACKET POTATOES~ BBQ CÔTE DU BOEUF~ FRANGIPANE AND CHERRY BEAR CLAWS~ BUTTERCREAM FRUIT CUPCAKES~ CINNAMON APPLE TURNOVERS~ ARMAGNAC CRÊPES~ KOUIGN-AMANN (BRETON CAKE)~ PAIN AU CHOCOLAT~ PASTEL DE NATA (PORTUGUESE EGG CUSTARD TART PASTRY)~ BUTTER CAKE WITH BUTTER SAUCE~ CARAMEL BUTTER DIP~ MISO BUTTER FUDGE[22 images attached 21 ©James Martin, John Carey & Quadrille/2021]

I love James and his cooking but this book which I pre ordered was not good it’s not glossy and the recipes are awful I feel it was a rushed out book, mine was flicked through and put awaySorry James

I love this book. So many recipes and tips! I highly recommend this if you are a home cook and wish to expand your repertoire. Easy recipes to adapt.

After hearing James Martin on the radio promoting this book, I pre-ordered straight away. He described the book on the radio it's all about butter and and the way it made and how to make it. Only 6 pages about butter and the rest was recipes. Very disappointed so I returned it straight away.

Did think some of the ingredients. Would have been easier to get.

This was a birthday gift for my son. I had a quick look through and it looked very interesting and I am sure he will enjoy it - he is a great cook

Bought as a gift and the recipient was delighted, it has some brilliant recipes which have already been tried and tested and will become regulars in our household.