Comfort Food by Julia Bettelheim

Comfort Food by Julia Bettelheim
Published by Clink Street on February 13, 2018
Source: Authoright Marketing & Publicity
Genres: Cookbook
Pages: 122
Format: Paperback
Purchase at Bookshop.org

There's nothing quite like Comfort Food to put a smile on your face and a feeling of contentment in your stomach.

Chef Julia Bettelheim is passionate about feeding people; from the students in her university kitchen to guests and family at home.

From recipes that are as simple as a sandwich to as technical as a fruit cake, she knows the importance of creating delicious meals that are full of flavour and which always have budget in mind.

Her recipes include easy to make classics and mouth-watering family favourites, using easy to find products that are fresh and economical.

Fun, fast, indulgent and nurturing, there's a time and a place for Comfort Food in every kitchen.

Comfort Food by Julia Bettelheim has a wonderful variety of recipes, from soups and main dishes to desserts and cookies, even some specialties from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The author has lived and worked in a variety of places, which shows in this collection. A lot of the dishes sound delicious and I want to try them, like the potato pancakes with mushroom sauce, pastitios, and hummingbird cake. I do wish it had a few more photos, though.

Last night I made the “Perfect Tuna Rolls” and was very happy with how they turned out. I served them with mashed potatoes and peas, as the recipe suggested.

Perfect Tuna Rolls

1 tub of ricotta cheese (250g)
1 can flaked tuna (440g)
2 eggs
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 packets puff pastry
½ cup grated cheese
¼ cup milk

Makes about 8 rolls.

Preheat the oven to a moderate temperature.

Mix the ricotta cheese, drained tuna, one of the eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper and lemon juice in a bowl all together until well combined.

Cut the pastry into 3 rectangles. Whisk together the second egg and milk to make an egg wash.

Place the tuna mixture evenly down the center of each rectangle and brush the outside edges with the egg wash. Fold the pastry over to make the roll and brush the top of the roll with more egg wash.

Cut each roll in half, place on a paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 25-30 minutes until golden brown.

This book was published in the UK, so I had to do some conversions. We don’t measure ricotta or tuna by the grams here, but it was easy enough to find the equivalents on-line. Tuna rolls like this and a similar recipe for sausage rolls are not something we typically eat here, but really should. The recipe makes 8, so I obviously have left-overs. They’re perfect to wrap up in foil and take for work lunches. If all the recipes work out this well, I’ll be happy. I was going to make some cookies last night too, but something came up and I didn’t get around to it. I have all the ingredients though, I’ll try to report back once I make them.

Aside from conversions which is not a big deal, my other problem with the cookbook is lack of detail. For example, this recipe called for grated cheese, but didn’t specify what type. I used Parmesan, cause it’s what I had and it turned out fine, but I’d like to know what the author wanted me to use. That’s a problem throughout the cookbook, not specifying what type of cheese. For the pastisios recipe, you make a bechamel sauce that calls for both grated cheese and slices of cheese. What kind of cheese? Some recipes call for a tin of diced apple fruit filling or condensed milk without giving a measurement. How do I know that the “tins” my store sells are the same as hers? Also, many recipes call for a “moderate oven.” For the tuna rolls, I set it at 400° because that’s what was on the puff pastry box, but I’d prefer if I were given a degree. I know it would be Celsius, but I could figure it out.

I will be using this cookbook again. I like that it includes dishes that I think we’ll like, but have never thought about cooking before and some yummy-sounding desserts. I just wish the ingredients and directions were a bit clearer.