Bliss on Toast

September 19, 2022
Gastronomy expert and Great British Baking Show judge Leith (I’ll Try Anything Once) offers 75 recipes for creative, convenient repasts that come on their own edible plate. Expanding on the British Sunday supper of beans-on-toast, her take on this culinary tradition includes indulgent yet simply composed small plates that satisfy even the most sophisticated palates with recipes hitting all the high notes of flavor and texture. Toasts showcase dairy, meat, fish, and veg toppings—but also vegan options plus sweets. The basic formula assembles three or four ingredients into a flavorful amalgam of tang, salt, creaminess, heat, and crunch atop selections from an international breadbasket including focaccia, naan, and brioche. Toasted rye gets a topping of ripe Brie, a handful of blackberries, arugula, and a drizzle of chili sauce, while rustic country bread welcomes a Turkish cucumber salad dressed with ezme and a runny fried egg. Scandinavian open-face style stars shrimp, cream cheese, radishes, and dill on toasted pumpernickel. Sweet treats include “a wicked boxing day treat” of brandy cream and berries over fried and toffee-ized left-over Christmas pudding. Leith advocates practicality and the use of quality, ready-made sauces (pestos, curries) and canned pickles, tomatoes, or sardines. With easily swapped components, the sky’s the limit for creating these elevated, simple-to-build, open-faced eats. Agent: Jane Turnbull, Jane Turnbull Agency.

October 1, 2022
How many ways to make a meal with a slice of bread? Restaurateur turned Great British Bake Off host Leith shows off 75 flavor-packed assemblages of vegetables, fruits, meats, and cheeses on various breads. Minimal cooking is involved, whether it's roasting sweet potatoes and semi-dried tomatoes to pile on creamy ricotta-slathered whole wheat sourdough or grilling zucchini to pair with a cashew pesto on rye. Readers will pore over the unquestionably British bubble and squeak (code for the sound of potatoes and cabbage frying), or the bacon ""butty"" (a hot buttered sandwich) dressed with avocado and green pepper relish. World flavors show up in Turkish ezme, Catalan romesco, Moroccan harissa, Yemeni zhoug, and Japanese curry spreads. Homemade purists will also find a handful of Leith's sauce recipes in the ""Keen Cooks"" appendix. While the bliss on toast project began as a pandemic-era effort to make mouth-watering and low-fuss meals, Leith has crafted an alluring assortment of toasts that could keep one satisfied for an easy-to-make breakfast, lunch, or dinner, days on end.

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November 1, 2022

Choosing the right bread when making toast is critical. Culinary writer, novelist, restaurateur, and Great British Bake Off judge Leith (Prue: My Favourite Recipes from a Lifetime of Cooking and Eating) believes that what goes on top of that piece of toasted bread is equally important. In her sharply focused yet sublimely delicious exploration into what tastes good on toast, Leith delivers 75 recipes, each designed to serve two people, which range from classics such as bruschetta and beans on toast, to the more cosmopolitan treat, filet mignon with caf� de Paris butter on brioche. A separate chapter features vegetarian and vegan offerings, while those with a sweet tooth will appreciate a section dedicated to desserts. The head notes to each recipe are delivered in Leith's cheery and charming voice, tips regarding ingredient substitutions are included, and a bevy of excellent color photographs provide a preview of what to expect. While Leith fully embraces culinary short-cuts such as using store-bought ingredients, she also offers a succinct collection of recipes for those who wish to make components such as hollandaise sauce from scratch. VERDICT Low-carb diet devotees aside, most readers will find a wide range of yummy things to munch on in Leith's bliss-inducing carbo-centric cookbook.--John Charles

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