“Music, food and sex are the most important things in life” - Brett Anderson

Out next week, this sumptuous, rock ‘n roll cookbook is the ultimate coffee table tome.  Fab photos (by famous food photographer Patrice de Villiers), interviews, and the most eclectic bunch of recipes you’ll find in one book are all behind this glossy purple cover. (It’s actress/rocker Juliette Lewis).

60 musicians are featured in The Rock Star Cookbook, who all support the Teenage Cancer Trust. You’ll find fish ‘n chip fan Sophie Ellis Bextor, lobster thermidor lover Mick Hucknall, a delicious Bangalore Lamb Phall from Spandau Ballet’s Tony Hadley and Stereophonics front man Kelly Jones mixes a mean Red Wine Gum Vodka.  Even Suede’s Brett Anderson makes an appearance, dripping in blueberry juice (recipe: Blueberry Fool).

My favourite is a photo of a rather tanned Paul Weller behind the counter of Soho’s legendary cafe Bar Italia which brings back memories of Style Council and Soho bar summer nights. There’s a B&W Rocky Marciano poster behind him, an orderly clutter of espresso cups around him.  So what’s Weller’s coffee of choice? ”A latte, I like it milky. Can’t do the espresso, it gives me the jitters,” he says as he drains his cup and sweeps off into Soho.

It’s the mix of short and sweet but revealing interviews by pop culture journalist Andrew Harrison, the recipes by ex-music biz chef Sarah Muir who now runs a cooking school in Yorkshire, and stunning photos by Patrice de Villiers that all make this glossy book a highly collectable rock-food gem.

The Rock Star Cookbook, £30, is out September 5th, published by Quadrille, more info at Love Music Love Food.

Buy it here, in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust

There’s a crossover between Mediterranean (especially Greek/Turkish) and Lebanese food – probably because of their history, similar soil and climates.

Nouha Taouk’s book Whispers from a Lebanese Kitchen is more than straightforward recipes, it’s a family food journey and a very personal one.

This book is like a flavour explosion for jaded vegetarians – there are meat dishes, too, but it’s the colours and tastes of the sun-ripened fresh produce that seem to stand out.  Lots of Lebanese salads, vegetarian kibbeh, plus the more familiar baba ganoush, spinach pie and baklava of course. From simple egg, onion and parsley pancakes to those typically Lebanese sweet puddings, you can delve into the region’s culinary cuisine or pick out more “crossover” Mediterranean-style recipes.

If this is your sort of cookbook, you might also love Tessa Kiros’s Foods From Many Greek Kitchens which is a culinary and visual delight.

Whispers From A Lebanese Kitchen is available at Amazon.co.uk 

Published by Murdoch Books.

You’re looking at the culprits that sabotaged last week’s attempt to stay off chocolate.  There are more members of the Fudge Fancies family than this tempting octet, so if a cross between a smooth fudge and creamy truffle is your kind of chocolate fix, you’ll be glad to have discovered them.

Christmas is coming, so how about a stocking filled with these mini Christmas Puds?  For white choc fans, there’s Chocolate, Lemon and Lime or Strawberries and Cream or for after dark (and continuing the Christmassy theme) there’s  After Dinner Mint, Dark Chocolate & Cranberry, Dark Chocolate & Orange Zest.

You’ll love sampling the rest of the line up – there are more – and if you’re having trouble deciding may we recommend a quick game of  Fudge Roulette? It’s a surprise selection – see what the postman brings.

A million miles from granulated cottagey fudge (nothing wrong with that) these are made with white and dark chocolate, fresh cream and ingredients like slow baked cherries and almonds (aka Bakewell Tart). There’s probably more enjoyment in a Fudge Fancy box than on “the box” most nights, and if you’re following Big Brother, you might spot Fudge Fancies in the house.

Last but not least, we love the clever Apple Crumble, topped with biscuit crumb made from Pink Lady Apples and if you’re getting married soon, and you’re not keen on wedding cake, Fudge Fancies make tempting little wedding favours or a spectacular three-tier chocolate fudge wedding cake – white, of course. www.fudgefancies.co.uk/weddings.

Find your favourite(s) here….www.fudgefancies.co.uk

“I love reading recipes.  To me they tell stories of happy evenings, perfect length fairytales to read at bedtime before my eyes droop.” – Joanna Weinberg

It’s not always easy to write about food, but food writer and Red magazine columnist Joanna Weinberg has a knack for it.  Her  How To Feed Your Friends With Relish is a joy to read – if Nigel Slater’s food writing is beautiful and poetic, Joanna’s is cosy, comforting and evocative. The flavours and colours almost drench the pages and she makes simple sound delicious.

Her writing’s sprinkled with “bites” full of food flashbulb inspiration…a quick gazpacho finished with a dash of vodka, mint on tomato salad (a change from basil)…or her South African granny’s quick choc-mint ice cream, just mix cracked mint chocolate into slightly melted vanilla ice cream and refreeze.

So what’s inside “Relish”? Beef Stew with Chilli, Chocolate and Giant Garlic Croutons, a Fennel Tarte Tatin with Goat’s Cheese and Thyme, Deconstructed Cheesecake and lots of “dippy” Greek and Middle Eastern mezze ideas and so much more – in fact Nigel Slater called the book “inspirational.”

So with the sun back in a blue almost autumn sky, and the BBQ still up for a few more grills, here are some of Joanna’s ideas from her column in Red Magazine www.redonline.co.uk - a few somethings for the weekend:

Garlic and Blue Cheese Mayo Dip – pound a small clove of garlic with a pinch of salt until smooth, mix into good mayonnaise along with crumbly blue cheese if you like.

Height-of-the-Season Ice Cream – Blend berries with good quality bought fresh custard, freeze in a tub, stirring occasionally to break up the crystals, and serve in waffle cones.

Vicar’s Shandy – Mix one part pale sherry with three parts of lemonade, then add lots of fresh mint and ice.

HOW TO FEED YOUR FRIENDS WITH RELISH by Joanna Weinberg

Baking is not my forté, although I managed to conjure up some acceptable profiteroles circa 1997.  So who better to learn the art of cupcake making from, than the lovely Natalie Seldon.

These delectable little “estellas” aren’t just pretty, they’re made with organic and Fairtrade ingredients. They come in mini-concotions of cinnamon cream, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry swirls or lemon.  In fact, watching The Great British Bake off last night, it reminded me of all the things that can go wrong – they don’t rise, they’re too dry, they’re too full and overflow creating that “mushroom head” look.  Not nice.

You can order Estella Cupcakes from Natalie’s website and they’d be wonderful for a wedding.  Or, better still, why not book a cupcake class with Natalie and learn how to make these delectable temptations yourself?

ESTELLA CUPCAKES www.estellacupcakes.com

…and you can ask Mary Berry who’s judging the Great British Bake Off a question, here: www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2010/09/ask-mary-berry-a-cookery-quest.shtml

“From breakfast to bedtime, from the first green shoots of spring, to the frostiest winter days, Bill picks and cooks his way through the seasons”

This book oozes happiness.  Bill Collison opened the first Bill’s Cafe in 2001 and since then hasn’t looked back (he probably hasn’t had time to).  What started as one small fresh produce shop led to the deli-style cafes he now runs in Covent Garden, Cambridge, Brighton, Lewes and Reading.

And now, here comes his cookbook.  Bill revels in the wonder of the seasons, with musings and recipes to match.  Take Autumn: there’s a hearty Mushroom and Leek Quiche which you could eat off the page, Pumpkin, Chestnut and Cranberry Risotto, Fig and Mascarpone Bundles (tucked inside puff pastry and baked till golden),  easy Caramel Apples, Windfall Chutney and Bonfire Night Orange Cream Brandy Snaps, piled high on a star-spangled plate, and “stabbed” with sparklers. (Those are Ginger and Melon Smoothies in the pic).

Cook, Eat, Smile is a good life philosophy and the book almost bursts with colourful photos, retro-style illustrations and a fun, comforting rustic-funky feel to it.  Bill delves into salads, mezzes and dips, mains like grilled salmon, curries and spicy Indian soups, and there’s even Beetroot Pesto and a fuschia-filled Beetroot, Cheese and Potato Pie.

The foods and flavours of Britain’s seasons are all here, in all their glorious colours, in a book that’s as much fun to dip in and out of as it is to  cook with.

Published by Saltyard Books £25

www.bills-website.co.uk

Available on Amazon 

Years ago, I was at a wedding, alone.  Out of the 300 guests, I only knew the groom (very well, as it happened, as I was the one who’d “got away”).  Had I made the right decision?  As I pondered our pasts and futures and was piling far too many smoked salmon blinis on to my plate, a tall dark stranger appeared from nowhere:

“Champagne?  Or Kir?”  Mr. Mysterious went for the champagne, I went for the Kir and the embarrassing blini mountain went behind the nearest flower arrangement.

Jo Hilditch’s British Cassis already has some famous fans, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Mark Hix to name just two, and the exquisite concoction is available from Fortnum and Mason’s.

Certain fruits remind you of happy times, like Christmas clementines and British blackcurrants in August.  There’s nothing more luxurious than a spoonful of Blackcurrants in British Cassis (in the jar in the photo) drizzled over thick Greek yoghurt as an easy after dinner dessert, or a glass of British Cassis to savour the flavour of blackcurrants in August, just before the season ends.

Crème de cassis, that dark blackcurrant liqueur, originated in France but Jo’s award-winning British Cassis (13%)  is quite a different take on it: it’s grown up, is a great mixer and you can even cook with it (there are recipes on the British Cassis website).

If you’re a framboise fan you’ll love British Framboise.  Made with rasperries grown near Ledbury in Herefordshire, plus champagne yeast and just enough sugar to taste, it’s really raspberry-esque, sweeter than the blackcurrant. Like its blackcurranty sister, British Framboise comes in an elegant slimline bottle (they come in 100ml and 375ml sizes – great gifts).  Jo produced a “Limited Edition” for Ludlow Food Festival and they sold out in two days. Last but not least, a quick toast to British Poire. This lovely pear wine would make an interesting alternative to a sweet Malaga wine and would marry well with a good blue cheese – preferably on the terrace of the Hotel Roches Blanches, overlooking the sea in Cassis on the French Riviera.

British Cassis 375ml/£15

See the whole British Cassis range here: www.britishcassis.co.uk/index.html

OK this is clever.  Urban dwellers who think they don’t have room for a herb garden and a BBQ, here you are… an “all in one”!

This ingenious yet simple design by award-winning Anglo-Swiss designers Dan Black and Martin Blum turns a terracotta pot into a grill-meets-mini garden.  It’s made from stainless steel (and terracotta), and has heat insulating ceramic coating.  You just lift the “herb lid” off and underneath is the BBQ grill (it comes with stainless steel tongs), ready to grill those burgers or veggie kebabs. And when the rain comes, pop the lid back on and watch those herbs drink the raindrops.

And if you enjoy your vins, but lack adequate larder space, you’ll like this too: www.black-blum.com/products/flow/

To find out more and see the rest of the range, visit www.black-blum.com/products/ 

The Black+Blum Hot Pot BBQ, £99

I once made the perfect pesto (just once!)  I was staying  in a house in the Hollywood Hills, owned by a German actress on a permanent diet. Friends were on their way over for dinner and faced with a bare fridge – unless weight loss shakes qualify as food – it was improvise time.  So I whizzed together what seemed like sensible portions of pine nuts lurking in the larder, fresh garlic, some basil from the kitchen garden and olive oil and “hey pesto” – out came something surprisingly delicious.

I’ve never managed to replicate that perfect balance of fragrant basil and garlic, but it doesn’t matter now, because Olive et Al have done it instead.  They’ve been “searching for a really decent pesto since Olives Et Al started back in 1993″ and have finally found it. The secret? A combo of 45% fresh basil sourced from the Ligurian region in Northern Italy, whole pine nuts, traditional parmesan cheese that has been aged for 30 months, extra virgin olive oil and sunflower oil…

135g /£4.00 Olives et Al’s Pesto Alla Genovese No. 18

www.olivesetal.co.uk

You could say Momo (and Moro) put Moroccan cuisine on the London food map –  although there are many hidden gems in the city. www.momoresto.com

Moro Restaurant www.moro.co.uk (The Moro Cookbook is now out in paperback – today, on Amazon).

If you can’t make it to Momo or Morocco itself, you can take a food journey with Tessa Kiros:

http://thefoodshortlist.com/2011/05/18/the-food-of-morocco-tess-mallos/

Or wander off into a world of exotic recipes www.nomades.co.uk (Fig and Orange Blossom Chutney with cheese are heaven on a handpainted plate www.nomades.co.uk/appetizers.html).

Or book a flight to Fez and eat tagines on the summer terrace (or by the real fire, in winter):

RIAD LE KSAR DE FES www.riad-leksardefes.com (ten minutes from Fez airport, in the heart of the countryside).

Or head to the capital, Rabat, for the best live music (Tuesday nights) and food:

BISTRO LE  PIETRI in the heart of Rabat www.bestrestaurantsmaroc.com/en/recherche.html and www.lepietri.com

Or breakfast like a king at magnificent MICHLIFEN IFRANE up in the mountains near Fez:

www.michlifenifrane.com/eng.html

Or escape to Dar Les Cigognes in Marrakech and learn how to make a real tagine:

www.mrandmrssmith.com/us/luxury-hotels/dar-les-cigognes

Or lounge in the cool courtyard at  Riad L’Orangerie:

www.i-escape.com/riad-lorangeraie/overview

Or sip cocktails (the Atlantic views come free) at L’Heure Bleu in easy, breezy Essaouira:

www.mrandmrssmith.com/us/luxury-hotels/heure-bleue

Or take an adventure tour to some of Mad About Morocco‘s favourite spots:

www.madaboutmorocco.com/mad_about_morocco_locations.html

There are many Moroccos. Which is yours?

www.visitmorocco.com/index.php/eng/