The first batch this year - some available now and some coming in the next month or so - includes some I've already found useful in the kitchen and a couple with warming winter dishes I'm looking forward to using over the next few months.
Several are timely in these days of rising food prices and worry about sustainability, encouraging us to eat less meat, use less fuel, eat more healthily, and prepare good food more cheaply and quickly, as social, economic and environmental conditions require. But that's not to say that we have to sacrifice flavour, variety or interest.
It's comfort food and a great way to use up whatever you happen to have in the fridge or garden - you don't need much for a topping.
Once you have a base, they are quick to throw together and cook. Bases are easy - you can even make the dough ahead and freeze balls of it.
Just take it out in the morning and it will be ready to use by evening, according to New Zealanders Pippa Cuthbert and Lindsay Cameron Wilson in Pizza: Delicious recipes for toppings and bases for all pizza lovers (New Holland, hbk, $30).
It inspired me to go home and cook some. They give instructions for several bases, including a scone base for those in a hurry, and various versions including minis, calzones and flatbreads.
There are numerous ideas for toppings - classics, modern versions with vegetables, seafood and meat, some for children, and even some sweet ones.
An inspiring book to browse through, although it and the equally enticing, reprinted Vegetarian: 100 inspiring recipes for every occasion (New Holland, hbk, $30) are marred by skimpy indexes which limit their practical use in the kitchen, especially when you are looking for something to do with whatever you find in the fridge or garden.
Sometimes I wonder if publishers actually use the cookbooks they publish - every cook knows cookbooks need a good, cross-referenced index.
It makes cooking dried beans and chickpeas quick - instead of soaking overnight and cooking for a couple of hours, all you need to do is soak them for three quarters of an hour in boiling water, pressure cook them for 15-20 minutes, and they are ready to use.
In fact, anything that takes a long time to cook, such as beetroot, pulses, soups, stews, casseroles, or steamed puddings, can be done in a fraction of the time in a pressure cooker.
They were popular in the 1970s and '80s, but with today's energy and time constraints, they are returning to popularity.
British food writer Richard Ehrlich has written 80 recipes for your Pressure Cooker (Kyle Cathie, pbk, $40), one of the few modern pressure-cooker cookbooks for today's style of eating that I've seen.
There are many recipes for soups, relishes, numerous braises, daubes, and other stews, including a seven-hour shoulder of lamb (in 40 minutes), for beef, pork and lamb, chicken and duck - he says cooking duck in the pressure cooker gives a "melting softness throughout" and the skin can be crisped after cooking; risottos, polenta, dhals and vegetable dishes; and, of course steamed puddings which cook in 25 minutes instead of several hours.
A book I'm going to be using often.
Helen Jackson, food editor of the New Zealand Women's Weekly and the person behind www.food-lovers.co.nz, has a new book out early next month, Helen Jackson's Kitchen (Random House, hbk, $45).
She says the recipes are her everyday favourites, including some for breakfast, lunch, feeding a crowd, afternoon tea, finger food, family dinner, entertaining, desserts and children's parties.
Many have been favourites on her website.
However, most of us stick to one or two recipes, without realising the huge variety of breads that can easily be made in one.
Kathryn Hawkins' well-illustrated Bread: Simple and satisfying recipes for the bread machine (New Holland, hbk, $30) includes a range of plain and flavoured breads and doughs that can be made in it, some useful recipes for using bread such as Caesar crouton salad, French toast, bread and butter pudding, and even some cakes that can be mixed and then baked in the machine.
Unfortunately, the copy I have has a section missing from the index - it jumps from "c" to "s" on the same page. (An addemdun will be sent by the publisher on request).
Masterchef New Zealand: The Cookbook Volume One (Random House, pbk, $50) came out late last year, a collection of the best recipes from the top 24 contestants, the judges and guest chefs along with general information about techniques and ingredients.
The winner of the competition, Brett McGregor is bringing out his first cookbook next month, Taste of a traveller (Random House, pbk, $55) which features recipes inspired by Southeast Asia, Spain, Morocco and traditional New Zealand cooking, with McGregor's own twists.
New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker (Penguin, pbk, $35) includes recipes from contestants and some from judge Dean Brettschneider. He also gives extra tips and a couple of pages of golden rules.
Given our love of baking, I expect this will be popular.
Things like roasted Mediterranean vegetables, roast pumpkin and chickpea salad, Moroccan lamb tagine with preserved lemons, or orange poppyseed cake are now found in cafes around the country. If you haven't got a copy already, it's worth a look.
British writer Sophie Grigson's Student Cookbook (Collins, pbk, $37) is a new edition of The First Time Cook (2004).
It's full of friendly advice and instructions for everything about ingredients, storage, preparation and cooking techniques, illustrated with numerous how-to photos, and recipes for easy, stylish and comforting modern food, from frittatas and lamb burgers to fish pie and double chocolate cake.
Recommended for every beginning cook, young or old.
Makes 30
Base
150g butter
3 Tbsp golden syrup
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup thread coconut
1 ½ cups rolled oats
¾ cup wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
3 tsp ground ginger
1 cup crystallised ginger, chopped
Icing
120g butter
7 Tbsp golden syrup
2 cups icing sugar
3 tsp ground ginger
Topping
100g walnuts or pistachios, chopped
Preheat oven to 200degC.
Melt butter, golden syrup and sugar in a large pot. Mix remaining base ingredients and press into a 20cm x 30cm slice tin lined with non-stick baking paper. Bake for 20 minutes, until firm to touch.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. To make icing, melt butter and golden syrup in a saucepan over a low heat. Remove from heat and mix in icing sugar and ginger.
When base is cool, pour on icing and spread evenly. Sprinkle with walnuts or pistachios.
- from New Zealand's Hottest Home Baker (Penguin)
Fried noodles are for those nights when time is short and everyone is hungry. I generally have a bag of prawns in the freezer and use whatever vegetables I have on hand.
Use onions if you don't have shallots. Fresh noodles are even better but these are generally only available in the refrigerator section of Asian supermarkets.
280g dried round egg noodles
2 Tbsp oil
3 eggs, lightly whisked
2 tsp sesame oil
4 shallots, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
12 prawns, shelled and deveined
½ head broccoli, divided into florets
½ cup water
¼ cup soy sauce
2 tsp fish sauce (more if you like)
1 tsp hot chilli sauce (optional)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken
½ cup frozen peas
3 spring onions, finely chopped
1 cup mung bean sprouts
½ cup cashew nuts, lightly toasted
Cook noodles in boiling water until just tender. Drain well and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or very large frying pan and pour in eggs, tilting the pan to get a thin layer of egg, and cook until just set. Tip omelette on to a plate and roll up into a log, then slice into thin strips.
Heat remaining oil with sesame oil and gently cook shallots and carrots until just tender. Add prawns and toss until pink. Then add broccoli, water, soy sauce, fish sauce, chilli sauce and noodles.
Toss and cook a minute or so before adding chicken, peas, spring onions and half of the sprouts. Toss until hot, then stir through omelette strips.
Serve topped with remaining bean sprouts and cashew nuts. Serves 5-6.
- from Helen Jackson's Kitchen (Random House)
