Kitchen Confidence is a great book for new cooks to have in their collection. Building confidence in the kitchen leads someone to be more comfortable in the kitchen. In turn it helps broaden a person's creativity and want to explore other foods and food related opportunities.

I was very inspired by this book and have planned to make a lot of the recipes. It was easy to follow and looks to be a pleasure to use.

It’s always fun to find a cookbook with really different recipes. Kitchen Confidence by Catherine Sloman, British cooking teacher and food blogger, not only includes recipes that are decidedly different from the American norm, but introduces recipes that are very typical of those actually prepared and eaten in British homes. This book is meant to give those without much experience in the kitchen confidence to prepare good meals and be comfortable when preparing simple meals.

Anyone who has spent time in the UK, will recognize many of the dishes Sloman has included in this fun cookbook. Examples include a fabulous recipe for Toad in the Hole with Onion Gravy, Classic Kedgeree, Victoria Sponge, and Scones (fabulous and easy to make). There are also excellent recipes for Shepherd’s Pie (or Cottage Pie if beef is used), A Classic Fry Up, and a decadent Devil’s Food Cake with Malteasers Frosting. There are other recipes that aren’t so British too, such as a Ginger Stir-Fry, Salmon Chowder, and crispy-on-the-outside-soft on-the-inside Roast Potatoes.

While the recipes are in metric, they are easily converted to US measurements, especially for those with a good kitchen scale, which should be in any kitchen. There are also conversion charts online. Britain gets a bad rap for their food, with critics saying that their food is terrible; anyone who has tasted it and has eaten in some of the world-class restaurants located in Britain, will definitely disagree and the dishes in this cookbook prove otherwise. There are also beautiful photographs of every dish, which makes the book even better.

Anyone who likes the British culture and is willing to convert a few ingredients to metric, will enjoy this cookbook. The recipes are well-written and easy to follow, so anyone who want to add a little confidence to their kitchen experience should enjoy this book.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This book has yummy-sounding recipes -- this looks like a great book for a beginner cook -- but metric measurements are too much work. Of course I can do the conversions, but I like to be able to see at a glance whether I have enough of the ingredients to make a recipe without doing a lot of math.

Kitchen Confidence begins with an introduction of the author and then some tips and techniques, which explains the key abbreviations, what roughly, finely chopped and diced means, along with many more handy information. There is also information on the NHS Eat Well guidance along with store cupboard ingredients and equipment required.

This book is then split into six main chapters:
- good mornings
- the warm up act
- going with the grain
- the main event
- the support act
- the sweet spot

Good Mornings provides six recipes for Breakfast and Warm up Act has seven starter dishes. Going with the Grain provides ten pasta and rice dishes and The Main event has eighteen main dishes. The Support Act is nine recipes of salads and potato side dishes. Finally there are twelve recipes in the Sweet Spot section.

Many of the dishes are quite basic, such as making scrambled egg, a fried breakfast or Spaghetti with chilli and garlic and then builds up to something with more ingredients as you gain confidence, so by the end you can make a Fish Pie or dauphinoise potatoes.

The book provides a couple of pages at the end of each section to write your own notes, and each recipe comes with a colour photograph and measurements in metric. The steps also appear easy to follow.

Overall I think this book might be very good for those starting out in cookery, such as students going off to university perhaps, as most of the recipes are quite easy to follow. However, some of the text for the instructions and ingredients overlaps the photographs and looks odd, and I'm not sure the illustrations add anything to each page as sometimes they are too in your face rather than a more subtle watermark.

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

A lovely cook book.Simple recipes with easy to follow instructions beautiful pictures.Perfrct gift for beginning cook newlywed #netgallet#troubadorbooks

This book was written for young cooks – “based on what we eat at home” and inspired by the author’s daughter’s request to have her mother’s recipes to take with her when she leaves home. As a book aimed at this audience, I cannot fault the contents. An easy, chatty, yet clear writing style makes this book accessible to young/beginner cooks.
It includes useful explanations of cooking terminology – as experienced cooks we often forget that terms like roughly or finely chopped, rubbing in are confusing! The list of basic ingredients and equipment would be very useful for a young cook starting out on their own.
Within each chapter there is a good range of recipes, for example in the section on breakfast recipes range from scrambled eggs to Shakshuka. Instructions are good for a beginner – clear but not patronizing. Some processes (like toasting cumin seeds in a frying pan for 5 minutes – no explanation of temperature or the need to shake the pan?) could have been clearer, but I accept that it is not easy to cover all processes in detail.
What I did not like about the book was the layout. I thought the pages were fussy and not easy to read. The background/watermark sketches were gratuitous and detracted from the information on the page. On many pages the recipe instructions extended over the photograph of the finished product, and the pale green font used for the very useful and pertinent introductions to the recipes was not clear enough. Such a pity when the actual content is so good!

I looked at this book because I was intrigued by the description and have a high interest in cookbooks. In reading through it, however, I discovered mixed feelings.

I love the recipes selected as well as the cookbook’s layout (especially the pictures). However, as a home cook and reviewer living in the United States, the ingredients and instructions present a challenge as they are written for an audience that uses the metric system. For someone in the United States who has a desire to learn how to cook and is not familiar with the metric system, this book would not be my first choice.

NOTE: A simple adjustment of putting the US measurements/terms in parentheses alongside the metric measurements would fix that. Also, I would make the same suggestion for page 13 for the equipment as well as the ingredients like Marigold bouillon and Caster sugar.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book that was provided by the publisher through Net Galley. However, the thoughts and opinions presented here are my own.

Kitchen Confidence is a really neat book with lots of tips and tricks in addition to a great variety of recipes and a bunch of beautiful photos.

The Author is a culinary instructor and has put together some really good cooking tips and recipes with excellent pictures of some of the most basic recipes. This is perfect book for a new cook or a newlywed. Example: A basic recipe for muffins with tips on how to make them perfect. I learned a few new tips that I had to clue. Chili and scones were delicious.

I love the fact the cookbook included empty pages for notes. I like to note in my cookbooks if I have had success with a recipe, made alterations, or who I served it to. These pages allowed ample opportunity. This cookbook will appeal to a beginner cook - scrambled eggs, pate', spaghetti with chili & garlic... Easy to follow instructions.

This is a collection of a British woman's family recipes, as requested by her daughter. The self published book features a personal photograph for each recipe. Occasionally the photographs did not entirely match the recipe. For instance, a salad seemed to have different ingredients than those listed. The dishes are generally standard British food (lots of meat, simple pasta dishes and straightforward meals) and the measurements are in metric.

The recipes are very basic for the most part -- the first is how to cook scrambled eggs (eggs, butter, salt and pepper). The lasagna recipe has no filling, just layers of a meat sauce and pasta and then topped with a cream sauce. Some recipes are noted as favorites of a friend or of a celebrity as told years ago in a newspaper. No nutritional information is provided. This wouldn't be a good fit for folks who are vegan, vegetarian or gluten free.

Some of the recipes seemed like good basic ones. Her recipe for Alfredo sauce is similar to mine, which I learned from chefs at the Marriott Griffin Gate resort in Kentucky when I worked as a banquet server there in college years ago. They cooked pasta Alfredo tableside for special occasions with the ingredients added to the pans as ordered so you could personalize with things like cooked shrimp, broccoli, pepperoni, mushrooms, etc. and the sauce was a delicious sauce cooked in a couple of minutes with just butter, heavy cream, lots of fresh Parmesan and pepper. Hers is a little longer and uses half mozzarella (and does not include the add-ins) but it is similar enough that I know it will be good. I wasn't particularly inspired by most of the recipes, but there were a few for classics that would be great basics if you don't know how to cook that dish yet.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

What a beautiful book. This book is from a UK author, so measurements are in metric. It is only available for print by order in the U.S. There are a great variety of recipes, including some wonderful dessert recipes. The photos are beautiful, and the recipes are simple and easy to follow.