A solid collection of recipes for the domestic cook, well written and put together. There is a focus on trusting your palate and being free to improvise rather than rigidly sticking to a recipe.

This book covers so many foods and cuisines. If you want to try new foods and utilize them in the best way, this is the cookbook for you. I really enjoyed that most recipes are inspired by instead of strictly following the cuisine. There are sections for techniques and I love the section for if things go wrong. I wish there were more pictures at least in the kindle version but all in all a very nice cookbook.

This cookbook is divided into 2 parts - getting started (the five senses, equipment, techniques and basic recipes, if things go wrong, etc) and the recipes. The recipes are grouped into categories, and there is a full listing of all recipes.

The ingredients are listed clearly. The instructions are listed in paragraph form rather than numbered or bulleted instructions, which I found a little harder to follow. The recipes don't include pictures, and the formatting in the advanced copy has recipes running one into another (if one recipe ends halfway down the page, the next one starts on the same page). I find that format less appealing as well.

While the content is fine, the format of the cookbook makes it one that I wouldn't reach for often.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #EmberPress for a free copy of #TheFlexibleFoodie by Lynn Davis. All opinions are my own.

The Flexible Foodie cookbook is a great cookbook for a new cook! I learned a great deal about techniques, what to do if something goes wrong, and other "basic" that someone might not normally know! The book comes with a great variety of recipes to learn that have so far been delicious. The one thing I believe the cookbook is missing is more pictures! Pictures usually really help influence me (a more so picky eater) to try something new, especially if it looks amazing. It would also help to make sure what you are cooking ends up looking mostly similar.

Thank you NetGalley and Ember Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

The English have a reputation for having bad food. That reputation is absolutely bogus; some of the best restaurants in the world are there, and much of the food is mouthwatering. To prove the point, Lynn Davis has released an excellent cookbook, The Flexible Foodie: Delicious Recipes from Heart of a Kent Kitchen. This cookbook is very British, and is full of interesting and delicious recipes.

The first chapters are dedicated to basics, such as ingredients, equipment, conversion charts, troubleshooting, and different methods of cooking; the methods chapters include basic English recipes such as Roasted, boiled, and baked (or Jacket) Potatoes with variations, and the proverbial chips.
The recipe chapters include appetizers, sides, salads, vegetables and sauces, main dishes with meats, poultry, and seafood, soups, and desserts. Many of the recipes have Middle Eastern, Asian, and Italian nuances with a British twist.

Most of the recipes are fairly easy to prepare, and are presented in the traditional manner so that they are easy to follow for both beginning and advanced cooks. The emphasis is on being flexible with the recipes, and readers will appreciate that things don’t need to be exact.

There is a small photograph of most of the recipes, which makes this cookbook even better. It will be difficult to decide which dish to make because there are so many that look good.

All told, this is a very British cookbook. It is fun to read, and includes mouthwatering recipes that are flexible. It will make a good addition to any recipe collection.

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

This is every new cooks dream book. It’s a cook book, but so much more. It’s is a master class of “how to” for just about everything kitchen related. From basics of stocking a purposeful pantry, cookware and tools and how to use them, definitions/explanations of different types of cooking prep, how and when to use and when not to, how to recover from errors, a litany of recipes and most importantly, it instills confidence for any level of cook. I’ve made a few things (marinades, dressings, salads) and have earmarked others to try. Easy to follow.

I loved this book. I think this would be amazing for a new cook because the author really explains the hows and whys of cooking so well. The recipes are interesting and easy to follow.

My one issue (and this may be a cultural difference) the author says a chicken breast should be cooked to 65° Celsius (149° Fahrenheit) that is well under the 74°c (165° f) they recommend here in the States. What with salmonella and all I err on the side of caution.

I really liked the authors take on expiration dates. Not every item is bad immediately on the date they say. Except fish. The author and I both agree on that point.

This author has her own way of following recipes, which is to say, not at all. 😂 I appreciate her attempts to write down her approximate measurements, because there are some tasty recipes in here. I was cracking up at Davis’ definitions of a “splosh” and a “dab”. Note: This is very much a British cookbook, with the accompanying recipes and manner of speaking. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course! Just something to keep in mind if you don’t use the metric system.

What a fun book, full of food, full of ideas and a great guide to get you cooking things you may not have thought of cooking before. I enjoyed reading it and now I will enjoying cooking some of the recipes.

So much wonderful information and loved the Smell, Taste, Listen, Feel sections. So much information that will certainly make me a better cook. I'd give it 3 1/2 stars as I did miss having great photos of the food as that always makes me hungry!

Thank you NetGalley and Ember Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This book is an absolute hoot, I have found a sister I never knew I had. Fine dining brought to a kitchen near you. Such restaurants, of the more pretentious ambition, are of two kinds - pile the food high, add a pretty tuille on top looking like a glorified lightning conductor, or spread it wide, add a smear of something then plop dots of lots of things around, odd numbers naturally, and finally add a bit of fish, a piece of potato, fondant of course, and a colourful veg. Leaving, you realise why roof slates are now so much more expensive as you head to the nearest chippy. This book aims to improve presentation, thus filling the senses as well as the tummy. There's a lot of basic practical info to start the journey of being a cook - differences between cooking techniques, basic equipment moving onto a wide range of recipes covering most aspects of a diet. These are mostly meat/fish based but there are reasonable numbers of veggie dishes too. There's plenty about basic cooking techniques each with their own recipes, what goes wrong (and how to fix it if possible), oven temperature conversions, meat cooking temps and the like. The recipes often offer alternatives and there are good instructions for classic sauces, garnishes and the like. I do disagree with the drip drip of oil in the mayo recipe; put all ingredients into a jug, put the immersion blender (pretty essential bit of kit for me) in to the bottom and zap for about 20 seconds. Done. Thick mayo. Chocolate, I'm afraid, has to be Cadbury Bourneville with or without 70% cacao powder. It's actually a relaxing read which should encourage 'fragile' chefs to have a go; there's a lot of text with good, if small, photos for some of the main course dishes. I fear that that will put off a lot of readers who seem to want big photos of every dish so that they "can see what it should look like". Tosh! There are plenty of illustrations on Google for ideas or you could, of course, use your brain and make it look how YOU like. A new suggestion for me is the tuna with chilli oil and tomatoes (perfectly normal and delicious) with fig relish. That sounds good even if I'll need to use soaked dried figs. Lateral thinking you know. Quite a few recipes have '1 dsp' of something, usually a spice, in them and I'm assuming that that is the author's 'dab', quarter teaspoon ish, rather than a mis-print but I could easily be wrong and it's not always clear anyway.. Ingredients are all easily available even in my rather 'traditional' supermarkets here in Scotland. The more outlandish herbs, Thai basil!!, I grow along with most of my other herbs and veg. so not an issue. Overall an excellent book that needs to be read and enjoyed and would make a good present for oneself or a budding cook. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher.