Pub chef launches new cookbook

Brown’s book ‘Dining Through the Seasons’ will focus on seasonal British recipes for dinner parties.

After having spent a year working in Australia and New Zealand, Brown took up duties as head chef at the newly refurbished Fifield Inn in Maidenhead, Berkshire, where he designed all the menus and set up the kitchen team.

The concept​

“When I returned from Australia I was approached by the publishers and I felt it was the right time to do the book as I’m here to stay,” said Brown.

“The concept of the book is that it’s aimed at people wanting to host a dinner party, so all the recipes are intended for groups of around four to eight people.

“Most of the recipes can be made in advance and stored in the fridge as people usually like to get the majority of the work done the day before the party,” explained Brown.

The idea​

Brown’s idea for the book came from his experience working in professional kitchens and cooking at dinner parties at the request of his customers.

“I like hosting dinner parties myself for friends and family and obviously working in a professional kitchen I’m used to cooking for large groups of people

“I’m asked by people all the time if I can do the cooking at parties and I’ve got all these recipes so I thought it would be a good idea to do the book.”

Seasonality ​

The book focuses on seasonal cooking with locally sourced ingredients – a process which Brown has adopted in previous kitchens, as well as at the Fifield Inn.

“I wanted to stick to what I do which is create seasonal dishes using British produce and the book features three course recipes for all four seasons.

“When you open the book on the summer section you will have starters, mains and desserts laid out and all the ingredients listed will be readily available – plus it’s the best time of year to use them. The book focuses on using the best produce at the best time of year.”

Tips and tricks​

Brown understands it’s not always easy to replicate what professional chef’s do in the kitchen and the book highlights a number of simple solutions to make life easier.

“I’ve put a lot of quick tips and tricks in the book to take the stress away. A lot of kitchens use dehydrators and water baths and I don’t expect people to have these things so I’ve included ways to get the same results without having to buy all the equipment.

“Each recipe has a picture, too. I didn’t want to create a book where pictures only featured every other recipe. When people want to make something from a cookbook they want to see a picture of what it should look like,” said Brown.

Pre-order​

A signed copy of Dining Through the Seasons will be available to pre-order from the last week in August at http://www.justinbrownchef.com/​

Brown will also be cooking dishes from Dining Through the Seasons at this year’s Royal County of Berkshire show on 20 and 21 September.

Dining Through the Seasons has been published by http://www.mezepublishing.co.uk/​